Hentaigana

Not to be confused with Hentai.

Hentaigana 変体仮名 変体がな 變體假名 變體がな itaigana (異体仮名)
Script type	Syllabary
Time period	c. 800 – 1900 CE; minor use at present
Languages	Japanese
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle bone script Seal script Clerical script Regular script (kanji) Man'yōgana Hentaigana
Sister systems	Katakana, Hiragana
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Hira (410), ​Hiragana
Unicode
Unicode alias	Hiragana
Unicode range	U+1B000–U+1B0FF Kana Supplement U+1B100–U+1B12F Kana Extended-A

In the Japanese writing system, hentaigana (変体仮名, 変体がな, Japanese pronunciation: [hentaiɡana] or [hentaꜜiɡana], lit. "variant kana") are variant forms of hiragana.

Description

Today, among the hiragana glyphs, those not used in school education since 1900 are called hentaigana.

Originally, hiragana had several forms for a single sound. For example, nowadays, the hiragana reading "ha" has only one form, "は". However, until the Meiji era (1868–1912), it was written in various forms, including the following: , and . As a result of the artificial and authoritarian selection of hiragana glyphs, in a wish to standardise the language in efforts of Meiji administration to westernise the country, variant kana is not used much in Japan today, but it is still used in limited situations such as signboards, calligraphy, place names, and personal names.

History

Hentai iroha 47-ji (1886): an iroha kana syllabary written entirely in hentaigana

Comparison of the glyphs of hentaigana. From the left is the Meiji period, 1975, 2004 and 2017.

Hiragana, the main Japanese syllabic writing system, derived from a cursive form of man'yōgana, a system where Chinese ideograms (kanji) were used to write sounds without regard to their meaning. Originally, the same syllable (more precisely, mora) could be represented by several more-or-less interchangeable kanji, or different cursive styles of the same kanji. However, the 1900 script reform determined that only one specific character be used for each mora, with the rest being called hentaigana ("variant characters").

The 1900 standard included the hiragana ゐ, ゑ, and を, which historically stood for the phonetically distinct moras /wi/, /we/, and /wo/ but are currently pronounced as /i/, /e/, and /o/, identically to い, え, and お. The を kana is still commonly used in the Japanese writing system, instead of お, for the direct object particle /-o/. These characters were deprecated by the 1946 spelling reform.

Hentaigana are still used occasionally today in some contexts, such as store signs and logos, to achieve the "old-fashioned" or "traditional" look.

Katakana also has variant forms, such as (ネ) and (ヰ). However, katakana's variant forms are fewer than hiragana's. Katakana's choices of man'yōgana segments had stabilized early on and established – with few exceptions – an unambiguous phonemic orthography (one symbol per sound) long before the 1900 script regularization.

Standardized hentaigana

Before the proposal which led to the inclusion of hentaigana in Unicode 10.0, they were already standardized into a list by Mojikiban, part of the Japanese Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA).

	a	i	u	e	o
∅	あ(安)	い(以)	う(宇)	え(衣)	お(於)
	𛀂(安) 𛀅(惡) 𛀃(愛) 𛀄(阿)	𛀆(以) 𛀇(伊) 𛀈(意) 𛀉(移)	𛀊(宇) 𛀋(宇) 𛀌(憂) 𛀍(有) 𛀎(雲)	𛀁(江) 𛀏(盈) 𛀐(縁) 𛀑(衣) 𛀒(衣) 𛀓(要)	𛀔(於) 𛀕(於) 𛀖(隱)
k	か(加)	き(幾)	く(久)	け(計)	こ(己)
	𛀗(佳) 𛀘(加) 𛀙(可) 𛀚(可) 𛀛(嘉) 𛀢(家) 𛀜(我) 𛀝(歟) 𛀞(賀) 𛀟(閑) 𛀠(香) 𛀡(駕)	𛀣(喜) 𛀤(幾) 𛀥(幾) 𛀦(支) 𛀻(期) 𛀧(木) 𛀨(祈) 𛀩(貴) 𛀪(起)	𛀫(久) 𛀬(久) 𛀭(九) 𛀮(供) 𛀯(倶) 𛀰(具) 𛀱(求)	𛀳(介) 𛀲(介) 𛀢(家) 𛀴(希) 𛀵(氣) 𛀶(計) 𛀷(遣)	𛀸(古) 𛂘(子) 𛀹(故) 𛀻(期) 𛀺(許)
s	さ(左)	し(之)	す(寸)	せ(世)	そ(曾)
	𛀼(乍) 𛀽(佐) 𛀾(佐) 𛀿(左) 𛁀(差) 𛁁(散) 𛁂(斜) 𛁃(沙)	𛁄(之) 𛁅(之) 𛁆(事) 𛁇(四) 𛁈(志) 𛁉(新)	𛁊(受) 𛁋(壽) 𛁌(數) 𛁍(數) 𛁎(春) 𛁏(春) 𛁐(須) 𛁑(須)	𛁒(世) 𛁓(世) 𛁔(世) 𛁕(勢) 𛁖(聲)	𛁗(所) 𛁘(所) 𛁙(曾) 𛁚(曾) 𛁛(楚) 𛁜(蘇) 𛁝(處)
t	た(太)	ち(知)	つ(川)	て(天)	と(止)
	𛁞(堂) 𛁟(多) 𛁠(多) 𛁡(當)	𛁢(千) 𛁣(地) 𛁤(智) 𛁥(知) 𛁦(知) 𛁧(致) 𛁨(遲)	𛁩(川) 𛁪(川) 𛁫(津) 𛁬(都) 𛁭(徒)	𛁮(亭) 𛁯(低) 𛁰(傳) 𛁱(天) 𛁲(天) 𛁳(天) 𛁴(帝) 𛁵(弖) 𛁶(轉) 𛂎(而)	𛁷(土) 𛁸(度) 𛁹(東) 𛁺(登) 𛁻(登) 𛁼(砥) 𛁽(等) 𛁭(徒)
n	な(奈)	に(仁)	ぬ(奴)	ね(祢)	の(乃)
	𛁾(南) 𛁿(名) 𛂀(奈) 𛂁(奈) 𛂂(奈) 𛂃(菜) 𛂄(那) 𛂅(那) 𛂆(難)	𛂇(丹) 𛂈(二) 𛂉(仁) 𛂊(兒) 𛂋(爾) 𛂌(爾) 𛂍(耳) 𛂎(而)	𛂏(努) 𛂐(奴) 𛂑(怒)	𛂒(年) 𛂓(年) 𛂔(年) 𛂕(根) 𛂖(熱) 𛂗(禰) 𛂘(子)	𛂙(乃) 𛂚(濃) 𛂛(能) 𛂜(能) 𛂝(農)
h	は(波)	ひ(比)	ふ(不)	へ(部)	ほ(保)
	𛂞(八) 𛂟(半) 𛂠(婆) 𛂡(波) 𛂢(盤) 𛂣(盤) 𛂤(破) 𛂥(者) 𛂦(者) 𛂧(葉) 𛂨(頗)	𛂩(悲) 𛂪(日) 𛂫(比) 𛂬(避) 𛂭(非) 𛂮(飛) 𛂯(飛)	𛂰(不) 𛂱(婦) 𛂲(布)	𛂳(倍) 𛂴(弊) 𛂵(弊) 𛂶(遍) 𛂷(邊) 𛂸(邊) 𛂹(部)	𛂺(保) 𛂻(保) 𛂼(報) 𛂽(奉) 𛂾(寶) 𛂿(本) 𛃀(本) 𛃁(豊)
m	ま(末)	み(美)	む(武)	め(女)	も(毛)
	𛃂(万) 𛃃(末) 𛃄(末) 𛃅(滿) 𛃆(滿) 𛃇(萬) 𛃈(麻) 𛃖(馬)	𛃉(三) 𛃊(微) 𛃋(美) 𛃌(美) 𛃍(美) 𛃎(見) 𛃏(身)	𛃐(武) 𛃑(無) 𛃒(牟) 𛃓(舞) 𛄝(无) 𛄞(无)	𛃔(免) 𛃕(面) 𛃖(馬)	𛃗(母) 𛃘(毛) 𛃙(毛) 𛃚(毛) 𛃛(茂) 𛃜(裳) 𛄝(无) 𛄞(无)
y	や(也)	𛀆(以)	ゆ(由)	𛀁(江)	よ(与)
	𛃝(也) 𛃞(也) 𛃟(屋) 𛃠(耶) 𛃡(耶) 𛃢(夜)	𛀆(以)	𛃣(游) 𛃤(由) 𛃥(由) 𛃦(遊)	𛀁(江)	𛃧(代) 𛃨(余) 𛃩(與) 𛃪(與) 𛃫(與) 𛃬(餘) 𛃢(夜)
r	ら(良)	り(利)	る(留)	れ(礼)	ろ(呂)
	𛃭(羅) 𛃮(良) 𛃯(良) 𛃰(良) 𛁽(等)	𛃱(利) 𛃲(利) 𛃳(李) 𛃴(梨) 𛃵(理) 𛃶(里) 𛃷(離)	𛃸(流) 𛃹(留) 𛃺(留) 𛃻(留) 𛃼(累) 𛃽(類)	𛃾(禮) 𛃿(礼) 𛄀(連) 𛄁(麗)	𛄂(呂) 𛄃(呂) 𛄄(婁) 𛄅(樓) 𛄆(路) 𛄇(露)
w	わ(和)	ゐ(為)	𛄟(汙)	ゑ(恵)	を(遠)
	𛄈(倭) 𛄉(和) 𛄊(和) 𛄋(王) 𛄌(王)	𛄍(井) 𛄎(井) 𛄏(居) 𛄐(爲) 𛄑(遺)		𛄒(惠) 𛄓(衞) 𛄔(衞) 𛄕(衞)	𛄖(乎) 𛄗(乎) 𛄘(尾) 𛄙(緒) 𛄚(越) 𛄛(遠) 𛄜(遠) 𛀅(惡)
n'	ん(无)
	𛄝(无) 𛄞(无)

To view hentaigana, special fonts need to be installed that support Hentaigana such as

• BabelStone Han
• IPA MJ Mincho Version 5.01 and later
• Hanazono Mincho
• Hanazono Mincho AFDKO
• UniHentaiKana

The glyph for example Hiragana wu (𛄟) also needs a special font to display such as

• Uraniwa Mincho X

Sources

Hentaigana are adapted from the reduced and cursive forms of the following man’yōgana (kanji) characters. Source characters for the kana are not repeated below for hentaigana even when there are alternative glyphs; some are uncertain.

Kanji origins of kana

		Hiragana	Katakana	Hentaigana
Ø	あ	安	阿	悪亜愛
	い	以	伊	意移異夷
	う	宇		有雲憂羽于
	え	衣	江	要盈得縁延
	お	於		隱
K	か	加		閑可我駕賀歌哥香家嘉歟謌佳
	き	機幾		支起貴喜祈季木
	く	久		倶具求九供
	け	計	介	遣氣 (気) 希个
	こ	己		許故古期興子
S	さ	左	散	佐斜沙差乍狭
	し	之		志四新事斯師
	す	寸	須	春數壽爪
	せ	世		勢聲瀬
	そ	曽 (曾)		所楚處蘇
T	た	太	多	當堂田佗
	ち	知	千	地遲治致智池馳
	つ	川	川州	徒都津頭
	て	天		停亭轉弖帝傳偏氐低
	と	止		東登度等斗刀戸土
N	な	奈		那難名南菜
	に	仁	仁二	爾耳二児丹尼而
	ぬ	奴		怒努駑
	ね	祢 (禰)		年子熱念音根寢
	の	乃		能濃農廼野
H	は	波	八	者盤半葉頗婆芳羽破
	ひ	比		日飛悲非火避備妣
	ふ	不		婦布風
	へ	部		旁倍遍弊邊閉敝幣反變 (変) 辨經
	ほ	保		寶 (宝) 本報奉穂
M	ま	末		万満萬眞馬間麻摩漫
	み	美	三	見微身民
	む	武	牟	無 (无) 舞務夢
	め	女		免面馬目妻
	も	毛		母裳茂蒙藻
Y	や	也		夜耶屋哉
	𛀆	以
	ゆ	由		遊游
	𛀁	江	衣
	よ	與（与）		代餘余世夜
R	ら	良		羅蘭落等
	り	利		梨里離理李
	る	留	流	累類
	れ	礼（禮）		連麗豊 (豐)
	ろ	呂		婁 (娄) 樓路露侶廬魯論
W	わ	和		王倭
	ゐ	為	井	居委遺
	𛄟	汙	宇
	ゑ	恵 (惠)		衛 (衞) 彗
	を	遠	乎	越尾緒
'N	ん	无	尓 (爾)

In Unicode

Main articles: Kana Supplement (Unicode block) and Kana Extended-A (Unicode block)

286 hentaigana characters are included in the Unicode Standard in the Kana Supplement and Kana Extended-A blocks. One character was added to Unicode version 6.0 in 2010, 𛀁 (U+1B001 HIRAGANA LETTER ARCHAIC YE which has the formal alias HENTAIGANA LETTER E-1), and the remaining 285 hentaigana characters were added in Unicode version 10.0 in June 2017.

The Unicode block for Kana Supplement is U+1B000–U+1B0FF:

Kana Supplement[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
U+1B00x	𛀀	𛀁	𛀂	𛀃	𛀄	𛀅	𛀆	𛀇	𛀈	𛀉	𛀊	𛀋	𛀌	𛀍	𛀎	𛀏
U+1B01x	𛀐	𛀑	𛀒	𛀓	𛀔	𛀕	𛀖	𛀗	𛀘	𛀙	𛀚	𛀛	𛀜	𛀝	𛀞	𛀟
U+1B02x	𛀠	𛀡	𛀢	𛀣	𛀤	𛀥	𛀦	𛀧	𛀨	𛀩	𛀪	𛀫	𛀬	𛀭	𛀮	𛀯
U+1B03x	𛀰	𛀱	𛀲	𛀳	𛀴	𛀵	𛀶	𛀷	𛀸	𛀹	𛀺	𛀻	𛀼	𛀽	𛀾	𛀿
U+1B04x	𛁀	𛁁	𛁂	𛁃	𛁄	𛁅	𛁆	𛁇	𛁈	𛁉	𛁊	𛁋	𛁌	𛁍	𛁎	𛁏
U+1B05x	𛁐	𛁑	𛁒	𛁓	𛁔	𛁕	𛁖	𛁗	𛁘	𛁙	𛁚	𛁛	𛁜	𛁝	𛁞	𛁟
U+1B06x	𛁠	𛁡	𛁢	𛁣	𛁤	𛁥	𛁦	𛁧	𛁨	𛁩	𛁪	𛁫	𛁬	𛁭	𛁮	𛁯
U+1B07x	𛁰	𛁱	𛁲	𛁳	𛁴	𛁵	𛁶	𛁷	𛁸	𛁹	𛁺	𛁻	𛁼	𛁽	𛁾	𛁿
U+1B08x	𛂀	𛂁	𛂂	𛂃	𛂄	𛂅	𛂆	𛂇	𛂈	𛂉	𛂊	𛂋	𛂌	𛂍	𛂎	𛂏
U+1B09x	𛂐	𛂑	𛂒	𛂓	𛂔	𛂕	𛂖	𛂗	𛂘	𛂙	𛂚	𛂛	𛂜	𛂝	𛂞	𛂟
U+1B0Ax	𛂠	𛂡	𛂢	𛂣	𛂤	𛂥	𛂦	𛂧	𛂨	𛂩	𛂪	𛂫	𛂬	𛂭	𛂮	𛂯
U+1B0Bx	𛂰	𛂱	𛂲	𛂳	𛂴	𛂵	𛂶	𛂷	𛂸	𛂹	𛂺	𛂻	𛂼	𛂽	𛂾	𛂿
U+1B0Cx	𛃀	𛃁	𛃂	𛃃	𛃄	𛃅	𛃆	𛃇	𛃈	𛃉	𛃊	𛃋	𛃌	𛃍	𛃎	𛃏
U+1B0Dx	𛃐	𛃑	𛃒	𛃓	𛃔	𛃕	𛃖	𛃗	𛃘	𛃙	𛃚	𛃛	𛃜	𛃝	𛃞	𛃟
U+1B0Ex	𛃠	𛃡	𛃢	𛃣	𛃤	𛃥	𛃦	𛃧	𛃨	𛃩	𛃪	𛃫	𛃬	𛃭	𛃮	𛃯
U+1B0Fx	𛃰	𛃱	𛃲	𛃳	𛃴	𛃵	𛃶	𛃷	𛃸	𛃹	𛃺	𛃻	𛃼	𛃽	𛃾	𛃿
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

The Unicode block for Kana Extended-A is U+1B100–U+1B12F:

Kana Extended-A[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
U+1B10x	𛄀	𛄁	𛄂	𛄃	𛄄	𛄅	𛄆	𛄇	𛄈	𛄉	𛄊	𛄋	𛄌	𛄍	𛄎	𛄏
U+1B11x	𛄐	𛄑	𛄒	𛄓	𛄔	𛄕	𛄖	𛄗	𛄘	𛄙	𛄚	𛄛	𛄜	𛄝	𛄞	𛄟
U+1B12x	𛄠	𛄡	𛄢
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Modern usage

A soba restaurant: the sign reads "生𛁛𛂦゙ 𛂁𛀙゙𛄍" namasoba nagawi. Written right-to-left, namasoba (生𛁛𛂦゙, equating to 生そば, "raw soba"), consists of the kanji 生 nama followed by hentaigana derived from the kanji 楚 so and 者 (with dakuten) ba. The black vertical text nagawi (𛂁𛀙゙𛄍, equating to ながゐ, the historical kana spelling of nagai ながい, "long visit"), consists of hentaigana derived from 奈 na, 可 (with dakuten) ga and 井 wi.

While hentaigana started out as handwritten cursive variants of hiragana, they were used well into the modern era in printed books during the Meiji era, albeit with inconsistency. They occur sporadically in hiragana-heavy text. Some books were typeset with regular hiragana and their hentaigana variants on the same line. Here is a text sample from an 1893 book:

形容動詞と𛂞、もの事の品位、性質、分量等を意味𛁑る詞をいひます。形容動詞に、左の二類ありま𛁏。
㈠久活………善（よ）　く　　く　し　　き　　𛀳れ
㈡志久活……惡（あ）しく　しく　し　しき　𛁈けれ

— Shiratori Kikuji, 形容動詞, 雅文俗文作文語格

In this sample, 𛂞 is a variant of は, 𛁑 and 𛁏 of す, 𛀳 of け, and 𛁈 of し. Another book was typeset with two different spellings for the same phrase tatoe-ba: たとへ𛂞゙ and たとへば. The same word, nashi, can be spelt with regular hiragana (なし) and hentaigana (𛂁し) on the same page.

The choice between different hiragana and hentaigana could be contextual. For example, か, 𛁈 and 𛂦 may be used at the beginning of a word, while 𛀙, 𛁅 and 𛂡 may be used elsewhere, while 𛂞 was used extensively specifically for the topic particle.

Hentaigana are now considered obsolete, but a few marginal uses remain. For example, otemoto (chopsticks), is written in hentaigana on some wrappers and many soba shops use hentaigana to spell kisoba on their signs. (See also: "Ye Olde" for "the old" on English signs.)

Hentaigana are used in some formal handwritten documents, particularly in certificates issued by classical Japanese cultural groups (e.g., martial arts schools, etiquette schools, religious study groups, etc.). Also, they are occasionally used in reproductions of classic Japanese texts, akin to blackletter in English and other Germanic languages to give an archaic flair. Modern poems may be composed and printed in hentaigana for visual effect.

However, most Japanese people cannot read hentaigana nowadays, only recognizing a few from their common use in shop signs, or figuring them out from context.

Gallery

Some of the following hentaigana are cursive forms of the same kanji as their standard hiragana counterparts, but simplified differently. Others descend from unrelated kanji that represent the same sound.

• 
  以（い）i
• 
  江（え）e
• 
  於（お）o
• 
  可（か）ka, ga
• 
  起（き）ki, gi
• 
  古（こ）ko, go
• 
  志（し）shi, ji
• 
  春（す）su, zu
• 
  多（た）ta, da
• 
  奈（な）na
• 
  能（の）no
• 
  者（は）ha, ba
• 
  由（ゆ）yu
• 
  連（れ）re
• 
  路（ろ）ro
• 
  王（わ）wa

See also

• Furigana
• Romaji

External links

• Chart of hentaigana calligraphy from O'Neill's A Reader of Handwritten Japanese Archived 2006-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
• A chart of hentaigana hosted by Jim Breen of the WWWJDIC
• Chart of kana from Engelbert Kaempfer circa 1693
• Hentaigana on signs (in Japanese)
• L2/15-239 Proposal for Japanese HENTAIGANA - Unicode