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Hiragana


 

Hiragana (??? literally "smooth kana") are a Japanese syllabary, one of four Japanese writing systems (the others are katakana, kanji and rōmaji).

Related Topics:
Kana - Japanese - Syllabary - Japanese writing system - Katakana - Kanji - Rōmaji

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Hiragana are used, for example, for:

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  • Japanese words for which there are no kanji, for example particles such as kara から and suffixes such as ~san さん.
  • Japanese words for which the kanji form is not known to the writer, not expected to be known to the readers, or too formal for the writing purpose.
  • Verb and adjective inflections, for example in tabemashita ????? (used like this, hiragana are called okurigana).
  • Giving the pronunciation of kanji for readers who may not know them (used like this, hiragana are called furigana).
  • Stylistic purposes. Hiragana may be perceived as looking more traditional, feminine, childish, or kawaii (cute).
  • See the main article Japanese writing system for more discussion of when the various systems of writing are used.

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    Each hiragana represents one syllable (technically, one mora), and is either a vowel on its own (such as a あ), a consonant followed by a vowel (such as ka か), or ん, which sounds like the English "m" or "n".

    Related Topics:
    Syllable - Mora

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    The presence of hiragana among Chinese characters is usually sufficient to identify a text as Japanese.

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    There are two main systems of ordering hiragana, the old-fashioned iroha ordering, and the more prevalent goj?on ordering.

    Related Topics:
    Ordering hiragana - Iroha - Goj?on

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