nya / にゃ
The first NY combined kana — に plus a small ゃ becomes 'nya', a single syllable. Best known as the universal Japanese cat sound (にゃー).
Pronunciation
The compound character にゃ represents the syllable 'nya', formed by combining に (ni) with a small ゃ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'nya' — close to the sound a cat makes in Japanese (にゃー).
にゃ is に (ni) plus a small ゃ (ya). Together they make a single syllable /nya/ — the palatalized /n/ sound, similar to the middle of "canyon" or Spanish ñ. In modern Japanese, にゃ is most famous as the cat sound — にゃー (nyaa, "meow"), にゃんにゃん (nyan-nyan, baby-talk for kitty). It also appears in 蒟蒻 (konnyaku, the chewy yam jelly food eaten in Japan) and other native compounds. Don't pronounce it as two syllables (ni-ya); slide directly from /n/ into /ya/.
How to write にゃ
Trace にゃ 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 に exactly: stroke 1 a short vertical on the left; stroke 2 a short horizontal on the upper right; stroke 3 a longer horizontal on the lower right.
Write a small ゃ next to に, tucked into the lower right. Stroke 4 is a short slanted dash; stroke 5 is the looping body (small version of や); stroke 6 is the tiny upper-right accent. Keep ゃ at roughly half the height of に.
Origin
にゃ is the written combination of に (from 仁, ni) and a small や (from 也, ya). The palatalized /nya/ sound appears across many languages — including the famous Spanish ñ — and Japanese spells it with this yōon pair.
Common words starting with にゃ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing にゃ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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