Dakuten and Handakuten in Japanese

What dakuten and handakuten are

Japanese has 46 basic kana, but it has more sounds than that. Instead of separate letters for g, z, d, b and p, it adds a small mark to an existing kana. The dakuten (濁点, だくてん), often called てんてん, is the pair of short strokes ゛ at the upper right of a kana. The handakuten (半濁点, はんだくてん), often called まる, is the small circle ゜ in the same spot.

Japanese grammar books describe plain kana as 清音 (せいおん, clear sounds) and kana with a dakuten as 濁音 (だくおん, muddy sounds). Kana with a handakuten are called 半濁音 (はんだくおん, half-muddy sounds). In plain English, the dakuten makes a consonant voiced: your vocal cords buzz on g, z, d and b, but not on k, s, t and h. Put a finger on your throat and say k then g to feel the difference.

The 25 kana the marks create

Only five rows of the chart take these marks. The dakuten goes on the か, さ, た and は rows, and the handakuten goes only on the は row. Every hiragana here has a katakana twin that works the same way, so が is ガ and ぱ is パ. The hiragana chart and katakana chart show the full grid with romaji.

Two rows surprise most learners. The は row voices to b, not to an h-like sound, and it is the only row with a p version. The handakuten itself is fairly recent: it was introduced by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in the late 1500s to mark the p sound in their Japanese texts. The た row also breaks the pattern in the middle, because ぢ and づ are pronounced ji and zu, the same as じ and ず.

The marks also combine with the small ゃ, ゅ and ょ: ぎゃ (gya), じゅ (ju), びょ (byo) and ぴゃ (pya) follow the same rules as きゃ, しゅ and ひょ.

Why the marks matter: word pairs

A dakuten is not decoration. Leave it off and you write a different word, or no word at all:

• かき (persimmon) vs かぎ (key)
• さる (monkey) vs ざる (bamboo strainer)
• てんき (天気, weather) vs でんき (電気, electricity), with the kanji 天, 気 and 電
• ふた (lid) vs ぶた (pig)
• ほん (book) vs counter forms like いっぽん and さんぼん, explained in the Japanese counters guide

Those counter forms show the most common reason dakuten appear in the middle of a word. When two words join, the first sound of the second word often picks up a dakuten, as in てがみ (手紙, letter) from て and かみ. This sound change is called rendaku, and the rendaku guide covers its patterns and exceptions.

ぢ and づ: when to use them instead of じ and ず

In standard Japanese, ぢ and じ sound the same, and so do づ and ず. Hepburn romaji writes both pairs as ji and zu. So which one do you write? Japan's official spelling rules, 現代仮名遣い, say to use じ and ず by default and keep ぢ and づ for two cases:

1. A repeated sound. When ち or つ is followed by its own voiced form, write ぢ or づ: ちぢむ (to shrink), ちぢれる (to curl), つづく (to continue), つづる (to spell).
2. A compound whose second part starts with ち or つ. はなぢ (鼻血, nosebleed) is はな plus ち (blood). みかづき (三日月, crescent moon) ends in つき, the reading of 月. こづつみ (小包, parcel) ends in つつみ, and てづくり (手作り, handmade) ends in つくり.

The rules list some words that no longer feel like two parts, and these are written with じ or ず as the main spelling, with ぢ or づ also allowed. The best known are せかいじゅう (世界中, all over the world, from 中) and いなずま (稲妻, lightning). Words where the voiced sound is simply part of a kanji's onyomi, such as じめん (地面, ground) and ずが (図画, drawing), always use じ and ず.

If you are unsure, write じ or ず. Most words use them, and ぢ and づ show up in a short list of everyday words you will learn by sight: つづく, ちぢむ, はなぢ, みかづき and こづつみ.

ヴ and other uncommon combinations

Japanese has no native v sound, but katakana can write one by adding a dakuten to ウ: ヴ, used with small vowels in spellings such as ヴァ (va). Many words have a more common spelling with the b row instead, and the two are pronounced alike by most speakers. For example, Venus is usually written ビーナス rather than ヴィーナス.

You may also spot marks in less standard places. Dictionaries and textbooks sometimes write か゚ to show the nasal ng sound that some speakers use for が in the middle of a word. Manga and casual writing put a dakuten on kana that normally never take one, such as あ゙, to suggest a strained or shocked cry. These are effects, not spelling you need to produce.

Writing and typing the marks

By hand, write the whole kana first, then add the mark last at the upper right: two short strokes for a dakuten, a small circle for a handakuten. Keep the marks small and clear of the kana so they are not mistaken for part of it. Many learners confuse ぱ and ば in fast handwriting, so make the circle round and the strokes short and slanted.

On a romaji keyboard you never type the mark itself. Type the voiced romaji and the input method picks the right kana: ga gives が, ji gives じ, ba gives ば and pa gives ぱ. For ぢ and づ, type di and du. The romaji to kana converter shows each result as you type.

1. Learn the plain kana first. Once you know か, the whole が row is free. The hiragana learning guide suggests an order.
2. Drill the rows as pairs. Read か が, さ ざ, た だ, は ば ぱ aloud, feeling your throat buzz on the voiced sounds.
3. Quiz yourself on the marks. A kana quiz that includes voiced kana catches the ば and ぱ mix-up early.
4. Read real words. Spotting dakuten in vocabulary, for example in kanji readings reviewed in Moji or another flashcard app, makes them automatic.

Dakuten and handakuten take an afternoon to learn and add 25 sounds to your kana. Learn the five rows, remember that ぢ and づ are the rare spellings, and you can read every voiced sound in modern Japanese.