Glides

1: Glides

If a consonant (k, g, s, t, etc.) is followed by the sound -ya, -yu or -yo as shown below, these combinations are called "glides," and each combination is considered one syllable rather than two.

k + -ya
=
kya きゃ

k + -yu
=
kyu きゅ

k + -yo
=
kyo きょ

Each glide is written by two characters made of one of the い-row characters in Hiragana chart (き, ぎ, し, じ, ち, ぢ, に, ひ, び, ぴ, み, り) followed by one of small ゃ or ゅ or ょ. These small characters are written in the lower half of the area of a full-size character as shown below.

Click on any of the glide columns below to hear the pronunciation.

ry-

my-

py-

by-

hy-

ny-

ch-

sh-

gy-

ky-

Positioning of small

よ

Romaji Hiragana Meaning

kyou きょう today

kiyou きよう crafty

The first word means "today" while the second word means "crafty." In a horizontal text, the small ょ must be written at the bottom of the full-size hiragana area like this:

In a vertical text, the small ょ is written at the right side of the full-size hiragana area like this:

2: Exercises

A: Read the hiragana words below and confirm your pronunciation by clicking on the audio icons.

1. びよういん (5 syllables) beauty salon

2. びょういん (4 syllables) hospital

3. ひやく (3 syllables) leap

4. ひゃく (2 syllables) hundred

5. りようし (4 syllables) men's hair stylist

6. りょうし (3 syllables) hunter, fisherman

B: Click on the audio icons below and write down (or type if you can) what you hear. Note that one hiragana needs to be written in each box. Click on the areas below the boxes to see the answers.

1. China

2. company president

3. study abroad

4. janken (rock-scissors-paper)

C: Choose the correct hiragana for each word below.

1. ぎょうきゅうじょうきゅう

2. ぎゅうにゅうじゅうにゅう

3. りょうかいじょうかい

4. しょうじょしょじょう

5. そうぎゅうそうじゅう

6. じゃりぎゃり

7. じゃくぎゃく

8. しゅりょうしゅうりょ

Page 13 of 26