is the present official '' kanazukai'' (system of spelling the Japanese syllabary). Also known as , it is derived from historical usage.

History

As long ago as the Meiji Restoration, there had been dissatisfaction regarding the growing discrepancy between spelling and

speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

. On November 16, 1946, soon after World War II, the cabinet instituted the modern Japanese orthography as part of a general orthographic reform. The system was further amended in 1986.

General differences

There were no small kana in the pre-reform system; thus, for example, would be ambiguous between ''kiyo'' and ''kyo'' while could be either ''katsuta'' or ''katta''. The pronunciation of medial ''h''-row kana as ''w''-row kana in the pre-reform system does not extend to compound words; thus, was pronounced ''nihon'', not ''nion'' (via **''niwon''). There are a small number of counterexamples; e.g., "duck", pronounced ''ahiru'' rather than ''airu'', or , pronounced

Fujiwara Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan and its members ** Fujiwara no Kamatari ...

, despite being a compound of Fuji ( wisteria) + hara (field). The h-row was historically pronounced as ''fa, fi, fu, fe, fo'' (and even further back, ''pa, pi, pu, pe, po''). Japanese ''f'' () is close to a voiceless ''w'', and so was easily changed to ''w'' in the middle of a word; the ''w'' was then dropped except for ''wa''. This is also why ''fu'' is used to this day and has not become ''hu''. The vowel + ''(f)u'' changes do not apply between elements of compound words, for example, the name was ''Terauchi'' not ''Terōchi'', as it is ''Tera'' (temple) + ''uchi'' (inside, home). The ''-fu'' of the modern ''-u'' series of verbs (that is, those verbs using the actual kana う, such as ''kau'' or ''omou'') was not affected by the sound changes on the surface; however, some reports of Edo era Japanese indicate that verbs like ''tamau'' and ''harau'' were pronounced as ''tamō'' and ''harō'' instead. In contrast, the -ō in ''darō'' and ''ikō'' is a product of the sound change from au to ō. Furthermore, the topic particle ''wa'' , the direction particle ''e'' and the direct object particle ''o'' were exempted from spelling reform. In contemporary Japanese, the を-character is used only for the particle.

Examples

Here, for example, (''a'') includes ''all'' kana using the /a/ vowel, such as (''ka'') or (''ta''). Regarding – these four

morae A mora (plural ''morae'' or ''moras''; often symbolized μ) is a basic timing unit in the phonology of some spoken languages, equal to or shorter than a syllable. For example, a short syllable such as ''ba'' consists of one mora (''monomoraic'') ...

are distinguished or merged to varying degrees in different Japanese dialects, with some dialects ( Tōhoku and Okinawan, for example) merging all four into one, while other dialects ( Tosa and Satsugū, for example) distinguish among the four. Standard spelling reflects the pronunciation of standard Japanese, which merges these into two sounds.

History

General differences

Examples

See also