Japanese Grammar

日本語の文法

濁点 (dakuten) and 半濁点 (handakuten) are diacriticsin the kana system used to alter the pronunciation of a particular kana. Dakuten can be applied some kana, but not all, and its use is not always the same. For instance, the kana か (ka) with dakuten becomesが (ga) or さ (sa) with dakuten becomes ざ (za). Handakuten is a bit simpler, simply altering an “h” to a “p”. In example, は (ha) becomes ぱ (pa) or ふ (hu/fu) becomes ぷ (pu). The dakuten and handakuten I learned through recognize fairly quickly through visual association, tic-tacs and circle/mouth appearance respectively.

拗音 (youon) are diphthongs used to contract a particular kana with ゃ (ya), ゅ (yu) or ょ (yo) and can be troublesome at first as well. Illustrated, き(ki) with や (ya) becomes きゃ (kya).

促音 (sokuon) used to geminate a consonant, represented by a small っ. However, the rest of the grammar was just a matter of memorization through repetition.