シ (si/shi) – Katakana

Pronunciation

– Pronounced as the Japanese ‘shi’, even though it falls into the alphabet under ‘si’. Sounds closest to the English word ‘she’.

About

し, in hiragana, or シ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent /si/ although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is ‘shi’. The shapes of these kana originate from 之.

Mnemonics

Mnemonic 1: Isn’t ‘she’ beautiful? You can see her smiling face.

Mnemonic 2: ‘sheath’ – You remove a sword from its sheath, then you turn round and cut the sheath in half. In order to really remember this, don’t forget to imagine gripping the sword with your hands; see it glint in the light and hear the sound it makes as you take it out of the sheath.