Japanese Lessons

Konnichi wa (hello). Okay, first of all, I should begin by telling you that in Japanese, there is no "alphabet". There is "romaji", which is writing in Japanese, using roman-style letters, like I did at the intro, there, saying "konnichi wa". Then there's two sets of syllabry (sets of "sounds", consisting mostly of single vowel syllables, or syllables containing consonant followed by vowel. The occasional few have two consonants followed by a vowel, or two vowels), one rather graceful looking, called "hiragana", which is used for words and names native to the Japanese language. Then the other more stick-like form is called "katakana", which is used for words and names foreign to the Japanese language, and for names of companies. Then there's "kanji", which is an advanced system of "ideographs". Complex symbols that sometimes look like pictures, and at other times, are much more complex to figure out. One kanji can have multiple readings (pronunciations), and sometimes, depending on which reading is used, has multiple meanings. There are countless kanji. In Japan, to read a standard news paper, one must know the entire spoken language, mastered both hiragana and katakana, and memorized approximately over 2000 kanji. So let's review. - Romaji: Japanese written in roman characters. - Hiragana: Graceful looking syllabry used for words native to Japanese language. - Katakana: Stick-like syllabry used for words foreign to the Japanese language, and for company names - Kanji: Advanced "ideograph" system. Picture-like symbols, each one with one or more meanings and several different pronunciations. The following are some Hiragana and Katakana Charts. They are in gif image format. Please, feel free to save and use them for your own use, and on your website, if you want. And please, give other people copies. You have my permission. :)

Hiragana Chart

Katakana Chart

Collectively, hiragana and katakana are called "kana". Sometimes, there are other sounds needed. This can be done by putting the base syllable before a miniaturized version of another. For example, "ryu" is made with hiragana by placing hiragana's "ri" sound before a mini version of the hiragana's "yu". Combined Hiragana and Combined Katakana charts are available at the supplied link buttons below.

Combined Hiragana Chart

Combined Katakana Chart

Sometimes, in Japanese, you'll see double consonants. This is possible by putting a miniature "tsu" character before another syllable. In the case, the sounds are pronounced seperately, and with a glottal stop in the throat in between. (Glottal: A tightness in the throat). "Kitto", for example, isn't pronounced [Ki-to] or [Kit-o], but instead, is pronounced [Kit-to]. Sometimes in Japanese music, the first syllable in doubled in this case, so "Kitto" would be pronounced [Ki-i-to], but still written the same. Sometimes a word will begin with the mini-tsu, which means that the first syllable, which would be a consonant, would be pronounced simply with that glottalization mentioned earlier. In the case that a word ends with the mini-tsu, that means that the previous syllable ends with a glottal stop. The only consonants that cannot be doubled are m, w and y. I don't think r can be, either, but I could  be wrong on that account.     The consonant "n" CAN be doubled, but in a different way, and is pronounced differently. Notice the "lonely-n" on the kana charts? You're going to place that before na, ni, nu, ne, no, nya, nyu, nye or nyo. Say, in this case, I'm spelling out the sound "sonna". It'd be the "so" character, followed by the "lonely-n" and then the "na" character. It'd be pronounced as if the lonely-n is pronounced as it's own syllable, like this: [so-n-na].

The "Mini-Tsu"

An example of its use. This makes the sound "notte"

Vowels can also be doubled. When they're doubled, the sound of the vowel doesn't change. Its length is simply extended for another syllable. For example, when romanized (written in romaji) as "oo", it wouldn't make the English "oo" sound. Instead, it would simply be a longer "oh" sound than usual. The same with the romanized "ou". When romanized as "ou", or written in kana using the matching syllabry, it is still pronounced simply as a long "oh". The same goes for "ee". It's not pronounced "ee" as in "peel". Instead, it's a long "eh" sound, as is "ei". The only exceptions to this rule is if the o or e ended one word, and the u or i started another after it. Like in "shite iru". In this case, the two are seperately pronounced. [shi-te i-ru]. In hiragana, a lengthened vowel is possible by simply placing two identical vowel symbols together, with the exception of "ou" and "ei", where it's "o" and "u" together, or "e" and "i" together. Otherwise, it's "aa", "ii", "uu", "ee" and "oo". In katakana, a lengthened vowel is possible by writing a vowel symbol followed by a long straight line. This line is horizontal if writing in the modern "left-to-right-in-rows" style, or vertical  if writing in the traditional "right-to-left-in-columns". The only exception to this, once again, is if it's "ou" or "ei".

Pronunciation, as in any other language, is just as important, if not, more important in Japanese. Making a mistake in pronunciation can sometimes get you in big trouble, in Japan. So here's a few simple pointers. "R" is probably the most important. The Japanese "R" is pronounced half-way between an L and a Spanish R. When you make the R sound, place the tip of your tongue just at the roof of your mouth and flick the tip of the tongue off the inside of your top row of teeth. Practice this, and it'll sound perfect. Some Europeans say it sounds like a "D". Next are the "T" and "D". Make sure not to make them too soft, like in "attic" or "ladder". Japanese people may confuse it with their "R". T and D are pronounced very hard, like in "top" and "dark". "G" is important too. Never pronounce your "G" as a "J". It's always a solid G, like in "gold" or "game". A normal "hard g" pronunciation will pass, but it's even more impressive when done properly. The proper way sounds almost like "ng" in "king" or "bang". Practice this by saying "king-a", gradually taking away the "ki" at the beginning. Practice the different vowels; "king-e", "king-i", etc., until it's just "nga", "ngi" "ngu", etc.

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