{"id":2880,"date":"2014-01-13T08:30:59","date_gmt":"2014-01-13T08:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=2880"},"modified":"2014-06-06T17:12:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T17:12:23","slug":"lets-learn-how-to-read-japanese-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/lets-learn-how-to-read-japanese-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s learn how to read Japanese! Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone! \u00a0We covered the basic hiragana(\u3072\u3089\u304c\u306a) the other day. \u00a0(You can read about the first lesson on Hiragana from:https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/lets-learn-how-to-read-japanese\/<\/a>) As you know, there were total 48, well, minus 2 (\u3090 & \u3091 ) 46 hiragana’s that I introduced. \u00a0Let’s review them first.\u00a0Let’s see if you can read the following words:<\/p>\n

\u3057\u307e<\/p>\n

\u3044\u3082<\/p>\n

\u3053\u3053\u308d<\/p>\n

\u304d<\/p>\n

\u3048<\/p>\n

\u306f\u306f<\/p>\n

\u3061\u3061<\/p>\n

These words are read as follows:<\/p>\n

\u3057\u307e(shima)- island<\/p>\n

\u3044\u3082(imo)-potato<\/p>\n

\u3053\u3053\u308d(kokoro)-heart<\/p>\n

\u304d(ki)-tree<\/p>\n

\u3048(e)-picture<\/p>\n

\u306f\u306f(haha)-mother<\/p>\n

\u3061\u3061(chichi)-father<\/p>\n

Today, we will continue to learn more Hiragana’s. \u00a0I will cover specificially, Dakuon(\u3060\u304f\u304a\u3093) & Han-dakuon(\u306f\u3093\u3060\u304f\u304a\u3093) today.<\/p>\n

Dakuon(\u3060\u304f\u304a\u3093) & Han-dakuon(\u306f\u3093\u3060\u304f\u304a\u3093) are\u00a0just different type of sounds in Japanese. Besides the basic 46 sounds above, we also have additional sounds, for example, dakuon(\u3060\u304f\u304a\u3093)’s are sounds, such as, GA(\u304c), GI(\u304e), GU(\u3050), GE(\u3052), GO(\u3054) and also, ZA(\u3056), JI(\u3058), ZU(\u305a), ZE(\u305c), ZO(\u305e). etc. You notice that these words have Dakuten marker \u00a0(\u309b)\u00a0 which is Dakuten (\u3060\u304f\u3066\u3093) in Japanese added to the basic hiragana that you already learned.<\/p>\n

GA(\u304c) is shown as\u00a0\u00a0\u309b + \u304b\u3000\uff1d\uff1e this becomes \u304c and pronounced as GA.<\/p>\n

\u309b + \u304d\u3000\uff1d\uff1e this becomes \u304e and pronounced as GI, and so on.<\/p>\n

Let me show you all the Dakuon’s.<\/p>\n

They are:<\/p>\n

GA\u304c, GI\u304e, GU\u3050, GE\u3052, GO\u3054<\/p>\n

ZA\u3056, ZI\u3058, ZU\u305a, ZE\u305c, ZO\u305e<\/p>\n

DA\u3060, JI\u3061\u201d, ZU\u305a, ZE\u305c, DO\u3069<\/p>\n

BA\u3070, BI\u3073, BU\u3076, BE\u3079, BO\u307c<\/p>\n

\n

So, let’s practice Dakuon’s now. \u00a0Try reading the following words below.<\/p>\n

\u304b\u3070<\/p>\n

\u308d\u3070<\/p>\n

\u3058\u304b\u3093<\/p>\n

\u304b\u3070\u3093<\/p>\n

\u304b\u3056\u308a<\/p>\n

These words are read as follows:<\/p>\n

\u304b\u3070(kaba) – hippopotamus<\/p>\n

\u308d\u3070(roba)-donkey<\/p>\n

\u3058\u304b\u3093(jikan)-time<\/p>\n

\u304b\u3070\u3093(kaban)-bag<\/p>\n

\u304b\u3056\u308a(kazari)-decoration<\/p>\n

Han-Dakuon’s (\u306f\u3093\u3060\u304f\u304a\u3093) are another different type of sounds in Japanese. We only have 5 of them to worry about here. They are PA, PI, PU, PE, PO. \u00a0In Japanese, they are \u3071\u3001\u3074\u3001\u3077\u3001\u307a\u3001\u307d. \u00a0You noticed here again,\u00a0\u3071\u3001\u3074\u3001\u3077\u3001\u307a\u3001\u307d, all have Handakuon marker\u3001\u00a0\u309c(We call this handakuten(\u306f\u3093\u3060\u304f\u3066\u3093)in Japanese)\u00a0added to the basic hiragana,\u306f\u3001\u3072\u3001\u3075\u3001\u3078\u3001\u307b\u3002<\/p>\n

\u309c +\u00a0\u306f => \u00a0becomes\u00a0\u3071(pa)<\/p>\n

\u309c + \u3072\u00a0=> \u00a0becomes\u00a0\u3074(pi)<\/p>\n

\u309c + \u3075\u00a0=> \u00a0becomes\u00a0\u3077(pu)<\/p>\n

\u309c + \u3078\u00a0=> \u00a0becomes\u00a0\u307a(pe)<\/p>\n

\u309c + \u307b\u00a0=> \u00a0becomes\u00a0\u307d(po)<\/p>\n

Let’s practice some of the words that contain the above Han-dakuon’s now.<\/p>\n

\u306f\u3063\u3071<\/p>\n

\u3048\u3093\u3074\u3064<\/p>\n

\u307d\u3051\u3082\u3093<\/p>\n

\u3077\u308a\u3093<\/p>\n

\u3057\u3063\u307d<\/p>\n

These words are read as follows:<\/p>\n

\u306f\u3063\u3071(happa) – leaf<\/p>\n

\u3048\u3093\u3074\u3064(enpitsu)-pencil<\/p>\n

\u307d\u3051\u3082\u3093(Pokemon)-Pokemon<\/p>\n

\u3077\u308a\u3093(purin)-pudding<\/p>\n

\u3057\u3063\u307d(shippo)-tail<\/p>\n

Now, let’s review the Dakuon’s and Han-dakuon’s we learned today in the following video. Please keep in mind that in this video, they call dakuten (dakuon markers, \u309b\u00a0) as \u3066\u3093\u3066\u3093(tenten), and also handakuten (Handakuon marker\u3001\u00a0\u309c) as \u307e\u308b(maru).<\/p>\n