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Lesson 13 · Hiragana

ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ
っ

One more mark, and then a character that makes no sound at all.

A small circle where dakuten put two strokes. It goes on one row only — は becomes ぱ — and that is the last mark in hiragana. The second half of this lesson is stranger: a shrunken つ that you do not pronounce.

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Warm up

The twenty voiced ones, twice each.

H becomes P

• は→ぱ ha → pa
• ひ→ぴ hi → pi
• ふ→ぷ fu → pu
• へ→ぺ he → pe
• ほ→ぽ ho → po

The mark is called handakuten — the half-voiced mark. Only the は row takes it, so ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ are the only five characters in the whole syllabary that use it.

Three marks, one row

は is the only character that takes both marks, which makes its row the place to see all three states at once.

• は ha
• ば ba
• ぱ pa

Nothing, two strokes, a circle. Look at the top right and you have the answer.

All three states in the options at once.

A pencil

A pencil. Four characters, and the third one is new.

A walk

A walk, of the going-out-for-one kind.

The small っ

A つ written at half size. It is not read as tsu. It is not read as anything — it is a beat of silence, and the consonant after it doubles.

きて   vs   きって

Two beats against three. In kitte the mouth stops on the K and holds for exactly as long as a kana takes, then releases. English does this between words — hot tea — but never inside one, which is why it takes practice to hear.

Held or not

Listen for the gap. Two words, two lengths.

Where it lands

The small っ only ever appears before k, s, t or p — the consonants you can hold your mouth closed on. It never ends a word, and never doubles a vowel or an n.

Read it as “say the next consonant twice”, and you will be right every time.

A stamp

A postage stamp. The bank has a small っ in it now — it is a key of its own.

School

School — and a long O at the end, written with a う.

Words

Every one unique.

Spell every word