pya / ぴゃ
The first PY combined kana — ぴ plus a small ゃ becomes 'pya'. Rare — appears mostly in phonetic shifts of 百 inside 六百 (600) and 八百 (800).
Pronunciation
The compound character ぴゃ represents the syllable 'pya', formed by combining ぴ (pi) with a small ゃ. The handakuten on ぴ hardens the consonant from 'h' to 'p'.
ぴゃ is ぴ (pi) plus a small ゃ (ya). Together they make a single syllable /pya/. It's the rarest of the PY trio in native vocabulary — its main role is the phonetic shift of 百 ("hundred") inside specific numeral compounds where the preceding number ends in a sound that triggers a /p/ shift: 六百 (roppyaku, 600), 八百 (happyaku, 800). It also appears in rare onomatopoeia (ぴゃっと pyatto, "swiftly / with a jolt"). The handakuten ゜ produces the sharp plosive /p/ sound — distinct from both /h/ (HY) and /b/ (BY).
How to write ぴゃ
Trace ぴゃ 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 ぴ exactly: a single flowing stroke for ひ plus the handakuten ゜ (a small open circle at the upper right) — two strokes total.
Write a small ゃ next to ぴ, tucked into the lower right. Stroke 3 is a short slanted dash; stroke 4 is the looping body; stroke 5 is the tiny upper-right accent. Keep ゃ at roughly half the height of ぴ.
Origin
ぴゃ is the written combination of ぴ (ひ + handakuten ゜, from 比 hi) and a small や (from 也, ya). The /pya/ sound is rare in native Japanese — it survives mostly through phonetic shifts of 百 ("hundred") in specific compound numbers, plus a small set of onomatopoeia.
Common words starting with ぴゃ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ぴゃ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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