pyo / ピョ
The last combined kana — and the last katakana of all. ピ plus a small ョ becomes “pyo,” the hopping sound in ピョン.
Pronunciation
The compound character ピョ represents the syllable 'pyo'. Very rare in modern katakana — appears mainly in onomatopoeia.
ピョ is ピ (pi) plus a small ョ, read as one syllable, “pyo.” It's rare in loanwords but lively in onomatopoeia: ピョン (a hop or leap), ピョコピョコ (a bobbing motion). With this kana, you've reached the very end of the katakana syllabary.
How to write ピョ
Trace ピョ 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 ピ: that's ヒ plus a handakuten — a single small circle at the upper right.
Write a small ョ tucked into the lower right at about half height — a miniature ヨ (a top-and-right stroke, a middle bar, then a bottom bar).
Origin
Katakana ピョ combines ピ — ヒ (from the kanji 比) plus a handakuten — with a small ョ (reduced ヨ, from 與). Together they spell a single “pyo” sound — the final kana in the set.
Common words starting with ピョ
Printable practice sheet
Print this worksheet to practice writing ピョ by hand — the top row shows the stroke order to trace, then fill the blank squares.
Lock it into memory
Reading is only half of it. Drill the katakana you’ve learned with spaced-repetition flashcards — the fastest way to make them stick.