き + や
two separate sounds
INDOMURA JAPANESE · FOUNDATION · IJ-0018
Chapter 2 · Japanese Becomes Readable · Lesson 18
きゃ・きゅ・きょ
Two characters.
One flowing sound.
The sounds you learned separately are beginning to move together.
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NEXT MECHANISMSmall や・ゆ・よ
A new idea
Some Japanese sounds are built together.
You already know き and や. But when や becomes small, they no longer sound like two separate beats.
き + や → きゃ
Not ki-ya. Hear and say it as the flowing sound kya.
Not ki-ya. Hear and say it as the flowing sound kya.
ゃ
See the mechanism
Big や and small ゃ are not the same.
Size changes the sound. The small kana leans into the sound before it.
き + ゃ
きゃ · KYA
きゃ
one combined sound unit
The first family
きゃ · きゅ · きょ
き + ゃ → きゃ
KYAき + ゅ → きゅ
KYUき + ょ → きょ
KYOきや ≠ きゃ
SIZE MATTERS1 + small → 1
FLOWING SOUNDきゃ
KYA
きゅ
KYU
きょ
KYO
きゃ・きゅ・きょ
complete set
き・や・きゃ
build KYA
き・ゆ・きゅ
build KYU
き・よ・きょ
build KYO
Combination Writing Studio · 小さい や・ゆ・よ
Build the sound. Then watch it take shape.
The second kana is deliberately small. Select a combination, hear it, and watch the two characters appear in proportion.
き+ゃ→きゃ
きゃ
きゃ
Ready · きゃ
Active combination
きゃ
KYA
き + small ゃ → きゃ
The small kana does not begin a new full beat. It joins the sound before it.
Select → Play → Watch → Trace → Write
Words you can hear around you
Combined sounds already live inside real Japanese.
Start with words you can use or recognize. Notice the combined sound before worrying about every spelling pattern.
きょう
kyō
today
きゅう
kyū
nine
きゃく
kyaku
guest / customer
きょねん
kyonen
last year
とうきょう
Tōkyō
Tokyo
でんしゃ
densha
train
Life in Japan · きょう
Today means the day you are living.
きょう is one of those words that quickly leaves the textbook. You hear it when people talk about work, plans, weather, meetings and where they are going.
きょう
kyō · today
Japanese in motion
Connect time, place and movement.
きょう、とうきょうへ
いきます。
いきます。
Today, I’m going to Tokyo.
でんしゃで いきます。
I'll go by train.
A small preview, not a grammar lecture
へ and で are helping the sentence move.
For now, use the whole expressions. とうきょうへ いきます points movement toward Tokyo. でんしゃで いきます tells us the means of travel. We will decode these particles more deeply later.
Small sounds · everyday speech
You will hear them inside ordinary conversation.
The small ゃ・ゅ・ょ may look tiny on the page. In spoken Japanese, their combined sounds are everywhere.
Listen for the sound you know. You do not need to catch every word around it.
Speak it
Three small conversations.
Listen first. Then take Speaker A's side. The page keeps the voices simple: A asks; B responds.
Where today?
A
きょう、どこへ いきますか。
Where are you going today?B
とうきょうへ いきます。
I'm going to Tokyo.How will you go?
A
どうやって いきますか。
How will you go?B
でんしゃで いきます。
I'll go by train.Today?
A
きょうですか。
Today?B
はい、きょうです。
Yes, today.Real Japan Mission · Hear One Combined Sound
Catch one sound.
In a station, shop, café, train or ordinary conversation, listen for きゃ・きゅ・きょ. You do not need to understand everything around it.
Japanese starts becoming familiar one sound at a time.
Hear It in Real Japanese
Listen first. Then notice what your ear already knows.
Do not try to translate every sound. Listen once, then notice きょ inside Japanese you can already use.
Listen for きょ
きょう
todayとうきょう
TokyoA small sound learned here is already living inside Japanese you can use.
A short exchange
A
きょう、どこへ いきますか。
Where are you going today?B
とうきょうへ いきます。
I'm going to Tokyo.A
どうやって いきますか。
How will you get there?B
でんしゃで いきます。
I'll go by train.Read it yourself
Do not rush. Let your eye notice size.
きゃ
きゅ
きょ
きょう
とうきょう
きゅう
きゃく
きょねん
でんしゃ
きょうです
What I can do now
きゃ・きゅ・きょ
I can recognize and pronounce my first combined hiragana sounds.
BASIC HIRAGANA · 46/46 ✓DAKUTEN · 20 ✓HANDAKUTEN · 5 ✓YŌON MECHANISM · UNLOCKED
I can see the difference between きや and きゃ, hear combined sounds in real words, and use きょう・とうきょう・でんしゃ in a simple conversation.
NEXT · IJ-0019
The same small kana. A new family.
しゃ・しゅ・しょ
Now that you understand the mechanism, Japanese opens another very common set of flowing sounds.