Kana III: Orthography
Every language has its own orthography, which is a system of rules which govern how it is written. For the most part, Japanese orthography is straightforward; however, there are peculiarities worth noting:
- Spelling Long Vowels in Hiragana
- Spelling Long Vowels in Katakana
- Use of the Sokuon
- Yotsugana
- The Particles “Wa” & “E”
Throughout these discussions, you will be given detailed instances regarding when to use either Hiragana or Katakana. To fully immerse yourself, you may wish to buy elementary textbooks aimed at young children. Such books, or even picture books, may contain little to no Kanji, but they will illustrate how to use Hiragana and Katakana. Without some knowledge in actual sentence composition, though, spelling may still remain a challenge. With that being said, for now take the time to go over Kana spelling specifics and utilize this knowledge with the words and grammar you’ll learn in subsequent lessons.
Long Vowels in Hiragana
平仮名での長母音の表記
In Hiragana, long vowels are typically written by doubling the vowel, but because /ou/ and /ei/ are often pronounced irregularly, depending on the word, おう and えい will correspond to long vowels.
Long Vowel Spellings
■ああ is always /ā/ and is mostly found in native words.
■いい is always /ī/ and is mostly found in native words.
■うう is always /ū/ and is found in both native and Sino-Japanese words.
■ええ is always equivalent to /ē/, and all words with it are of native origin (rare) or loanwords (common). In Sino-Japanese words, えい is usually pronounced as /ē/, but it can also be pronounced as /ei/ in careful pronunciation. In native words and loanwords, it is pronounced as /ei/.
■Words written with おお are always either native or from loanwords. おう is pronounced as /ō/ in almost all words. If, however, おう constitutes the end of a verb, it is usually pronounced as /ou/.
Essentially, the knowledge you need to have is how to distinguish between native words, Sino-Japanese words, and loanwords as well as a basic understanding of what the various parts of speech look like to determine the pronunciation of words written in Hiragana, and this is of course for the words written not as they sound. Once you learn about Kanji, this will actually be rather easy, but for the purpose of studying these spelling rules, we will look at words utilizing each spelling above with notes on where they come from etymologically.
Words with Long-Vowels in Hiragana 「ひらがな」で書かれた長母音の入った単語の例
| /a/ vs /ā/ | Word Origin | Definition |
| ああ | Native | Ah |
| おかあさん | Native | (Someone’s) mother |
| おばさん | Native | Aunt/middle-aged woman |
| おばあさん | Native | Grandmother/old woman |
| /i/ vs / ī/ | Word Origin | Definition |
| い | Native | Stomach |
| いい | Native | Good |
| おじさん | Native | Uncle/middle-aged man |
| おじいさん | Native | Grandfather/old man |
| /u/ vs /ū/ | Word Origin | Definition |
| くき | Native | Stalk/stem |
| くうき | Sino-Japanese | Air |
| すうがく | Sino-Japanese | Math |
| ふうふ | Sino-Japanese | Married couple |
| /e/ vs /ē/ vs /ei/ | Pronunciation(s) | Word Origin | Definition |
| おねえさん | /onēsaN/ | Native | Older sister/young lady |
| へ | /he/ | Native | Fart |
| へえ | /hē/ | Native | Really? |
| へい | /hei/ | Native | Wall/fence |
| へい | /hē/ or /hei/ | Sino-Japanese | Soldier |
| めし | /meshi/ | Native | Meal |
| めいし | /mēshi/ or /meishi/ | Sino-Japanese | Noun/business card |
| えいが | /ēga/ or /eiga/ | Sino-Japanese | Movie |
| え | /e/ | Sino-Japanese | Picture/painting |
| ええ | /ē/ | Native | Yes |
| /o/ vs/ō/ vs /ou/ | Pronunciation | Word Origin | Definition |
| お | /o/ | Native | Tail |
| おう | /ō/ | Sino-Japanese | King |
| おう | /ou/ | Native | To chase |
| おおう | /ōu/ | Native | To cover |
| こり | /kori/ | Native | Muscle stiffness |
| こおり | /kōri/ | Native | Ice |
| こうり | /kouri/ | Native | Retail |
| こうり | /kōri/ | Sino-Japanese | High interest |
| おい | /oi/ | Native | Nephew |
| おおい | /ōi/ | Native | Many |
| おうい | /ōi/ | Sino-Japanese | Throne |
| とい | /toi/ | Native | Question/trough |
| とおい | /tōi/ | Native | Far |
| がっこう | /gakkō/ | Sino-Japanese | School |
| おとうさん | /otōsaN/ | Native | (Someone’s) father |
※/kouri/ (retail) is a compound word, with the word elements being “ko” and “uri,” which is why the combination of /o/ and /u/ does not result in [ō].
※The pitch of /kōri/ (ice) is LHH whereas the pitch of /kōri/ (high interest) is HLL.
Long Vowels in Katakana
カタカナで書かれた長母音
In Katakana, long vowels are written differently based on word origin. In loanwords, the mark ー, which is called ちょうおんぷ or ぼうびき, is used to represent any long vowel. When native words or Sino-Japanese words happen to be written in Katakana, the same spelling conventions are used as with Katakana.
■Loanwords Written in Katakana
カタカナで書かれた外来語
All loanwords are typically written in Katakana. For the purpose of focusing on long vowel notation, all the examples in the chart below are loanwords which contain at least one long vowel.
| テーブル table | レコード record | スーツケース suitcase |
| アイスクリーム ice cream | コンピューター computer | エレベーター elevator |
| メール | セール sale | カレンダー calendar |
| フィナーレ finale | チーズ cheese | メートル meter |
| アイスティー ice tea | コーヒー coffee | コート coat |
| コピー copy | シャワー shower | スカート skirt |
| スプーン spoon | フォーク fork | ストーブ heater |
| スポーツ sports | セーター sweater | タクシー taxi |
| テープ tape | デパート department store | ニュース news |
| パーティー party | バター butter | プール pool |
In rare circumstances, loanwords are sometimes written in Hiragana. This is usually for children who haven’t learned Katakana yet. In this event, ー is also used in Hiragana to indicate long vowels.
■Native Words/Sino-Japanese Words Written in Katakana
カタカナで書かれた大和言葉・漢語
The examples below are not limited to words with long vowels as the situations in which Katakana is used to write non-loanwords are all important specific circumstances that must be looked at.
| Example | Word Origin | Definition |
| メガネ | Native | Glasses |
| バラ | Native | Rose |
| トヨタ | Native | Toyota |
| コウカイ | Sino-Japanese | Regret |
| イス | Sino-Japanese | Chair |
| テキトー* | Sino-Japanese | Sloppy |
| ビミョー* | Sino-Japanese | Doubtful |
①Katakana often replaces the usual means of spelling a word to emphasize said word similarly to how italicization works in English – ex. メガネ, バラ, イス.
②Company names are often written in Katakana – exs. トヨタ, ホンダ, スズキ, etc.
③Plant and animal names are often written in Katakana – ex. バラ.
④When a word has a slang meaning, even if it is Sino-Japanese in origin, ー may be used to write a long vowel – exs. テキトー, ビミョー.
⑤When the pronunciation of Sino-Japanese words is written out in Kana, the preferred syllabary is Katakana – ex. コウカイ.
Long Consonants in Kana
長子音の仮名表記
In both Hiragana and Katakana, long consonants are created by preceding a Kana with a small “tsu.” In Hiragana, you use っ, and in Katakana you use ッ. As discussed previously, unvoiced consonants are typically the only consonants that are doubled, which is reflected in both Hiragana and Katakana. However, both /n/ and /m/ may technically become long consonants if /N/ assimilates to either [n] or [m] depending on what sound follows it. In either case, ん (Hiragana) and ン (Katakana) are used to write the first “n” or “m” when doubled.
| Examples in Hiragana | Examples in Katakana |
| ちょっと a little | ホッケー hockey |
| しっぱい failure | インターネット Internet |
| いっしょ together | ロボット robot |
| せっけん soap | サッカー soccer |
■Long Voiced Consonants
有声子音の長音化
All long consonant are unvoiced, even those that come from doubled voiced consonants. Some loanwords do contain long voiced consonants, which is reflected as such when written out, but they are still pronounced as their unvoiced counterparts. Therefore, ベッド (bed) is pronounced as [betto] instead of [beddo].
Given that essentially no native word or Sino-Japanese words contain these ‘long voiced consonant,’ such spellings are only found in Katakana unless the text is being written for young children in which case Hiragana is submitted for ease of reading.
| バッグ bag | レッドソックス The Red Socks | テトラポッド tetrapod |
| ホットドッグ hotdog | バグダッド Baghdad | すっごい cool※ |
※すっごい is an example of a rare instance in which a native word does exhibit a ‘long voiced consonant.’ This example is an emphatic version of すごい (cool/amazing).
■Glottal Stops
声門閉鎖音
A glottal stop is made by forcibly stopping air coming from the throat. In both English and Japanese, word-initial vowels are usually preceded by one. Occasionally in Japanese, expressions may end in a glottal stop, especially when a speaker suddenly stops what they’re saying, perhaps out of surprise. When this happens, a small っ・ツ can be used to notate this.
Ex. いたっ！(ouch!)
Yotsugana
四つ仮名
There are two sets of consonants that overlap in actual pronunciation with each other. /j/ and /dj/ may sound alike, and /z/ and /dz/ may sound alike. In both situations, the harder pronunciations–[dj] and [dz] respectively–are preferred by a majority of speakers.
Putting pronunciation aside, these consonants and vowels combinations are written with four distinct Kana, thus the name “Yotsugana.” The only times when づ・ヅ and ぢ・ヂ are used is when they are immediately preceded by つ・ツ and ち・チ respectively or when they are at the start of the second element of a compound.
All four consonants are primarily used with the vowels in native words: /i/ and /u/. /j/ and /dj/ Kana can be paired with small /y/-Kana to be used with the vowels /a/, /u/, and /o/ respectively.
| Sound | Hiragana | Rarity | Katakana | Rarity |
| /ji/ | じ | Common | ジ | Common |
| /zu/ | ず | Common | ズ | Common |
| /dzu/ | づ | Uncommon | ヅ | Rare |
| /dji/ | ぢ | Uncommon | ヂ | Rare |
| /ja/ | じゃ | Common | ジャ | Common |
| /ju/ | じゅ | Common | ジュ | Common |
| /jo/ | じょ | Common | ジョ | Common |
| /dja/ | ぢゃ | Uncommon | ヂャ | Rare |
| /dju/ | ぢゅ | Rare | ヂュ | Rare |
| /djo/ | ぢょ | Rare | ヂョ | Rare |
■Words with Yotsugana 四つ仮名を使った単語
| はなぢ nosebleed | しじ instruction | ジャガー jaguar |
| ちぢみ shrinkage | すず bell | みかづき crescent moon |
| つづき continuation | ひとりじめ monopoly | まぢか proximity |
| いれぢえ suggestion/hint | いっぽんぢょうし monotonous | てぢか within reach |
| つづる to spell | さんげんぢゃや Sangenjaya (place name) | きさらづ Kisarazu (city name) |
The Particles Wa は & E へ
Particles are normally written in Hiragana, but they may be written in Katakana for a number of reasons including stylization choice or imitating older texts as Katakana was the predominant Kana script in official publications until after WWII.
The particle wa is spelled as は・ハ and the particle e is spelled as へ・ヘ. The perfect examples to showcase these particles without delving into grammar include the following:
- Kon’nichi-wa こんにちは (Good afternoon)
- Komban-wa こんばんは (Good evening)
- Nihon e yōkoso にほんへようこそ (Welcome to Japan)
Have no fear; we will return to these particles once we learn some actual grammar!