hyo / ひょ
The last HY combined kana — ひ plus a small ょ becomes 'hyo', a single syllable. Anchors tables, charts, evaluations, and facial expressions.
Pronunciation
The compound character ひょ represents the syllable 'hyo', formed by combining ひ (hi) with a small ょ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'hyo'.
ひょ is ひ (hi) plus a small ょ (yo). Together they make a single syllable /hyo/. English doesn't have a direct equivalent — slide /h/ directly into /yo/ without a vowel in between. It anchors 表 (hyou, "table / chart"), 評価 (hyouka, "evaluation"), 表現 (hyougen, "expression"), 表情 (hyoujou, "facial expression"), 表紙 (hyoushi, "book cover"), 雹 (hyou, "hail"), and the playful adverb ひょっこり (hyokkori, "popping out unexpectedly") plus ひょっとして (hyotto shite, "perhaps / by any chance").
How to write ひょ
Trace ひょ 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 ひ exactly: a single flowing stroke.
Write a small ょ next to ひ. Stroke 2 is a short horizontal at the upper middle (of the small character); stroke 3 is the looping body. Keep ょ at roughly half the height of ひ.
Origin
ひょ is the written combination of ひ (from 比, hi) and a small よ (from 与, yo). The palatalized /hyo/ sound is common in Sino-Japanese vocabulary about evaluation, tables, and surfaces — many of which use the kanji 表 ("surface / table").
Common words starting with ひょ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ひょ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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