ひらがな

ひ

ら

が

な

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

hiragana

usually written using kana alone

The cursive Japanese syllabary used primarily for native Japanese words, function words, and inflections. Often contrasted with カタカナ.

Written forms

ひらがなUsage72%
The word is usually written in kana; this is the most common and recommended spelling.
平ひら仮が名なUsage28%
Kanji spelling; still seen in formal or technical contexts, but kana is preferred in everyday use.

Kanji

平even, flat, peace
仮sham, temporary, interim
名name, noted, distinguished

Similar words

カタカナ
Katakana is the angular syllabary used mainly for loanwords, foreign names, and emphasis, while hiragana is the cursive syllabary for native Japanese words and grammatical elements.
漢かん字じ
Kanji are Chinese characters used for content words, whereas hiragana is a phonetic script used for grammatical endings and native words without kanji.

Etymology

Derived from simplified cursive forms of man'yōgana (Chinese characters used phonetically). The term 平仮名 literally means 'plain' or 'ordinary' kana, contrasting with 片仮名 (katakana), which means 'partial' kana.