KANA MNEMONICS Richard Brooksby, Ravenbrook Limited, 2005-07-02 RATIONALE Short vowels are used for short sounds. Short vowels are followed by stops whenever possible. Long vowels are used for long sounds, followed by liquids of possible (except N or M). Vowels follwed by N or M are used for nasalized syllables. If possible, each row has both a noun and a verb, or a word which is both, so that it can be used in stories. Vivid images are chosen where possible, to help with memory. This is a "LinkWord" mnemonic technique . EXAMPLES 幹事会　（てんじかい）　exhibition An exhibition of huge kites, so large than ten jeeps were required to pull one kite, making it a TEN JEEP KITE. 観光　（かんこう） sightseeing, tourism Sightseeing is about seeing what's around the next corner. In case you run out of corners, carry a spare CAN of CORNERS to pop open. 通訳　（つうやく） interpretation A strange meeting in the animal kingdom required one interpreter on each side: a TOUCAN and a YAK. おみやげ souveneers I had to get souveneers for an ODD MIX of relatives. While the talkative shop assistant was YAPping I went round the shop to GET them. 郵便局　（ゆうびんきょく） post office The post office is inenefficient. They employ loutish YOUTHs who just throw the mail in the BIN, then run to the KIOSK to get some ramen from the COOK. MNEMONICS あ act, ant, axe い ick, id, if, it, is う up, us, usher え end, ebb, ed, egg お ox, odd, op., oz, obelisk, obese, occult, ocelot, octopus か cap, cad, cab, cat き kit, kick, kid, kip く kook, coop, cook け keg こ cog, cot, cod, cop, cox かあ car きい key くう cool けい quay こう corner, core かん can, candle きん kindle くん kunst けん Ken (and Barbie) こん con, combo きゃ kayak きゅ cube きょ kiosk が gap ぎ gig, git ぐ good, goose げ get, getup ご god, go, got があ gala ぎい ghee ぐう goo げい gay ごう gold, golf がん gang, ganja ぎん ginko ぐん goon, gun げん gentle, Ghent ごん gone, gong ぎゃ gear ぎゅ goo ぎょ gyro さ sad し ship す soot せ said, sex, sec, seven そ sock, sob, soccer, sod, soppy さあ salad しい sheep すう soon, soup せい say そう sword さん sand, sank しん shin すん soon, sun せん send, cent そん song, son しゃ shack しゅ shoe しょ shop ざ zap じ jib, jeep, jig ず zoo, zulu ぜ zebra, zest ぞ Zorro ざあ じい jeer ずう zoo ぜい ぞう ざん zany, Zanzibar じん zinc, zing, zip ずん ぜん Zen ぞん zonked じゃ jack じゅ juice じょ jog た tab, tap, taxi, tack ち cheese, chick つ two, toot, tuba, tube て teddy, text と top, tot, toxin たあ tar ちい cheer つう toucan てい table とう told, torpid とお たん tank ちん chin つん toon てん ten とん ton ちゃ chat ちゅ chug, chuck ちょ chock, chop だ dad, dab, dash ぢ dig づ duke で dead, debt ど dog, dock だあ dark ぢい deep づう dood でい day どう dough だん dandy ぢん din づん doom でん den どん don, donkey な nap, nag, gnat に nip, nib ぬ noose, nuke ね neck, never の no, not, noddy, knock なあ にい ぬう [very rare] ねい のう なん にん nimble, nimrod, ninny ぬん ねん nemesis, nematode のん にゃ near にゅ new にょ gnocci は hat, hack, hag, happy, hatch ひ hit, hip ふ foot へ head ほ hop はあ hard, heart ひい heat, heap ふう food, fool へい hay ほう horse, horny はん hand ひん Hindu ふん fun, funky, fund へん hen ほん honk ひゃ hear, hyena, hydra ひゅ human ひょ hyottoko, hypo, hydro ば bat び bib, bitch, big, bit ぶ book べ bed, beg, bet ぼ box ばあ barber, basket びい beach ぶう boot, booze べい bay ぼう bore, boring ばん band びん bin ぶん bun べん bend, bent ぼん bond, bongo びゃ beer, bylaw びゅ beauty びょ beyond ぱ pad, pat ぴ pig ぷ put, pub ぺ peck, peg ぽ pot, posh, pod ぱあ ぴい ぷう ぺい ぽお ぱん ぴん ぷん ぺん ぽん ぴゃ piano, pyre ぴゅ puke, pew ぴょ peony, pyro ま map, mat, mack, mad み mid, meet, mix, MIG む moot, move, mud め medal, measure, meadow も mop, mob, mock まあ みい むう めい もう まん man みん minute, minimum むん moon めん men もん monkey, month, monster みゃ miander, myna みゅ music, muon みょ meal, myopic や yap ゆ unit, uvula, useful, U-turn よ yacht やあ yard, yarn ゆう youth よう yaw やん yam, yank ゆん yummy よん yonder ら rat, rack り rig, rip る rook, rug れ red, wreck ろ rock, rod らあ raft りい reason, reef るう ruby, roof れい rare, ray ろう raw らん ran, random, rank りん rink, rinse るん rune, run れん rend, Ren (& Stimpy) ろん Roman, wrong, romp りゃ react, rhea りゅ reunion, lieu りょ lion, riot わ whack, wag, wax ん noon を water, wash, whopper こう corner かん can りょう Rio ない night がう gouge げい gay じょう jaw だん Dan やく yak けん Ken てい table たい tie A. REFERENCES B. DOCUMENT HISTORY 2005-07-04 RB Created from paper notes. C. COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/project/etp24/doc/2005-07-04/kana-mnemonics/index.txt#3 $