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[GUIDE] Hiragana Basics -
11-26-2008, 08:07 AM
Hiragana Basics Everyone, Konnichiwa! This guide is all about Hiragana. I am assuming you at least know a tiny bit about Japanese, otherwise you might be a bit lost on some parts depending on your level. This is for beginners, so I tried to explain myself as best as I could, so enjoy. If you do not know what Hiragana is, here is the Wikipedia definition: HIRAGANA Quote:
Katakana Kanji KATAKANA Quote:
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NOTE: I am a beginner, so if I make any mistakes please correct them! I just want to pass on my knowledge to others, so they may learn properly and not make the same mistakes I did. Japanese Sentence Order I hope you know English sentence order, as you speak/write the language, but if you don't here it is: SVO That means subject, verb, object. Japanese sentence order looks like this: SOV Which is subject, object, verb. Here is an English sentence: I eat apples. And in Japanese, it would be: I apple eat. Do you see the difference? It is very important to get this down before attempting Hiragana, or your Hiragana sentences will be wrong. On to the Hiragana I will first start by listing the 5 vowels: あ = A い = I う = U え = E お = O Everything is based off of these! To pronounce them correctly, listen to them on this site: A-O Pronunciation Now, let us write the noun form of "blue" in Hiragana. あお AO is the Romaji of blue in Japanese. You might have just learned your first Japanese word, so congratulations! Now there are other groups, based off of these 5 vowels. Those groups are: KA-KO SA-SO TA-TO NA-NO HA-HO MA-MO RA-RO YA, YU, YO WA, WO N Let us start with the KA group. か = KA き = KI く = KU け = KE こ = KO Do you see how the KA group is made? It really should be called the "K" group, as a simple way to remember it is adding a K in front of each vowel. Sometimes, it is not this easy though. Lets take a look at the next group... さ = SA し = SHI す = SU せ = SE そ = SO Ah, almost the same, except... what's this? SHI? Yes, instead of "SI" like you would think, it is SHI. Do not ask me why, but it is. It is Japanese If you know however, please reply so I can edit this post and put the reasoning behind it, thanks. The TA group has more of this triple lettering too, so lets look at that next. た = TA ち = CHI つ = TSU て = TE と = TO Ugh, how am I supposed to remember all of this, you may ask? Well, flashcards. I am right now creating a simple application in the programming language C++ that will help you. For now, create your own flashcards or find a website to help you. I really suggest this flash game: Hiragana game Here are the rest of the groups: な = NA に = NI ぬ = NU ね = NE の = NO は = HA ひ = HI ふ = FU へ = HE ほ = HO ま = MA み = MI む = MU め = ME も = MO ら = RA り = RI る = RU れ = RE ろ = RO や = YA ゆ = YU よ = YU わ = WA を = WO ん = N To help you remember all of them, I have attached a picture that I created. It is at the bottom of the page. It shows all of these, plus more (more meaning what I am about to cover next, muddied consonants). Take it all in, and practice daily. Trust me, it gets much easier once you just put a little bit of time into it. So, let's try some words in Hiragana shall we? あか = RED あお = BLUE はちみつ = HONEY See, easy. I did not put the Romaji of the words above, this is to test you. Can you read the words? Now that we know the basic Hiragana, let us get slightly more advanced. I will now talk about muddied consonants, if you do now know what they are read this (from here): Quote:
So, this is the last thing we need (for now) to make some real Japanese sentences! If you have not read the description above, please do so. Here they are: が = GA ぎ = GI ぐ = GU げ = GE ご = GO ざ = ZA じ = ZI ず = ZU ぜ = ZE ぞ = ZO だ = DA ぢ = DI づ = DU で = DE ど = DO ば = BA び = BI ぶ = BU べ = BE ぼ = BO ぱ = PA ぴ = PI ぷ = PU ぺ = PE ぽ = PO So, remembered them all yet? No worries, just put time in and you'll get these down in no time trust me. NOTE: ぢ and じ are pronounced as "JI", and "づ" is pronounced as "DZU". Now then, let us write some Japanese sentences ^_^ I will break it down for you so it is easy to understand. SENTENCE 1: ENGLISH: My name is Kunio. ROMAJI: Watashi no namae wa Kunio desu. HIRAGANA: わたし の なまえ は くにお です。 Also make a mental note now, that usually Japanese sentences do not have spaces. I put them in for you so you may learn. Now then, sentence 2. SENTENCE 2: ENGLISH: What is your name? ROMAJI: Anata no namae ha nan desuka HIRAGANA: あなた の なまえ は なん ですか If you have not yet noticed, か is the Japanese question mark. To learn some more grammar, and the grammar I am using, you can search for online dictionaries or buy a book to learn some. Here is a nice short list to get you started (from here): おはようございます - ohayougozaimasu - Good morning! こんにちは - konnichiwa - Good afternoon, or Hello! こんばんは - konban wa - Good evening! さようなら - sayounara - Goodbye! おげんきですか - ogenki desu ka - How are you? げんきです - genki desu - I'm fine. はい - hai - Yes. いいえ - iie - No. それはなんですか - sore ha nan desu ka? - What's that? はじめまして - hajimemashite - Nice to meet you. ありがとう - arigatou - Thank you. For learning purposes, here is a Japanese conversation using some of the above. Me: こんにちは! Me: おげんきですか You: げんきです。 Me: さようなら! Very simple, but learn it and understand it and you will succeed. Now then, that is all for this Hiragana basics tutorial. There is plenty more to learn out there, but this should be good for a beginner. Now what you must do is practice, practice, practice! Use it every day, and you will master it. NOTE: If you feel confident with ALL of the above, then move on. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial All possible small や、ゆ、and よ combinations This is what I just learned, so it could be a little bit off. If it is, please correct me Japanese masters These groups are formed by YA, YU, and YO. This thread would reach above 1000 characters with it posted, so I am forced to either attach it as a document, or post a picture. I choose posting a picture =] I hope you enjoyed this guide --------------------------------------------------------- _.-~{Learn how to read/write Hiragana!}~-._ _.-~{Learn how to read/write Japanese characters on your Windows XP PC!}~-._ |
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11-26-2008, 03:54 PM
I've never known anyone to write "ヒラガナ" ?
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11-27-2008, 05:32 PM
SHAD0W, I did not copy/paste anything! This is all my work from what I have learned so far in my class at school, the only thing from Wikipedia is the top, and I even put quotes -.- Could you please post the page were you THINK I copied this information from? Thanks a lot.. Also sorry I got things wrong, I told anyone to correct me if I didn't spell something correct or said something wrong, no need to flame me...
P.S. Thanks for the input! --------------------------------------------------------- _.-~{Learn how to read/write Hiragana!}~-._ _.-~{Learn how to read/write Japanese characters on your Windows XP PC!}~-._ |
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11-27-2008, 05:45 PM
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11-27-2008, 11:41 PM
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Yar what now? /a/? I speak English and Japanese but none of your forward slash place random letter stuff? |
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