Quote:
Originally Posted by Cayla
Hi, I have a book that has charts and tables of the Hiragana and Katakana
letters (or characters.) I wanted to know if the sound that the letter makes
is also the name of the letter. I know its a confusing thing to ask, here is an
example.
(Hiragana character)
ひ makes the sound hi, is that also the name of the letter?
I think it probably is, I just want to make sure so I don't look dumb on the long run.  |
Both hiragana and katakana are syllabaries, and each individual hiragana or katakana are characters and not letters. That is important. Also, each hiragana and katakana have only one sound and no meaning. You also refer to each individual character by its sound. So, in your example, ひ is "hi", etc.
As to the sounds, try this:
Japan With Kids - Hiragana Chart With Sound