kana problem

[Riley]

ok so let's see...my questions are about the combination letters:
you combine shi+ya/yo/yu to get sha,sho,shu...but I've seen other books where you combine shi+ya/yo/yu and you get sya,syo,syu...which one is the correct?
also, can you combine chi+small "e" to get che? I've seen it there too
and also, can you ten-ten the "u" letter to get a "v" letter and combine it with all 5 vowels to get va,vi,vu,ve,vo?

I'm really confused

[clay]

To answer your question, both systems are correct because romaji doesn't count anyway. I think romaji should only be used to learn hiragana. Once you master hiragana, you will know exactly how to pronounce any letter.

On this website, I chose to write しょ as sho in romaji instead of syo because phonetically it is easier for English speakers to guess the correct pronunciation. Most people who write syo are Japanese because they are thinking of how it is actually written SHI plus YO. Both are correct - one more phonetically and one more the way it is constructed. But again, try to leave romaji behind as quickly as possible.

V's aren't used in Japanese except for foreign words. But you are right to make the V sound you ten-ten the u - for example ヴぇ for VE. But this is very rarely used.

I hope this helps some.

[Riley]

yes indeed now some things make sense to me
thanks again

[Daisuke]

This makes me confused? Could 'cha, chu & cho' then be written: cya, cyu & cyo? Seems like it's not even the same sound.

[clay]

Daisuke wrote:
This makes me confused? Could 'cha, chu & cho' then be written: cya, cyu & cyo? Seems like it's not even the same sound.

My point above is romaji causes the confusion. If at all possible lose romaji as soon as you can. :@

CHA, CHU, and CHO are written phonetically (the same romaji system I use on this website) but they really are ち CHI plus small や ya = ちゃ CHA. I write with a C because it sounds like the english CH. But CYA, CYU, and CYO are written based on how they are constructed ち CHI plus small や ya.

[Daisuke]

Ohh.. Now i understand. Thank you.