gyu / ぎゅ
The middle GY combined kana — ぎ plus a small ゅ becomes 'gyu'. Anchors milk (牛乳), beef (牛肉), and the everyday onomatopoeia ぎゅっと (tightly).
Pronunciation
The compound character ぎゅ represents the syllable 'gyu', formed by combining ぎ (gi) with a small ゅ. The dakuten on ぎ voices the consonant from 'k' to 'g'.
ぎゅ is ぎ (gi) plus a small ゅ (yu). Together they make a single syllable /gyu/. It's one of the most-used diacritic yōon in everyday Japanese: 牛乳 (gyuunyuu, "milk"), 牛肉 (gyuuniku, "beef"), 牛 (gyuu, "cow / cattle"), 牛丼 (gyuudon, the beef rice bowl). It also appears in vivid onomatopoeia — ぎゅっと (gyutto, "tightly / firmly", as in hugging or gripping something tight), ぎゅうぎゅう (gyuugyuu, "packed / crammed", as in a crowded train).
How to write ぎゅ
Trace ぎゅ 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 (four for き plus two ticks).
Write a small ゅ next to ぎ. Stroke 7 is the small looping body (a tiny tear-drop); stroke 8 is the horizontal anchor crossing through it. Keep ゅ at roughly half the height of ぎ.
Origin
ぎゅ is the written combination of ぎ (き + dakuten ゛) and a small ゆ (from 由, yu). The /gyu/ sound dominates beef-and-milk vocabulary in Japanese — and its onomatopoeic uses (ぎゅっと, ぎゅうぎゅう) are heard in everyday speech.
Common words starting with ぎゅ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ぎゅ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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