Hiragana is one of two syllabic Japanese scripts used to write Japanese grammatical particles and native Japanese words when the kanji is obscure or nonexistent. The word hiragana combines the words hira , or "ordinary," and kana , or "syllabary". Developed from Chinese characters, hiragana is more cursive than the other syllabary, katakana , which is mainly for foreign loanwords and scientific terms. Hiragana is used for words without kanji, indicating parts of speech, verb tenses, particles, and grammatical endings, enabling full phonetic transcription of Japanese. It is also the most artistic script and is used in Japanese calligraphy.

How is hiragana used in the Japanese writing system?

Hiragana is a cursive syllabary in the Japanese writing system used to write native Japanese words and grammatical particles when kanji (Chinese ideograms) are obscure or nonexistent. Developed from Chinese characters, hiragana is used for verb tenses, parts of speech, particles, and grammatical endings. Hiragana represents five types of Japanese syllables: a lone vowel, consonant + vowel, single or double consonant, or consonant + y + vowel, enabling full phonetic transcription of Japanese. As a literary script, hiragana indicates inflection and possession and identifies direct objects of sentences and phrases. Prepositions, adjectives, and common phrases are written in hiragana, and a typical Japanese passage includes kanji, hiragana, and sometimes katakana .

How many characters are there in hiragana?

Each kana syllabary, including hiragana , consists of 46 basic symbols. The first five represent the vowels a, i, u, e, o. The next 40 represent syllables composed of a consonant (or consonants) followed by a vowel, such as ka, shi, fu, te, yo. The final symbol represents a final n (sometimes m). Additional sounds are made by modifying 20 of the basic hiragana symbols, done by adding nigori, a tiny circle or two small strokes resembling quotation marks, at the upper right-hand corner of the kana symbol. In that way 25 new sound symbols are produced; for example, ka becomes ga, shi becomes ji, fu becomes bu or pu, te becomes de, and so becomes zo.

What sounds or syllables does each hiragana character represent?

Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary used to write grammatical particles and native Japanese words when kanji is obscure or nonexistent. Each hiragana character represents specific sounds or syllables. The hiragana syllabary consists of 46 basic symbols. The first five represent the vowels a, i, u, e, and o . The next 40 symbols represent syllables of an initial consonant (or consonants) followed by a vowel (for example, ka, shi, fu, te, and yo ). The final symbol represents a final n (or sometimes m ). Additional sounds are made by modifying 20 of the basic hiragana symbols by adding nigori , a tiny circle or two small strokes resembling quotation marks, at the upper right-hand corner of the kana symbol. In that way 25 new sound symbols are produced; for example, ka becomes ga , shi becomes ji , fu becomes bu or pu , te becomes de , and so becomes zo .

How is hiragana different from katakana and kanji?

Hiragana , katakana , and kanji are three different scripts used in the Japanese language. Kanji is the oldest, consisting of Chinese ideograms introduced to Japan in the 5th century CE. Hiragana and katakana are syllabic scripts that developed out of linguistic necessity. Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words, grammatical particles, and words whose kanji is obscure or nonexistent. Katakana is mainly used for scientific terms, official documents, and words adopted from other languages.

When do people use hiragana instead of other Japanese scripts in writing?

In Japanese writing, hiragana is used alongside kanji and katakana scripts. Hiragana is employed to write native Japanese words when the kanji is obscure or nonexistent and to write Japanese grammatical particles. Additionally, hiragana designates parts of speech, verb tenses, particles, and grammatical endings. Hiragana is a cursive, graceful writing system used to perform grammatical functions because the kanji cannot express the inflected forms of the Japanese language. Prepositions, many adjectives, and common phrases are nearly always written in hiragana, as are numerous frequently used single words.

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hiragana

Japanese script

Also known as: hira-gana, onna-de, onnade

Written by

Jennifer Murtoff

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Top Questions

What is hiragana?
Hiragana is one of two syllabic Japanese scripts used to write Japanese grammatical particles and native Japanese words when the kanji is obscure or nonexistent. The word hiragana combines the words hira, or "ordinary," and kana, or "syllabary".

Developed from Chinese characters, hiragana is more cursive than the other syllabary, katakana, which is mainly for foreign loanwords and scientific terms. Hiragana is used for words without kanji, indicating parts of speech, verb tenses, particles, and grammatical endings, enabling full phonetic transcription of Japanese. It is also the most artistic script and is used in Japanese calligraphy.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of hiragana
2. hiragana
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How is hiragana used in the Japanese writing system?
Hiragana is a cursive syllabary in the Japanese writing system used to write native Japanese words and grammatical particles when kanji (Chinese ideograms) are obscure or nonexistent.

Developed from Chinese characters, hiragana is used for verb tenses, parts of speech, particles, and grammatical endings. Hiragana represents five types of Japanese syllables: a lone vowel, consonant + vowel, single or double consonant, or consonant + y + vowel, enabling full phonetic transcription of Japanese.

As a literary script, hiragana indicates inflection and possession and identifies direct objects of sentences and phrases. Prepositions, adjectives, and common phrases are written in hiragana, and a typical Japanese passage includes kanji, hiragana, and sometimes katakana.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How many characters are there in hiragana?
Each kana syllabary, including hiragana, consists of 46 basic symbols. The first five represent the vowels a, i, u, e, o. The next 40 represent syllables composed of a consonant (or consonants) followed by a vowel, such as ka, shi, fu, te, yo. The final symbol represents a final n (sometimes m). Additional sounds are made by modifying 20 of the basic hiragana symbols, done by adding nigori, a tiny circle or two small strokes resembling quotation marks, at the upper right-hand corner of the kana symbol. In that way 25 new sound symbols are produced; for example, ka becomes ga, shi becomes ji, fu becomes bu or pu, te becomes de, and so becomes zo.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What sounds or syllables does each hiragana character represent?
Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary used to write grammatical particles and native Japanese words when kanji is obscure or nonexistent. Each hiragana character represents specific sounds or syllables.

The hiragana syllabary consists of 46 basic symbols. The first five represent the vowels a, i, u, e, and o. The next 40 symbols represent syllables of an initial consonant (or consonants) followed by a vowel (for example, ka, shi, fu, te, and yo). The final symbol represents a final n (or sometimes m).

Additional sounds are made by modifying 20 of the basic hiragana symbols by adding nigori, a tiny circle or two small strokes resembling quotation marks, at the upper right-hand corner of the kana symbol. In that way 25 new sound symbols are produced; for example, ka becomes ga, shi becomes ji, fu becomes bu or pu, te becomes de, and so becomes zo.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is hiragana different from katakana and kanji?
Hiragana, katakana, and kanji are three different scripts used in the Japanese language. Kanji is the oldest, consisting of Chinese ideograms introduced to Japan in the 5th century CE. Hiragana and katakana are syllabic scripts that developed out of linguistic necessity.

Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words, grammatical particles, and words whose kanji is obscure or nonexistent. Katakana is mainly used for scientific terms, official documents, and words adopted from other languages.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of katakana
2. hiragana
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
When do people use hiragana instead of other Japanese scripts in writing?
In Japanese writing, hiragana is used alongside kanji and katakana scripts. Hiragana is employed to write native Japanese words when the kanji is obscure or nonexistent and to write Japanese grammatical particles. Additionally, hiragana designates parts of speech, verb tenses, particles, and grammatical endings.

Hiragana is a cursive, graceful writing system used to perform grammatical functions because the kanji cannot express the inflected forms of the Japanese language. Prepositions, many adjectives, and common phrases are nearly always written in hiragana, as are numerous frequently used single words.
2 Britannica Sources
1. kana
2. hiragana
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

hiragana, one of two sets of syllabic Japanese script. It is the set used to write Japanese grammatical particles as well as native Japanese words whose kanji (ideogram) is either obscure or nonextant. The other set, katakana, is largely reserved for scientific terms, official documents, and words adopted from other languages. The word hiragana combines the words hira, “ordinary,” and kana, “syllabary.”

Click Here to see full-size table Japanese hiragana syllabary The Japanese language can be written with three different scripts: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Kanji, which is the oldest of the three scripts, consists of Chinese ideograms (hanzi) that were introduced in Japan in the 5th century ce. But the kanji system is very complicated, consisting of tens of thousands of characters that can be combined to create additional words. Just reading a newspaper requires knowledge of some 2,000 kanji.

Hiragana and katakana, the syllabic (kana) scripts, developed over time out of linguistic necessity. Japanese differs in substantial ways from Chinese, which lacks characters that coincide with Japanese grammatical particles like wa, ga, and ni. To account for that tension, Japanese scholars experimented with adaptations to Chinese writing that conformed in various ways and degrees to the Japanese language. One such adaptation was man’yōgana, a phonetic syllabary that came into use in the 8th century. This system used Chinese characters whose Chinese pronunciation sounded similar to Japanese syllables, rather than using the ideas that the characters represented. In the 9th century man’yōgana was simplified, giving rise to the two syllabic sets, hiragana and katakana. People who received literacy training first learned the more flowing hiragana writing. Those who continued their education to become scribes or court writers then learned the more squared katakana, which was used for official documents and religious texts. Notes in hiragana are found on the back sides of official documents, suggesting that katakana was considered more formal than hiragana. Hiragana, on the other hand, came to be used for more casual purposes such as poetry, personal communication, and literature.

Hiragana is used to write words for which no kanji exist, as well as to designate parts of speech, verb tenses, particles, and grammatical endings. Hiragana can represent the five types of Japanese syllables: a lone vowel, an initial consonant + a vowel, a single consonant, a double consonant, or a consonant + y + a vowel. In this way, hiragana characters enable full phonetic transcription of Japanese. The most artistic of the scripts, hiragana is used in Japanese calligraphy. The third script, katakana, is used to write words that were borrowed from foreign languages.

Over the centuries, several variations of the two kana syllabaries developed, and attempts were made to standardize them. A dictionary of kana spellings, Kanamoji-zukai (“Usage of Kana Signs”), was compiled by Gyōa, a Buddhist priest, in the late 14th century and contained about a thousand words. Another priest, Keichu, produced the Waji shōranshō (“Corrections to Errors in Kana”) in 1693 after studying historical spelling in documents from the 8th and 9th centuries. It was the definitive source on kana spellings until the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1900s the government began standardizing the writing system, including the shape of the kana characters, and regulating the use of kanji and kana.

Jennifer Murtoff

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