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Japanese/Kana/Lessons/Hiragana/Lesson 8
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
In this lesson you are going to learn how to read and write "や", "ゆ" and "よ".
や ya Someone shouting 'Ya!' as they punch through a board. やま (yama) mountain
やえいち (yaeichi) campsite
やせい (yasei) wild, rough
ゆ yu Picture a monkey sitting on a curled tree trunk. The monkey says, "Hey you!" (yu).
It could also be you with your arm around another's arm.
You are cutting up a fish. ゆらぐ (yuragu) to tremble
ゆめ (yume) dream
ゆげ (yuge) steam
よ yo Yoyo - It's a hand playing a yoyo. First you draw the hand, and then the yoyo itself.
Alternatively, imagine a Y conjoined with an O. よこう (yokou) rehearsal
ようかい (youkai) ghost, demon
よあけ (yoake) dawn
Yōon Hiragana
Certain sounds ending with -い(i) ( き(ki), し(shi), ち(chi), に(ni), ひ(hi), み(mi), り(ri) and their voiced variants) can be followed by small versions (ゃ, ゅ, and ょ) of the hiragana や(ya), ゆ(yu), and よ(yo). In this case, the two hiragana are not pronounced individually, but rather as one sound.
In most cases, the compound sound is the consonant of the base syllable followed by the modifier (fjord may be an example of a similar compound sound in English):
きゃ (kya)
きゅ (kyu)
きょ (kyo)
In other cases the y sound disappears entirely:
しゃ (sha)
しゅ (shu)
しょ (sho)
Look at the Kana Chart for the others.