Su (kana)

su
hiragana
japanese hiragana su
katakana
japanese katakana su
transliterationsu
translit. with dakutenzu
hiragana origin
katakana origin
Man'yōgana寸 須 周 酒 州 洲 珠 数 酢 栖 渚
Voiced Man'yōgana受 授 殊 儒
spelling kanaすずめのス
(Suzume no "su")

, in hiragana or in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Their shapes come from the kanji 寸 and 須, respectively. Both kana represent the sound [sɯ]. In the Ainu language, the katakana ス can be written as small ㇲ to represent a final s and is used to emphasize the pronunciation of [s] rather than the normal [ɕ] (represented in Ainu as ㇱ).[1]

Forms Rōmaji Hiragana Katakana
Normal s-
(さ行 sa-gyō)
su
suu, swu
すう, すぅ
すー
スウ, スゥ
スー
Addition dakuten z-
(ざ行 za-gyō)
zu
zuu, zwu
ずう, ずぅ
ずー
ズウ, ズゥ
ズー
Other additional forms
Form A (sw-)
Romaji Hiragana Katakana
swa すぁ, すゎ スァ, スヮ
swi, si, syi すぃ スィ *
(swu) すぅ スゥ
swe すぇ スェ
swo すぉ スォ
sya すゃ スャ
syu すゅ スュ
sye すぃぇ スィェ
syo すょ スョ
Form B (zw-)
Romaji Hiragana Katakana
zwa ずぁ, ずゎ ズァ, ズヮ
zwi, zi, zyi ずぃ ズィ *
(zwu) ずぅ ズゥ
zwe ずぇ ズェ
zwo ずぉ ズォ
zya ずゃ ズャ
zyu ずゅ ズュ
zye ずぃぇ ズィェ
zyo ずょ ズョ

* スィ and ズィ are also used to present si and zi pronunciations respectively. For example, 'C' is presented as スィー /siː/. See also Hepburn romanization.

  1. ^ Refsing, Kirsten (1996). Early European Writings on the Ainu Language. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-0400-0.