Introduction to Japanese Hiragana Basics
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ScribdTranslationsIntroduction to Japanese Hiragana Basics
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Japanese Module I
Prof.: Italo M.
Parte 1 - Introdução
The text below refers to the first contact of our course with the language.
Japanese. The Japanese language in our course will only be studyable if it can be possible to be
reading. As we know, reading comes from knowing a given alphabet, and the combination
two characters existing in it for the formation of words. Thus, they can be
grouped in a syntactic whole that will provide a meaning, that is, an understanding. Without
Knowing how to read, we cannot understand, this is the question.
Therefore, before we start any kind of grammar, we first need to
learn the oriental writing style, that is, to know its alphabet.
The Japanese language essentially has three major alphabets: hiragana, the
Katakana and kanji. Each has its specific utility, with hiragana often used for many...
sometimes confused with the kanji (due to having such a similar utility). When Japanese is
written with our alphabet (a, b, c,...), we say that the text is in romaji.
Let's understand, then, when each alphabet should be used:
Hiragana: It is used to write words in general, that is, it is the alphabet.
common. It is the first alphabet that should be learned (to learn here is
the same as decorating, since there is no way to 'understand' an alphabet).
Hiragana consists of 46 characters and 3 types of variations. The
variations are made based on the main alphabet, so once
decorated, the variations are, consequently, also easily
decorated.
Katakana: It is used to write words of exclusive origin.
foreign (that is, of non-Japanese origin). A classic example and of
The extreme example we can cite is the case of writing our names.
Our names are all of Brazilian origin, and therefore, they are written
with the use of katakana. There are other words like chocolate,
elevator, taxi that are of American origin, and therefore are also
written in katakana. Throughout the course, we will learn what they are and
what they are not, as we expand our vocabulary. But
for now, regarding katakana, we should only understand its
utility and knowing that it is used for something specific. Katakana is
composed of 46 characters and, like hiragana, has its variations
also.
Has the same purpose as hiragana: to write words in general.
Kanji serves as an alternative way to write a word in hiragana.
Let's understand better. We will write 'love' in Japanese. In romaji,
love is written as 'ai'. In hiragana, love is written as .
(do not try to understand the stroke by itself, just try to observe the
difference between hiragana and kanji, see the number of strokes that there are
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but what is the amount of space on the line of a notebook that would be
(busy). Now, let's write the same word ("love") in kanji:
What do we notice? There are more traits, the complexity increases.
significantly, the space consumed on the notebook line decreases.
So, we understand that kanji is used to write certain words in
hiragana that has another representation. Not all words.
in hiragana that has a kanji, but every kanji has a word in
hiragana.
Now let's understand the concept of furigana. What is furigana?
Well, suppose you are reading a text in Japanese, and the following kanji appears.
to read
But, suppose you have already studied Hiragana and that you know that ka se
but 'ka', and that is read as 'sa' (this would already be known to you, as you ...
hypothesis would have already studied the hiraganas). So, the Orientals created a way for you
You can read the kanji by simply writing its reading in hiragana above it.
see:
So, in this way, now you would know that this kanji is read as 'kasa' (since above
it is written the hiragana referring to 'ka' and then the one referring to 'sa'. To this
we call it defurigana. The kanjis from our booklet will all be in
furigana.
So, now, let's study hiragana.
Part 2 - Hiragana
As already introduced, hiragana has 46 characters. But what do these
What characters come to establish? Well, before anything else, let's stop calling the
Japanese characters simply of characters. From now on we will call them
kanas (pronounced 'cánás').
Unlike Portuguese, the Japanese alphabet does not symbolize a set of
letters, but rather a set of syllables. This tells us that each kana already has,
in advance, your own pronunciation (which does not happen in Portuguese, like the letter
h
Another important factor when it comes to writing a kana is how to write it. This
it must be taken into account because every kana has a correct order to be done
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each of its strokes. The table below illustrates each of the hiragana, as well as the
order of the strokes (this MUST necessarily be memorized).
The correct order of the Japanese alphabet, according to the table below, is from right to
from left to right, top to bottom. Thus, the correct order is: a-i-u-e-o-ka-ki-ku-ke-
ko-...
Use our hiragana training and practice booklet to train better.
writing and memorization of the 46 kanas below:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th ...
To make things a little easier, let's give names to the columns:
1st column: column of "A" 6th column: column of 'H'
2nd column: column of "K" 7th column: column of 'M'
3rd column: column of the "S" 8th column: column of 'Y'
4th column: T column 9th column: column of 'R'
5th column: column of 'N' 10th column: column of 'W'
The last column is for nasalization 'nn' (ask your teacher for the pronunciation, to
better understand).
Part 3 - Variations of hiragana
There are three types of variations of hiragana. Let's study each one separately:
1–Variations with 'tenten' and 'maru'
Before anything else, not all kanas vary with this variation. Only
the channels of the column of 'K', 'S', 'T', and 'H' vary (where the latter
has two variations).
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