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[nihongo-lets-go]

Lesson 1, Pt. 2: 仮名 - Stroke Order

In part 1 of lesson 1, we were introduced to the Japanese writing system and its many different applications. In this part, we will delve more into 平仮名 and 片仮名 to cover the stroke order of the characters.

Like with any language that has a written system, writing in Japanese takes some practice. Below are charts that show the 平仮名 and 片仮名 stroke orders:

HIRAGANA

平仮名 is a bit more complicated than 片仮名, in the sense that there are more strokes to much of the characters. Hiragana is based on the brush strokes of 漢字, so many 平仮名 characters may already look familiar.

Here are a few words, written in 平仮名. Practice writing them, and remember the stroke order! 1. ひらがな [ hiragana ]

2. かんじ [ kanji ]

3. わたし [ watashi - "I" ]

4. せんせい [ sensei - "teacher" ]

5. こんにちは [ konnichiwa - "good afternoon" ]

6. ありがとう [ arigatou - "thank you" ]

７. おとうさん [ otousan - "father" ]

８. おかあさん [ okaasan - "mother" ]

９. ともだち [ tomodachi - "friend" ]

10. がくせい [ gakusei - "student" ]

KATAKANA

片仮名 has much in common with 平仮名, as its characters are drawn from the same root, 漢字. However, it's clear there are differences in appearance. While 平仮名 has curved lines and loops, 片仮名 has many sharp lines and hooks, and fewer strokes over all. It is arguably the easier of the writing systems to learn.

Like before, here are some words written 片仮名. Give them a go! １．ラメン [ ramen ]

２．トイレ [ toire - " toilet" ]

３．アメリカ [amerika - "America" ]

４．イギリス [ igirisu - "the UK" ]

５．コーヒー [ ko-hi - "coffee" ]

６．ドライバ [ doraiba - "driver" ]

７．デート [ de-to - "date" ]

８．コーラ [ ko-ra - "cola" ]

９．ボールペン [ boorupen - "ball point pen" ]

１０．パン　[ pan - "bread" ]

BONUS PRACTICE

Now that we've looked more closely at the 平仮名 and 片仮名 writing systems, and gotten in some brush stroke practice, let's try a reading comprehension exercise. Below are two crossword puzzles. Using the list of words that were provided above, see how many words you can spot. See if you recognise any bonus words as well!

That will do it for lesson 1, part 2! If you have any additional questions, feel free to click/tap that 'Ask Me Anything' button <3

Have fun practicing!

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Japanese dictionary

jlptsensei katakana word list

FluentU katakana word list

[nihongo-lets-go]

Lesson　１, Pt. 1　：仮名［かな］

『　Scroll to the bottom for a glossary and resource links！ 』

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A brief summation of Kana 仮名:

Almost every language in human history has a written form. Romance languages and Germanic languages have the Roman alphabet. Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, and Russian have the Cyrillic alphabet. Korean has 한글. Japanese is, of course, no exception to this.

仮名［かな］are the syllabaries used for the Japanese written language. Each kanji, hiragana, and katakana character represents a word or sound in Japanese. Although each 仮名 has a different purpose, when combined they make up the whole of written Japanese, and are a must-know for everyday life, especially if your goal is to live in , work in, or visit Japan.

From reading menus, to shopping, to navigating transportation, to reading housing and apartment contracts, it is essential to learn the written language in order to fully grasp Japanese as a whole. (Side note: 仮名 can refer to solely hiragana and katakana.)

As stated before, the whole of the Japanese writing system is a combination of two kinds of 仮名:

～ Kanji (lit. “Han characters”), derived from written Chinese

～Hiragana and Katakana (the syllabic kana)

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KANJI

漢字 ［かんじ］ ー The original 仮名, or 真仮名 [まがな］(lit. “true kana”).

汉字 [hànzì] (Chinese characters) that are used to phonetically transcribe Japanese. The most prominent is 万葉仮名［まにょうがな］, from which hiragana and katakana are derived. Although certain 漢字 retain their meaning in 汉字, many more are used in a purely phonetic context, and thus the original meaning does not always hold. (Although, you'll have a great head-start if you're learning to read Mandarin!)

There tens of thousands of 漢字 used today, but the minimum number that learners are encouraged to remember is 2000-2200 (I would actually recommend learning closer to 3000).

『　Six 漢字, and their meanings. Only 1994 more to go!　』

Because the amount to be learned is so extensive, it's often easier to become comfortable reading and writing in hiragana [平仮名] and katakana [片仮名] before moving onto tackling 漢字 en masse. Although, it never hurts to learn a few in the beginning, especially those written for commonly used words!

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HIRAGANA

平仮名［ひらがな］ー The writing system used for native Japanese. It is used to write 送り仮名［おくりがな］, which are kana suffixes following a kanji root (e.g. to inflect nouns and verbs); to write particles; written for emphasis, and for misc. native words with no kanji, or with kanji that is too obscure or formal for writing.

平仮名 is also used to write 振り仮名［ふりがな］, also known as 読み仮名［よみがな］, and rubi ［ルビ ］. 振り仮名 is written above 漢字 to indicate proper pronunciation. Books aimed at children often include 振り仮名 .

平仮名 can be broken up into three sub-categories:

~Chart 1 includes all of the base 平仮名, including the a, i , u, e, o vowels ［あ、い、う、え、お］and the n/ng［ん］consonant.

~Chart 2 includes the dakuten and handakuten characters. Dakuten [ ﾞ] and handakuten [ ﾟ ] are marks that modify the sound of the 平仮名 they are placed after. For example: a dakuten after the character ha [は], changes the sound to ba [ば]. Adding a handakuten after は changes the sound to pa [ぱ].

~Chart 3 is a combination chart that includes 平仮名 , dakuten, handakuten, and 促音 [そくおん] . Sokuon [促音], known more casually as chiisai tsu/chiisai kana [小さいつ | 小さいかな] or chiisana tsu [小さなつ] , are the small 平仮名 that aid in altering the character's sound. For example: take は, ば, and ぱ, and add a smaller version the character ya [や] after them. By doing this, や becomes the sokuon , [ゃ］, turning は, ば, and ぱ into hya［ひゃ］, bya [びゃ] , and pya [ぴゃ] .

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KATAKANA

片仮名［カタカナ］ ー　This writing system has many uses, primarily for foreign loan words ( 外来語［がいらいご］) and onomanopoeia. It is also used for technical and scientific terms; for the names of plants, animals, and minerals, and for Japanese companies.

As with 平仮名, 片仮名 is also used for word emphasis.

Other than the differences in appearances, 片仮名 are functionally identical to 平仮名. There are the base characters, the dakuten/handakuten characters, and the combination characters, all which produce the different sounds of Japanese.

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The Japanese writing system can seem overwhelming at first, especially if your native tongue is part of a completely different linguistic family. Just remember that learning anything new takes time. Practice makes for a practiced person!

To round out this lesson, included below is a glossary of all the words mentioned. If you have any questions, feel free to use that 'Ask Me Anything!' button.

Happy learning!

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LESSON 1 VOCABULARY LIST:

仮名 ー　Kana［かな] , the name for the Japanese writing system. Kana can also refer to only hiragana and katakana.

真仮名 ー Magana [まがな］literally translates into “true kana”. Another term for kanji.

漢字 ー Kanji［かんじ］, the character system based off of the Chinese written characters 汉字 [hànzì］. Kanji is also known as man'yōgana ( まにょうがな [万葉仮名 ] ), the magana writing system that hiragana and katakana descended from.

平仮名 ー Hiragana［ひらがな］, the writing system used for native Japanese.

送り仮名 ー Okurigana［おくりがな］, hiragana suffixes following the kanji stems of written Japanese.

振り仮名 ー Furigana［ふりがな］is small hiragana that is written above kanji to indicate proper pronunciation. Furigana also known as yomigana ( 読み仮名［よみがな］), and rubi ［ルビ ］ .

片仮名 ー Katakana［カタカナ] is the writing system used for foreign loan words, the names of Japanese companies, and much more.

外来語 ー Gairaigo［がいらいご] is the term for foreign names and loan words--essentially any non-native Japanese words.

Dakuten [ ﾞ] and handakuten [ ﾟ ] ー written marks that alter the sound of the hiragana or katakana they are placed after.

小さいつ 、 小さいかな 、小さなつ ―　chiisai tsu, chiisai kana, and chiisana tsu are all terms used for small hiragana that, like dakuten and handakuten, alter a kana character's sound.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

WIKIPEDIA:

Kana

Hiragana

Katakana

Furigana

Sokuon (chiisai tsu)

OTHER SITES:

Dakuten, Handakuten

Origins of Gairaigo