Foreign Alphabet/Japanese/Hiragana/'a' Group

Hiragana:
Unvoiced: [ a ] [ ka ] [ sa ] [ ta ] [ na ] [ ha ] [ ma ] [ ya ] [ ra ] [ wa, wo, n ]
Voiced: [ ga ] [ za ] [ da ] [ ba ] Others: [ pa ]
Yōon: [ Unvoiced ] [ Voiced ]

あ

あ is pronounced as 'a' as in 'alright'

Strokes

Examples

• あなた (anata) -- You
• あき (aki) -- Autumn

Notes on Usage

あ can be used to extend the 'a' sound by one beat when used after another '-a' syllable. It is important to express this one beat as words like obasan (middle-aged lady) and obāsan (pronounced "obaasan") (grandmother) have only this difference to differentiate them.

い

い is pronounced as 'i' as in 'itch'

Strokes

Examples

• いち (ichi) -- One
• いちご (ichigo) -- Strawberry

Notes on Usage

い can be used to extend the 'i' sound by one beat when used after another '-i' syllable. E.g.: にいがった　(Niigata) -- A prefecture (A administrative district) of Japan.