hya / ヒャ
The first HY combined kana — ヒ plus a small ャ becomes “hya,” one syllable. Rare; mostly an interjection (ヒャー, “yikes!”).
Pronunciation
The compound character ヒャ represents the syllable 'hya'. Rare in modern katakana loanwords — most 'hya' sounds appear in native words like 百 (hyaku, hundred) which is typically written kanji or hiragana.
ヒャ is ヒ (hi) plus a small ャ, read as one syllable, “hya.” It's uncommon in loanwords — you'll meet it most in the interjection ヒャー (“yikes!”) and a few native readings. The combining rule is the same as every other set.
How to write ヒャ
Trace ヒャ 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 ヒ exactly: a short stroke rising to the right, then a long stroke down the left and along the bottom — an L-like base.
Write a small ャ tucked into the lower right at about half height — a miniature ヤ (a hooking stroke, then a vertical).
Origin
Katakana ヒャ combines ヒ — from the kanji 比 (hi) — with a small ャ (reduced ヤ, from 也). Together they spell a single “hya” sound.
Common words starting with ヒャ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ヒャ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
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