Contracted Sounds Chart
Yōon (拗音) - Combination Characters
What are Yōon? Contracted sounds combine a character from the i-column with a small や, ゆ, or よ to create new sounds.
| YA | YU | YO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| K | きゃ kya | きゅ kyu | きょ kyo |
| G | ぎゃ gya | ぎゅ gyu | ぎょ gyo |
| S | しゃ sha | しゅ shu | しょ sho |
| J | じゃ ja | じゅ ju | じょ jo |
| C | ちゃ cha | ちゅ chu | ちょ cho |
| N | にゃ nya | にゅ nyu | にょ nyo |
| H | ひゃ hya | ひゅ hyu | ひょ hyo |
| B | びゃ bya | びゅ byu | びょ byo |
| P | ぴゃ pya | ぴゅ pyu | ぴょ pyo |
| M | みゃ mya | みゅ myu | みょ myo |
| R | りゃ rya | りゅ ryu | りょ ryo |
About contracted sounds (yōon)
Yōon combine a consonant character from the i-column (き, し, ち, に, ひ, み, り, and their dakuten/handakuten variants) with a small や, ゆ, or よ to form a single contracted syllable — きゃ is pronounced "kya," not "ki-ya." This chart covers all 33 hiragana yōon combinations, organized by row.
These aren't optional extras — yōon show up constantly in ordinary words (きょう "today," じゃない "isn't"), so they're worth learning right after the base characters and dakuten sounds.
Study alongside this chart
Read Contracted Sounds Explained for more on how yōon are pronounced and where they show up, then practice recognizing them in Study mode. Make sure the base characters and dakuten & handakuten chart feel solid first, since yōon are built directly on top of them.
Test recall from memory with a blank practice sheet, or jump back to the basic hiragana chart for a refresher.