rya / りゃ
The first RY combined kana — り plus a small ゃ becomes 'rya'. Rare in everyday speech — appears mostly in 〜略 compounds (abbreviation, strategy, invasion).
Pronunciation
The compound character りゃ represents the syllable 'rya', formed by combining り (ri) with a small ゃ. It is pronounced as a single syllable 'rya' — close to the Japanese 'r' tap followed by 'ya'.
りゃ is り (ri) plus a small ゃ (ya). Together they make a single syllable /rya/ — apply the soft R-row tap (between English r, l, d) and slide directly into /ya/. It's the rarest of the RY trio, appearing mostly in Sino-Japanese compounds built around 略 ("abbreviation / omission / strategy"): 略 (ryaku, "abbreviation"), 省略 (shouryaku, "omission"), 戦略 (senryaku, "strategy"), 侵略 (shinryaku, "invasion / aggression").
How to write りゃ
Trace りゃ 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 り exactly: stroke 1 a short curving stroke on the left dropping down from upper-left to lower-right with a small flick; stroke 2 a longer parallel stroke on the right with the same gentle curve. The two strokes lean slightly toward each other and don't touch.
Write a small ゃ next to り, 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 り.
Origin
りゃ is the written combination of り (from 利, ri) and a small や (from 也, ya). The palatalized /rya/ sound is rare in everyday Japanese — it survives mostly in Sino-Japanese compounds where 略 ("omission / abbreviation") provides the consonant.
Common words starting with りゃ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing りゃ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
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