There was a problem when proofreading this page.
x
Introduction.

These are divided by the Japanese into 47 pure (Seion 淸音) and 20 impure (Daku-on 濁音) syllables, not including the final ン. To express these syllables they employ 48 characters, represented in the following diagram, where the syllables are arranged in their proper order, beginning at the left and reading across the page:—

i ro ha ni ho he to chi
ri nu ru wo wa ka yo ta
re so tsu ne na ra mu u
i no o ku ya ma ke fu
ko e te a sa ki yu me
mi shi ye hi mo se su n

The impure syllables are formed from the pure, by softening the initial consonant for the sake of easy pronunciation, or in writing Chinese sounds. In writing them they use the same characters, with two dots or a circle over the right shoulder, as seen in the following diagram:—

ha ho he to chi ka ta so tsu ku ke fu ko te sa ki shi hi se su
ba bo be do ji ga da zo zu gu ge bu go de za gi ji bi ze zu
pa po pe pu pi

In books these marks to designate the impure sounds are often omitted; it being taken for granted that the reader knows for himself when a syllable is to take this sound.

Another arrangement of their syllables, which is more ancient than the i, ro, ha method, and to which the Japanese are very partial, is that according to the five vowels, called the Go-jū-on, or I-tsura no on, or the fifty sounds, as follows:—

a ka sa ta na ha ma ya ra wa
i ki shi chi ni hi mi i ri i
u ku su tsu nu fu mu yu ru u
e ke se te ne he me ye re e
o ko so to no ho mo yo ro o

To complete this table the syllables イ, , and エ have to be repeated.