Day 0: Hiragana, Katakana

Hiragana

Here are 50 hiragana characters with their correct pronunciations in English:

あ (a)    い (i)    う (u)    え (e)    お (o)
か (ka)   き (ki)   く (ku)   け (ke)   こ (ko)
さ (sa)   し (shi)  す (su)   せ (se)   そ (so)
た (ta)   ち (chi)  つ (tsu)  て (te)   と (to)
な (na)   に (ni)   ぬ (nu)   ね (ne)   の (no)
は (ha)   ひ (hi)   ふ (fu)   へ (he)   ほ (ho)
ま (ma)   み (mi)   む (mu)   め (me)   も (mo)
や (ya)             ゆ (yu)            よ (yo) 
ら (ra)   り (ri)   る (ru)   れ (re)   ろ (ro)  
わ (wa)                                を (wo)
ん (n)    
                

This arrangement makes it easier to see the patterns in the hiragana system. Each row typically represents a consonant sound, with the five vowel sounds (a, i, u, e, o) progressing across the columns.

Katakana

Here are 50 katakana characters for each letter:

ア (a)    イ (i)    ウ (u)    エ (e)    オ (o)
カ (ka)   キ (ki)   ク (ku)   ケ (ke)   コ (ko)
サ (sa)   シ (shi)  ス (su)   セ (se)   ソ (so)
タ (ta)   チ (chi)  ツ (tsu)  テ (te)   ト (to)
ナ (na)   ニ (ni)   ヌ (nu)   ネ (ne)   ノ (no)
ハ (ha)   ヒ (hi)   フ (fu)   ヘ (he)   ホ (ho)
マ (ma)   ミ (mi)   ム (mu)   メ (me)   モ (mo)
ヤ (ya)             ユ (yu)            ヨ (yo)   
ラ (ra)   リ (ri)   ル (ru)   レ (re)   ロ (ro)   
ワ (wa)                                ヲ (wo)
ン (n)
                

Katakana is like italic letters in English. It's primarily used for:

1. Foreign loanwords
2. Onomatopoeia
3. Scientific and technical terms
4. Company names
5. Emphasis

Dakuten and Handakuten

There are two modifiers called "dakuten" and "handakuten" in Japanese. They modify the pronunciation of certain kana characters:

1. Dakuten (だくてん、濁点):

• Represented by two small strokes (゛) in the upper right corner of a kana
• Changes unvoiced consonants to voiced consonants
• Examples:

  か (ka) → が (ga)
  き (ki) → ぎ (gi)
  く (ku) → ぐ (gu)
  け (ke) → げ (ge)
  こ (ko) → ご (go)
                      

2. Handakuten (はんだくてん、半濁点):

• Represented by a small circle (゜) in the upper right corner of a kana
• Used only with the "h" column kana to change them to "p" sounds
• Examples:

  は (ha) → ぱ (pa)
  ひ (hi) → ぴ (pi)
  ふ (fu) → ぷ (pu)
  へ (he) → ぺ (pe)
  ほ (ho) → ぽ (po)
                      

These modifications apply to both hiragana and katakana. In katakana, they look like this:

Dakuten examples:

カ (ka) → ガ (ga)
キ (ki) → ギ (gi)
ク (ku) → グ (gu)
ケ (ke) → ゲ (ge)
コ (ko) → ゴ (go)
                

Handakuten examples:

ハ (ha) → パ (pa)
ヒ (hi) → ピ (pi)
フ (fu) → プ (pu)
ヘ (he) → ペ (pe)
ホ (ho) → ポ (po)
                

These markers are crucial in Japanese as they significantly expand the range of sounds that can be represented using the kana writing systems. They allow for the representation of voiced consonants (with dakuten) and the "p" sound (with handakuten).