2. Japanese alphabet: Hiragana

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In any Japanese language course, the first step is learning the alphabet, and Japanese is no different. The Japanese alphabet consists of three writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. In this text, we will focus on Hiragana, the most basic and fundamental writing system in the Japanese language.

Hiragana is a phonetic writing system, which means that each character represents a specific sound. There are 46 basic characters in Hiragana, plus some variations with diacritical marks (marks added to a letter to indicate a phonetic change) and character combinations.

Hiragana characters are used to write native Japanese words, grammatical particles, and also to add verb and adjectival inflections. It's the first writing system Japanese children learn in school, and it's also often used in children's books and Japanese beginners' materials.

Hiragana characters are grouped into five categories according to the sound they produce: vowels, consonants followed by vowels, consonants followed by 'y' and a vowel, nasal consonants, and special sounds. There are also characters that represent long vowel sounds and double consonants.

The first five Hiragana characters are the vowels: あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), お (o). Each of these vowels can appear alone, or they can be combined with a consonant to form a new sound. For example, combining the consonant 'k' with the vowels results in: か (ka), き (ki), く (ku), け (ke), こ (ko).

The characters representing consonants followed by 'y' and a vowel are a bit more complex. They are formed by combining a basic Hiragana character with one of the three characters 'ya', 'yu' or 'yo'. For example, 'ki' combined with 'ya' results in 'kya' (きゃ), 'ki' combined with 'yu' results in 'kyu' (きゅ), and 'ki' combined with 'yo' results in 'kyo' (きょ).

Nasal characters are used to represent nasal consonant sounds, such as 'n' (ん). And special sounds are represented by characters that have a diacritical mark, such as 'ga' (が), which is a variation of the 'ka' (か) character with a diacritical mark.

In addition to the basic characters, there are also long vowel and double consonant characters. Long vowels are represented by adding a vowel character to the end of the syllable. For example, the word 'ou' (王) is written as 'おう' in Hiragana. Double consonants are represented by adding a small 'tsu' (っ) before the consonant. For example, the word 'kitte' (切手) is written as 'きって' in Hiragana.

Finally, it is important to mention that, unlike the English alphabet, Hiragana is written and read from top to bottom and from right to left. This may seem strange at first, but with practice and patience, you'll get used to it.

In summary, Hiragana is a fundamental writing system in the Japanese language. Its mastery is essential for anyone wanting to learn Japanese, as it provides the foundation for understanding and writing Japanese words, phrases and texts. With regular practice and study, you can master Hiragana and take the first step on your journey to learn Japanese.

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32.1. Japanese alphabet: Hiragana: Hiragana