2.8. Hiragana for /y/ + vowels


/y/ + vowels:
HiraganaPhonemeRomanizationDescription
(ya)/ya/"ya" audio Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".
Japanese "y" sounds like English "y", but Japanese "y" is slightly softer. Don't cause friction of breath.
(i)/i/"i" audio This is the hiragana for /i/.
(yu)/yu/"yu" audio Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".
(e)/e/"e" audio This is the hiragana for /e/.
(yo)/yo/"yo" audio Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

There are no hiragana for /yi/ or /ye/. Japanese doesn't have those pronunciations.

Note: Actually linguists use /j/ for the English "y", so the pronunciation of "yes" is written as /jes/, not /yes/. This is probably confusing for English speakers, so I use /y/ here.


Hiragana examples:

Hiragana:(yu)(u)(ya)(ke)
Accent:LHHH
Romanization:yûyake
Meaning:the red sky at sunset (noun)

Hiragana:(yu)(ka)(ta)
Accent:LHH
Romanization:yukata
Meaning:yukata (noun)

For your interest: Yukatas are light kimonos for summer. Kimonos are scarcely worn today because of Westernization, but Japanese people, especially young women, have begun to wear yukatas again, which are casual and yet have traditional beauty.

Hiragana:(yo)(ya)(ku)
Accent:LHH
Romanization:yoyaku
Meaning:reservation (noun)

Hiragana:(o)(yu)
Accent:LH
Romanization:oyu
Meaning:hot water (noun)



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