Razon

Orthography and Phonology

10 min read

Orthography

The Japanese language makes use of three different scripts - two syllabaries and one logographic script. The syllabaries, however, do not represent individual syllables. Instead, each character in them represents a single mora.

All three scripts are used simultaneously when writing but they usually serve different purposes. Japanase may be written either horizontally (left-to-right and top-to-bottom) or vertically (top-to-bottom and right-to-left).

Kana

Kana is the collective name used for the two syllabaries used in the Japanese writing system - hiragana and katakana. Each symbol in these syllabaries representes a single mora and both syllabaries represent the same set of sounds. However, they serve different purposes. Below are tables of both hiragana and katakana symbols, written together with their pronunciation and romanization.

Hiragana
aiueo
øあ
/a/
a		い
/i/
i		う
/u/
u		え
/e/
e		お
/o/
o
kか
/ka/
ka		き
/ki/
ki		く
/ku/
ku		け
/ke/
ke		こ
/ko/
ko
gが
/ga/
ga		ぎ
/gi/
gi		ぐ
/gu/
gu		げ
/ge/
ge		ご
/go/
go
sさ
/sa/
sa		し
/ɕi/
shi		す
/su/
su		せ
/se/
se		そ
/so/
so
zざ
/(d)za/
za		じ
/(d)ʑi/
ji		ず
/(d)zu/
zu		ぜ
/(d)ze/
ze		ぞ
/(d)zo/
zo
tた
/ta/
ta		ち
/tɕi/
chi		つ
/tsu/
tsu		て
/te/
te		と
/to/
to
dだ
/da/
da		ぢ
/(d)ʑi/
ji		づ
/(d)zu/
zu		で
/de/
de		ど
/do/
do
hは
/ha/, /wa/
ha, wa		ひ
/çi/
hi		ふ
/ɸu/
fu		へ
/he/, /e/
he, e		ほ
/ho/
ho
pぱ
/pa/
pa		ぴ
/pi/
pi		ぷ
/pu/
pu		ぺ
/pe/
pe		ぽ
/po/
po
bば
/ba/
ba		び
/bi/
bi		ぶ
/bu/
bu		べ
/be/
be		ぼ
/bo/
bo
mま
/ma/
ma		み
/mi/
mi		む
/mu/
mu		め
/me/
me		も
/mo/
mo
nな
/na/
na		に
/ni/
ni		ぬ
/nu/
nu		ね
/ne/
ne		の
/no/
no		ん
/ɴ/
n
rら
/ra/
ra		り
/ri/
ri		る
/ru/
ru		れ
/re/
re		ろ
/ro/
ro
wわ
/wa/
wa		ゐ
/i/
i
(obsolete)		𛄟
/u/
u
(obsolete)		ゑ
/e/
e
(obsolete)		を
/o/
o
(obsolete)
yや
/ja/
ya		𛀆
/i/
i
(obsolete)		ゆ
/ju/
yu		𛀁
/e/
e
(obsolete)		よ
/jo/
yo
Katakana
aiueo
øア
/a/
a		イ
/i/
i		ウ
/u/
u		エ
/e/
e		オ
/o/
o
kカ
/ka/
ka		キ
/ki/
ki		ク
/ku/
ku		ケ
/ke/
ke		コ
/ko/
ko
gガ
/ga/
ga		ギ
/gi/
gi		グ
/gu/
gu		ゲ
/ge/
ge		ゴ
/go/
go
sサ
/sa/
sa		シ
/ɕi/
shi		ス
/su/
su		セ
/se/
se		ソ
/so/
so
zザ
/(d)za/
za		ジ
/(d)ʑi/
ji		ズ
/(d)zu/
zu		ゼ
/(d)ze/
ze		ゾ
/(d)zo/
zo
tタ
/ta/
ta		チ
/tɕi/
chi		ツ
/tsu/
tsu		テ
/te/
te		ト
/to/
to
dダ
/da/
da		ヂ
/(d)ʑi/
ji		ヅ
/(d)zu/
zu		デ
/de/
de		ド
/do/
do
hハ
/ha/, /wa/
ha, wa		ヒ
/çi/
hi		フ
/ɸu/
fu		ヘ
/he/, /e/
he, e		ホ
/ho/
ho
pパ
/pa/
pa		ピ
/pi/
pi		プ
/pu/
pu		ペ
/pe/
pe		ポ
/po/
po
bバ
/ba/
ba		ビ
/bi/
bi		ブ
/bu/
bu		ベ
/be/
be		ボ
/bo/
bo
mマ
/ma/
ma		ミ
/mi/
mi		ム
/mu/
mu		メ
/me/
me		モ
/mo/
mo
nナ
/na/
na		ニ
/ɲi/
ni		ヌ
/nu/
nu		ネ
/ne/
ne		ノ
/no/
no		ン
/ɴ/
n
rラ
/ra/
ra		リ
/ri/
ri		ル
/ru/
ru		レ
/re/
re		ロ
/ro/
ro
wワ
/wa/
wa		ヰ
/i/
i
(obsolete)		𛄢
/u/
u
(obsolete)		ヱ
/e/
e
(obsolete)		ヲ
/o/
o
(obsolete, particle)
yヤ
/ja/
ya		𛄠
/i/
i
(obsolete)		ユ
/ju/
yu		𛄡
/e/
e
(obsolete)		ヨ
/jo/
yo

Voiced kana are obtained by adding the diacritic ゛(濁点(だくてん, dakuten)) to the respective voiceless kana.

Additionally, Smaller-sized versions of や, ゆ and よ for hiragana and ヤ, ユ and ヨ for katakana can be used in combination with other hiragana / katakana to form digraphs representing palatalized sounds. Each such digraph still corresponds to exactly one mora.

Hiragana Digraphs (拗音 (ようおん))
yayuyo
kきゃ
[kʲa]
kya		きゅ
[kʲɯ]
kyu		きょ
[kʲo̞]
kyo
gぎゃ
[gʲa]
gya		ぎゅ
[gʲɯ]
gyu		ぎょ
[gʲo̞]
gyo
sしゃ
[ɕa]
sha		しゅ
[ɕɯ]
shu		しょ
[ɕo̞]
sho
zじゃ
[(d)ʑa]
ja		じゅ
[(d)ʑɯ]
ju		じょ
[(d)ʑo̞]
jo
tちゃ
[tɕa]
cha		ちゅ
[tɕɯ]
chu		ちょ
[tɕo̞]
cho
dぢゃ
[(d)ʑa]
ja		ぢゅ
[(d)ʑɯ]
ju		ぢょ
[(d)ʑo̞]
jo
hひゃ
[ça]
hya		ひゅ
[çɯ]
hyu		ひょ
[ço̞]
hyo
pぴゃ
[pʲa]
pya		ぴゅ
[pʲɯ]
pyu		ぴょ
[pʲo̞]
pyo
bびゃ
[bʲa]
bya		びゅ
[bʲɯ]
byu		びょ
[bʲo̞]
byo
mみゃ
[mʲa]
mya		みゅ
[mʲɯ]
myu		みょ
[mʲo̞]
myo
nにゃ
[ɲa]
nya		にゅ
[ɲɯ]
nyu		にょ
[ɲo̞]
nyo
rりゃ
[rʲa]
rya		りゅ
[rʲɯ]
ryu		りょ
[rʲo̞]
ryo
Katakana Digraphs (拗音 (ようおん))
yayuyo
kキャ
[kʲa]
kya		キュ
[kʲɯ]
kyu		キョ
[kʲo̞]
kyo
gギャ
[gʲa]
gya		ギュ
[gʲɯ]
gyu		ギョ
[gʲo̞]
gyo
sシャ
[ɕa]
sha		シュ
[ɕɯ]
shu		ショ
[ɕo̞]
sho
zジャ
[(d)ʑa]
ja		ジュ
[(d)ʑɯ]
ju		ジョ
[(d)ʑo̞]
jo
tチャ
[tɕa]
cha		チュ
[tɕɯ]
chu		チョ
[tɕo̞]
cho
dヂャ
[(d)ʑa]
ja		ヂュ
[(d)ʑɯ]
ju		ヂョ
[(d)ʑo̞]
jo
hヒャ
[ça]
hya		ヒュ
[çɯ]
hyu		ヒョ
[ço̞]
hyo
pピャ
[pʲa]
pya		ピュ
[pʲɯ]
pyu		ピョ
[pʲo̞]
pyo
bビャ
[bʲa]
bya		ビュ
[bʲɯ]
byu		ビョ
[bʲo̞]
byo
mミャ
[mʲa]
mya		ミュ
[mʲɯ]
myu		ミョ
[mʲo̞]
myo
nニャ
[ɲa]
nya		ニュ
[ɲɯ]
nyu		ニョ
[ɲo̞]
nyo
rリャ
[rʲa]
rya		リュ
[rʲɯ]
ryu		リョ
[rʲo̞]
ryo

Hiragana is primarily used to represent grammatical elements such as particles, suffixes and inflectional endings. It is also used for certain native Japanese words.

Katakana is primarily used when writing words of foreign origin and onomatopoeias. It can also be used to emphasize a word (similar to using italicizing it). Company names, plant and animal names as well as slang words are usually written in katakana, too.

Long Vowels

Writing long vowels in hiragana is done in the following ways:

Representing Long Vowels in Hiragana
SpellingPronunciationOccurrence
ああ/aː/native words
いい/iː/native words
うう/uː/native words and Sino-Japanese words
えい/e/ or /e.i/native and Sino-Japanese words
おお/oː/native words
おう/oː/native and Sino-Japanese words

Writing long vowels in katakana depends on the word’s origin. In loanwords, the symbol “ー” is used to represent any long vowel depending on the katakana symbol which precedes it. When native or Sino-Japanese words are written in katakana, the same conventions are used as with hiragana.

Consonant Gemination

Consonant gemination is achieved by placing a smaller version of the kana for “tsu” (っ for hiragana and ッ in katakana) before a kana which starts with a consonant. This smaller symbol is called 促音(そくおん, sokuon) and is counted as a separate mora.

Usually, only unvoiced consonants can be geminated. However, the consonants /n/ and /m/ are geminated when preceded by ん (hiragana) or ン (katakana). In these situations, ん / ン assimilate to /n/ or /m/, respectively.

Kanji

Kanji ((漢字(かんじ))) are the symbols which comprise the logographic script used by the Japanese writing system. Historically, these symbols were adapted from the Chinese script and, in contrast to kana, they mostly represent meaning instead of sound.

Each kanji has a correct way of writing (stroke order) and memorizing it is crucial to being able to read and write handwritten kanji, although it is not necessary if you only plan on reading printed Japanese.

Readings

Kanji can have multiple pronunciations, called readings, depending on the context. These readings are divided into two categories:

  • 音読み(おんよみ, on’yomi, ON readings) - these readings derive from Japanese approximations of pronunciations from earlier stages of various Chinese languages;
  • 訓読み(くんよみ, kun’yomi, KUN readings) - these are native Japanese readings.

Most kanji have at least one reading from each category. In dictionaries, kun’yomi are written in hiragana and on’yomi are written in katakana. Contextual cues are needed to decide which reading to use for a given kanji.

Moreover, kanji are sometimes used in a way similar to kana, i.e. for their pronunciation instead of their meaning. In such cases, the kanji are known as ateji (当て字, 宛字, あてじ) and this practice has largely fallen out favor and has been replaced by katakana. Nevertheless, some common words are still written like this.

Radicals

Kanji are composed of smaller graphical elements known as radicals. Some radicals also function as standalone kanji. If you recognize the radicals which compose a given unknown kanji, then you can often guess both what meaning the kanji has, how it should be pronounced and what the correct stroke order for it is. However, radicals often have an altered appearance in various kanji, so it is often not optimal.

Tip: Learning Kanji

Instead of learning each kanji in a word together with a comprehensive list of all of its possible meanings and readings, you should just learn the meaning and pronunciation of the entire word. With time, you will naturally be able to pick up how kanji in new words are pronounced and what they mean.

Furigana

Kanji may sometimes be written alongside either hiragana or katakana to indicate their reading such as 漢かん字じ. This is usually done in educational contexts or when the reading of a kanji is ambiguous. Kana written in this way is known as furigana.

Phonology

Vowels

Japanese has five vowel phonemes.

Japanese Vowel Phonemes
FrontCentralBack
Closeiu
Mideo
Opena

These phonemes are realized by the following allophones:

  • /a/ by either [ä] or [ɑ̟];
  • /i/ by [i];
  • /u/ by [ɯ];
  • /e/ by [e̞];
  • /o/ by [o̞].

The vowels /i/ and /ɯ/ are often devoiced when they are between or after the consonants /k/, /s/, /t/, /p/. The movement of the lips and tongue are essentially the same, but the vocal cords do not vibrate.

Consonants

Moras

The phonological system of Japanese is based on moras, not syllables. One can think of spoken Japanese as being accompanied by a regular pulse with a constant tempo. Each beat corresponds to exactly one mora. Unlike syllables, which can be either short or long, moras always have the same length. This means that a single syllable can be comprised of one or more moras.

Pitch Accent

English has a stress accent system in which each word has one syllable which is emphasized more than the rest by slightly increasing its length and volume. By contrast, Japanese has a pitch accent ((高低アクセント, kōtei akusento)) system. A mora is accented by pronouncing it with a high pitch followed by a drop in pitch on the next mora in the word. This drop in pitch is known as a downstep.

Each word has either no moras accented (unaccented words) or exactly one mora accented (accented words), which means that once tone falls from high to low, it cannot go back to high within the same word.

There are four fundamental patterns for the pitch accent which words may follow:

Japanese Pitch Accent Patterns
NameDescriptionCountourExample
平(へい)板(ばん)型(がた)
heibangata		This is the pattern which unaccented words follow. The pitch begins low on the first mora, moves slightly higher on the second mora and remains at that level for the rest of the word.／￣(￣)Example
頭(あたま)高(だか)型(がた)
atamadakagata		The accent falls on the first mora. The pitch begins high on the first mora, moves down on the second mora and remains at that level for the rest of the word.＼＿(＿)Example
中(なか)高(だか)型(がた)
nakadakagata		The accent falls on a mora in the middle of the word. The pitch begins low on the first mora, rises gradually until it peaks at the accented mora, then moves down on the subsequent mora and remains at that level for the rest of the word.／(￣)＼Example
尾(お)高(だか)型(がた)
odakagata		The accent falls on the last mora of the word. The pitch begins low on the first mora and rises gradually until it peaks at the accented mora. If the word undergoes agglutination, then the pitch drops low on the first particle and remains at that level for the rest of the particles.／￣(＼＿)Example

Sources

  1. Japanese Writing System - Wikipedia
  2. Japanese Phonology - Wikipedia
  3. Hiragana - Wikipedia
  4. Katakana - Wikipedia
  5. Kanji - Wikipedia
  6. Furigana - Wikipedia
  7. Ateji - Wikipedia
  8. Pronunciation I: Vowels - IMABI
  9. Pronunciation II: Consonants - IMABI
  10. Pronunciation III: Pitch Accent & Devoicing - IMABI
  11. Hiragana ひらがな - IMABI
  12. Katakana カタカナ - IMABI
  13. Kana III: Orthography - IMABI
  14. Kanji Intro I - IMABI
  15. Kanji Intro II - IMABI

Graph View