Moji NinjaDakuten and handakuten
Dakuten (゛) and handakuten (゜) are two small marks that change a kana's consonant. Learn them after the 46 basic kana: the shapes stay the same, only the mark is new.
- Dakuten (゛) — two short strokes at the top right. It voices the consonant: k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b. か (ka) → が (ga).
- Handakuten (゜) — a small circle at the top right, used only on the h row: は (ha) → ぱ (pa).
Hiragana with dakuten and handakuten
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g | がga | ぎgi | ぐgu | げge | ごgo |
| z | ざza | じji | ずzu | ぜze | ぞzo |
| d | だda | ぢji | づzu | でde | どdo |
| b | ばba | びbi | ぶbu | べbe | ぼbo |
| p | ぱpa | ぴpi | ぷpu | ぺpe | ぽpo |
Katakana with dakuten and handakuten
| a | i | u | e | o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| g | ガga | ギgi | グgu | ゲge | ゴgo |
| z | ザza | ジji | ズzu | ゼze | ゾzo |
| d | ダda | ヂji | ヅzu | デde | ドdo |
| b | バba | ビbi | ブbu | ベbe | ボbo |
| p | パpa | ピpi | プpu | ペpe | ポpo |
Why dakuten matter
Voiced kana are in almost every sentence — です (desu), ございます (gozaimasu), だ (da). They are quick to learn: 20 kana with dakuten and 5 with handakuten, all built on shapes you already know.
Voicing in compounds (rendaku)
When two words join, the first consonant of the second one often becomes voiced: ひと + ひと → ひとびと (hitobito, “people”), て + かみ → てがみ (tegami, “letter”). That is why the same word can turn up with a dakuten.
Special cases
- ぢ and づ sound the same as じ and ず (ji, zu) and are much rarer. You'll meet them mostly where ち or つ is voiced in a compound (はなぢ hanaji, “nosebleed”; みかづき mikazuki, “crescent moon”) or repeated (ちぢむ chijimu, “to shrink”; つづく tsuzuku, “to continue”).
- じ is ji in Hepburn romaji (the spelling used here) and zi in Kunrei-shiki; Bulgarian writes it “джи”.
- ヴ is ウ with dakuten and writes a v in loanwords — see extended katakana.
Frequently asked questions
What does the dakuten mark do?
It voices the consonant: か (ka) becomes が (ga), さ (sa) becomes ざ (za), た (ta) becomes だ (da), and は (ha) becomes ば (ba).
How many kana have a dakuten?
Twenty: the が, ざ, だ and ば rows, five each. Five more have a handakuten: ぱ, ぴ, ぷ, ぺ, ぽ. The rare ゔ/ヴ makes a twenty-first.
Is ぢ the same as じ?
They sound the same (ji). じ is the usual spelling; ぢ is written mainly where ち is voiced in a compound or repeated.
What is the difference between ば and ぱ?
ば (ba) has a dakuten and a voiced b; ぱ (pa) has a handakuten and an unvoiced p. Both come from は.