Transcript Hiragana ひらがな - Japanese Beginners

Japanese Writing
System
ひらがな
カタカナ
漢字
3 Types of Writing

Hiragana (sound system based on Japanese words)

Katakana (sound system based on foreign “loan”
words)

Kanji (meaning system based on Chinese Words)

(The English alphabet used for souding out words is
called ‘roomaji’)
Hiragana ひらがな
 Originally
based from Chinese
characters taken for their sounds
ex. 以ーい 宇ーう 加ーか
 Used
for Japanese words like
ichiban いちばん
arigatou ありがとう
Hiragana Origin (from Wikipedia)
Katakana カタカナ
 Originally
based from Chinese
characters taken for their sounds
ex. 伊ーイ 宇ーウ 加ーカ
 Used
for foreign ‘loan’ words like
television terebi テレビ
pizza
piza ピザ
Katakana Origins (from Wikipedia)
Kanji 漢字
 Meaning
system based on Chinese words
ex. School gakkou 学校 （がっこう）
I watashi 私 （わたし）
 Many
kanji characters have multiple
readings
ex. 月 一月
月曜日
tsuki ichigatsu getsuyoubi
Hiragana – Katakana - Kanji

Japanese people use a combination of the three
writing systems – hiragana, katakana, and kanji
私は昨日友達とレストランに行きました。

In newspapers today, kanji takes up about 40%
of the text, and hiragana and katakana the other
60%.
おわり