やゆよ — The Y Row
Why the Y row?
The Y row is the first short row — only three characters (や, ゆ, よ) instead of five. There's no \"yi\" or \"ye\" in modern Japanese; those sounds disappeared from the language centuries ago. Despite the small count, the Y row punches above its weight: や anchors 山 (mountain), ゆ opens 夢 (dream) and 雪 (snow), and よ doubles as a sentence-final particle that adds emphasis to statements (\"...you know!\"). All three also produce combined kana (きゃ kya, しゅ shu, りょ ryo) you'll meet next.
Pronunciation at a glance
Words you can read with the Y row
With everything you've learned through the M row plus the small Y row, you can read essential everyday vocabulary — mountains, dreams, snow, courage, rooms. These words use only characters from the first eight rows of the chart. Print these as flashcards →
What's next
After the Y row, the next step is the ら-row (ら り る れ ろ) — back to five characters and the consonant-plus-vowel pattern, with the Japanese 'r' sound (a soft tap between English r and l). After that, the chart wraps up with わ-row + ん.