Dakuten

Definition:

Dakuten (濁点, literally “voiced mark”) are the two small diagonal dots (゛) placed at the upper-right corner of certain Japanese kana to indicate that the consonant is voiced. Adding dakuten to か (ka) produces が (ga), to さ (sa) produces ざ (za), and so on. Dakuten apply to the same consonant rows in both hiragana and katakana.

In-Depth Explanation

Consonant rows that take dakuten:

What “voicing” means phonetically:

Voicing refers to vibration of the vocal cords during consonant production. When you say “ka,” the /k/ is produced without vocal cord vibration (voiceless). When you say “ga,” the /g/ is produced with vibration (voiced). Dakuten marks this transition in writing.

The H-row is a special case: the H-row consonant /h/ becomes /b/ with dakuten — a more dramatic change than the others, reflecting a historical sound change in Japanese where /p/ → /ɸ/ → /h/ over centuries. Adding dakuten brings back a stop consonant (/b/), and adding handakuten (the small circle) brings back /p/.

Katakana uses the same system:

• カ (ka) → ガ (ga)
• サ (sa) → ザ (za)
• タ (ta) → ダ (da)
• ハ (ha) → バ (ba)

Notes for T-row dakuten:

• ぢ (di/ji) and づ (du/zu) are largely replaced by じ (ji) and ず (zu) in modern Japanese. They survive in limited contexts, such as compound words where rendaku (sequential voicing) applies: 鼻血 (hanaji → hanaDI, nosebleed), 続く (tsuDUku, to continue).

Related Terms

• Handakuten
• Voicing
• Rendaku
• Hiragana
• Katakana

See Also

• Japanese Writing System
• Sakubo

Research

• Labrune, L. (2012). The Phonology of Japanese. Oxford University Press. — Covers the phonological basis for voicing distinctions and the historical development of the H-row.
• Vance, T. J. (2008). The Sounds of Japanese. Cambridge University Press. — Accessible phonetic description of voiced and voiceless consonants in Japanese.