Table of derivation of the kana signs

Development of the Hiragana from Man'yōgana

Development of the katakana from Kanji

Kana is the umbrella term for the two Japanese syllabary scripts Hiragana and Katakana .

All syllables of the Japanese Kana syllabary scripts Hiragana and Katakana are originally derived from Chinese characters, the Kanji . It should be noted that the hiragana and katakana characters for the same sound are not always derived from the same character.

As a rough rule, it can be noted that the hiragana characters were formed from the grass script form of the original character, while the katakana characters are made up of components of the original character.

Vowel series

a - i - u - e - o

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
a	あ	安	ア	啊	安 , today's Chinese pronunciation “an” (as in Tian'anmen) means peace. The character 啊 (pronounced “a”) is mainly used in today's Chinese for foreign words and names.
i	い	以	イ	伊	...
u	う	宇	ウ	宇	The character 宇 (= space) has the pronunciation yu in modern Chinese.
e	え	衣	エ	江	江 , Chinese pronunciation “jiang” (= river) occurs in the Japanese place name Edo .
O	お	於	オ	於	In both cases the starting point is the character 於 yu.

K series

ka - ki - ku - ke - ko

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
ka	か	加	カ	加	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 加 (= to add) has the pronunciation " jia " in modern Chinese .
ki	き	幾	キ	幾	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 幾 (= how much) has the pronunciation “ ji ” in modern Chinese .
ku	く	久	ク	久	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 久 (= long time) has the pronunciation “ jiu ” in modern Chinese .
ke	け	...	ケ	介
ko	こ	己	コ	己	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 己 (= itself) has the pronunciation “ ji ” in modern Chinese .

S series

sa - shi - su - se - so

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
sa	さ	左	サ	散
shi	し	之	シ	之	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 之 (genitive particle) has the pronunciation “ zhi ” in modern Chinese .
see below	す	寸	ス	须
se	せ	世	セ	世	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 世 (= generation, world) has the pronunciation " shi " in modern Chinese .
so	そ	曾	ソ	曾	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 曾 (= once) has the pronunciation “ zeng ” in modern Chinese .

T series

ta - chi - tsu - te - to

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
ta	た	太	タ	多
chi	ち	知	チ	千	...
tsu	つ	川	ツ	川	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 川 (= river, stream) has the pronunciation “ chuan ” in modern Chinese .
te	て	天	テ	天	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 天 (= heaven, day) has the pronunciation “ tian ” in modern Chinese .
to	と	止	ト	止	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 止 (= to stand still) has the pronunciation “ zhi ” in modern Chinese .

N series

na - ni - nu - ne - no

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
n / A	な	奈	ナ	奈
ni	に	仁	ニ	仁	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 仁 (= humanity) has the pronunciation “ ren ” in modern Chinese .
nu	ぬ	奴	ヌ	奴	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 奴 (= slave, servant) has the pronunciation “ nu ” in modern Chinese .
no	ね	祢	ネ	祢
no	の	乃	ノ	乃

H series

ha - hi - fu - he - ho

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
Ha	は	波	ハ	八
Hi	ひ	比	ヒ	比	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 比 (= to compare) has the pronunciation “ bi ” in modern Chinese .
fu	ふ	不	フ	不	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 不 (= not) has the pronunciation " bu " in modern Chinese .
hey	へ	部	ヘ	部	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 部 (= part) has the pronunciation “ bu ” in modern Chinese .
ho	ほ	保	ホ	保

M series

ma - mi - mu - me - mo

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
ma	ま	末	マ	末
mi	み	美	ミ	三	...
must	む	武	ム	牟
me	め	女	メ	女	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 女 (= woman) has the pronunciation “ nü ” in modern Chinese .
mo	も	毛	モ	毛	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 毛 (= hair, bristle) has the pronunciation “ mao ” in modern Chinese .

Y series

ya - yu - yo

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
ya	や	也	ヤ	也	The same starting character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 也 (= also) has the pronunciation “ ye ” in modern Chinese .
yu	ゆ	由	ユ	由
yo	よ	...	ヨ	...

R series

ra - ri - ru - re - ro

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
ra	ら	良	ラ	良
ri	り	利	リ	利	...
ru	る	留	ル	流
re	れ	礼	レ	礼	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 礼 (= rite) has the pronunciation " li " in modern Chinese .
ro	ろ	呂	ロ	呂

W series

wa - where

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
wa	わ	和	ワ	和	The same initial character for Hiragana and Katakana characters. 和 (= harmony) has the pronunciation “ he ” in modern Chinese .
Where	を	遠	ヲ		...

N

n

Romaji	Hiragana	Kanji	Katakana	Kanji	Remarks
n	ん	无	ン	...	The Kanji 无 was originally a hentaigana for the syllable mu , only later it was inserted into the hiragana as an independent character n .