Getting to Know the Japanese Alphabets!

 Hi there!

We are going to take a look at the Japanese alphabets and the basic pronunciations! We already know how to say "Japanese language" in Japanese:

Kanji: 日本語

However, note that this is only one way to write this word. In Japanese, we have three alphabets: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. This is how to write Nihongo in Hiragana and Katakana:

Hiragana: にほんご

Katakana: ニホンゴ

But what is the difference among these alphabets?

Hiragana: A phonetic script used for native Japanese words and grammatical elements. It has 46 basic characters.

Katakana: Another phonetic script, primarily used for foreign words, names, and loanwords. It also has 46 basic characters.

Kanji: A logographic script derived from Chinese characters, used for most nouns, verbs, and adjectives. There are over 2,000 commonly used Kanji characters.

You can try to search for how Kanji characters have been created through time, but these characters basically seemed to represent well the concepts that the ancient writers wanted to show. For example, take a look at the following Kanji characters. The first one is "ki", meaning "tree", while the second one is "mori", meaning "forest". You can see that "ki" looks like a tree (just try your best for that), while "mori" is composed of three "ki" characters, or three trees. Sometimes you'll face some strange Kanji, but I think it is just like trying to see constellations as the ancients used to see.

Sooner or later, you will note that instead of only using one alphabet to write sentences, we have to use all three alphabets. For example, take a look at this:

There we have all three alphabets being used at once! That's where the challenge is, so try your best to memorize Hiragana and Katakana first, and then you can gradually learn new Kanji characters.

HIRAGANA

Here we have the Hiragana alphabet. Notice that, in Japanese, vowels are ordered: "a, i, u, e, o", instead of "a, e, i, o, u".

KATAKANA

Here we have the Katakana alphabet.

But wait!

We have some more characters for the Hiragana and Katakana alphabets! Take a look at the following image. You'll see that there are two symbols in Japanese used to modify characters to other pronunciations. These are the "tenten" and the "maru".

Now take a look at the following image and notice that Hiragana and Katakana characters:

TEN-TEN

Beginning with (x), becomes (y)...

K → G

S → Z

T → D

H → B

MARU

Beginning with (x), becomes (y)...

H → P

It may seem confusing first, but it will become easier as you learn words. :]

KANJI

There are over 2000 Kanji, so you may see that you can find charts in google searching for every type of 'things'. For example, here you have some basic kanji:

However, try to search for all types of Kanji on the internet, such as "animals kanji":

PRONUNCIATION

It does not make sense to learn these characters if you do not know how to pronounce them. Here you can hear the pronunciation for the Hiragana and Katakana characters:

https://pollylingu.al/ja/en/alphabet

Here is a quick video teaching how to pronounce Hiragana and Katakana characters:

Here you can download a wallpaper with Hiragana and Katakana alphabets for your smartphone. First letter (black) is Hiragana, and second one (orange) is Katakana. This can make your learning much easier. Every time you forget about a Japanese character, take a look at this wallpaper!

https://blog.lingodeer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/lingodeer-kana-wallpaper-aug2020-473x1024.png

Now you can train a little Japanese alphabet everyday! To do that, just use your Duolingo app. You'll notice that there is a tab just to learn Hiragana and Katakana.

WRITING AND READING

HIRAGANA

KATAKANA

Note that there are two main rules for writing Japanese characters, as you can see here:

https://japanese-teacher-mari.com/write-japanese-alphabet/

• Rule number 1: Japanese characters are basically written from left to right, top to bottom.
• Rule number 2: Paper back book such as Japanese novels are written from top to bottom, right to left. But Japanese textbooks are written from left to right, top to bottom as English one.

Well, that's it! These are the basics of the Japanese alphabets. Now go to duolingo and try to learn a little everyday. From what I experienced, this is where most people fail to study Japanese. So, try to overcome this first wall and get ready for our next meetings!

That's it for now,

Till' next time!