Dakuten (濁音) and handakuten (半濁音)
Add two dots (゛) to a basic kana for a voiced sound, or a small circle (゜) for a p sound.
が ガga
ぎ ギgi
ぐ グgu
げ ゲge
ご ゴgo
ざ ザza
じ ジji
ず ズzu
ぜ ゼze
ぞ ゾzo
だ ダda
ぢ ヂji
づ ヅzu
で デde
ど ドdo
ば バba
び ビbi
ぶ ブbu
べ ベbe
ぼ ボbo
ぱ パpa
ぴ ピpi
ぷ プpu
ぺ ペpe
ぽ ポpo
Dakuten — 20 kana
- The dakuten ("voicing mark") is two short strokes at the top right. It turns the ka, sa, ta and ha rows into voiced sounds.
- か → が (ka → ga)
- さ → ざ (sa → za)
- た → だ (ta → da)
- は → ば (ha → ba)
Handakuten — 5 kana
- Only the ha-row takes the small circle ゜, which turns it into p.
- は → ぱ (ha → pa)
- So the ha-row has two variants, ば (ba) and ぱ (pa) — don't mix up the dots and the circle.
Good to know
- じ and ぢ are both read "ji", and ず and づ are both "zu". じ and ず are the usual ones; ぢ and づ only appear in some words such as はなぢ (hanaji, nosebleed) and つづく (tsuzuku, to continue).
- Katakana works the same way: カ → ガ, ハ → バ → パ