Hiragana

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/hiragana

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the etymological origin?Derived from cursive forms (sōsho) of Chinese characters (Kanji)
2. What is the grammatical function?Essential for okurigana (verb/adjective endings) and grammatical particles
3. Why do we use Hiragana instead of Kanji?Hiragana is easier to write and read for everyday words that don't have clear Kanji, and it shows the grammar like verb endings and particles.
4. How do Hiragana characters look like?Each character is a single sound, usually a consonant plus a vowel, and they are drawn in smooth, connected strokes that look like art.

Sōsho: A highly cursive style of Chinese calligraphy that served as the visual template for Hiragana characters.
Okurigana: Hiragana suffixes appended to Kanji roots to indicate grammatical inflections, particularly for verbs and adjectives.
Furigana: Phonetic readings of Kanji, typically written in Hiragana, used as a reading aid.
Mora: A unit of phonetic timing in Japanese, often corresponding to a consonant-vowel pair or a single vowel.