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 「た」 Column: た, ち, つ, て, と
Pronunciation of each letter
「たちつてと」 (“t” sound for た・て・と/”ch” for ち/”ts” for つ)
[た・て・と]
Mouth position: The front part of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth (or behind the top front teeth). It will then pull down to release the air.
Air release: Stop the airflow once and release it.
Vocal cord vibration: No (Unvoiced)
[ち] *”ch” sound
Mouth position: The tip of the tongue touches behind the top front teeth. It will then pull down to release the air.
Air release: Stop the airflow once and release the air through the gap.
Vocal cord vibration: No (Unvoiced)
[つ] *”ts” sound
Mouth position: The front part (not the tip) of the tongue raises and touches the roof of the mouth to cut off the airflow. It will then pull down quickly to release the air.
Air release: Stop the airflow once and release the air through the gap.
Vocal cord vibration: No (Unvoiced)
た
“t” sound + [あ]
ち
“ch” sound + [い]
つ
“ts” sound + [う]
て
“t” sound + [え]
と
“t” sound + [お]
Samples of handwriting
The previous sound: The Japanese ざ(“za”) column
The next sound: The Japanese だ(“da”) column
