byo / びょ
The last BY combined kana — び plus a small ょ becomes 'byo'. Densest of the BY trio — anchors hospital (病院), illness (病気), seconds (秒), and equality (平等).
Pronunciation
The compound character びょ represents the syllable 'byo', formed by combining び (bi) with a small ょ.
びょ is び (bi) plus a small ょ (yo). Together they make a single syllable /byo/. It's the densest of the BY trio in everyday Japanese vocabulary, especially in medical and time-counting contexts: 病院 (byouin, "hospital"), 病気 (byouki, "illness / disease"), 病室 (byoushitsu, "hospital room"), 病人 (byounin, "sick person / patient"), 平等 (byoudou, "equality"), 描写 (byousha, "description / portrayal"), 秒 (byou, "second" — the time unit, as in 一秒 ichibyou, "one second"), 白描 (hakubyou, line drawing in art).
How to write びょ
Trace びょ on the canvas at the top of the page. Animated arrows show each stroke's direction; trace along them and the stroke fills in. Each numbered step below explains what that stroke does.
Write び exactly: three strokes.
Write a small ょ next to び. Stroke 4 is a short horizontal at the upper middle (of the small character); stroke 5 is the looping body. Keep ょ at roughly half the height of び.
Origin
びょ is the written combination of び (ひ + dakuten ゛) and a small よ (from 与, yo). It's the densest of the BY trio in Sino-Japanese vocabulary, dominated by 病 ("illness") and 秒 ("second") — both extremely productive kanji roots.
Common words starting with びょ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing びょ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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