The 46 sounds on the so-called hiragana chart are mainly written and pronounced in Japanese. In addition, there are other characters with small dots or circles above the letters, as well with smaller “ぁぃぅぇぉ”, “ゃゅょ”, and “っ”, so in reality, many more sounds can be expressed.
This series will explain the 46 characters on the hiragana chart, 25 hiragana and katakana characters with dots and circles above them, and their pronunciations.
The 「か」 Column: か, き, く, け, こ
Pronunciation of each letter
「かきくけこ」 (“k” sound)
Mouth position: The back part of the tongue reaches up and touches the soft palate to stop the airflow. And release the air quickly as you pull away your tongue from the soft palate.
Air release: Stop the airflow once and release it.
Vocal cord vibration: No (Unvoiced)
か
“k” sound + [あ]
き
“k” sound + [い]
く
“k” sound + [う]
け
“k” sound + [え]
こ
“k” sound + [お]
Samples of handwriting
The previous sound: The Japanese あ(“a”) column
The next sound: The Japanese が(“ga”) column
