Editing Hiragana (section)

==Writing system==
{| align=right border="0" cellpadding="0" style="padding:2px;margin-left:1em;"
|-
|
{| class="wikitable" style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
|+ Basic hiragana characters
|-
! !! ''a'' !! ''i'' !! ''u'' !! ''e'' !! ''o''
|-
!title="No lead consonant"|∅
|<big>[[あ]]</big>||<big>[[い]]</big>||<big>[[う]]</big>||<big>[[え]]</big>||<big>[[お]]</big>
|-
!''k''
|<big>[[か]]</big>||<big>[[き]]</big>||<big>[[く]]</big>||<big>[[け]]</big>||<big>[[こ]]</big>
|-
!''s''
|<big>[[さ]]</big>||<big>[[し]]</big>||<big>[[す]]</big>||<big>[[せ]]</big>||<big>[[そ]]</big>
|-
!''t''
|<big>[[た]]</big>||<big>[[ち]]</big>||<big>[[つ]]</big>||<big>[[て]]</big>||<big>[[と]]</big>
|-
!''n''
|<big>[[な]]</big>||<big>[[に]]</big>||<big>[[ぬ]]</big>||<big>[[ね]]</big>||<big>[[の]]</big>
|-
!''h''
|<big>[[は]]</big>||<big>[[ひ]]</big>||<big>[[ふ]]</big>||<big>[[へ]]</big>||<big>[[ほ]]</big>
|-
!''m''
|<big>[[ま]]</big>||<big>[[み]]</big>||<big>[[む]]</big>||<big>[[め]]</big>||<big>[[も]]</big>
|-
!''y''
|<big>[[や]]</big>||<ref name="obsolete">See [[#Obsolete kana|obsolete kana]].</ref>
|<big>[[ゆ]]</big>||<ref name="obsolete" />||<big>[[よ]]</big>
|-
!''r''
|<big>[[ら]]</big>|||<big>[[り]]</big>||<big>[[る]]</big>||<big>[[れ]]</big>||<big>[[ろ]]</big>
|-
!''w''
|<big>[[わ]]</big>||style="background:#DDDDF6"|<big>[[ゐ]]</big>||<ref name="obsolete" />
|style="background:#DDDDF6"|<big>[[ゑ]]</big>||<big>[[を]]</big>
|-
| colspan="6" | <big>[[ん]]</big> '''(''n'')'''
|-
! colspan="6"| Main functional marks <br />and [[diacritics]]
|-
|<big>[[っ]]</big>||<big>[[ゝ]]</big>|| colspan="2" |<big>[[dakuten|゛]]</big>|| colspan="2" |<big>[[dakuten|゜]]</big>
|}
|-
|{{Color box|#DDDDF6;|border=darkgray}} Only used in some proper names
|}

After the [[Japanese script reform#Pre-World War II reforms|1900 script reform]], which deemed hundreds of characters ''[[hentaigana]]'', the hiragana syllabary consists of 48 base characters, of which two ([[ゐ]] and [[ゑ]]) are only used in some proper names:

* 5 singular vowels: [[あ]] /a/, [[い]] /i/, [[う]] /u/, [[え]] /e/, [[お]] /o/ (respectively pronounced {{IPA|ja|a|}}, {{IPA|ja|i|}}, {{IPA|ja|ɯ|}}, {{IPA|ja|e|}} and {{IPA|ja|o|}})
* 42 consonant–vowel unions: for example [[き]] /ki/, [[て]] /te/, [[ほ]] /ho/, [[ゆ]] /ju/, [[わ]] /wa/ (respectively pronounced {{IPA|ja|ki|}}, {{IPA|ja|te|}}, {{IPA|ja|ho|}}, {{IPA|ja|jɯ|}} and {{IPA|ja|wa|}})
* 1 singular consonant ([[ん]]), romanized as ''n''.

These are conceived as a 5×10 grid (''[[gojūon]]'', {{nowrap|{{lang|ja|五十音}}}}, "Fifty Sounds"), as illustrated in the adjacent table, read {{nowrap|あ (''a''),}} {{nowrap|い (''i''),}} {{nowrap|う (''u''),}} {{nowrap|え (''e''),}} {{nowrap|お (''o''),}} {{nowrap|か (''ka''),}} {{nowrap|き (''ki''),}} {{nowrap|く (''ku''),}} {{nowrap|け (''ke''),}} {{nowrap|こ (''ko'')}} and so forth (but ''si''→''shi'', ''ti''→''chi'', ''tu''→''tsu'', ''hu''→''fu'', ''wi''→''i'', ''we''→''e'', ''wo''→''o''). Of the 50 theoretically possible combinations, ''yi'', ''ye'', and ''wu'' are completely unused. On the ''w'' row, [[ゐ]] and [[ゑ]], pronounced {{IPA|ja|i|}} and {{IPA|ja|e|}} respectively, are uncommon in modern Japanese, while [[を]], pronounced {{IPA|ja|o|}}, is common as a [[grammatical particle|particle]] but otherwise rare. Strictly speaking, the singular consonant {{nowrap|ん (''n'')}} is considered to be outside the ''gojūon''.

These basic characters can be modified in various ways. By adding a ''[[dakuten]]'' marker (&nbsp;゛), a [[Obstruent|voiceless consonant]] is turned into a [[sonorant|voiced consonant]]: ''k''→''g'', ''ts/s''→''z'', ''t''→''d'', ''h/f''→''b'' and ''ch''/''sh''→''j'' (also [[U (kana)|''u'']]→''v(u)''). For example, か (''ka'') becomes が (''ga''). Hiragana beginning with an ''h'' (or ''f'') sound can also add a ''[[handakuten]]'' marker (&nbsp;゜) changing the ''h'' (''f'') to a ''p''. For example, は (''ha'') becomes ぱ (''pa'').

A small version of the hiragana for ''ya'', ''yu'', or ''yo'' (ゃ, ゅ or ょ respectively) may be added to hiragana ending in ''i''. This changes the ''i'' vowel sound to a glide ([[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]]) to ''a'', ''u'' or ''o''. For example, き (''ki'') plus ゃ (small ''ya'') becomes {{nowrap|きゃ}} (''kya''). Addition of the small ''y'' kana is called ''[[yōon]]''.

A small ''tsu'' っ, called a ''[[sokuon]]'', indicates that the following consonant is [[geminated]] (doubled). In Japanese this is an important distinction in pronunciation; for example, compare {{nowrap|さか}}, ''saka'', "hill" with {{nowrap|さっか}}, ''sakka'', "author". However, it cannot be used to double an ''n'' – for this purpose, the singular ''n'' (ん) is added in front of the syllable, as in みんな (''minna'', "all"). The ''sokuon'' also sometimes appears at the end of utterances, where it denotes a [[glottal stop]], as in {{nowrap|いてっ!}} ({{IPA|ja|iteʔ|}}, "Ouch!").

Two hiragana have pronunciations that depend on the context:
* [[は]] is pronounced {{IPA|ja|wa|}} when used as a particle (otherwise, {{IPA|ja|ha|}}).
* [[へ]] is pronounced {{IPA|ja|e|}} when used as a particle (otherwise, {{IPA|ja|he|}}).

Hiragana usually spells [[long vowel]]s with the addition of a second vowel kana; for example, おかあさん (''o-ka-a-sa-n'', "mother"). The ''[[chōonpu]]'' (long vowel mark) (ー) used in katakana is rarely used with hiragana, for example in the word {{nowrap|らーめん}}, ''[[rāmen]]'', but this usage is considered non-standard in Japanese. However, the [[Okinawan language]] uses chōonpu with hiragana. In informal writing, small versions of the five vowel kana are sometimes used to represent trailing off sounds ({{nowrap|はぁ}}, ''haa'', {{nowrap|ねぇ}}, ''nee''). Plain (clear) and voiced [[Iteration mark#Japanese|iteration marks]] are written in hiragana as ゝ and ゞ, respectively. These marks are rarely used nowadays.