Introduction to Japanese writing - Beginners booklet

1. Year 11 Japanese Beginners
JAPANESE WRITING
SYSTEMS - HIRAGANA
なまえ：________________
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2. 1
THE JAPANESE WRITING SYSTEM
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3. 2
HIRAGANA
The Hiragana writing system is made up of 46 basic syllabic characters. Hiragana symbols
are mostly pronounced individually (exceptions to this will be explained later). For example,
look at the first row of the Hiragana chart:
a i u e o
あ い う え お
あおい (blue) is pronounced a, o, i as three separate vowels. There is no blurring of vowels
as in the English word peal. An exception to this is when one vowel is repeated, as it is then
read as one long sound rather than being voiced twice. For example,
ii ee aa
いい ええ ああ
good yes oh!
In order to help English-speakers study Japanese, the ROMAJI system was developed.
Romaji refers to the English letters used to pronounce a Japanese character. For example,
Hiragana <--> Romaji
うえ <--> ue
You may use Romaji initially when learning Japanese, but must eventually read and write
only in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
Furthermore in Japanese, all syllables are given equal stress and length, unlike English. This
can make it monotonous and difficult for some people to pronounce Japanese words
accurately. With practice however, fluency will improve!
In terms of writing Hiragana, stroke order is of the utmost importance. Each character is
written using a number of strokes, and the order in which you write these strokes will help
you in remembering the character itself. For example, many diagrams number the strokes
like so:
The position of the number shows you where to start the stroke.
A basic Hiragana chart is provided on the next page, followed by a series of written exercises to
help you remember and practice the characters. Remember, these make up the ABC of Japanese,
so try to learn them as soon as possible!
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4. 3
HIRAGANA CHART
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5. 4
HIRAGANA VOWEL LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. あい _____________
2. うえ _____________
3. いい _____________
4. あう _____________
5. おおい _____________
6. ええ _____________
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6. 5
HIRAGANA 'K' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. かう _____________
2. きく _____________
3. あき _____________
4. えかき _____________
5. ここ _____________
6. かく _____________
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7. 6
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8. 7
HIRAGANA 'S' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. あし _____________
2. いす _____________
3. かさ _____________
4. あそこ _____________
5. すいえい _____________
6. おおさか _____________
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9. 8
HIRAGANA 'T' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. とおく _____________
2. あつい _____________
3. くつ _____________
4. ちかてつ _____________
5. ちち _____________
6. ことし _____________
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10. 9
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11. 10
HIRAGANA 'N' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. あに _____________
2. ねこ _____________
3. あね _____________
4. いぬ _____________
5. なに _____________
6. あなた _____________
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12. 11
HIRAGANA 'H' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. はい _____________
2. ひくい _____________
3. へた _____________
4. はな _____________
5. ふとい _____________
6. ほそい _____________
Can be pronounced WA as a particle!
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13. 12
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14. 13
HIRAGANA 'M' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. うま _____________
2. めいし _____________
3. まち _____________
4. みせ _____________
5. みみ _____________
6. あたま _____________
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15. 14
HIRAGANA 'Y' LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. つよい _____________
2. にくや _____________
3. ゆき _____________
4. やさしい _____________
5. やすい _____________
6. よく _____________
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16. 15
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17. 16
HIRAGANA 'R' LINE (Pronounced like L)
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. とり _____________
2. する _____________
3. きれい _____________
4. あたらしい _____________
5. おふろ _____________
6. くすり _____________
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18. 17
HIRAGANA FINAL LINE
Try reading these Japanese words out loud and write them in Romaji:
1. わたし _____________
2. にほん _____________
3. えをかく _____________
4. しんせつ _____________
5. わるい _____________
6. とりをみる _____________
Only used as an OBJECT particle!
This is a NASAL sound and can be pronounced
'n', 'm' or 'ng' depending on what follows it. It
can never begin a word since it has no vowel!
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19. 18
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20. 19
Using a Japanese-English Dictionary
Notes:
 The first half of the dictionary translates from Japanese to English and follows the Hiragana chart
order. For example, いえ comes before ええ.
 Remember the order of Hiragana characters by making your own mnemonic!
A --> I --> U --> E --> O All A _________________
K King's Kind _________________
S Soldiers, Samurai _________________
T Take Told _________________
N Note: Naomi _________________
H His How _________________
M Majesty's My _________________
Y Yacht Yak _________________
R Returns Ran _________________
W Wednesday Wild _________________
 Japanese verbs are written in their PLAIN DICTIONARY form, not in the POLITE MASU form. You will
need to conjugate the verbs on your own, depending on the GROUP they belong to.
Dictionary Race: Find these words, write their English meanings and what TYPE of word they are.
1. しんせん
s h i n s e n
__________________
2. なんにん
n a n n i n
__________________
3. くれる
k u r e r u
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4. たいせつ
t a i s e t s u
__________________
5. あたま
a t a m a
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6. うれしい
u r e s h i i
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7. ふえる
f u e r u
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8. らく
r a k u
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9. やさしい
y a s a s h i i
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10.となり
t o n a r i
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11.ほそい
h o s o i
__________________
12.つかれる
t s u k a r e r u
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13.ぬすむ
n u s u m u
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14.わかる
w a k a r u
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21. 20
HIRAGANA RULE #1: LONG VOWELS
As mentioned previously, いい and ああ are each pronounced as one long vowel rather than
separate sounds. The vowels within a consonant syllable (such as ka or shi) can also be lengthened
by adding that vowel. For example, かあ (kaa) and しい (shii).
We will go through each vowel below - however, you will notice some have exceptions!
'A' column
All the characters ending in 'a' sounds are lengthened by adding an あ.
Examples: おかあさん
o k a a s a n
おばあさん
o b a a s a n
'I' column
All the characters ending in 'i' sounds are lengthened by adding an い.
Examples: おにいさん
o n i i s a n
ちいさい
c h i i s a i
'U' column
All the characters ending in 'u' sounds are lengthened by adding an う.
Examples: ちゅうがく
c h u u g a k u
ふうせん
f u u s e n
'E' column
All the characters ending in 'e' sounds are lengthened by adding an い, not an え!
Examples: せんせい
s e n s e i
けいざい
k e i z a i
*However, there are exceptions to this rule, as seen in ええ
e e
and おねえさん
o n e e s a n
.
'O' column
All the characters ending in 'o' sounds are lengthened by adding an う, not an お!
Examples: こうこう
k o u k o u
どうぞ
d o u z o
*However, there are exceptions to this rule, as seen in the following common words:
おおきい
o o k i i
big おおい
o o i
many, plenty
とおい
t o o i
far おおさか
O o s a k a
Osaka, a city in Japan
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22. 21
Copy the following long vowel words out in Japanese.
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23. 22
HIRAGANA RULE #2: DOUBLE CONSONANTS
Since there are no Hiragana syllables for a single consonant (besides 'N'), a special device is
needed to indicate a double consonant. This device is a small 'tsu' (っ). It is about half the size of a
regular sized 'tsu' (つ). Compare:
つ っ
When the small 'tsu' is used, it is NOT pronounced. Instead, it doubles the NEXT consonant in
Romaji and indicates a PAUSE in speaking.
Examples: きて
k i t e
- to come きって
k i t t e
- stamp
かこ
k a k o
- past かっこ
k a k k o
- brackets
Copy the following double consonant words out to practise the small つ.
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24. 23
HIRAGANA RULE #3: COMBINATION SOUNDS
Just like the small 'tsu', the small 'ya' ゃ, 'yu' ゅ and 'yo' ょ can also be used to extend the
Hiragana chart. Compare:
や ゃ ゆ ゅ よ ょ
Only some of the 'I' column in the Hiragana chart can be combined with one of the above.
Examples: き
k i
- - >
－－＞
きゃ
k y a
し
sh i
- - >
－－＞
しゅ
s h u
ち
chi
- - >
－－＞
ちょ
c h o
Here is a list of the 'I' syllables that can be affected:
Note that for し and ち, the 'y' can be omitted in Romaji (sho instead of shyo).
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25. 24
HIRAGANA RULE #4: MODIFIED SOUNDS
Some Hiragana symbols can change their sound by adding two small strokes ( ゛) in the top right
corner of the symbol. These are called 'ten-ten', meaning 'dot-dot'.
The 'K' line is one of the lines which can change its sound - the 'K' becomes 'G'!!!
か
ka
--> が
ga
き
k i
--> ぎ
gi
く
ku
--> ぐ
gu
け
ke
--> げ
ge
こ
ko
--> ご
go
Similarly, the 'S' line changes its sound from 'S' to 'Z'!!!
さ
sa
--> ざ
za
し
shi
--> じ
j i
す
su
--> ず
zu
せ
se
--> ぜ
ze
そ
so
--> ぞ
zo
**Notice じ does NOT become 'zi' -- it becomes 'ji'!
The 'T' line changes to 'D'!!!
た
t a
--> だ
da
ち
chi
--> ぢ
j i
つ
tsu
--> づ
zu
て
t e
--> で
de
と
t o
--> ど
do
**Note ぢ becomes 'ji' and づ becomes 'zu', both of which are the same sounds
produced from the 'S' line. These ones however, are RARELY used.
Finally, the 'H' line changes to 'B'!!!
は
ha
--> ば
ba
ひ
h i
--> び
b i
ふ
fu
--> ぶ
bu
へ
he
--> べ
be
ほ
ho
--> ぼ
bo
The 'H' line is special because it can change its sound AGAIN using a different symbol, called the
'maru' ( ゜), meaning 'circle'. By using the 'maru', the 'H' line becomes the 'P' line as well!!!
は
ha
--> ぱ
pa
ひ
h i
--> ぴ
p i
ふ
fu
--> ぷ
pu
へ
he
--> ぺ
pe
ほ
ho
--> ぽ
po
Here is a list of all the modified syllables:
These can be combined with rule #3
- combination やゆよ as well!
For example,
ぴ --> ぴゃ
pi pya
Try to make mnemonics to help you
remember what the sounds change
into! For example,
Killer Gorilla, Silly Zebra, Tipsy Dog,
Happy Bear, Happy Pear!
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