き, in hiragana

Hiragana

is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...

, キ in katakana

Katakana

is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

, is one of the Japanese kana

Kana

Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...

, which each represent one mora

Mora (linguistics)

Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D...

. Both represent [ki] and are derived from a simplification of the 幾 kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

. The hiragana character き, like さ

Sa (kana)

さ, in hiragana, or サ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent . The shapes of these kana originate from 左 and 散, respectively....

, is drawn with the lower line separated when writing (as in the picture to the right.) When printing, the lines are connected.

A dakuten

Dakuten

, colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should...

 may be added to the character; this transforms it into ぎ in hiragana, ギ in katakana, and gi in Hepburn romanization

Hepburn romanization

The is named after James Curtis Hepburn, who used it to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet in the third edition of his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1887. The system was originally proposed by the in 1885...

. The phonetic value also changes, to [ɡi] in initial, and varying between [ŋi] and [ɣi] in the middle of words.

A handakuten (゜) does not occur with ki in normal Japanese text, but it may be used by linguists to indicate a nasal

Nasal consonant

A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...

 pronunciation [ŋi].

Form	Rōmaji	Hiragana Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...	Katakana Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
Normal k- (か行 ka-gyō)	Ki	き	キ
	Kī	きい きー	キイ キー
Addition yōon Yoon is a feature of the Japanese language in which a mora is formed with an added sound.Yōon are represented in hiragana using a kana ending in i, such as き , plus a smaller-than-usual version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo. For example kyō, "today", is written きょう, using a small version of...  ky- (きゃ行 kya-gyō)	Kya	きゃ	キャ
	Kyā	きゃあ きゃー	キャア キャー
	Kyu	きゅ	キュ
	Kyū	きゅう きゅー	キュウ キュー	Cube Cube In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. The cube can also be called a regular hexahedron and is one of the five Platonic solids. It is a special kind of square prism, of rectangular parallelepiped and...   (キューブ Kyūbu)
	Kyo	きょ	キョ
	Kyō	きょう きょお きょー	キョウ キョオ キョー
Addition dakuten Dakuten , colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should...  g- (が行 ga-gyō)	Gi	ぎ	ギ
	Gī	ぎい ぎー	ギイ ギー
Addition yōon and dakuten gy- (ぎゃ行 gya-gyō)	Gya	ぎゃ	ギャ
	Gyā	ぎゃあ ぎゃー	ギャア ギャー
	Gyu	ぎゅ	ギュ
	Gyū	ぎゅう ぎゅー	ギュウ ギュー	Gules Gules In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....   (ギュールズ Gyūruzu)
	Gyo	ぎょ	ギョ
	Gyō	ぎょう ぎょお ぎょー	ギョウ ギョオ ギョー	Guillaume Guillaume Guillaume, the French equivalent of William, may refer to:-A:*Guillaume Amontons*Guillaume Apollinaire , a poet, writer and art critic.-B:*Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas...   (ギョーム Gyōmu)

{|class="wikitable"
!colspan="6"|Other additional forms
|-

|
{|align="center" style="background: transparent"
|+Form A (ky-)
!Romaji
!Hiragana

Hiragana

is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...

!Katakana

Katakana

is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

|-
|Kya
|きゃ
|キャ
|Katt Monroe  (キャット・モンロー Kyatto Monrō)
|-
|Kyu
|きゅ
|キュ
|Ice Cube

Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

  (アイス・キューブ Aisu Kyūbu)
|-
|Kye
|きぇ
|キェ
|Kielce

Kielce

Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...

  (キェルス Kyerusu)
|-
|Kyo
|きょ
|キョ
|Kiosk

Kiosk

Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...

  (キョスク Kyosuku)
|}
|
{|align="center" style="background: transparent"
|+Form B (gy-)
!Romaji
!Hiragana

Hiragana

is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...

!Katakana

Katakana

is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

|-
|Gya
|ぎゃ
|ギャ
|Gallery

Gallery

Gallery may refer to:* An art museum * A retail art shop * An exhibition room in a museum...

  (ギャラリー Gyararī)
|-
|Gyu
|ぎゅ
|ギュ
|Figure

Figure

Figure may refer to:*A shape, drawing, or representation*Figure, wood appearance*Musical figure, distinguished from musical motif*Shaping a mirror on a reflective telescope*Noise figure, in telecommunication*Dance figure, an elementary dance pattern...

  (フィギュア Figyua)
|-
|Gye
|ぎぇ
|ギェ
|Gienah

Gienah

Gienah can be a star:* Gienah in Corvus, or γ Corvi, is a star in the Corvus constellation* Gienah in Cygnus, or ε Cygni, is a star in the Cygnus constellationGienah derives from the Arabic, Al-Janah, meaning "The wing"....

  (ギェナー Gyenā)
|-
|Gyo
|ぎょ
|ギョ
|Gyoza  (ギョーザ Gyōza)
|-

Stroke order

Other communicative representations

In Japanese Braille

Japanese Braille

Japanese braille is a braille code for writing the Japanese language. It is based on the original braille system. In Japanese it is known as , literally "dot characters". Below is a basic chart of Japanese braille with the Japanese hiragana character followed by the standard roman character reading...

, き or キ is represented as:
{| style="border:1px solid #8080b0;"
|-
| ● || －
|-
| ● || －
|-
| － || ●
|}

The Wabun code

Wabun Code

The is a form of Morse code used to send Japanese text. Unlike International Morse Code, which represents letters of the Roman alphabet, in Wabun each symbol represents a Japanese kana...

for き or キ is －・－・・.