Modern kana usage

Modern kana usage ( Gendai Kanazukai) is the present

official kanazukai (system of spelling the Japanese syllabary). Also known as shin-kanazukai (
, new kanazukai), it is derived from historical usage.

History of modern kana usage :

As long ago as the Meiji Restoration, there had been dissatisfaction regarding the growing
discrepancy between spelling and speech. On November 16, 1946, soon after World War II, the
cabinet instituted the modern Japanese orthography as part of a general orthographic reform. The
system was further amended in 1986.

General differences :

There were no small kana in the pre-reform system; thus, for example, would be
ambiguous between kiyo and kyo while could be either katsuta or katta.

The pronunciation of medial h-row kana as w-row kana in the pre-reform system does not extend to
compound words; thus, was pronounced nihon, not nion (via **niwon). There are a small
number of counterexamples; e.g., "duck", pronounced ahiru rather than airu, or ,
pronounced Fujiwara, despite being a compound of Fuji (wisteria) + hara (field). The h-row was
historically pronounced as fa, fi, fu, fe, fo (and even further back, pa, pi, pu, pe, po).
Japanese f (IPA: []) is close to a voiceless w, and so was easily changed to w in the middle of a word;
the w was then dropped except for wa. This is also why fu is used to this day and has not
become hu.

The vowel + (f)u changes do not apply between elements of compound words, for example, the
name was Terauchi not Terchi, as it is Tera (temple) + uchi (inside, home). The -fu of the
modern -u series of verbs (that is, those verbs using the actual kana , such as kau or omou) was not
affected by the sound changes on the surface; however, some reports of Edo era Japanese indicate that
verbs like tamau and harau were pronounced as tam and har instead. In contrast, the -
in dar and ik is a product of the sound change from au to .

Furthermore, the topic particle wa (), the direction particle e () and the direct object
particle o () were exempted from spelling reform. In contemporary Japanese, the -character is
used only for the particle.
Examples :
Here, for example, (a) includes all kana using the /a/ vowel, such as (ka) or (ta).

Regarding these four morae are distinguished or merged to varying degrees in

different Japanese dialects, with some dialects (Thoku and Okinawan, for example) merging all four
into one, while other dialects (Tosa and Satsug, for example) distinguish among the four. Standard
spelling reflects the pronunciation of standard Japanese, which merges these into two sounds.
WRITING FROM THE KAMAKURA PERIOD

The Kamakura period ( Kamakura jidai, 11851333) is a period of Japanese

history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192
in Kamakura by the first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo. The period is known for the emergence of
the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan.

The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short re-
establishment of imperial rule under Emperor Go-Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada,
and Kusunoki Masashige.

During the Kamakura period, the use of dakuten in combination with kana in Japanese style
texts grew in popularity. As yet, dakuten were employed only sporadically, and this meant that the
kana , for instance, represented either ka or ga, depending on the context.