Hiragana: あ-row to な-row

What You Will Learn in This Unit

You will be able to read and write the twenty-five hiragana sounds from the あ-row to the な-row. You will understand how the gojūon chart is organized into rows and columns, and you will distinguish the sounds of し, ち, つ and う. You will tell apart characters with similar shapes, and you will read the words あさ, いぬ, かさ, すし and なつ, which are made only from these characters.

Structure of the Gojūon Chart

The hiragana gojūon chart is a table that arranges the sounds of the characters. Each vertical column is called a 行 (gyō, row), and it groups characters that share the same consonant. Each horizontal line is called a 段 (dan, stage), and it groups characters that share the same vowel. The name of a row follows the name of its first character.

There are five vowels: あ(a), い(i), う(u), え(e) and お(o). These five vowels form the あ-dan, い-dan, う-dan, え-dan and お-dan respectively. The あ-row has no consonant, while the か-row has the consonant k, the さ-row has s, the た-row has t, and the な-row has n. Therefore, the twenty-five characters of this unit are as follows:

• あ行: あ(a) い(i) う(u) え(e) お(o)
• か行: か(ka) き(ki) く(ku) け(ke) こ(ko)
• さ行: さ(sa) し(shi) す(su) せ(se) そ(so)
• た行: た(ta) ち(chi) つ(tsu) て(te) と(to)
• な行: な(na) に(ni) ぬ(nu) ね(ne) の(no)

Characters in the same dan share the same final vowel. The あ-dan characters of the か-, さ-, た- and な-rows, namely か, さ, た and な, all end in the 'a' sound, while き, し, ち and に all end in the 'i' sound. Once you know this rule, you can estimate the position of an unfamiliar character from its row and dan.

Combining Consonants and Vowels

Each kana character is a syllable that combines a consonant and a vowel. The あ-row characters are syllables made of a vowel alone. The か-row characters are syllables in which the consonant k is followed by a vowel. At the beginning of a word, か行 is pronounced with less breath than the unvoiced Korean ㄱ sound in 'ga', and in the middle or at the end of a word it is not pronounced as a strong 'ka'.

The consonant of the さ-row is s, but only し is an exception and is pronounced with the sh sound. The consonants of the た-row and the な-row are t and n respectively, and they are close to the Korean ㅌ and ㄴ sounds. Because a sound must be produced with both its consonant and its vowel together, when you read a character, recall the consonant of its row and the vowel of its dan at the same time.