Japanese Writing System Overview

Overview

This lecture covers the basics of written Japanese, focusing on the hiragana script, its characters, pronunciation rules, modifications, and some grammar usages essential for reading and writing Japanese.

Japanese Writing System Overview

• Japanese uses three writing scripts: hiragana, katakana, and kanji.
• Hiragana is the basic phonetic script representing syllable sounds, mainly used for grammatical words, adjective/verb endings, and native Japanese vocabulary.
• Katakana represents the same syllables as hiragana but is used mainly for foreign words and written differently.
• Kanji characters represent concepts or whole words and have multiple readings, making them harder to master.

Hiragana Basics

• There are 46 basic hiragana characters, each representing a single syllable sound.
• The five vowels are: あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), お (o).
• All other characters are combinations of a consonant plus a vowel, except for ん (n).
• When written vertically, Japanese is read right to left.

Modifying Hiragana Sounds

• Adding a dakuten (゛) mark voices the consonant (e.g., か (ka) → が (ga)).
• The handakuten (゜) mark, exclusive to the 'h' column, makes the sound plosive (e.g., は (ha) → ぱ (pa)).
• Diagraphs (yoon) combine a consonant+i kana with small や (ya), ゆ (yu), or よ (yo) to form new sounds (e.g., きゃ (kya)).

Special Usage & Grammar

• Some hiragana change pronunciation as grammatical particles: は (ha) is pronounced ‘wa’ as a topic marker, へ (he) as ‘e’ for direction, and を (wo) as ‘o’ for object marker.
• ん (n) is only found at the end or middle of words and its pronunciation may shift based on the following consonant.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Hiragana — Basic Japanese phonetic script for native words and grammar.
• Katakana — Script for foreign words and names, with syllables matching hiragana.
• Kanji — Logographic script representing words or ideas, often with multiple readings.
• Dakuten — Two lines added to a kana to voice its consonant sound.
• Handakuten — Small circle added to 'h' kana to make the sound plosive.
• Diagraphs (Yoon) — Combination of "i" row kana with small "ya", "yu", or "yo" to create blended sounds.

Action Items / Next Steps

• Practice writing hiragana characters and simple vocabulary.
• Review and memorize the 46 basic hiragana and their modified forms.
• Try forming and reading words with dakuten, handakuten, and diagraphs.
• Prepare for learning katakana and its use for foreign words in the next lessons.