We’ve seen the first three rules that allow us to make full use of katakana and hiragana. It is time to move on to the fourth rule : that of combinations.
This rule is the same for katakana and hiragana.
For this lesson, I will present you only the hiragana but know that it works for both.
Until then, we have learned a lot of new things in Japanese, a lot of new sounds, and yet we still have a whole new range of sounds to learn.
For example, the word « dragon » in Japanese is « ryû ». I’m writing to you for now in rômaji. In your opinion, is it りゆ or りう ?
Well, it won’t be either because « ryû » is a full-fledged syllable, which we haven’t studied yet. And there are lots of other words like that in Japanese as well as first names. To give you some examples :
« kyou » → Today
« byouin » → Hospital
« ninja » → Ninja
« momiji » → Maple
« gyoza » → Gyoza (Japanese ravioli)
« ryû » → Dragon
« Jun » → Jun
Of course, this list is far from exhaustive, Japanese words containing combinations are very numerous and it is impossible to list them all here. However, a slightly more exhaustive list awaits you at the end of the course.
For now, let’s go back to the combinations. To write a combination in Japanese, we will need a large hiragana and a small hiragana. And the great hiragana will necessarily be part of the column of « i » : い, き, ぎ, し, じ, ち, ぢ, に, ひ, び, ぴ, み, り.
い → "Imposible crear combinaciones"
き → き + ゃ = きゃ
き + ゅ = きゅ
き + ょ = きょ
ぎ → ぎ + ゃ = ぎゃ
ぎ + ゅ = ぎゅ
ぎ + ょ = ぎょ
し → ""
じ → ""
ち → ""
ぢ → ""
に → に + ゃ = にゃ
に + ゅ = にゅ
に + ょ = にょ
ひ → ひ + ゃ = ひゃ
ひ + ゅ = ひゅ
ひ + ょ = ひょ
び → び + ゃ = びゃ
び + ゅ = びゅ
び + ょ = びょ
ぴ → ぴ + ゃ = ぴゃ
ぴ + ゅ = ぴゅ
ぴ + ょ = ぴょ
み → み + ゃ = みゃ
み + ゅ = みゅ
み + ょ = みょ
り → り + ゃ = りゃ
り + ゅ = りゅ
り + ょ = りょ
As you can see so far, these combinations are simple to understand.
Now let’s see how we are going to create combinations with the hiragana し, じ and ち. We have already seen in a previous course that their pronunciation is quite particular, well when we combine them with other hiragana.
For example :
– When we combine the hiragana し with a little ゃ, it is not pronounced « shia » but « sha ».
– When we combine the hiragana じ with a little ゃ, it is not pronounced « jia » but « ja ».
– When we combine the hiragana ち with a little ゃ, it is not pronounced « chia » but « cha ».
Now let’s see these combinations :
し → し + ゃ = しゃ
し + ゅ = しゅ
し + ょ = しょ
じ → じ + ゃ = じゃ
じ + ゅ = じゅ
じ + ょ = じょ
ち → ち + ゃ = ちゃ
ち + ゅ = ちゅ
ち + ょ = ちょ
ぢ → "Unable to create combinations"
It is impossible to create combinations with ぢ because it would give us exactly the same thing as with the hiragana じ. In addition, the hiragana ぢ is hardly ever used, something that had already been said before.
As said at the beginning, these combinations are also valid with katakana. We will use for this the kana ャ, ュ and ョ.
There are other combinations for katakana exclusively used in a very specific context but I will not tell you more for the moment. We will see these new combinations later.
So, let’s recap everything we’ve seen so far.
In hiragana and katakana, we have the little っ / ッ to express the pause, and we have the little ゃ, ゅ, ょ to create the combinations we have just seen.
In katakana also exist the small ア, イ, ウ, エ, オ which we will use in certain particular cases which we will see later.
Perhaps you have already seen it by reading manga that the Japanese write in hiragana little あ or little お. For example, to represent a character uttering a cry : あああああ.
Keep in mind that grammatically it doesn’t exist. We will never see that when we study the Japanese language. This only exists in manga where mangakas allow themselves some small fantasies. That is all.
Now that you understand that, we’re going to be able to create a slew of slightly more complex words. In the word list below, pay close attention to pauses and combinations. Remember that the pause is equivalent to a beat.
けっきょく. finally
やっきょく. pharmacy
ぎゅうにょう. cow milk
れっしゃ. train
でんしゃ. electric train
しぎょ. start of work, start of lessons
じんじゃ. shrine, shinto temple
じゅうどう. judo
じゅうしょ. address
いっしょ. together
びょういん. hospital
びようしょ. beauty salon
コンピュータ. computer
キャラクター. character
ミュージカル. musical comedy
ミッション. mission
This third part on the four rules for using kana is finally over. You now know how to write absolutely everything that can be pronounced in Japanese. Remember that a Japanese syllable is worth one beat, a pause is also worth one beat. And as usual, feel free to revise this lesson as often as necessary.
In the fourth part, we will see many more new things. We will cover the writing of kana in foreign words : the rules of katakanization, the transcription of foreign proper names in katakana and much more. We will see all this in more detail in the courses to come.
I can finally give you your exercises. In the first, you have words in hiragana and katakana with, sometimes lengthenings but especially combinations, which I ask you to write in rōmaji. And in the second, you have words in rōmaji that I ask you to write in hiragana or katakana as the case may be, and of course, there are also combinations for these words.
Also don’t forget that a combination only worth one beat, practice speaking the words orally with that in mind and, in the end, you will acquire automatisms.
Thus, ends this conclusion, I wish you good revisions to all and I find you, very quickly I hope for the next course.
Introduction