2.4. Hiragana for /t/, /d/ + vowels


/t/ + vowels:
HiraganaPhonemeRomanizationDescription
(ta)/ta/"ta" audio English "t" + Japanese "a".
(ti)/ti/"chi" audio English "ch" + Japanese "i".
Note that it is not "ti" but "chi".
(tu)/tu/"tsu" audio English "ts" + Japanese "u".
Note that it is not "tu" but "tsu".
(te)/te/"te" audio English "t" + Japanese "e".
(to)/to/"to" audio English "t" + Japanese "o".


/d/ + vowels:
HiraganaPhonemeRomanizationDescription
(da)/da/"da" audio English "d" + Japanese "a".
(di)/di/"ji" audio English "j" + Japanese "i".
Note that it is not "di" but "ji".
It shares the same pronunciation with (zi) /zi/.
(du)/du/"zu" audio English "dz" + Japanese "u".
Note that its pronunciation is not "du" but "dzu".
It shares the same pronunciation with (zu) /zu/.
(de)/de/"de" audio English "d" + Japanese "e".
(do)/do/"do" audio English "d" + Japanese "o".

Note that /ti/, /tu/, /di/, and /du/ have different consonants from others.
The kana (di) /di/ "ji" and (du) /du/ "zu" have the same pronunciations as (zi) /zi/ "ji" and (zu) /zu/ "zu" respectively. The latter two are almost always used for the pronunciations "ji" and "zu". The former two, (di) /di/ "ji" and (du) /du/ "zu", are used only for syllables that come from (ti) /ti/ "chi" and (tu) /tu/ "tsu" etymologically.


Hiragana examples:

Hiragana:(te)(tu)
Phonemes:tetu
Romanization:tetsu
Meaning:iron (noun)

Hiragana:(ka)(ta)(ti)
Phonemes:katati
Romanization:katachi
Meaning:shape (noun)

Hiragana:(to)(u)(da)(i)
Phonemes:toudai
Romanization:tôdai
Meaning:lighthouse (noun)

Hiragana:(ti)(zu)
Phonemes:ti'zu
Romanization:chizu
Meaning:map (noun)

Hiragana:(ta)(da)(si)(i)
Phonemes:tadasi'i
Romanization:tadashii
Meaning:right, correct (adjective)

Hiragana:(tu)(tu)
Phonemes:tutu
Romanization:tsutsu
Meaning:pipe (noun)



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