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 「さ」 Column: さ, し, す, せ, そ
Pronunciation of each letter
「さしすせそ」 (“s” sound /”sh” sound for し)
[さ・す・せ・そ]
Mouth position: The tip of the tongue goes up close to behind the top front teeth.
Air release: Force air to flow through the small space.
Vocal cord vibration: No (Unvoiced)
[し] *”sh” sound
Mouth position: The tip of the tongue arches up slightly toward the roof of the mouth and doesn’t touch anything in the mouth.
Air release: Force air to flow through the small space.
Vocal cord vibration: No (Unvoiced)
さ
“s” sound + [あ]
し
“sh” sound + [い]
す
“s” sound + [う]
せ
“s” sound + [え]
そ
“s” sound + [お]
Samples of handwriting
The previous sound: The Japanese が(“ga”) column
The next sound: The Japanese ざ(“za”) column
