Definition:
Handakuten (半濁点, literally “half-voiced mark”) is the small circle (゜) placed at the upper-right corner of H-row kana to change the consonant to /p/. It applies only to the H-row (は行) in both hiragana and katakana, producing the P-sounds that are otherwise absent from the basic kana chart.
In-Depth Explanation
H-row with handakuten:
| Base (H-row) | + Dakuten (B-row) | + Handakuten (P-row) |
|---|---|---|
| は (ha) | ば (ba) | ぱ (pa) |
| ひ (hi) | び (bi) | ぴ (pi) |
| ふ (fu) | ぶ (bu) | ぷ (pu) |
| へ (he) | べ (be) | ぺ (pe) |
| ほ (ho) | ぼ (bo) | ぽ (po) |
Katakana: ハ → バ → パ, ヒ → ビ → ピ, etc.
Why only the H-row?
The name “half-voiced” (半濁) is a historical artifact. In the traditional Japanese phonological classification, /p/ was considered “half” between the voiceless /h/ and voiced /b/. From a modern phonetic perspective, /p/ is actually voiceless (like /h/), so the name is misleading — but it’s entrenched in the writing system.
The deeper reason is historical: Old Japanese had /p/ where modern Japanese has /h/. The sound change /p/ → /ɸ/ → /h/ occurred gradually over centuries. The handakuten mark restores the original /p/ sound, which survives in:
- Mimetic words (onomatopoeia): ぴかぴか (pikapika, sparkling), ぽんぽん (ponpon)
- Loanwords in katakana: パソコン (pasokon, personal computer), ピザ (piza, pizza)
- Native Japanese words through rendaku and compounding: 散歩 (sanpo, walk), 天ぷら (tempura)
Learner notes:
Handakuten is straightforward — it only applies to five kana and always produces /p/. The challenge is distinguishing the small circle (゜) from dakuten (゛) in handwriting, especially at small sizes. In typed text, the distinction is clear.
Related Terms
See Also
Research
- Frellesvig, B. (2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press. — Documents the /p/ → /ɸ/ → /h/ sound change and its implications for the modern writing system.
- Labrune, L. (2012). The Phonology of Japanese. Oxford University Press. — Phonological analysis of the H-row consonant alternations.