Video:Learn Japanese: How to Write Hiragana Part 11: Dashes and Circles
with Yuki NakanoLearning to write Hiragana characters is an important part of learning Japanese. Here is a video that teaches you to write Hiragana characters that use dashes and circles.See Transcript
Transcript:Learn Japanese: How to Write Hiragana Part 11: Dashes and Circles
Hello, my name is Yuki for About.com. Today I am going to talk about how to write and pronounce Hiragana with diacritical marks, or just simply: dashes and circles.
Hiragana With Diacritical Marks
When writing Hiragana by putting two dashes, or one circle on the top right hand corner of the characters it changes the pronunciation. The two dashes can only be added to the following hiragana:
"KA" "KI" "KU" "KE" "KO" becomes "GA" "GI" "GU" "GE" "GO";
"SA" "SHI" "SU" "SE" "SO" becomes "ZA" "JI" "ZU" "ZE" "ZO";
"TA" "CHI" "TSU" "TE" "TO" becomes "DA" "JI" "ZU" "DE" "DO";
"HA" "HI" "HU" "HE" "HO" becomes "BA" "BI" "BU" "BE" "BO";
"HA" "HI" "HU" "HE" "HO" becomes "PA" "PI" "PU" "PE" "PO";
Here are some samples using dashes and circles. This is "Kagi"; means "Key." This is "Mizu"; means "Water." This is "Nippon"; means "Japan."
That's a short lesson on how you write and pronounce Hiragana with dashes and circles. For more information, please visit About.com.