Japanese Alphabet (Hiragana)

[DrTorture28]

I've noticed that different people write Hiragana characters slightly differently. An example could be the joining of the two individual shapes on 'Ki'. Does this make any difference in pronunciation or is it just a matter of preference?

[57stolenvoices1]

i really want to learn japanese but im not sure where to start. i can speak english and spanish both fluently. and i wanted to learn a lenguage from another part of the globe

[kelvbot2]

poor n all in a group by himself... well, that's what you get when you have green hair... lol

[Agelos25487]

sixontan re eunia!!!

[mtngap21]

Im trying to spell strawberry in japanese which is ichigo. And idk what letter makes the "go" can someone help me???

[MisticWays]

@mtngap21 I don't know I just started learning x3 Am I right??

いちご = I-chi-go??

[XZAceXZ]

@MisticWays can you write those letters with an american keyboard? lol

[MisticWays]

@XZAceXZ Can we?? Lol

[XZAceXZ]

@MisticWays :S

[121itzel]

kanjii 

[ArturoYamashita]

Ya means allow and the number eight.

[xxcrashxx96]

"ya"



[xxcrashxx96]

"YA"



[xxcrashxx96]

YA

[xxcrashxx96]

ya



[Ysspiano]

すごい

[TheChazza1121]

why is there spaces in the grid???

[1991JMP]

wow i never nee wi and we

[ImJustKindaHere]

ok, you gotta remind us that yall read from right to left... I was like "where the hell is this guy?"

[Tazmaneer]

@ImJustKindaHere You don't have to. Japanese people nowadays write/read from the left to right, like English.

[peasent1287]

the wi and wu symbols aren't used anymore

[tom101942]

@peasent1287 I know, they were just included in the chart I found on the internet :L

[2jzgtejza80]

@tom101942

wow Tom, my name is Tomislav on roman (Croatian), and I noticed that the Japanese pronounce the letter just as we are in Croatia, a little differently. I thought that the Japanese is the hardest language.

私は歓迎 :D

[tom101942]

@2jzgtejza80 Yes, a lot of people who do not speak English as a first language find Japanese easier because most languages use the same vowel sounds.

[LearnChineseJapanese]

@tom101942 I am english and i think japanese pronounciation is easy. Now Chinese, thats hard to prononce at times

[LepiCale95]

@2jzgtejza80 same goes for Serbian language,buraz :D

[inblank]

@hiroic7 it's not when it's not your native language! >=|

[Lingling627]

Wth Japan More then 26 letters how us english men gonna learn easy A-Z and thats like 30 something >=(

[MsChickchack]

I don't really understand, where's the ''b'' and these letters? I'm only 11 years old so sorry for that dump question...

[tom101942]

@MsChickchack Ah no that's fine don't worry, that's a good question actually. Basically, the chart I have up there is all the basic characters. To get sounds like ga, da, za, ba, pa etc you add a dakuon or a handakuon. For example: You turn "ka" (か) into "ga" (が) by adding a dakuon (the little dots). You get the "b" sounds by adding a dakuon to ha, hi, fu, he ho to get ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ. and a handakuon (little circle) to get pa, pi, pu, pe, po　ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ.

[MsChickchack]

@tom101942 Oh...! Now i understand, i hope i'll get a japanese keyboard soon ^^ Thanks a lot for helping me ;)

[tom101942]

@MsChickchack No problem :).

[SMstikx7]

whats the reason for 2 ji and zu?

[tom101942]

@SMstikx7 In spoken Japanese there's no "Di" or "Du" sounds so they didn't include them in their alphabet.

[tilou137]

hi my name is paige what's the japanese name :) xoxox

[tom101942]

@tilou137 ペイジ

[JueJue997]

@tom101942

How do you form name to japanese

 by pronounciation or?

[tom101942]

@JueJue997 You use the Katakana characters to spell out your name phonetically. For example, my name is Tom so in katakana, my name is トム (pronounced "to-mu". What's your name? I could write it for you if you like.

[clawjungleranger]

@tom101942 HOW DO YOU TYPE JAPANESE ON THE COMPUTER THATS MY PROBLEM

[mia0032]

@clawjungleranger

We use English Alphabet keyboard to type Japanese character... for example, if i you type "YA" , it change it to や. (yah). when we want to use Kanji（漢字）、we type " space key" .. type Ya then it change to " や" and if u type space-key, PC suggest u some kanji " 矢(arrow) or 夜(night) or 野(field) or 谷(valley) or 家 (house)". all Kanji that i wrote pronounce "Yah" but they have different meanings so we have to choose the one we want to use.

[Higurashi106]

@tom101942 My names Alex ^^

[EuroDivision]

Did you start from top left?

[tom101942]

@EuroDivision No from top right.

[pillowpillowy1]

Sorry Im asking too much heres my last question how do u say mae in japanese and how tk write it .... Sorry ;)

[tom101942]

@pillowpillowy1 Lol. Don't worry. It's pronounced "Mah-yeh" and written 前.

[pillowpillowy1]

But how do u say it ?

[tom101942]

@pillowpillowy1 MA-RAN.

[pillowpillowy1]

My sister's name is Marlan xD whats the japanese name lol ;)

[tom101942]

@pillowpillowy1 マーラン

[swisscakeroll123]

umm can you do swisscakeroll? but i dont think it could be writen cause like it doesnt have a meaning or somthing i dont know i just want to write my username!!!!

[tom101942]

@swisscakeroll123 スイスケーキロール

[SHOSHANNA83]

thank you so much!

[SHOSHANNA83]

I would like to know how to spell my name in japanese my name is hoshi

[tom101942]

@SHOSHANNA83

In hiragana it would be ほし

And in Kanji it would be 星(star)

[Flakkey]

I have a question, how do you write 'Eve' in Japanese? My teacher didn't know about the 'v' :(

[tom101942]

Lol. Sorry it took me a while to answer, havent been on in ages. You write Eve as either イーブ (more Japanese) or イーヴ (More western)

[Flakkey]

oh cool : o thanks :]

[petadd]

Wow, thanks a lot, this video is extremely helpful. But I don't understand how the second set of Hiragana is different from the first--it calls them "Modified syllables: consonant plus basic vowel". How are they different from the first set "Basic syllables: vowel, consonant plus vowel, and n"?

Thanks a ton :D

[tom101942]

Because the modified syllables have Dakuon or Handaukon (゛゜) on them to change them into different sounds.

E.g:

か(ka) + a dakuon changes the sound to が(ga)

[1bontenbon]

i hava a question. is there a way you can use or pronunciate or write the letters L and R in Japanese apart from putting it in romanji?

[tom101942]

No, Japanese find it very difficult to pronounce R and L sounds so there is only one sound for R and L.

[1bontenbon]

thanks no i got a question out of the way.=0

[punkrockclique]

wow.. very useful!

domo arigATOU gozaimasu!

[tom101942]

Do itashimashite.

[Raymasaki]

we & wi are like never used

BUT i have to say this is the best

Hiragana lesson, written out the Correct way to. I know ALL hiragana i just thought id check this out.

[cncredalert17]

I have a question also :)

What about Kanji that do not exist in Katakana?

How are those incorporated into words?

Thank you :)

[tom101942]

:D. Well usually a Kanji symbolises an object or an idea. Like: there is a Kanji for Sun, for moon, for ocean etc. But sometimes (Usually for verbs) there is a Kanji at the start of the word followed by Hiragana. This is so that you can change word slightly depending on the situation. The word "行きます" (Ikimasu) means "To go". At the start of the word, there is a Kanji "行" which means "travelling"but it is then followed by the hiragana "きます" which turns it into the verb "To go".

[cncredalert17]

oh ok. Thank you :)

But wow, confusing! hahaha

So many symbols and characters to know!

[tom101942]

Yeah I know :S. Lol. 46 hiragana, 46 katakana, 2000 or so Kanji. :S

[cncredalert17]

Wow!  Do you know them all!?!?

[tom101942]

Nah!! :D. Lol. I know all of Hiragna and Katakana and about 400 Kanji.

[Herrjbk]

lucky

[Omnimalevolent1]

it ain't a question of luck, but rather just dedication... :D

[clowd45]

hi i would like to know how to spell roxas

[tom101942]

In Japanese? It would be: "ロクサス" pronounced "RO-KU-SA-SU"

Hope I was helpful.

[inforMattive]

Hello, I have a question to your answer here.

Why isn't the hiragana for "Ro" used in Rokusau. instead you have a square.

Isn't that the kanji for mouth or something?

Thank you :)

[tom101942]

Ah!! You asked the question I wanted to be asked. Yes "口" Is the Kanji for mouth. But in Japanese foreign words like "Roxas" are written in Katakana. Katakana is a different alphabet entirely to Hiragana. And the reason why you mistook the Katakana for "RO" for the Kanji for mouth is because Katakana developed from Kanji and so many Katakana look exactly like Kanji. 口= mouth. ロ= Katakana "RO"

[inforMattive]

Ohhh!!! I see! I see! haha :D

Thank you :)

[tom101942]

lol

[clowd45]

cool i learn't somthing eles too thanks!

[tom101942]

:D No problem. Lol

[clowd45]

thanks!! :)

[tom101942]

And to answer your second question, I used to have that problem aswell. What I do now is I use this really good Japanese word proccessing program called NJstar. It is a free trial download and it contains a pop-up dictionary which if you move the cursor over a kanji you have found and copied and pasted into it then it will tell you the word's prounounciation in hiragana followed by the meaning. Write in "NJStar Japanese WP" on google, download the free version and tell me if it helped. :D

[tom101942]

Well. Japanese use three scripts; Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. When writing in Japanese Hiragana and Kanji are used together. By which I mean that you write a kanji and then usually they have Hiragana after or before the kanji. Like this: お元気ですか. Personally. I prefer hiragana as it is much more simple but unfortunately if you want to be able to read Japanese you will need to know kanji aswell. katakana is used to write words that are foreign to the japanese and for advertising.

[tom101942]

Don't mention it :D

[tom101942]

Thanks!! :D. The symbol that looks like ladder; "日" Is what Japanese call a Kanji. It means "Nichi" or "Hi" which means "Sun" or "day". "今": This one means "Ima" which means "now". The reason you couldnt find them on the internet was because they arent Hiragana. They're Kanji. I hope I helped you.

[RicaWinter08]

hard :(

[tom101942]

Its my birthday + a random 2 because tom10194 was taken.

[JackBarnett21]

Is tom 10 1942 some indication of something?

[JackBarnett21]

i was looking for any indication of the sounds and what they referred to. but thanks for these extra points.

j

[tom101942]

Sorry! I tried to have a flash which included the characters lighting up but the characters would only appear as boxes.

[JackBarnett21]

How do i know which letter you are referring to unless something lights up or is highlighted in some way.

best wishes

jack

[tom101942]

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I tried to do it. Just remember that it goes from right to the left, top to bottom like traditional Japanese writing.

[tom101942]

Also romaji is written next to the character so you can follow which one it says