The Order of Hiragana and Katakana
- Thread starter alexandro
- Start date
Yes, hiragana and katakana subscribe to the same ordering system called gojūon. If the most basic 47 letters are to be taken up, this ordering system is as follows;
1. kanas are sorted out in groups by the onset consonant, which aligns;
zero, k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w
2. within each group kanas are sorted by the neucleus vowel, which aligns;
a, i, u, e, o
1. kanas are sorted out in groups by the onset consonant, which aligns;
zero, k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w
2. within each group kanas are sorted by the neucleus vowel, which aligns;
a, i, u, e, o
This order is very important to me when using my dictionary. It has markings on the front, as reminders:
あ ["a", containing all words that start with: あいうえお, a, e, u, e, o]
か [ka]
さ [sa]
た [ta]
な [na]
は [ha]
ま [ma]
や [ya]
ら [ra]
わ [wa]
As you mentioned, within these groups, it always goes like this:
かきくけこ、ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
Gaer
But there's also that older order based on a Buddhist proverb. It's actually useful to know, since figures and diagrams in books will sometimes be labelled with kana in that order.
Sorry, it's a poem, not a proverb:
いろはにほへと
ちりぬるを
わかよたれそ
つねならむ
うゐのおくやま
けふこえて
あさきゆめみし
ゑひもせす
This is called the Iroha ordering. The Wikipedia article is interesting.
The more common gojūon ordering, by the way, comes from the ordering of letters in Sanskrit.
いろはにほへと
ちりぬるを
わかよたれそ
つねならむ
うゐのおくやま
けふこえて
あさきゆめみし
ゑひもせす
This is called the Iroha ordering. The Wikipedia article is interesting.
The more common gojūon ordering, by the way, comes from the ordering of letters in Sanskrit.