Japanese/Kana/Lessons/Hiragana/Lesson 6

Hiragana: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ] [ ゐ and ゑ (ancient hiragana in disuse) ]
Katakana: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ] [ ヰ and ヱ (ancient katakana in disuse) ]

In this lesson you are going to learn how to read and write は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ. Adding two small lines called 濁(だく)点(てん) dakuten, but commonly known simply as 点々(てんてん) tenten, meaning "two marks", causes clear sounds to change to their voiced sound. Thus, adding the 点々(てんてん) tenten marks to は、ひ、ふ、へ、and ほ will produce ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ.　Adding a small circle called a 半(はん)濁(だく)点(てん) handakuten, but commonly known simply as a 丸(まる) maru, "circle" causes clear sounds to change to their plosive sound. Thus, adding a 丸(まる) maru to は、ひ、ふ、へ、and ほ will produce ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ.

Brush Stroke:
Sound:	ha	ba	pa
Mnemonic:	It looks like Ha, but the left arm of the H is broken, and the a is squeezed under the right arm. It's a stand-up comic, with a microphone on a stand to his left. Ha ha! It's a missionary, holding up a cross and laughing, "Ha!" A person is wearing a hat.
Example:	はこ (hako) box はね (hane) wing はる (haru) springtime	ばか (baka) fool ばしゃ (basha) carriage ばら (bara) rose	ぱちんこ (pachinko) slotmachine type game かっぱ (kappa) water imp (in Japanese folk tales) らっぱ (rappa) trumpet

Note: "は" is pronounced wa when used as a particle.

Brush Stroke:
Sound:	hi	bi	pi
Mnemonic:	Somebody's mouth as they say "hi!" really loudly. Just remember that the 'i' is pronounced like 'ee'. Someone smiling wide at a good joke, 'Heeheehee'. He thought it funny to be (bi) hit by (bi) a piece (pi) of pie.
Example:	ひと (hito) person ひめ (hime) princess ひる (hiru) daytime	びじゅつ (bijutsu) fine arts びしょう (bishou) beautiful びん (bin) bottle	えんぴつ (enpitsu) pencil しんぴ (shinpi) mystery ねんぴ (nenpi) mileage

Brush Stroke:
Sound:	fu	bu	pu
Mnemonic:	The squiggly line looks like a snake - think of the game Snake. The other lines are the food (fu) that the snake is going after. The squiggly line leads to the top of Mt. Fuji. It looks like an upside question mark, asking who? (fu?)
Example:	ふうふ (fuufu) married couple ふえ (fue) flute, whistle ふく (fuku) clothes, uniform	ぶき (buki) weapon ぶた (buta) pig ぶん (bun) sentence	しんぷ (shinpu) priest あっぷく (appuku) subdue せんぷうき (senpuuki) electric fan

Brush Stroke:
Sound:	he	be	pe
Mnemonic:	Hehe, that guy's mustache looks funny - it's longer on one side than the other. It is an arrow pointing to heaven.
Example:	へい (hei) fence へそ (heso) navel へや (heya) room	べんきょう (benkyou) study べんじょ (benjo) toilet べんとう (bentou) traditional box lunch	ぺきんご (pekingo) Mandarin Chinese ぺらぺら(の) (perapera) fluent; talkative ぺてんし (petenshi) swindler

Brush Stroke:
Sound:	ho	bo	po
Mnemonic:	It's a hobo standing next to a lamp post. The stand-up comic (は) is even funnier when he puts on a silly hat. Ho ho! Think mini-golf. The line on the left is the putter, the lines on the right are the flag, and the circle is the hole (ho). It's so hot the person is wearing two hats (は).
Example:	ほうき (houki) broom ほね (hone) bone ほん (hon) book	ぼう (bou) stick ぼく (boku) A first personal pronoun usually used by men ぼろ (boro) defect	しっぽ (shippo) tail ぶんぽう (bunpou) grammar こどもっぽい (kodomoppoi) childish