Introduction to Kanji

This lesson introduces the non-phonetic writing system of Japanese,

kanji. Kanji literally means "Chinese characters," and they're used to build
content words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Kanji Readings
So how do you read kanji? Most kanji have at least two possible readings.
Typically, one reading is derived from a native Japanese word, and one reading
is derived from a Chinese loanword. These are called "kunyomi" ("meaning
reading") and "onyomi" ("sound reading") respectively.

Let's take the kanji for "country," 国。On its own, we use the Japanese "kunyomi"
reading, くに。In Japanese, くに means "country." However, in compounds, we
use the "onyomi" reading of こく。Therefore, China, 中国 or "middle country," is
read as ちゅうごく。

Rendaku
So why isn't it ちゅうこく？This is due to a phenomenon known as "rendaku" or
"sequential voicing." Syllables that come later in a word are sometimes voiced
and marked with a dakuten. This is often rather unpredictable, so rendaku words
should be memorized individually.

Example Kanji
Below is a table of the six kanji that are introduced in this lesson, complete with
possible readings.

Kanji Meaning Kunyomi Reading Onyomi Reading

人 Person ひと じん、にん

中 Middle なか ちゅう
 Kanji Meaning Kunyomi Reading Onyomi Reading

国 Country くに こく

日 Sun, Day ひ にち、じつ

本 Origin, Book もと ほん

田 Rice Paddy た でん

You may have noticed that the word Japan, or 日本 is composed of the kanji
meaning "sun" and "origin." This word was first adopted by the Chinese, and to
them, Japan was off to the east, the place where the sun rose or "originated."

Katakana Pronunciation
This lesson also introduces katakana, the phonetic Japanese writing system
used for foreign words. See their pronunciation below.

Basic Katakana

Japanese IPA, Notes

ア [a]
Japanese IPA, Notes

イ [i]

ウ [ɯ], like the oo in food

エ [e]

オ [o]

カ [ka]

キ [ki]

ク [kɯ]
Japanese IPA, Notes

ケ [ke]

コ [ko]

サ [sa]

シ [ɕi], like the shee in sheep

ス [sɯ], although it can shorten to more of a [s] at the end of a

word

セ [se]

ソ [so]

タ [ta]
Japanese IPA, Notes

チ [tɕi], like the tch in itchy

ツ [tsɯ], like the ts in cats

テ [te]

ト [to]

ナ [na]

ニ [ni]

ヌ [nɯ]

ネ [ne]
Japanese IPA, Notes

ノ [no]

ハ [ha]

ヒ [çi], like the h in human

フ [ɸɯ], roughly between a short "hoo" and "foo"

ヘ [he]

ホ [ho]

マ [ma]

ミ [mi]
Japanese IPA, Notes

ム [mɯ]

メ [me]

モ [mo]

ヤ [ja]

ユ [jɯ]

ヨ [jo]

ラ [ɾa], like the t in the American pronunciation of butter

リ [ɾi]
 Japanese IPA, Notes

ル [ɾɯ]

レ [ɾe]

ロ [ɾo]

ワ [ɰa]

ヲ [wo] or [o], although it's used very rarely

ン [n] or [ŋ], like the n in pink, producing a [m] when combined

with a bilabial stop, hence "tempura" and not "tenpura"

ー long vowel mark, used to extend the vowel sound that

precedes it

Katakana with Dakuten

Japanese IPA, Notes

ガ [ga]

ギ [gi]

グ [gɯ]

ゲ [ge]

ゴ [go]

ザ [za]

ジ [dʑi], like the jee in jeep

ズ [zɯ]
Japanese IPA, Notes

ゼ [ze]

ゾ [zo]

ダ [da]

ヂ [dʑi], like the jee in jeep

ヅ [zɯ]

デ [de]

ド [do]

バ [ba]
Japanese IPA, Notes

ビ [bi]

ブ [bɯ]

ベ [be]

ボ [bo]

パ [pa]

ピ [pi]

プ [pɯ]

ペ [pe]
Japanese IPA, Notes

ポ [po]