Contracted Sounds Chart
Katakana Yōon (拗音) - Combination Characters
What are Yōon? Contracted sounds combine a character from the i-column with a small ャ, ュ, or ョ to create new sounds.
| YA | YU | YO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| K | キャ kya | キュ kyu | キョ kyo |
| G | ギャ gya | ギュ gyu | ギョ gyo |
| S | シャ sha | シュ shu | ショ sho |
| J | ジャ ja | ジュ ju | ジョ jo |
| C | チャ cha | チュ chu | チョ cho |
| N | ニャ nya | ニュ nyu | ニョ nyo |
| H | ヒャ hya | ヒュ hyu | ヒョ hyo |
| B | ビャ bya | ビュ byu | ビョ byo |
| P | ピャ pya | ピュ pyu | ピョ pyo |
| M | ミャ mya | ミュ myu | ミョ myo |
| R | リャ rya | リュ ryu | リョ ryo |
About contracted sounds (yōon)
Katakana yōon work exactly like their hiragana counterparts — a consonant character from the i-column combined with a small ャ, ュ, or ョ to form one contracted syllable, so キャ is pronounced "kya," not "ki-ya." This chart covers all 33 combinations.
Yōon are everywhere in loanwords, since they let Japanese approximate foreign sounds its base syllables can't: シャワー (shower), ジュース (juice), チョコレート (chocolate). If you're reading English loanwords in katakana, these combinations come up constantly.
Study alongside this chart
Read Contracted Sounds Explained for more on pronunciation, or Katakana Loanwords to see these combinations in real borrowed words. Drill them in Study mode once the base characters and dakuten & handakuten chart feel solid.
Test recall with a blank practice sheet, or revisit the basic katakana chart.