Lesson 16 of 16
Blended sounds: GY, J, BY, PY
Finally, blend the voiced and puffed kana. じゃ, じゅ, じょ are ja, ju, jo. ぢゃ, ぢゅ, ぢょ sound the same but are rare.
Pronunciation
How it sounds
This set combines the voicing marks with blends. じゃ, じゅ, じょ are ja as in jar, ju as in juice, and jo as in joke. ぎゃ is gya, びゃ is bya, and ぴゃ is pya. In modern writing, じゃ じゅ じょ are used instead of ぢゃ ぢゅ ぢょ almost every time.
Reading tips
Easy to mix up
ぢゃ, ぢゅ, ぢょ sound the same as じゃ, じゅ, じょ. You'll rarely see them, but you'll know them when you do.
Read each pair as a single beat. じゅう (jū, “ten”) has one ju beat followed by a held u.
ぎ + small や: gya.
ぎ + small ゆ: gyu.
ぎ + small よ: gyo.
じ + small や: ja.
じ + small ゆ: ju.
じ + small よ: jo.
ぢ + small や: ja, same as じゃ and rarely used.
ぢ + small ゆ: ju, same as じゅ and rarely used.
ぢ + small よ: jo, same as じょ and rarely used.
び + small や: bya.
び + small ゆ: byu.
び + small よ: byo.
ぴ + small や: pya.
ぴ + small ゆ: pyu.
ぴ + small よ: pyo.
Real vocabulary
Words you can read now
じゅう
jū
ten
びょういん
byōin
hospital
じゅぎょう
jugyō
class, lesson
じょうず
jōzu
skilled
きんぎょ
kingyo
goldfish
ぎゅうにゅう
gyūnyū
milk