Japanese Gojūon - Complete List of Seion (Voiceless) Kana

Japanese seion (voiceless sounds) are the most fundamental syllables in the Gojūon chart, comprising 46 characters that form the core of the syllabary. What are seion? Seion refers to sounds produced without vocal cord vibration, contrasting with dakuon (が, ざ, だ, ば, etc.), and they represent the most basic phonemes in Japanese. Seion are written in two parallel writing systems: hiragana, derived from cursive forms of Chinese characters, and katakana, derived from fragments of Chinese characters in regular script. Each seion kana represents one syllable, consisting of either a vowel or a consonant + vowel combination. Which characters are included in seion? Seion include the a-row, ka-row, sa-row, ta-row, na-row, ha-row, ma-row, ya-row, ra-row, wa-row, and the syllabic nasal ん, totaling 46 characters. What are some seion hiragana? Examples include あ, い, う, え, お, か, き, く, け, こ, etc.; what are the corresponding seion katakana? They are ア, イ, ウ, エ, オ, カ, キ, ク, ケ, コ, etc. The origins of these characters are largely derived from Chinese characters—for instance, "あ" comes from "安," "か" from "加," "さ" from "左," and so on. Additionally, Japanese has special sounds such as chōon (long vowels), yōon (contracted sounds), and sokuon (geminate consonants), which are built upon seion or dakuon. For example, "ー" indicates a long vowel, "っ" indicates a geminate consonant, and "きゃ" represents a yōon. This page collects all seion kana and provides detailed technical information and audio pronunciation for convenient Japanese learning and development use.

📝 Seion Hiragana

Hiragana seion include the "a-row," "ka-row," "sa-row," "ta-row," "na-row," "ha-row," "ma-row," "ya-row," "ra-row," "wa-row," and the syllabic nasal "ん." Hiragana characters have rounded forms and are primarily used for native Japanese words, grammatical function words, and furigana annotations for kanji. For example, あ (romaji: a), か (romaji: ka), さ (romaji: sa), etc. Each hiragana character has a corresponding Unicode code point, ranging from U+3042 to U+3093. In the Gojūon chart, seion hiragana occupy the foundational positions, while dakuon, handakuon, yōon, sokuon, and chōon are all derived from or combined with seion. For instance, "が" is the dakuon of か, "ぱ" is the handakuon of は, "きゃ" is the yōon of き, "っ" represents sokuon, and "ー" represents chōon. Understanding the meanings and origins of seion hiragana helps in memorizing the entire Gojūon chart. The character origins of seion hiragana include: "あ" from "安," "い" from "以," "う" from "宇," "え" from "衣," "お" from "於," "か" from "加," "き" from "幾," "く" from "久," "け" from "計," "こ" from "己," etc. These Chinese character meanings provide mnemonic clues for the kana.

🔤 Seion Katakana

Katakana seion correspond one-to-one with hiragana, sharing the same pronunciation but featuring more angular forms. Katakana is primarily used for loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific names of plants and animals, and emphasis. For example, ア (romaji: a), カ (romaji: ka), サ (romaji: sa). The Unicode code points for katakana range from U+30A2 to U+30F3. Similar to hiragana, katakana seion also form the foundation of the Gojūon chart, and long vowels, yōon, and sokuon apply to katakana as well—for example, "カー" indicates a long vowel, "キャ" represents a yōon, and "ッ" indicates a sokuon. Katakana character origins are mostly derived from fragments of Chinese characters in regular script, such as "ア" from "阿," "イ" from "伊," "ウ" from "宇," "エ" from "江," "オ" from "於," etc. Mastering katakana seion is essential for reading loanwords, such as "コーヒー" (coffee), where "コ," "ー," "ヒ," and "ー" are all based on seion katakana and the long vowel mark.

📌 Usage Tips

Click any seion card above to view detailed information and copy Unicode, romaji, HTML entity, or LaTeX commands with one click. Each kana supports audio pronunciation and can be downloaded as a 512×512 pixel transparent background PNG image. For programming or typesetting, prioritize using Unicode encoding to ensure cross-platform compatibility. To input kana, use romaji input methods (e.g., typing "ka" produces "か" or "カ"). Additionally, when learning the Japanese Gojūon chart, it is recommended to first master the seion, then gradually study dakuon, handakuon, yōon, sokuon, and chōon, which will help you better understand the Japanese phonological system. While this page focuses on seion, the descriptions and introductions include related concepts to help you build a complete framework of Gojūon knowledge.