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 「な」 Column: な, に, ぬ, ね, の
Pronunciation of each letter
「なにぬねの」 (“n” sound)
[な・ぬ・ね・の]
Mouth position: The front part of the tongue touches behind the top front teeth to block the air.
Air release: Allow air to flow through the nose.
Vocal cord vibration: Yes (Voiced)
[に]
Mouth position: The middle part of the tongue touches the mouth roof (the hard palate) to block the air.
Air release: Allow air to flow through the nose.
Vocal cord vibration: Yes (Voiced)
な
“n” sound + [あ]
に
“n” sound + [い]
ぬ
“n” sound + [う]
ね
“n” sound + [え]
の
“n” sound + [お]
Samples of handwriting
The previous sound: The Japanese だ(“da”) column
The next sound: The Japanese は(“ha”) column
