Pya Pyu Pyo

Hiragana 3

Chapter 7 Β· Pya Pyu Pyo

🌸 Combined Sounds V β€” ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ and みゃ みゅ みょ

Two rare rows, and a practical payoff: the hundreds are completed with 600 and 800. The characters are ぴ and み plus a small ゃ, γ‚… or ょ. Romaji is shown for everything.

🧩 The Rule Again β€” ζ‹—ιŸ³

Two more rows, and a bonus: ぴ (the semi-voiced partner of ひ) and み plus a small ゃ, γ‚… or ょ. The rule is the same: one beat. These sounds are the rarest so far, so this chapter also finishes the hundreds.

ゃ (ya)γ‚… (yu)ょ (yo)
ぴ (pi) pya pyu pyo
み (mi) mya myu myo
ぴゃ
pya
"pya" in one beat, a p plus "ya"
stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: roppyaku, six hundred. ぴ + small ゃ.
ぴゅ
pyu
"pyu" in one beat, like pew
stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: pyΕ«-pyΕ«, wind whistling. ぴ + small γ‚….
ぴょ
pyo
"pyo" in one beat
stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: pyon-pyon, a rabbit hopping. ぴ + small ょ.
みゃ
mya
"mya" in one beat, like the start of Myanmar
stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: myaku, a pulse. み + small ゃ.
みゅ
myu
"myu" in one beat, like mew
stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: myu, a soft cat-like sound. み + small γ‚….
みょ
myo
"myo" in one beat
stroke order β–Έ
Memory hook: myōji, a family name. み + small ょ.
Rare Sounds, Rare Words ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ and みゃ みゅ みょ mostly appear in numbers (ろっぴゃく), mimetic words (ぴょんぴょん) and a few word-parts of Chinese origin (みょう in γΏγ‚‡γ†γ˜). Don't worry about learning lots of words with them: learn to read them, and the rest will follow.

πŸ’― The Hundreds, Complete

Now you can read all nine hundreds. The sound of ひゃく changes after some numbers: びゃく after 3, and ぴゃく (with a small っ) after 6 and 8.

NumberHiraganaSay itWhich sound?
100hyakuひゃ
200nihyakuひゃ
300sanbyakuびゃ
400yonhyakuひゃ
500gohyakuひゃ
600roppyakuぴゃ, with small っ
700nanahyakuひゃ
800happyakuぴゃ, with small っ
900kyΕ«hyakuひゃ
Remember: 3, 6, 8 The hundreds that change are 300 (さんびゃく), 600 (ろっぴゃく) and 800 (はっぴゃく). Everything else, 100, 200, 400, 500, 700 and 900, keeps the plain ひゃく. The same 3-6-8 pattern turns up again with other counters, so it is worth memorising now.

πŸ“– Read It β€” New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji.

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1roppyakusix hundredro-p-pya-ku: small っ and ぴゃ
2happyakueight hundredha-p-pya-ku
3roppyaku-en600 yenro-p-pya-ku-e-n
4happyaku-en800 yenha-p-pya-ku-e-n
5pyonpyonhopping (mimetic)pyo-n-pyo-n: a rabbit
6pyΕ«pyΕ«whistling (wind)pyΕ«-pyΕ«
7pyokopyokobobbing up and downpyo-ko-pyo-ko
8myōjifamily name; surnamemyō-ji: you'll see it on forms
9myōnichitomorrow (formal)myō-ni-chi
10myakupulsemya-ku
Real Japanese Tip β€” γΏγ‚‡γ†γ˜ and γͺまえ On a Japanese form you'll see two boxes: γΏγ‚‡γ†γ˜ (family name) and γͺまえ (given name), in that order. Japanese names are written family name first, so やまだ γŸγ‚γ† is Mr Yamada, Taro. You can read both words now.
Review: Words from the Last Chapter (100) Β· (300) Β· (hospital) Β· (illness) Β· (chart) Β· (100 yen).

✍️ Try It Yourself β€” γ‚Œγ‚“γ—γ‚…γ†

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. How are and romanised?

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pya and mya.

2. Which hundreds change their sound, and how?

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300 (さんびゃく), 600 (ろっぴゃく) and 800 (はっぴゃく).

3. Read aloud and translate: Β·

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roppyaku (600) Β· happyaku (800)

4. Read aloud and translate: Β·

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roppyaku-en (600 yen) Β· happyaku-en (800 yen)

5. Read aloud and translate: Β· Β·

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myōji (family name) · myōnichi (tomorrow, formal) · pyonpyon (hopping)

6. Write in hiragana: roppyaku · myōji · pyonpyon (check the small characters).

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Β· Β·

Coming Up in Chapter 8 The last combined row: γ‚Šγ‚ƒ γ‚Šγ‚… γ‚Šγ‚‡, plus a full review of the whole combined-sound chart. You'll be able to read γ‚Šγ‚‡γ“γ† (travel), γ‚Šγ‚‡γ†γ‚Š (cooking) and γ‚Šγ‚…γ†γŒγ (studying abroad).