DESCRIPTION OF JAPANESE SYLLABLE ALPHABETS
Stephen P. Morse , San Francisco
Introduction

Japanese contains two syllable alphabets, katakana and hiragana. They both represent the same syllables, but the characters in each are different. Below is a chart of the characters in each alphabets.

katakana

hiragana


The characters in the above charts have been given numbers so we can refer to them. For each number, the syllable corresponding to the katakana character will have the same sound as the syllable corresponding to the hiragana character. Character number 0 is not used.

In computer-ese, these letters are given numeric designations of the form &#xxxxx; where xxxxx is between 12448 and 12543 for katakana and between 12352 and 12447 for hiragana. So the katakana character having the number 16 can be written in an html program as グ (グ) and the hiragana character as ぐ (ぐ) for hiragana.

Groups

Each character corresponds to a syllable consisting of a consonant followed by a vowel. The characters are organized into groups, with each group corresponding to a different starting consonant. Within each group the trailing vowels are "a" (as in cat), "i" (as in ski), "u" (as in rule), "e" (as in bed), and "o" (as in slow). That would seem to follow an orderly pattern, but unfortunately there are exceptions, as seen below.

Vowel-only Group
02A 
04I 
06U 
08E 
10O 
80IHow does this differ from 04?
81EHow does this differ from 08?
82OHow does this differ from 10?
K Group
11Ka 
13Ki 
15Ku 
17Ke 
19Ko 
G Group (voiced K)
12Ga 
14Gi 
16Gu 
18Ge 
20Go 
S Group
21Sa 
23Shisee also Sh group
25Su 
27Se 
29So 
  
   Sidoesn't exist
Z Group (voiced S)
22Za 
24Jisame sound as 34 -- see also J group
26Zu 
28Ze 
30Zo 
  
   Zidoesn't exist
T Group
31Ta 
33Chisee also Ch group
35TsuHow does this differ from 36?
36Tsu 
38Te 
40To 
  
38+03テ + ィて + ぃTi 
40+05ト + ゥと + ぅTu 
D Group (voiced T)
32Da 
34Jisame sound as 24
37Du 
39De 
41Do 
  
39+03デ + ィで + ぃDi 
41+05ド + ゥど + ぅDuHow is this different from 37?
N Group
42Na 
43Ni 
44Nu 
45Ne 
46No 
  
83N 
H Group
47Ha 
50Hi 
53Fusee also F group
56He 
59Ho 
  
   Hudoesn't exist
B Group (voiced H)
48Ba 
51Bi 
54Bu 
57Be 
60Bo 
P Group (circled H)
49Pa 
52Pi 
55Pu 
58Pe 
61Po 
M Group
62Ma 
63Mi 
64Mu 
65Me 
66Mo 
Y Group
68Ya 
   Yidoesn't exist
70Yu 
   Yedoesn't exist
72Yo 
R Group
73Ra 
74Ri 
75Ru 
76Re 
77Ro 
W Group
78WaHow does this differ from 79?
79Wa 
06+03ウ + ィう + ぃWi 
   Wudoesn't exist, use U (06)
06+07ウ + ェう + ぇWe 
06+09ウ + ォう + ぉWo 
V Group
84+01ヴ + ァゔ + ぁVa 
84+03ヴ + ィゔ + ぃVi 
84Vu 
84+07ヴ + ェゔ + ぇVe 
84+09ヴ + ォゔ + ぉVo 
F Group
53+01フ + ァふ + ぁFa 
53+03フ + ィふ + ぃFi 
53Fusee also H group
53+07フ + ェふ + ぇFe 
53+09フ + ォふ + ぉFo 
Ch Group
33+67チ + ャち + ゃChasee modified I-vowel group
33Chisee also T group
33+69チ + ュち + ゅChusee modified U-vowel group
33+07チ + ェち + ぇChe 
33+71チ + ョち + ょChosee modified O-vowel group
J Group
24+67ジ + ャじ + ゃJasee modified I-vowel group
24Jisee also Z group
24+69ジ + ュじ + ゅJusee modified U-vowel group
24+07ジ + ェじ + ぇJe 
24+71ジ + ョじ + ょJosee modified O-vowel group
Sh Group
23+67シ + ャし + ゃShasee modified-I vowel group
23Shisee also S group
23+69シ + ュし + ゅShusee modified U-vowel group
23+07シ + ェし + ぇShe 
23+71シ + ョし + ょShosee modified O-vowel group
Modified I-vowel Group
13+67キ + ャき + ゃKyamodified Ki (K-group)
14+67ギ + ャぎ + ゃGyamodified Gi (G-group)
23+67シ + ャし + ゃShamodified Shi (S-group) -- see also Sh group
24+67ジ + ャじ + ゃJamodified Ji (Z-group) -- see also J group
33+67チ + ャち + ゃChamodified Chi (T-group) -- see also Ch group
34+67ヂ + ャぢ + ゃJamodified Ji (D-group)
43+67ニ + ャに + ゃNyamodified Ni (N-group)
50+67ヒ + ャひ + ゃHyamodified Hi (H-group)
51+67ビ + ャび + ゃByamodified Bi (B-group)
52+67ピ + ャぴ + ゃPyamodified Pi (P-group)
63+67ミ + ャみ + ゃMyamodified Mi (M-group)
74+67リ + ャり + ゃRyamodified Ri (R-group)
Modified U-vowel Group
13+69キ + ュき + ゅKyumodified Ku (K-group)
14+69ギ + ュぎ + ゅGyumodified Gu (G-group)
23+69シ + ュし + ゅShumodified Su (S-group) -- see also Sh group
24+69ジ + ュじ + ゅJumodified Zu (Z-group) -- see also J group
33+69チ + ュち + ゅChumodified Tsu (T-group) -- see also Ch group
34+69ヂ + ュぢ + ゅJumodified Du (D-group)
43+69ニ + ュに + ゅNyumodified Nu (N-group)
50+69ヒ + ュひ + ゅHyumodified Fu (H-group)
51+69ビ + ュび + ゅByumodified Bu (B-group)
52+69ピ + ュぴ + ゅPyumodified Pu (P-group)
63+69ミ + ュみ + ゅMyumodified Mu (M-group)
74+69リ + ュり + ゅRyumodified Ru (R-group)
Modified O-vowel Group
13+71キ + ョき + ょKyomodified Ko (K-group)
14+71ギ + ョぎ + ょGyomodified Go (G-group)
23+71シ + ョし + ょShomodified So (S-group) -- see also Sh group
24+71ジ + ョじ + ょJomodified Zo (Z-group) -- see also J group
33+71チ + ョち + ょChomodified To (T-group) -- see also Ch group
34+71ヂ + ョぢ + ょJomodified Do (D-group)
43+71ニ + ョに + ょNyomodified No (N-group)
50+71ヒ + ョひ + ょHyomodified Ho (H-group)
51+71ビ + ョび + ょByomodified Bo (B-group)
52+71ピ + ョぴ + ょPyomodified Po (P-group)
63+71ミ + ョみ + ょMyomodified Mo (M-group)
74+71リ + ョり + ょRyomodified Ro (R-group)
What are these?
85  
86  
87  
88  
89  
90  
Miscellaneous
91Space 
92longpreceding vowel is long
93unvoiced interationrepeat last syllable unvoiced
94voiced interationrepeat last syllable voiced
95Space