pyu / ぴゅ
The middle PY combined kana — ぴ plus a small ゅ becomes 'pyu'. Rare — mostly wind onomatopoeia (ぴゅーぴゅー) and loanwords (ピューマ, puma).
Pronunciation
The compound character ぴゅ represents the syllable 'pyu', formed by combining ぴ (pi) with a small ゅ.
ぴゅ is ぴ (pi) plus a small ゅ (yu). Together they make a single syllable /pyu/. It's rare in native vocabulary — its main uses are vivid wind onomatopoeia (ぴゅー pyuu, the sharp whistle of wind; ぴゅーぴゅー pyuupyuu, "whistling / howling"), and loanwords from European languages (ピューマ pyuuma, "puma"; キューピー kyuupii, "Kewpie" — but compare キューピット kyuupitto, "Cupid"). Often written in katakana for loanwords (ピュ); the hiragana form ぴゅ appears mainly in onomatopoeia.
How to write ぴゅ
Trace ぴゅ 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 ぴ exactly: two strokes (ひ + handakuten).
Write a small ゅ next to ぴ. Stroke 3 is the small looping body (a tiny tear-drop); stroke 4 is the horizontal anchor crossing through it. Keep ゅ at roughly half the height of ぴ.
Origin
ぴゅ is the written combination of ぴ (ひ + handakuten ゜) and a small ゆ (from 由, yu). The /pyu/ sound is one of the rarest yōon — alongside ひゅ — appearing mostly in onomatopoeia and to transliterate foreign sounds.
Common words starting with ぴゅ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ぴゅ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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