NY
ニャニュニョ — The NY Row
01
Read “nya, nyu, nyo”
The NY set is a full-size ニ (ni) plus a small ャ, ュ, or ョ: ニ + ャ = ニャ (nya), ニ + ュ = ニュ (nyu), ニ + ョ = ニョ (nyo), one syllable each. Of the three, ニュ is by far the most common — it carries English “new” into Japanese — while ニャ and ニョ stay rare.
One syllable: ニュ is “nyu,” one beat — think of the start of “new.” The small ャ ュ ョ sit at about half height in the lower right.
02
Pronunciation at a glance
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Words with the NY kana
ニュ opens plenty of loanwords; ニャ and ニョ are rare. Here are a few.
ニュースnyūsunews
ニューヨークnyūyōkuNew York
メニューmenyūmenu
ニュアンスnyuansunuance
ニャーnyāmeow (cat sound)
ニョッキnyokkignocchi
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What's next
Next is the HY set (ヒャ ヒュ ヒョ) — built on ヒ, and read “hya, hyu, hyo.”