Dakuten and Combinations

You know the 46 basic hiragana. What comes next is not a new alphabet. Japanese extends the same characters with small marks that change sounds — starting with dakuten and handakuten, the two modifiers on this page.

This page covers:

Dakuten (濁点), two dots that “voice” consonants
Handakuten (半濁点), a small circle for the P-sounds

Combination syllables (yōon), long vowels, and the small っ are on the next page.

Dakuten 濁点 — adding voice

濁点(だくてん) (dakuten) are two small dots (゛) written in the upper-right corner of a kana character. They turn voiceless consonants into voiced ones, essentially “adding vibration” to the sound.

Think of it this way: か (ka) is a clean, sharp sound. Add voice, and it becomes が (ga) — same mouth shape, but your vocal cords buzz. Place your fingers on your throat and try it: “ka” (silent throat), then “ga” (throat vibrates). The two dots are a visual reminder to turn on the buzz.

か行 → が行

Listen to が (ga)

Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten
かka	がga	きki	ぎgi	くku	ぐgu
けke	げge	こko	ごgo

さ行 → ざ行

Listen to ざ (za)

Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten
さsa	ざza	しshi	じji	すsu	ずzu
せse	ぜze	そso	ぞzo

た行 → だ行

Listen to だ (da)

Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten
たta	だda	ちchi	ぢji	つtsu	づzu
てte	でde	とto	どdo

ぢ and づ are largely historical relics — modern Japanese almost always uses じ and ず instead. The main exception is づ in words like つづく (to continue) and いちず (diagram), where etymology preserves the original spelling. Recognize them when you see them, but expect じ/ず in daily reading.

は行 → ば行

Listen to ば (ba)

Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten	Base	+ Dakuten
はha	ばba	ひhi	びbi	ふfu	ぶbu
へhe	べbe	ほho	ぼbo

The は行 is special: it is the only row that takes both dakuten (→ ば) and handakuten (→ ぱ). No other row gets handakuten.

What does adding ゛ (dakuten) to か give you?

Handakuten 半濁点 — the P-sounds

半濁点(はんだくてん) (handakuten) is a small circle (゜) placed in the upper-right corner. It only applies to the は行, producing the P-sounds — which do not exist as basic hiragana. Dakuten (゛) adds voice; handakuten (゜) adds a puff of air. Say ぱ (pa) and you get a burst, like popping a bubble.

Listen to ぱ (pa)

Base	+ Handakuten	Base	+ Handakuten	Base	+ Handakuten
はha	ぱpa	ひhi	ぴpi	ふfu	ぷpu
へhe	ぺpe	ほho	ぽpo

The full は行 transformation

Here is は行 side by side, the only row with three forms:

は行	Ha (base)	Ba (dakuten)	Pa (handakuten)
a	はha/wa	ばba	ぱpa
i	ひhi	びbi	ぴpi
u	ふfu	ぶbu	ぷpu
e	へhe	べbe	ぺpe
o	ほho	ぼbo	ぽpo

Which row is the only one that uses handakuten ゜?

Common words with dakuten

These show up early in real reading:

Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning	Mandarin connection
学校(がっこう)	gakkō	school	学 + 校, same characters
電話(でんわ)	denwa	telephone	电 + 话, same characters
銀行(ぎんこう)	ginkō	bank	银 + 行, same characters
がくせい	gakusei	student	学生, same characters
ともだち	tomodachi	friend	友 + 達
たべもの	tabemono	food	食 + 物

Adding dakuten to さ (sa) produces which sound?