X.	Z.	/í	/L	;t	V, /L		X.
							
							
READ AND WRITE
picture, painting
	
	ŕ
Huh?	
	JT,
uh-huh	
	
	
top, upper part
house
		
		/U
Li
READ AND WRITE
	/		
to chase
Hey!
many, much
t-	
2ö	
(noun) blue
(adj.) blue
blue house
				,1					
READ AND WRITE
					1 \	1 —		
a bet
pond
IJ	\ ^	1 J	\ \
accounting*			
X '		/4	
business management*
Note the pronunciation of the words with asterisks (*). See p. 31 for an explanation.
READ AND WRITE
here
carp (name of a fish)
high school*
advertisement*
			
			j
	/		
/		—	
\	/		
airport*			
			/ \ ■3
	° 1 ::						
							
		-					
							
	<*	<*		C			
							
f t	• ;		i				
							
_							
							
r
READ AND WRITE
4*			/				
foreign country; overseas
key
(health) condition
play, drama
PM, afternoon
English*
foreign language
					
gargling, a gargle					
					
meeting
	1 1 ,		
shadow
				
chin, jaw				
			<	->
20
H I
LESSON
READ AND WRITE
LONG VOWELS
Japanese-style room
			
	V*'		—*\
	sj		
jagged
time difference
	1	:	^5r
	/		sj
vacuum cleaner*			
			
pleasantly cool (breeze)
		
	U /	
quiet
wind
■4- N			
			
many (people)*
family
1J	\ 1 % X		1 /
pirate			
		> -r	
ivory
Japanese has both long and short vowel sounds. The words with asterisks ( * ) that you've seen up to now contain long vowels. Let's review some of them.
tfnMtvN    < n Z i fcfc-tf^
In the first word, the combination If + * produces a long vowel that is pronounced /ke-e/ rather than /ke-i/, although kei is how the sound is romanized. The second word contains two long vowels: •( ? , pronounced /ku-u/, and C "7 , pronounced /ko-o/ (not /ko-u/, even though (cou is how we romanize it). The third word also contains two long vowels: H H /o-o/ and -tf V 4 /ze-e/, romanized as oo and zei.
Long vowels take two beats—twice the duration of ordinary vowels. When pronouncing them, take care not to compress them into short vowels—you could end up with an entirely different word. For example, shujin is "husband," but shuujin is "prisoner." The only difference between the two words is how long the /u/ sound is held. Another example: Okasan means "Mr. Oka," but ofcaasan—with the long vowel /ka-a/—means "mother." When you want to tell someone that "Mr. Oka is calling," you wouldn't want it to sound like "Your mother is calling." In short, it's important to make sure long vowels are pronounced long to avoid misunderstandings.
The examples of #h M71 x and { 7 Z 7 above illustrate an important principle: the pronunciation of x after a hiragana ending in an lei sound (i.e., any of the hiragana in the e column as shown in the left-hand chart below: X, It, -li etc.) usually becomes lei, and the pronunciation of 1 after a hiragana ending in an lol sound (i.e., any of the hiragana in the o column as shown in the right-hand chart below: H, Z , etc.) usually becomes lol. There are exceptions to these rules, and you must learn them as the words are introduced.
_		EL.	~*	
		1	X	Ü
			It	
	L	-t		
tz			T	
+£	IC			<D
li			^s	li
i		tj	to	i
		$		
b	'J	*>		
h [Z				
-When comes after any of the hiragana in this column, it is usually pronounced as lei.
		1	X	
		<	It	
	L	■f		
tz	*>		T	r.
	K	lä	n	
li	U	J-	'S	a
	Ä	t]		i
		n>		1
h	'J	i	tl	
h				
-When 1 comes after any of the hiragana in this column, it is usually pronounced as lol.
For practice in distinguishing these long vowel sounds, go to p. 94 in the Appendixes.
J 3Q
LESSON
REVIEW _..... ^ " «J»^t I
Practice writing horizontally.
READ AND WRITE
desk
1		
		
		
hot
socks
	\ \	tz	*>
first day of the month			
			o
skeleton			
I Jr i		5	0
police
I 36
	<:				
READ AND WRITE
,-V
enemy
			
subway			
	1 K	0<	
vertical writing
i
commuter (bus, train, subway) pass
	I \	~~~f	\ N
			
usually
	T			
reserved seat
READ AND WRITE
free (of charge)
exit
university
f \	# —		
Please give me . . .			
			
soon (formal)
T							
(legal) procedure
				
3o				
allowance
		—70					
It's a lie.							
							
Here you are. (offering someone something)
(			
			
sometimes
Where is it?
I 4P
DOUBLE CONSONANTS
The basic (regular-sized) hiragana ^> is pronounced /tsu/, but a small o doesn't have its own pronunciation. When you see a small o in a word, it's a signal to hold your breath for one beat in the position where the small o is. The effect of the small -o is to double the consonant that follows it. For example, listen to the following words, which mean "the whole family," "magazine," "(postage) stamp," and "over there" (in that order).
I
T,  & o £>
Did you hear the pauses? In writing the romanized transcription, the small -j is indicated by the addition of a consonant, e.g., ikka, zasshi, kitte, acchi.
The small -> represents a full beat. The word ^ -r> \ for instance, has three beats, /i-k-ka/. When pronouncing a word such as this, hold the first consonant of the double consonant (the underlined letter) for a full beat. If you don't, it could change the meaning of the word. If /i-k-ka/ were pronounced with only two beats, as in /i-ka/, it would mean "squid" instead of "the whole family."
To get an idea of what is meant here, note the difference in the length of the k sounds in the English word "placard" (where it is spelled with a "c") and in the phrase "black card." The pronunciation of the latter resembles the double k sound in ^ -o ^\
Listen to the audio and practice reading the words below, keeping in mind the following rule:
The small o takes one full beat.
There is one hiragana before which the small o is never used: L n, which will be introduced later. That is, a small -> is never used to create a double "n" sound. For example, onna (woman) is written as H Aj*£, not H -o
The small -~> is written the same as the regular-sized "3. However, in horizontal writing, it's written in the lower half of its real or imaginary square, while in vertical writing it's written in the right half of the square. Pay attention to the position of the small -r> when writing vertically and horizontally.
\ \
		'"v.
		*7 1 % / /
		
- In horizontal writing, you write the small o in the lower half of the square, while in vertical writing you write it in the right half of the square.
LESSON
REVIEW
Practice writing horizontally.
CO	CP;	(D	CD	CD		CD,	
							
							
MM READ AND WRITE ■									
1-1									
/1 \ V /	f								
throat									A
I 1		1							
Fun, enjoyable									
	w								
nine (items), nine		/ears old (of a person)							
::C	y			—*					
Qoy									
(!)									
oeephol«									
—•		it)							
the other day									
J 48
REVIEW
Practice writing horizontally.
na        ni        nu       ne no
ni ji
na       ga       gu tsu
ko       no a Practice writing vertically.
da
ka ne
te       nu gu
m
tsu
ke
to
ka
ku
49
Fill in the following chart with the correct hiragana.
LESSON
READ AND WRITE
1 C\
teeth/tooth
flower
READ AND WRITE
airplane
knee(s)
f h I
chopstick(s)
twenty years old (of a person)
picture postcard
(calendar) date
•r \
1 _V
drawer
My mother is awesome/amazing. (The third (i is pronounced /wa/. See p. 7, Note 3.)
Ll2
S3 J
uniform
go to Hakone     is pronounced lei here. See p. 7, Note 5.)
READ AND WRITE
ghost
for example
Ml..................
shrimp, prawn
snoring, a snore
,1:..............iz<
pork
.XjXij.
dangerous
o o
separately
./cXXL
leftovers (food)
hat, cap
! x-
jet lag
pimple, acne
f .X	! ......-J:"	J o.„		f			
							
'■fa.*	7 \	/ V,		1			
							
4 O OX	\ o	\ o Ox	V O	\ o Ox-			
							
							
							
							
							
5_3j
READ AND WRITE
full
one (when counting animals)
Japanese happi coat v C
-V
ticket
x o
burp
o
starving
o
X
cheek(s)
tail
feverish
REVIEW
Practice writing horizontally.
ha hi		fu	he	ho		
		H				
ho	ne		hi	ko	u	ki
				a		
he i		ji	tsu		ha	na
						
se        i fu ku
Practice writing vertically.
ho
pe
■Htf
	su		bu		bo		pa		ba
	p		ta		u		Pi		bi
	pa		ni		shi		pu		bu
	i		ku	□			pe		be
					e		po		bo
					bi				
Fill in the following chart with the corresponding hiragana.
LESSON
READ AND WRITE
—I- n
«W J-
bad-tasting
window
free time, time to kill every day
■.....•
•.....•
		""""'IT		——			
		CS.					
							
							
(expression used after a meal)
Ropr
READ AND WRITE
ear(s)
water
7 \ 7
secret
honey
wastebasket, garbage can
*****
v        • I b        • i «I
/VdU/VcU/:
		J*- >					
							
							
READ AND WRITE
-f" *
CvJ
bug, insect cold (weather)
cU
i ok
cavity (in a tooth)
n Ü "t rj
rice ball
difficult
I'm sleepy.
I 66
:ff* ■ ^ iff \ &
-			<«6	a6			
							
							
READ AND WRITE
eye(s)
uncooked rice
pickled sour plum
J-
magnifying glass
How do you do?
e-LJ
Fill in the following chart, in order, with the appropriate hiragana.
	i 1			—M	
■HRHH					
					
					
Bui					
illM					
■■■■					
					
LESSON
'I
1.
■r JHHHI
■HriiHHHHIH
.1        J* • .......•
_.......■_________________........
• . ± . „ -
.......
t r * i a t-
■■■flHHIHHHHIHL
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
kya
IT
sha
t, ?
cha
nya hya mya
rya
$ 0 kyu	$ X kyo
L	L J;
shu	sho
	"'47
chu	cho ••••••••
	: Kjt
nyu	I nyo »•>••»•■••
	: J:
hyu	hyo
	! A J:
myu	J myo
ryu
ryo
	*0	*'J:
		gy°
	i: rD	L" Jt
,, ja.....	ju.....	jq _,
tf*>		
bya	byu ••••••••••	byo
		: ^
pya	: pyu_	pyo
É
READ AND WRITE
grand-champion sumo wrestler
reservation
horizontal writing
Sunday
toothpick
Good morning, (informal)
CONTRACTED SOUNDS
nail f, *,and X are added to hiragana of the i column (i.e., J, L, % etc.), as shown below, to create contracted hiragana syllables.
					
jHjJB	ás	, *		Ž.	
	a	i	u	e	o
	/r		<	It	
	ka	ki	ku	ke	ko
	■j	L	-r	-ti-	
WĚĚĚ	sa	shi	su	se	so
	/b	t.	-o	T	
	ta	:hi	tsu	te	to
jjj		C		*1	<F>
	na	ni	nu	ne	no
Kji	11 ha	V-		'S	IÍ
		hi	fu	he	ho
bBH	i	A	t;	th	
	ma	■ ni	mu	me	mo
wBĚĚ			n>		Jt
			yu		yo
__ ■iff	b	'J	•?>	ft	
	ra h ,va T	ri	ru	.'re';	ro
					i wo
	kya		kyu	$ Jt	kyo
*>	gya	? *	gyu	*Jt	gy°
	sha	L *	shu	L J:	sho*
	ja	It *	ju	it Jt	jo*
	cha	% *	chu		cho*
	nya	ic Kb	nyu	K Jt	nyo
	hya		hyu	CA Jt	hyo
	bya	Xfrt>	byu	J:	byo
<7>	pya	tfrp	pyu		pyo
	mya		myu	A J;	myo
tj ^	rya	'J *	ryu	'J J:	ryo**
*ln some cases, the combination is such that the pronunciation is more clearly indicated in romanization with an "h" or no additional letter, rather than with a "y."
**The basic hiragana 'J /ri/ will be introduced in Lesson 8.
Although the above contracted sounds are written with two hiragana characters (one regular-sized and one small), they each represent only one beat, just like single hiragana characters. A student once said to me, "Please give me freedom" (It rf> 1 { tz\i l * Jiyuu kudasai), but what he actually wanted to say was "Please give me ten" (It r)) 7 < tz^ ^ Juu kudasai). The word "freedom" is It rf> 1 /ji-yu-u/ with three beats, whereas the word for "ten" is It <P 1 /ju-u/ with two beats. So, in order to avoid confusion and misunderstanding, keep in mind that the combination of an / column hiragana and a small f, ft, or J: is pronounced as a single beat.
Like small small <•, *,and J: are written in the lower half of their real or imaginary square in horizontal writing, and in the right half of the square in vertical writing.
7JÜ
READ AND WRITE
automobile, car
J v
See you.
~J
(Japanese) tea V,--1 -A"
baseball
(cow's) milk
weekend
today
address
just right
sickness, disease
I™
(ŕ D3 \
one hundred
REVIEW
Practice writing horizontally.
	ya	yu	yo						
O					B				
	yo	ko	ga	ki		o	ya	yu bi	
□									
	fu	yu	ya	su	mi				
□						B			
	ni	chi	yo	u	bi		ya	sa i	
□				□					
	kyo		u			ya	kyu		u
□				D					
	hya		ku			byo		u	ki
m									
	ja		a	ma		ta			
Practice writing vertically.
LESSON
READ AND WRITE
camel
J
next month
salty
I 80
1
M.
READ AND WRITE
squirrel
medicine
				1 ;
\		\		
(public) lottery				traveling, trip
		1 i K) %	\	■ y \
bathroom				slowly
	1 ' y	■f * \	\	
boring			\	an only child
Thank you.
X
81
READ AND WRITE
crocodile, alligator
Qjfjn.................
ring (jewelry) rumor, gossip peace
disposable wooden chopsticks lost item
I 86
READ AND WRITE
I will close the window.
Please write your name.
3 7 o
Let's be careful.
note: £is used only as a particle. It is a direct-object marker.
Fill in the following chart, in order, with the appropriate hiragana.
SIMILAR-LOOKING HIRAGANA
Listen to the audio and select the correct hiragana.
1.a)
b)
4. a) tz  b)       c) li 7. a) O  b) L   c) & 10. a) 9   b) b   c) £>
2. a) & b) £ c)
5. a) At) b) fa c) <?>
8. a) 'S b) h c)^t
11. a) £> b) <S c) <&
3. a) < b) "\ c) T
6. a) ft b) c) fa
9. a) 9 b) X. c) L
12. a) & b) *6 c) *tl d)<D
13. a) Ii  b) (I c) £   d) Jt    14. a) 7c  b) 3   c) ^ x  d) lJ    15. a) V. N  b) It c)
d)
I SIMILAR-LOOKING WORDS
Listen to the audio and select the correct word.
1.	a)	*><	b) * <	0 $ <	d) £ <
2.	a)				
3.	a)		b)A'J	ofa'J	d) & 'J
4.	a!	^ft	b)	c)^fa	d)
5.	a)			c) <fc L	d) L
6.	a)	=t lJ	wi (J	o(l'J	d) (i 'J
7.	a)	Li	W < i	o^i	d)Ti
8.	a)			c) ^ t	d)^£
9.	a)		b) J Ä		d)
10.	a!	li/c	bili:	c)li^	d) li »J
93 J
11.	a)		b)U	c) i L	d) h L	8.	a) (f 9 L	b) (I 9 L		d) (i L
12.	a)		b) 9 £>	c) h%	d) Jt £>	9.	a) 11 L	b) (I L ^	c)       I ^	d) £ vs I ^
13.	a)		b)		d) v ^	10.	a)ti*r> 3 9	b) 3	c) fr -D 3 9	d) If o 3 9 t
14.	a)	< %	b) It,	c) < ^	d) I h	11.	a) £ If	b) £ 9 If V ^	0 £ 9 lt^	d)£(|VN i
15.	a)	U It A		c) 3 ti-X.		12.		b)^-th x		
16.	a)		b) 7cX 3*	c)       A 3"	d) ii/CZ'					[
LONG VOWELS
Listen to the audio and practice pronouncing the following pairs.
Long Vowel /e-e/
tfMf . . . TjMfv \ 7L
*^C\ Lit ... Llfv
Long Vowel /o-o/
3 3 ... 3 9 3 9. 3 ^ N . . . 3 9 ^ \ 3*#H x . . . 3* 9 tfNV \ $ 3* ... £ 3* 9,      3 . . .     9 3„     #H 9 tfn ^
II. Listen to the audio and select the correct word.
1.	a) fc^&tTA	b) fctf^A		
2.	a) H^hiS L	b) &&frhi<Aj		d)£^/-c'^
3.	a)fc(£ ^	b)          £ L		
4.	a)      o ^5	b) £ L! ^5 L	o l: ^ s	
5.	a) < ^ $	b) < 9 $	c) < $	d> < *
6.		b)-tK Mfv N	c) -tt ^ a6 v ^	d) It^x.^
7.	a) J^T	b) £ $T	c) ST	
CONTRACTED SOUNDS
I. Listen to the audio and practice pronouncing the following pairs.
1:^9...1:^9, r/Jt9^/v...t/'j:9^Xv. ^l^... ^u.
UK* < ...      < , *£i...*xi, S^<...$^<. ...^9-  'J Jt 9 . . . »J J: t\ (JrJ)9...'jK},9
II. Listen to the audio and select the correct word.
1.	a)	lr£ 9	b) llty 9	c)	l: ^ 9
2.	a)	U n> 9	b) 'J 9	c)	I »J 9
3.	a)		b) CA* J; 9 ^	c)	l/X 9 1^
4.	a)		b) ^ L ?	c)	$ I ^
5.	a)	II rp 9 tfn ^	b) rj) 9 ^ x	c)	
6.	a)	^ <	b) £A ^ <	c)	U I ^ <
7.	a)	S Jt 9	b) $ J: 9	c)	J: 9
8.	a)	U Jt 9 'J	b) ä J: 9 'j	c)	I/'Jl 9 'J
9.	a)	$       9  <J Jt 9	b) $ Jt 9 lJ * 9	c)	$ J: 9 rj) 9
10.	a)	$ * <	b) cf ^ <	c)	
95