Have you noticed that there are tiny kana in Japanese writing such as ゃ, っ, or ィ?
These guys look adorable but they play a big role in Japanese writing.
Let me introduce how these small kana are working with full-size kana in writing.
Questions about small kana
- How many small kana in total?
- Are small kana half-size?
- What are functions of small kana in writing?
Contents
Facts about Small kana
How many small kana in total?
There are 13 small kana in hiragana and katakana.
| hiragana | ゃ ゅ ょ っ |
| katakana | ャ ュ ョ ッ ァ ィ ゥ ェ ォ |
Are small kana half-size?
Actually, small kana are not half-size. They are about 3/4 of full-size kana.
What are functions of small kana in writing?
っ/ッ/tsu – double consonants
Small tsu っ/ッrepresents double consonants or sokuon 促音.
Small tsu itself has no sound but it has a pose.
| がっこう（学校 school）gakkoo | |
| ゆっくり(slow, slowly) yukkuri | |
| モップ(mop) moppu |
ゃ/ャ/ya, ゅ/ュ/yu, ょ/ョ/yo – contracted sounds
Small y-row characters such as ゃ/ャ/ya, ゅ/ュ/yu, ょ/ョ/yo, are half-vowels.
They make contracted sounds or yo-on 拗音 with vowels and consonants. For example, きょ= k+y+o.
Here is a list of contracted sounds/yo-on.
| きゃ キャ kya | きゅ キュ kyu | きょ キョ kyo | |
| しゃ シャ sha | しゅ シュ shu | しょ ショ sho | |
| ちゃ チャ cha | ちゅ チュ chu | ちょ チョ cho | |
| にゃ ニャ nya | にゅ ニュ nyu | にょ ニョ nyo | |
| ひゃ ヒャ hya | ひゅ ヒュ hyu | ひょ ヒョ hyo | |
| みゃ ミャ mya | みゅ ミュ myu | みょ ミョ myo | |
| りゃ リャ rya | りゅ リュ ryu | りょ リョ ryo | |
| ぎゃ ギャ gya | ぎゅ ギュ gyu | ぎょ ギョ gyo | |
| じゃ ジャ ja | じゅ ジュ ju | じょ ジョ jo | |
| びゃ ビャ bya | びゅ ビュ byu | びょ ビョ byo | |
| ぴゃ ピャ pya | ぴゅ ピュ pyu | ぴょ ピョ pyo |
| しゃしん（写真 photo ）shashin | |
| きゅうり（cucumber）kyuri | |
| りょこう（旅行 trip） ryokoo | |
| チャンス（English word, chance）chansu | |
| ジョギング（English word, jogging) joginngu |
ァ/a, ィ/i, ゥ/u, ェ/e, ォ/o – Contracted sounds in loan words
Small aiueo appear only in loan words.
| ヘミングウェイ（Hemingway）Heminguuei | |
| フィラデルフィア（Philadelphia）firaderufia | |
| ファミリー（family）famirii |
Learn more about Japanese
There are more secrets and tips about Japanese writing. If you want to learn more, you can find teachers here.
