Voicing marks: g, z, d, b and p

Two small strokes turn か (ka) into が (ga), and a small circle turns は (ha) into ぱ (pa): 25 new sounds from 2 marks.

You do not need new letters for g, z, d, b or p. Japanese reuses the kana you already know and adds a mark at the top right. The two short strokes ゛ are called dakuten, or more casually ten-ten (dot dot). They make the consonant voiced, which means the vocal cords buzz while it is said. The small circle ゜ is called handakuten, or maru (circle), and it is used only on the h row, turning it into p. With these two marks the chart grows from 46 to 71 kana.

What the marks do

Try saying k and then g with a finger on your throat. The mouth does the same thing both times, but for g you feel a buzz. That buzz is voicing, and it is the whole difference between か and が, た and だ, さ and ざ. The ten-ten works on the sound rather than on the spelling, so it also explains the irregular kana: し (shi) becomes じ (ji), and ち (chi) becomes ぢ (ji). The h row is the exception. Its voiced partner is b, not a voiced h, so は becomes ば (ba), and the circle gives ぱ (pa).

For English speakers the g, z, d, b and p sounds are familiar. The point to watch is the unvoiced partner: か at the start of a word is softer than English k, so do not hear it as g. Speakers of languages that separate k and g by breath rather than by voicing, such as Korean and Mandarin, often hear a word-initial が and か as the same sound. The pair きん (kin, gold) and ぎん (gin, silver) shows why it matters. Listen to the recordings below several times, and feel for the buzz in your own throat.

Two kana for the same sound

Because し and ち both become ji when voiced, Japanese ends up with two kana for ji, じ and ぢ, and two for zu, ず and づ. Japan’s official spelling rules settle which to use. The default is じ and ず: みず (mizu, water), じかん (jikan, time). ぢ and づ appear in only two situations. The first is a repeated sound, as in ちぢむ (chijimu, to shrink) and つづく (tsuzuku, to continue). The second is a compound where the second word started with ち or つ: はな (nose) plus ち (blood) gives はなぢ (hanaji, nosebleed), and みか plus つき (moon) gives みかづき (mikazuki, crescent moon).