hiragana
Cursive Japanese characters
Hiragana is one of two Japanese syllabaries—writing systems where each character represents a syllable rather than a single sound.
Hiragana characters are curved and flowing, used primarily for native Japanese words, grammatical particles, and verb endings.
Japanese text typically mixes hiragana with the angular katakana (for foreign words) and kanji (Chinese characters).
Chinese symbols in Japanese
- romajiJapanese in Latin letters
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- syllabaryWriting using sound-units
- writingRecorded language on surface
orthography · cursive · graphemes · typography · transcription · lettering · typeface · font
Units of pronunciation
- vowelsLetters with unblocked airflow
- consonantsLetters that aren't vowels
- pronunciationManner of speaking words
- moraProsodic duration unit
sounds · phonology · intonation · diacritics · voiced · unvoiced · articulation · phoneme
Bristled cleaning tool
- inkWriting fluid
- strokeSudden brain blood blockage
- paperPressed pulp for writing
- washiJapanese handmade fiber paper
elegance · flourish · artistry · technique · expression · flow · aesthetics · zen
Techniques to assist recall
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
- repetitionAct of redoing
- worksheetsPrinted practice documents
- flashcardsPaper memorization tools
drills · beginner · textbook · sensei · memorization · reading · particles · grammar
kanji
Chinese symbols in Japanese
- romajiJapanese in Latin letters
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- syllabaryWriting using sound-units
writing · orthography · cursive · graphemes · typography · transcription · lettering · typeface · font · serif
syllables
Units of pronunciation
- vowelsLetters with unblocked airflow
- consonantsLetters that aren't vowels
- pronunciationManner of speaking words
mora · sounds · phonology · intonation · diacritics · voiced · unvoiced · articulation · phoneme · digraphs
brush
Bristled cleaning tool
washi · elegance · flourish · artistry · technique · expression · flow · aesthetics · zen · practice
mnemonics
Techniques to assist recall
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
- repetitionAct of redoing
- worksheetsPrinted practice documents
flashcards · drills · beginner · textbook · sensei · memorization · reading · particles · grammar · children
Japan
East Asian archipelago nation
- East AsiaChina, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Korea
- JapanTokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Mount Fuji, Hokkaido
- Japanese culturesamurai, kabuki, sumo, origami, tea ceremony
- written symbolsletters, alphabets, punctuation, commas, periods
- Japanesekanji, particles, conjugation, romaji, honorifics
- writing systemsalphabet, vowel, alphabets, Cyrillic alphabet, consonant
hiraganakatakana
Japanese phonetic writing system
kanji · Chinese characters · ideograms · romaji · Latin alphabet