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Yōon: the “twisted” sounds

Yōon are “twisted” or “contracted” sounds: compound syllables made by squeezing two sounds together into a single beat.

What they're for

Sounds like kya, sho or chu have no single character of their own. A small ya, yu or yo after an i-column character (ki, shi, chi…) blends the two into one syllable. They turn up in everyday words like きょう (kyō, today) and ジュース (jūsu, juice).

How they're built

  • き ki + ゃ ya → きゃ kya
  • し shi + ゅ yu → しゅ shu
  • ち chi + ょ yo → ちょ cho

Watch the size. きや (ki-ya) is two beats, きゃ (kya) is one. The same goes for katakana: キヤ vs キャ.

The full charts

Hiragana: Yōon combinations

きゃkyaきゅkyuきょkyoしゃshaしゅshuしょshoちゃchaちゅchuちょchoにゃnyaにゅnyuにょnyoひゃhyaひゅhyuひょhyoみゃmyaみゅmyuみょmyoりゃryaりゅryuりょryoぎゃgyaぎゅgyuぎょgyoじゃjaじゅjuじょjoびゃbyaびゅbyuびょbyoぴゃpyaぴゅpyuぴょpyo

Katakana: Yōon combinations

キャkyaキュkyuキョkyoシャshaシュshuショshoチャchaチュchuチョchoニャnyaニュnyuニョnyoヒャhyaヒュhyuヒョhyoミャmyaミュmyuミョmyoリャryaリュryuリョryoギャgyaギュgyuギョgyoジャjaジュjuジョjoビャbyaビュbyuビョbyoピャpyaピュpyuピョpyo

Examples

  • きょう (kyō): today
  • しゃしん (shashin): photo
  • ちょっと (chotto): a little
  • りょこう (ryokō): travel
  • ぎゅうにゅう (gyūnyū): milk
  • ニュース (nyūsu): news
  • チョコレート (chokorēto): chocolate

Tips

  • Only i-column characters take yōon: き, し, ち, に, ひ, み, り and their dakuten forms.
  • The sh, ch and j rows drop the “y” in romaji: しゃ is “sha”, not “shya”, and じゃ is “ja”.
  • Yōon often come with long vowels, as in きょう (kyō). See long vowels.

Questions learners ask

What is yōon?

Yōon (拗音) are syllables made by writing a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ after a character from the i column, like き + ゃ = きゃ (kya). The two kana are read as one beat.

How many yōon are there?

There are 33 in each script: 11 rows (k, s, ch, n, h, m, r, g, j, b, p) times ya, yu and yo.

How do I tell きゃ from きや?

By the size of the second character. A small ゃ makes one beat, kya. A full-size や is its own beat, ki-ya.