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リ (ri) – Katakana


Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘ri’. This can be a difficult kana to pronounce for new students. There’s no direct word in the English language that has this sound, it’s rather a cross between the English ‘r’ and the English ‘l’. Imagine a sort of soft ‘r’ where your tongue doesn’t roll, then add the Japanese ‘a’ at the end of it – ‘ri’.

About

り, in hiragana, or リ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. Both are written with two strokes and originate from the character 利.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: This is very similar to the hiragana symbol. It shows a scythe (left), which, as it now lacks a blade, is being used rather unsuccessfully to reap the corn.

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