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When looking at the hiragana ぬ ( _nu_ ), ね ( _ne_ ), and る ( _ru_ ) one
notices a small circle in the symbols. In fact that circle is the only
difference when comparing them with the hiragana め ( _me_ ), れ ( _re_ ) and ろ
( _ro_ ).

In the history of hiragana, is there any special reason that lead to this. And
while I could see the relation of ね/れ and る/ろ (given that they sound similar),
why are ぬ and め so different in their pronunciation?

![“Mahoraba” by Kojima Akira](https://i.stack.imgur.com/y7hn6.jpg)

(Image was taken, and slightly adjusted, from the manga “Mahoraba” by Kojima
Akira)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T19:19:06.957
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2012-12-15T06:25:02.897
2012-12-15T06:25:02.897
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history hiragana
Origin of the circle in ぬ, ね, and る
They all originate from the cursive versions of kanji with the same/similar
pronunciation as the hiragana. Here's a picture [from
Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana#History) to illustrate:

![origin of the hiragana](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vn8M0.png)

To answer your question - there is no deep connection between the kana with
circles. The kanji they came from just happened to have a circle when written
in cursive.

And just to be complete, Wikipedia also has a picture on [the origin of
katakana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#History). They're a bit more
obvious because they're taken from the "plain" forms of the kanji.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-31T19:25:00.490
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answer