Combined Sounds II

Katakana 2

Chapter 8 · Combined Sounds II

🌸 Combined Sounds II — The Remaining Rows

Chapter 7 gave you four rows of combined sounds. This chapter finishes the other seven: チ ニ ヒ ビ ピ ミ リ plus a small ャ ュ ョ. Most of these are common in only a few words, so the chapter shows you the whole chart and teaches the ones that matter. Romaji is shown for everything.

🧩 More Combined Sounds

The rule is the same as last chapter: an い-row character plus a small ャ, ュ or ョ makes one beat. Here are the remaining seven rows. Click any character for its stroke order.

ャ (ya)ュ (yu)ョ (yo)
チ (chi) cha chu cho
ニ (ni) nya nyu nyo
ヒ (hi) hya hyu hyo
ビ (bi) bya byu byo
ピ (pi) pya pyu pyo
ミ (mi) mya myu myo
リ (ri) rya ryu ryo
Which Ones Matter? チャ チュ チョ and ニュ are common in everyday loanwords (チョコ, ニュース, メニュー). ビュ and ピュ turn up in a few useful words (インタビュー, コンピューター). The others (ヒャ ヒョ ビャ ビョ ピャ ピョ ミャ リャ リョ) are rare: recognise them, and they will make sense when they appear in names and sound effects.

🗺️ All Eleven Rows Together

The complete set of combined sounds in katakana, all the way across the two chapters. They are the same 33 sounds you met in hiragana.

Rowャュョ

📖 Read It — New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji and the English word it comes from.

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1chokochocolate (short)cho-ko
2chokorētochocolatecho-ko-re-e-to
3nyūsunewsnyu-u-su
4chansuchance; opportunitycha-n-su
5menyūmenume-nyu-u: you will need it in cafés
6ryukkurucksack; backpackryu-k-ku
7konpyūtācomputerko-n-pyu-u-ta-a
8intabyūinterviewi-n-ta-byu-u
9myūjikkumusicmyu-u-ji-k-ku
10MyanmāMyanmarmya-n-ma-a: a country name
Real Japanese Tip — メニュー メニュー is the menu at a café or restaurant, and you can now read it. Look for ランチメニュー (lunch menu) and ドリンクメニュー (drinks menu). A tourist who can read katakana can read almost every menu in Japan, because so many dishes and drinks are written with it.
Review: Words from the Last Chapter (juice) · (shirt) · (shop) · (camp) · (shower) · (jacket).

✍️ Try It Yourself — れんしゅう

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

1. Read aloud and translate: · ·

Show answer

choko (chocolate) · chokorēto (chocolate) · nyūsu (news)

2. Read aloud and translate: · ·

Show answer

chansu (chance) · ryukku (rucksack) · menyū (menu)

3. Read aloud and translate: · ·

Show answer

konpyūtā (computer) · intabyū (interview) · myūjikku (music)

4. How is romanised, and is there an extra y?

Show answer

cha: no extra y; the ch already contains it.

5. How many combined sounds are there in total, in each script?

Show answer

33 (eleven rows of three), the same in hiragana and katakana.

6. Write in katakana: menyū · nyūsu · choko (check the small characters).

Show answer

· ·

Coming Up in Chapter 9 The extra foreign sounds: ファ フィ フェ フォ and ウィ ウェ ウォ, made with small ァ ィ ェ ォ. You'll be able to read ファン (fan), フォーク (fork), フィルム (film) and ウェブ (web).