Hi (hiragana: ひ, katakana: ヒ) is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both can be written in two strokes, sometimes one for hiragana, and both are phonemically /hi/ although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is [çi] ⓘ. The pronunciation of the voiceless palatal fricative [ç] is similar to that of the English word hue [çuː] for some speakers.

FormRōmajiHiraganaKatakanaExample words (with kanji)
Normal h- (は行 ha-gyō)hihi 日 sunlight ひ hi 火 flame ひかり hikari 光 shine/light ひと hito 人 human
hii, hyi ひい, ひぃ ひーヒイ, ヒィ ヒー
Addition yōon hy- (ひゃ行 hya-gyō)hyaひゃヒャひゃく hyaku 百 one hundred にひゃく nihyaku 二百 two hundred
hyaa hyāひゃあ, ひゃぁ ひゃーヒャア, ヒャァ ヒャー
hyuひゅヒュひゅうが Hyūga 日向 Hyūga Province
hyuu hyūひゅう, ひゅぅ ひゅーヒュウ, ヒュゥ ヒュー
hyoひょヒョひょう hyō 豹 panther ひょうへん hyōhen 豹変 sudden change ひょうき hyōki 表記 notation ひょうじょう hyōjō 表情 expression ひょっとして "hyottosuru/shite" Perhaps ひょんな "hyonna" unexpectedly
hyou hyoo hyōひょう, ひょぅ ひょお, ひょぉ ひょーヒョウ, ヒョゥ ヒョオ, ヒョォ ヒョー
Addition dakuten b- (ば行 ba-gyō)biびん bin 瓶 bottle ビール bīru beer びせい bisei 美声 beautiful voice かびん kabin 過敏 sensitivity はなび hanabi 花火 fireworks
bii, byi びい, びぃ びービイ, ビィ ビー
Addition yōon and dakuten by- (びゃ行 bya-gyō)byaびゃビャさんびゃく sanbyaku 三百 three hundred びゃくや byakuya 白夜 midnight sun びゃっこたい byakkotai 白虎隊 Byakkotai
byaa byāびゃあ, びゃぁ びゃービャア, ビャァ ビャー
byuびゅビュごびゅう gobyū 誤謬 mistake ワイドビュー waidobyū wide-view
byuu byūびゅう, びゅぅ びゅービュウ, ビュゥ ビュー
byoびょビョびょうき byōki 病気 sickness びょういん byōin 病院 hospital いちびょう ichibyō 1秒 one second (of time)
byou byoo byōびょう, びょぅ びょお, びょぉ びょービョウ, ビョゥ ビョオ, ビョォ ビョー
Addition handakuten p- (ぱ行 pa-gyō)piピン pin pin ピカソ Pikaso Picasso
pii, pyi ぴい, ぴぃ ぴーピイ, ピィ ピー
Addition yōon and handakuten py- (ぴゃ行 pya-gyō)pyaぴゃピャろっぴゃく roppyaku 六百 six hundred はっぴゃく happyaku 八百 eight hundred
pyaa pyāぴゃあ, ぴゃぁ ぴゃーピャア, ピャァ ピャー
pyuぴゅピュコンピューター konpyūtā computer
pyuu pyūぴゅう, ぴゅぅ ぴゅーピュウ, ピュゥ ピュー
pyoぴょピョろんぴょう ronpyō 論評 comment かんぴょう kanpyō 干瓢 kanpyō はっぴょう happyō 発表 publication
pyou pyoo pyōぴょう, ぴょぅ ぴょお, ぴょぉ ぴょーピョウ, ピョゥ ピョオ, ピョォ ピョー
Form A (hy-)
Other additional forms
Form A (hy-) Romaji Hiragana Katakana (hya) (ひゃ) (ヒャ) (hyi) (ひぃ) (ヒィ) (hyu) (ひゅ) (ヒュ) hye hyei hyee hyē ひぇ ひぇい, ひぇぃ ひぇえ ひぇー ヒェ ヒェイ, ヒェィ ヒェエ, ヒェェ ヒェー (hyo) (ひょ) (ヒョ)Form B (by-) Romaji Hiragana Katakana (bya) (びゃ) (ビャ) (byi) (びぃ) (ビィ) (byu) (びゅ) (ビュ) bye byei byee byē びぇ びぇい, びぇぃ びぇえ びぇー ビェ ビェイ, ビェィ ビェエ, ビェェ ビェー (byo) (びょ) (ビョ)Form C (py-) Romaji Hiragana Katagana (pya) (ぴゃ) (ピャ) (pyi) (ぴぃ) (ピィ) (pyu) (ぴゅ) (ピュ) pye pyei pyee pyē ぴぇ ぴぇい, ぴぇぃ ぴぇえ ぴぇー ピェ ピェイ, ピェィ ピェエ, ピェェ ピェー (pyo) (ぴょ) (ピョ)
RomajiHiraganaKatakana
(hya)(ひゃ)(ヒャ)
(hyi)(ひぃ)(ヒィ)
(hyu)(ひゅ)(ヒュ)
hye hyei hyee hyēひぇ ひぇい, ひぇぃ ひぇえ ひぇーヒェ ヒェイ, ヒェィ ヒェエ, ヒェェ ヒェー
(hyo)(ひょ)(ヒョ)
RomajiHiraganaKatakana
(bya)(びゃ)(ビャ)
(byi)(びぃ)(ビィ)
(byu)(びゅ)(ビュ)
bye byei byee byēびぇ びぇい, びぇぃ びぇえ びぇービェ ビェイ, ビェィ ビェエ, ビェェ ビェー
(byo)(びょ)(ビョ)
RomajiHiraganaKatagana
(pya)(ぴゃ)(ピャ)
(pyi)(ぴぃ)(ピィ)
(pyu)(ぴゅ)(ピュ)
pye pyei pyee pyēぴぇ ぴぇい, ぴぇぃ ぴぇえ ぴぇーピェ ピェイ, ピェィ ピェエ, ピェェ ピェー
(pyo)(ぴょ)(ピョ)

Stroke order

Stroke order in writing ひStroke order in writing ヒ
Stroke order in writing ひ
Stroke order in writing ヒ (the first stroke may also be written from left to right )

Other communicative representations

Japanese radiotelephony alphabetWabun code
飛行機のヒ Hikōki no "Hi"
Japanese Navy Signal FlagJapanese semaphoreJapanese manual syllabary (fingerspelling)Braille dots-1236 Japanese Braille
  • Full Braille representation
ひ / ヒ in Japanese BrailleH/B/P + Yōon braille
ひ / ヒ hiび / ビ biぴ / ピ piひい / ヒー びい / ビー ぴい / ピー ひゃ / ヒャ hyaびゃ / ビャ byaぴゃ / ピャ pyaひゃあ / ヒャー hyāびゃあ / ビャー byāぴゃあ / ピャー pyā
H/B/P + Yōon braille
ひゅ / ヒュ hyuびゅ / ビュ byuぴゅ / ピュ pyuひゅう / ヒュー hyūびゅう / ビュー byūぴゅう / ピュー pyūひょ / ヒョ hyoびょ / ビョ byoぴょ / ピョ pyoひょう / ヒョー hyōびょう / ビョー byōぴょう / ピョー pyō
Character information
Preview
Unicode nameHIRAGANA LETTER HIKATAKANA LETTER HIHALFWIDTH KATAKANA LETTER HIKATAKANA LETTER SMALL HICIRCLED KATAKANA HI
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode12402U+307212498U+30D265419U+FF8B12790U+31F613034U+32EA
UTF-8227 129 178E3 81 B2227 131 146E3 83 92239 190 139EF BE 8B227 135 182E3 87 B6227 139 170E3 8B AA
Numeric character referenceひひヒヒヒヒㇶㇶ㋪㋪
Shift JIS (plain)130 20882 D0131 11383 71203CB
Shift JIS-2004130 20882 D0131 11383 71203CB131 24283 F2
EUC-JP (plain)164 210A4 D2165 210A5 D2142 2038E CB
EUC-JIS-2004164 210A4 D2165 210A5 D2142 2038E CB166 244A6 F4
GB 18030164 210A4 D2165 210A5 D2132 49 153 5784 31 99 39129 57 189 4881 39 BD 30
EUC-KR / UHC170 210AA D2171 210AB D2
Big5 (non-ETEN kana)198 214C6 D6199 106C7 6A
Big5 (ETEN / HKSCS)199 89C7 59199 206C7 CE
Character information
Preview
Unicode nameHIRAGANA LETTER BIKATAKANA LETTER BIHIRAGANA LETTER PIKATAKANA LETTER PI
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode12403U+307312499U+30D312404U+307412500U+30D4
UTF-8227 129 179E3 81 B3227 131 147E3 83 93227 129 180E3 81 B4227 131 148E3 83 94
Numeric character referenceびびビビぴぴピピ
Shift JIS130 20982 D1131 11483 72130 21082 D2131 11583 73
EUC-JP164 211A4 D3165 211A5 D3164 212A4 D4165 212A5 D4
GB 18030164 211A4 D3165 211A5 D3164 212A4 D4165 212A5 D4
EUC-KR / UHC170 211AA D3171 211AB D3170 212AA D4171 212AB D4
Big5 (non-ETEN kana)198 215C6 D7199 107C7 6B198 216C6 D8199 108C7 6C
Big5 (ETEN / HKSCS)199 90C7 5A199 207C7 CF199 91C7 5B199 208C7 D0

Use in the Ainu language

In the Sakhalin dialect of the Ainu language, ヒ can be written as small ㇶ to represent a final h sound after an i sound (イㇶ ih). Along with other extended katakana, this was developed to represent sounds in Ainu that are not present in standard Japanese.