After learning hiragana, a Japanese language learner should build an understanding of ten-ten, maru, and y-set glides to establish a basic reading capability.
Ten-Ten on the k-Set
Ten-ten literally means dot-dot, and describes the two strokes added to the right side of k-set, s-set, t-set, or h-set hiragana in order to produce alternate pronunciations.
When ten-ten is added to the k-set, the ka, ki, ku, ke and ko hiragana assume their alternate pronunciations: ga, gi, gu, ge, and go. The vowel sounds remain the same; only the consonant sounds change. The gu, for example, sounds like the English "goo," ge resembles "gay" and go is pronounced the same as the English word "go."
Ten-Ten on the s-Set
When ten-ten is written beside s-set hiragana, the resulting romaji readings are za, ji, zu, ze, and zo. the zu is pronounced like the English "zoo." The ji romaji and pronunciation is exceptional, as it is shi plus ten-ten, and pronounced like "jeep" without the "p" sound.
Ten-Ten on the t-Set
With ten-ten added, the t-set of hiragana become da, di, dzu, de, and do. The di is seldom used, and sounds just like ji from the ten-ten t-set immediately above. Sometimes di might also be written in romaji as ji. The dzu is pronounced similarly in the Japanese loan word kudzu.
Ten-Ten and Maru on the h-Set
With ten-ten, the h-set becomes ba, bi, bu, be, and bo. The bi is pronounced like the English word "bee."
In addition, the h-set is the only set that can take handakuten (maru) as well as a ten-ten. When a maru is added beside a member of the h-set (instead of ten-ten), the resulting set is pa, pi, pu, pe, and po.
Glides
While dakuten described above can be used to modify consonant sounds, glides can be used to modify vowel sounds. Put simply, glides occur when small versions of the y-set are writen after hiragana that have romaji ending in i. The hiragana ki, shi, chi, ni, hi, mi and ri can each take on glide pronunciation when followed by a small ya, yu, or yo. Glides may also result from ten-ten hiragana gi, di, and bi, as well as the maru hiragana pi. (The di may also take a glide, but such formations are rare.)
ya-Glides
When combined with ya, the first of the three members of the y-set, ki becomes kya, shi becomes sha (sometimes written in romaji as sya), chi becomes cha (or tya), ni becomes nya, hi becomes hya, mi becomes mya, and ri becomes rya. As the romaji suggest, these glides are pronounced consonant+ya. Approximate English equivalent pronunciations are the kya of "brickyard," the sha of "shard," and the cha of "charred."
In the same way, the ten-ten glides are written in romaji as gya, ja (or jya), and bya. (The dya is almost never used.) The maru ya-glide is pya.
yu-Glides
With a yu-glide, the resulting readings are kyu, shu (syu), chu (tyu), nyu, hyu, myu, and ryu. The ten-ten yu-glides are gyu, ju (or jyu) and byu. The maru yu-glide is pyu. The kyu is pronounced like the letter Q, while chu is pronounced like "chew," myu is pronounced like a cat's "mew," and pyu is like "pew."
yo-Glides
The yo-glides are kyo, sho (syo), cho (tyo), nyo, hyo, myo, ryo, gyo, jo (jyo), and byo. The sho is pronounced like 'show" and jo like "Joe."
Of course, there is no substitute for seeing the actual Japanese characters. With only a few deviations from the preferred romaji, Wikipedia has a very good chart showing complete hiragana, ten-ten, maru, and glides. Once a student of the Japanese language understands hiragana and its alternate forms, the next step, katakana, becomes quite easy.
Kyle Timmermeyer - I'm a Catholic, a novelist, an ESL teacher, a Japanese language buff, and Bucketman. I have been writing since I was first able to tell ...
