47141
I'm just beginning to learn Japanese. The grammar and kanji I can follow along
thanks to similarities with Korean, but the hiragana is confusing the heck out
of me. There seems to be no pattern at all whatsoever, even in letters that
look very similar:

ね (ne), れ (re), わ (wa)

こ (ko), た (ta), に (ni)

ち (chi), さ (sa), き (ki)

Is there any rhyme or reason to how the hiragana letters are shaped? Or do
Japanese speakers just memorize them growing up?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-07T03:43:03.910
47136
2017-05-07T11:48:15.320
19951
question
hiragana
Is there any rhyme or reason to hiragana?
> Is there any good way to learn the shape of hiragana letters?

Yes, there are good ways!

  1. How to learn the shape of hiragana letters easily for non-native learners in English  
<http://mkikuchi.faculty.gatech.edu/WebCTVista/JAPN1001/contents/Lesson02/hiragana/mnemonic-
hiragana.html>

  2. How to write hiragana letters for non-native learners in English  
<https://yosida.com/en/hiragana.html>

> Is there any reason to how the hiragana letters are shaped?

Yes, there is a reason!

Kanji is inconvenient to use in daily life because it has a lot of number of
strokes/lines. So the hiragana was born by gradually simplifying kanji, and
the reading of each hiragana is the first reading of the syllable of the
corresponding kanji in old days from which the hiragana was born.
Interestingly, each hiragana has only its unique reading, but has no relating
meaning of the corresponding kanji. You can watch how each hiragana is made by
simplifying the corresponding kanji at the following sites:

あいうえお <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlB2JmolzTk>  
かきくけこ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lSSieRKkc>  
さしすせそ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsFPFWefk1M>  
たちつてと <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwsMoEAcxGY>  
なにぬねの <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YJJ1hAd4Zo>  
はひふへほ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dup4u_TRme8>  
まみむめも <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pjw8SvWaL4>  
や ゆ よ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pjw8SvWaL4>  
らりるれろ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdzuHp4aFXI>  
わ を ん <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7NtAPnmbHA>

More precisly, refer to the aritcle
[here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana).

Someone said hiragana is still complicated as you said, so katakana was
invented after the birth of hiragana by extracting some strokes/lines from
kanji. Therefore the strokes/lines of katakana are straight like that of
kanji. I don't explain katakana further.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-07T04:07:51.853
47138
2017-05-07T11:48:15.320
2017-05-07T11:48:15.320
20624
20624
47136
answer
I assume you mean to ask whether or not there is a pattern so that you can
easily remember them. As far as I know, the answer is "no".

However, a little historical context wouldn't hurt. The very short,
superficial story is that hiragana and katakana were derived from the Chinese
characters as simplified writing systems. If you look at the characters from
which they were derived, perhaps it could help them stick in your mind,
especially if you can follow kanji. For the benefit of future readers, I also
mention katakana. Below, I quote from Wikipedia.

> ### [Hiragana: History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana#History)
>
> The forms of the hiragana originate from the cursive script style of Chinese
> calligraphy. The figure below shows the derivation of hiragana from
> manyōgana via cursive script. The upper part shows the character in the
> regular script form, the center character in red shows the cursive script
> form of the character, and the bottom shows the equivalent hiragana. Note
> also that the cursive script forms are not strictly confined to those in the
> illustration.
>
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/HlkYU.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/HlkYU.png)
>
> ### [Katakana: History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#History)
>
> Katakana was developed in the 9th century (during the early Heian period) by
> Buddhist monks by taking parts of man'yōgana characters as a form of
> shorthand, hence this kana is so-called kata (片, ‘partial, fragmented’).
>
> For example, ka (カ) comes from the left side of ka (加, literally ‘increase’,
> but the original meaning is no longer applicable to kana). The adjacent
> table shows the origins of each katakana: the red markings of the original
> Chinese character (used as man'yōgana) eventually became each corresponding
> symbol.
>
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wyhTC.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wyhTC.png)

For more historical context, see this related post: [Why was both katakana and
hiragana created?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/4281/why-was-
both-katakana-and-hiragana-created)

To further help the reader, I provide some mnemonic devices in place of a hard
and fast rule to easily writing hiragana and katakana. Below I have reproduced
just one set I found at kidspicturedictionarycom: [Hiragana – Katakana Picture
Mnemonics](http://kidspicturedictionary.com/japanese/hiragana-katakana-
mnemonics/). However, there should be dozens more if you search online.

> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/V2N7S.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/V2N7S.jpg)
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xg6oa.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xg6oa.jpg)
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fmrXK.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fmrXK.jpg)

Two more resources:

  1. Japanese Language Course Support Site at Georgia Tech 
    1. [Hiragana](http://japanese.gatech.edu/WebCTVista/JAPN1001/contents/Lesson02/hiragana/mnemonic-hiragana.html)
    2. [Katakana](http://japanese.gatech.edu/WebCTVista/JAPN1001/contents/Lesson02/katakana/mnemonic-katakana.html)
  2. Tofugu.com 
    1. [Hiragana](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/)
    2. [Katakana](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-07T06:08:09.880
47141
2017-05-07T06:08:09.880
11792
47136
answer