Dec 1, 2010

Adding Ten-Ten Marks to Japanese Syllables

What are "ten-ten" marks, and what do can we do with them? A "ten-ten" mark is basically a single quotation symbol and is added to certain Japanese syllables to make new syllables that sound different. It makes voiced syllables gutteral. We can add "ten-ten" marks to the k, s, t, and h lines of the Japanese syllabary changin the syllables into their gutteral equivalents. An example would be when we place a "ten ten" mark after a voiced k it becomes its' gutteralized g. In other words, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko becomes ga, gi, gu, ge, go.

か、き、く、け、こ becomes が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご

か + " =  or  ga
き + " =  or  gi
く + "  =  or  gu
け + " =  or  ge
こ + " =  or  go

In the same manner adding a "ten-ten" mark to
sa, shi, su, se or so will turn them into their gutteralized versions ie. za, zhi (ji), zu, ze, zo etc.

さ、し、す、せ、そ becomes ざ、 じ、 ず、ぜ、ぞ

さ + " = or za
し + " = or zhi (ji)
す + " = or zu

せ + " = or ze
そ + " = or zo

We can also add them to the ta line of syllables so that ta, chi, tsu, te, to becomes da, ji, zu, de, and do.
た、ち、つ、て、と becomes だ、ぢ、づ, で、ど

た + " = or da

ち + " = or ji (dzi)
つ + " = or zu (dzu)
て + " = or de

と + " = or do

Lastly, the ha, hi, fu, he, ho line of the syllabary has two ways into which they can change. 1. Adding a "ten-ten" mark to the ha line of the syllabary makes them ba, bi ,bu ,be ,bo. 2. Adding a small degree symbol to the ha line makes each one turn into yet new syllables, they turn into pa, pi, pu, pe, po.

は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ becomes ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ, and ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ

は + " = or  ba
ひ + " = or  bi
ふ + " = or  bu
へ + " = or  be
ほ + " = or  bo
 
and
 
は + °= or  pa
ひ + °= or  pi

ふ + °= or  pu
へ + °= or  pe
ほ + °= or  po