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Small ゃ, ゅ, ょ in Japanese: How to Read きゃ, しゅ and ちょ

Small ゃ, ゅ and ょ turn an i-column kana into one combined syllable, called yōon. Learn the 11 common rows, why small versus full size changes the word, how the 2025 romaji rules spell them, and how they work in katakana.

Inku editorial team · · 5 min read

A small ゃ, ゅ or ょ joins the kana before it into one syllable. き (ki) plus a small ゃ is きゃ (kya), not “ki-ya.” し plus ゅ is しゅ (shu), and ち plus ょ is ちょ (cho). Katakana works the same way: キャ, シュ, チョ. These combined sounds are called yōon (拗音). The one thing to check is the size of the や, ゆ or よ: small means one beat, full size means two.

Two characters, one beat

Japanese rhythm is counted in beats called morae. The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) module on consonant-glide sounds explains that きゃ is written with two characters but pronounced as one sound and counted as one mora. It warns against splitting it into “kiya” or “kia.”

The same module gives the pair that shows why this matters. びょういん (byouin) means “hospital.” If the i sound is pronounced too strongly, it can be heard as びよういん (biyouin), “beauty salon.” Two more pairs that turn on the size of one character:

  • きゃく (kyaku), “guest, customer” vs きやく (kiyaku), “terms, rules”
  • じゅう (juu), “ten” vs じゆう (jiyuu), “freedom”

Japan's national spelling standard, 現代仮名遣い (Agency for Cultural Affairs), lists yōon such as しゃかい (shakai, “society”) and asks that the や, ゆ and よ used for them be written small where possible. In horizontal text, the small version sits lower and takes less space.

Which kana take a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ

Only consonant kana from the i column, such as き, し and ち, combine this way. The first kana keeps its consonant and drops its i. The small kana supplies the new vowel.

  • き → きゃ きゅ きょ (kya kyu kyo)
  • し → しゃ しゅ しょ (sha shu sho)
  • ち → ちゃ ちゅ ちょ (cha chu cho)
  • に → にゃ にゅ にょ (nya nyu nyo)
  • ひ → ひゃ ひゅ ひょ (hya hyu hyo)
  • み → みゃ みゅ みょ (mya myu myo)
  • り → りゃ りゅ りょ (rya ryu ryo)
  • ぎ → ぎゃ ぎゅ ぎょ (gya gyu gyo)
  • じ → じゃ じゅ じょ (ja ju jo)
  • び → びゃ びゅ びょ (bya byu byo)
  • ぴ → ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ (pya pyu pyo)

There is also a rare ぢゃ row, read the same as じゃ. Notice the three rows that do not follow the plain pattern: し gives sha, not “sya”; ち gives cha; じ gives ja. If the voiced marks on ぎ, じ, び and ぴ are still new, see dakuten and handakuten first.

How yōon are written in romaji

Japan replaced its official romaji rules in December 2025. The new ローマ字のつづり方 (Cabinet notice, PDF) uses sha, cha and ja for these rows. Its comparison table shows that the main table of the 1954 rules spelled them sya, tya and zya. If you see sya, tya or zya in older Japanese school materials, that is the 1954 main-table style.

The notice also uses an apostrophe when ん comes before a y sound, as in 問屋 (ton'ya, “wholesaler”). That keeps ん + や (n'ya, two beats) apart from にゃ (nya, one beat).

Yōon with long vowels and small っ

Many common words add a long vowel after a yōon. Count the beats:

  • きょう (kyou), “today”: きょ・う, two beats
  • とうきょう (Toukyou, Tokyo): と・う・きょ・う, four beats
  • しゅじん (shujin), “husband” vs しゅうじん (shuujin), “prisoner”

Yōon also combine with a small っ. The romaji notice gives 薬局 (yakkyoku, “pharmacy”) and 日直 (nicchoku, “day duty”). Read them as a held beat, then the combined sound. The post on small tsu and long vowels covers both of those marks in detail.

The same rule in katakana

Katakana uses small ャ, ュ and ョ in exactly the same way. The government's loanword rules, 外来語の表記, say the ヤ, ユ and ヨ in yōon are written small. You will see them in everyday loanwords:

  • シャツ (shatsu), “shirt”
  • ジュース (juusu), “juice”
  • チョコレート (chokoreeto), “chocolate”
  • ニュース (nyuusu), “news”

Katakana also has small ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ and ォ for sounds such as ファ and ティ. Those follow a related idea but are a separate set, used mostly for loanwords.

Three mistakes to watch for

  1. Reading two beats. きょ is one beat. Say it in the time of one kana, not as “ki-yo.”
  2. Missing the size. In handwriting and small fonts, ゆ and ゅ look alike. If a word makes no sense, check whether the や, ゆ or よ is small.
  3. Dropping the long vowel. きょう is not きょ. The う adds a beat, and that beat can change the word.

Practice with numbers you already need

Three of the first Japanese numbers use yōon: 九 (きゅう, kyuu, “nine”), 十 (じゅう, juu, “ten”) and 百 (ひゃく, hyaku, “hundred”). Open Inku's free browser flashcards and choose the Numbers deck. When one of those cards comes up, say the reading aloud before you flip it: one beat for きゅ, one for う. Then tap Hear it, which uses your device's Japanese voice if it has one, to check yourself. The deck needs no account, and its progress stays in your browser.

Sources

Prepared by our editorial team with AI assistance. Product details are checked against the sources below.

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