Japanese writing system

From TheAlmightyGuru
Revision as of 16:14, 5 October 2020 by TheAlmightyGuru (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

The Japanese writing system is a combination of a logographic and syllabary system, and also officially borrows the characters from the Latin alphabet and the Arabic numerals.

Hiragana

a i u e o ya yu yo
ka ki ku ke ko ga gi gu ge go kya kyu kyo gya gyu gyo
きゃ きゅ きょ ぎゃ ぎゅ ぎょ
sa shi su se so za ji zu ze zo sha shu sho ja ju jo
しゃ しゅ しょ じゃ じゅ じょ
ta chi tsu te to da (ji) (zu) de do cha chu cho (ja) (ju) (jo)
ちゃ ちゅ ちょ ぢゃ ぢゅ ぢょ
na ni nu ne no nya nyu nyo
にゃ にゅ にょ
ha hi fu he ho ba bi bu be bo pa pi pu pe po hya hyu hyo bya byu byo pya pyu pyo
ひゃ ひゅ ひょ びゃ びゅ びょ ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ
ma mi mu me mo mya myu myo
みゃ みゅ みょ
ya yu yo
ra ri ru re ro rya ryu ryo
りゃ りゅ りょ
wa wi we wo
n

Katakana

a i u e o (a) (i) (u) (e) (o) ya yu yo
ka ki ku ke ko ga gi gu ge go (ka) (ke) kya kyu kyo gya gyu gyo
キャ キュ キョ ギャ ギュ ギョ
sa shi su se so za ji zu ze zo sha shu sho ja ju jo
シャ シュ ショ ジャ ジュ ジョ
ta chi tsu te to da (ji) (zu) de do cha chu cho (ja) (ju) (jo)
チャ チュ チョ ヂャ ヂュ ヂョ
na ni nu ne no nya nyu nyo
ニャ ニュ ニョ
ha hi fu he ho ba bi bu be bo pa pi pu pe po hya hyu hyo bya byu byo pya pyu pyo
ヒャ ヒュ ヒョ ビャ ビュ ビョ ピャ ピュ ピョ
ma mi mu me mo mya myu myo
ミャ ミュ ミョ
ya yu yo
ra ri ru re ro rya ryu ryo
リャ リュ リョ
wa wi we wo va vi vu ve vo
n

Numbers

Modern Japanese usually uses Arabic numerals, but, when writing formally or in kanji, they will use their own number system.

Common Glyph Formal Glyph Obsolete Full Width Circled Number
Zero
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
柒, 漆 Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Hundred
阡, 仟 Thousand
万, 萬 Ten Thousand
Hundred Million
Trillion
Ten Quadrillion

Typographic Symbols

Glyph System Explanation
Hiragana Double the length of the following consonant sound.
Katakana Double the length of the following consonant sound.
Katakana Double the length of the preceding vowel sound. Can be used in hiragana, but usually just use the appropriate vowel kana.
Kanji Iteration mark (duplicate the preceding kanji). Can be used to make the word plural or alter the usage of the preceding word.
Kanji Repetition mark (duplicate two or more preceding kanji).
Hiragana Iteration mark (duplicate the preceding kana).
Hiragana Iteration mark (duplicate the preceding kana, and change the consonant).
Hiragana Vertical iteration mark (duplicate the preceding kana).
Katakana Iteration mark (duplicate the preceding kana).
Katakana Iteration mark (duplicate the preceding kana, but change the consonant).
Kana Vertical repetition mark (duplicate two or more of the preceding kana).
Kana Vertical repetition mark (duplicate two or more of the preceding kana, and change the consonant).
Kana Top part of the vertical repetition mark (used when it need to be broken).
Kana Top part of the vertical repetition mark which alters the consonant (used when it need to be broken).
Kana Bottom part of both the vertical repetition top marks (used when it need to be broken).
Kana Modifies the consonant sound of the kana it is attached to.
Kana Modifies the consonant sound of the kana to a p sound.
Kana Ditto mark. Similar to English, used to repeat the previous listed item.

Punctuation

Glyph System Explanation
All Full stop, similar to English period, but only used when there are multiple sentences.
、, , All Similar to English comma.
All Used to break apart glyphs that would otherwise be confusing together. Also used to show where spaces occur in foreign words.
  Kana Full space. Used to separate words when writing exclusivly in kana.
All Adopted from Western use, used the same as an exclamation point.
All Adopted from Western use, used the same as a question mark.
Katakana The double hyphen is used to show where hyphens occur in foreign words.
Katakana The double dash is used to show where dashes occur in foreign words.
All Use to show a span of time or distance, a subtitle (placed at start and end), country of origin (used only at end)
All Used the same way an ellipses is used in English.
All Two-dot ellipses.
All Adopted from Western use, used the same as a colon.
「, 」 All Used to show the start and end of a quotation.
『, 』 All Alternate quotes.
〝, 〟 All Alternate quotes.
(, ) All Used in the same way English uses parenthesis.
〔, 〕 All Tortoise shell brackets, used to show inserted notes.
〘, 〙 All Inverted tortoise shell brackets.
[, ] All Used similar to brackets in English.
〚, 〛 All Inverted square brackets.
{, } All Used similar to braces in English.
⦅, ⦆ All Double parenthesis.
〈, 〉 All Alternate brackets.
《, 》 All Double alternate brackets.
【, 】 All Lenticular brackets are used in headings.
〖, 〗 All Inverted lenticular brackets.
All Used to indicate a period of months.
•, ◦, ﹅, ﹆ All Different forms of a side dot, used to add emphasis. Like italics in English.
All Reference mark. Similar to how an asterisk is used in English.
All Alternate reference mark, adopted from Western usage.
All Indicates the start of vocals in a song.
All Used when the correct glyph cannot be used due to it missing in the font.
♪, ♫, ♬, ♩ All Used to show dialogue that is said in a playful, singsong manner.
〇〇 All Used to censor inappropriate text.
〒, 〶, 〠 All Used to indicate a postal office.
All Compliance with Japanese industrial standards.

Tools

Links

Link-Wikipedia.png