sokuon

Hiragana — っ

Sokuon Gemination 1 stroke
Character

Usage Note

A small っ (the "sokuon") carries no sound of its own — it signals a brief pause that doubles the consonant of the syllable right after it. Unlike the other extended combinations, this is one of the most common characters in everyday Japanese, not a rare loanword form.

Example Words

がっこう
gakkou
School
きって
kitte
Postage stamp
ざっし
zasshi
Magazine