2.5. Hiragana for /n/ + vowels


/n/ + vowels:
HiraganaPhonemeRomanizationDescription
(na)/na/"na" audio English "n" + Japanese "a".
(ni)/ni/"ni" audio English "ny" (or Spanish "ñ") + Japanese "i".
Since the Japanese don't distinguish "nyi" from "ni", you can pronounce /ni/ as "ni", not "nyi".
(nu)/nu/"nu" audio English "n" + Japanese "u".
(ne)/ne/"ne" audio English "n" + Japanese "e".
(no)/no/"no" audio English "n" + Japanese "o".


Hiragana examples:

Hiragana:(ka)(ta)(na)
Phonemes:katana'
Romanization:katana
Meaning:katana (noun)

For your interest: katanas are single-bladed curved swords of Japan. They are not only weapons but also artistic creations. Some katanas are priceless.

Hiragana:(ne)(ko)
Phonemes:ne'ko
Romanization:neko
Meaning:cat (noun)

Hiragana:(nu)(no)
Phonemes:nuno
Romanization:nuno
Meaning:cloth (noun)

Hiragana:(ni)(zi)
Phonemes:nizi
Romanization:niji
Meaning:rainbow (noun)

Hiragana:(o)(ni)
Phonemes:oni'
Romanization:oni
Meaning:demon (noun)

For your interest: Even though this word is often translated to demon, they are more human-like than ghost-like in many fairy tales, so they are often more similar to ogres and trolls.

Hiragana:(sa)(ka)(na)
Phonemes:sakana
Romanization:sakana
Meaning:fish (noun)



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