Hiragana | Phoneme | Romanization | Description
|
---|
 | /ha/ | "ha"
| English "h" + Japanese "a".
There is a single-syllable word with this kana
whose actual phoneme is /wa/. It will be explained in a later lesson.
|
 | /hi/ | "hi"
| German "ch" in ich + Japanese "i".
English "hy" + Japanese "i" also works fine.
The tongue position for this consonant is the same as that for English "y", but it is a voiceless consonant. Since the Japanese don't distinguish German "chi" from "hi", you can pronounce /hi/ as "hi".
|
 | /hu/ | "fu"
| English "h" + Japanese "u", or Greek "ph" + Japanese "u".
(The letter "f" is used for Greek "ph", because it sounds like English "f")
The lips position for Greek "ph" is the same as that for English "w", but it is a voiceless consonant. Since Japanese people don't distinguish "fu" and "hu", you can pronounce /hu/ as "hu".
I think English "hu" sounds more similar to Japanese /hu/ than English "fu" does.
|
 | /he/ | "he"
| English "h" + Japanese "e".
There is a single-syllable word with this kana
whose actual phoneme is /e/. It will be explained in a later lesson.
|
 | /ho/ | "ho"
| English "h" + Japanese "o".
|