gyo / ぎょ
The last GY combined kana — ぎ plus a small ょ becomes 'gyo'. Anchors business/industry compounds (工業, 農業), manners (行儀), and queues (行列).
Pronunciation
The compound character ぎょ represents the syllable 'gyo', formed by combining ぎ (gi) with a small ょ. The dakuten on ぎ voices the consonant from 'k' to 'g'.
ぎょ is ぎ (gi) plus a small ょ (yo). Together they make a single syllable /gyo/. It's one of the densest yōon in Sino-Japanese compounds: 業 (gyou, "business / industry") appears as a productive suffix on industry names — 工業 (kougyou, "industry / manufacturing"), 農業 (nougyou, "agriculture"), 漁業 (gyogyou, "fishing industry"), 商業 (shougyou, "commerce"), 営業 (eigyou, "business operations"). It also anchors 行儀 (gyougi, "manners / etiquette"), 行列 (gyouretsu, "queue / procession"), 行事 (gyouji, "event / function"), 漁師 (ryoushi, "fisherman" — uses ぎょ in 漁), and the vivid ぎょっと (gyotto, "startled / taken aback").
How to write ぎょ
Trace ぎょ 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 ぎ exactly: six strokes.
Write a small ょ next to ぎ. Stroke 7 is a short horizontal at the upper middle (of the small character); stroke 8 is the looping body. Keep ょ at roughly half the height of ぎ.
Origin
ぎょ is the written combination of ぎ (き + dakuten ゛) and a small よ (from 与, yo). It's the densest of the GY trio in everyday vocabulary, thanks to 業 ("industry") and 行 ("to go / line / row") providing the consonant across countless compound words.
Common words starting with ぎょ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ぎょ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Drill the hiragana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.