し, 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...

, or シ 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...

, and the variant form ㋛, 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 the phoneme /si/ although for phonological reasons

Japanese phonology

This article deals with the phonology of the Japanese language.-Consonants:The Japanese vowels are pronounced as monophthongs, unlike in English; except for , they are similar to their Spanish or Italian counterparts....

, the actual pronunciation is ɕi. The shapes of these kana have origins in the character 之. The katakana form has become increasingly popular as an emoticon

Emoticon

An emoticon is a facial expression pictorially represented by punctuation and letters, usually to express a writer’s mood. Emoticons are often used to alert a responder to the tenor or temper of a statement, and can change and improve interpretation of plain text. The word is a portmanteau word...

 in the Western world

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 due to its resemblance to a smiling face.

This character may be combined with 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...

, forming じ in hiragana, ジ in katakana, and ji 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 pronunciation becomes /zi/ (phonetically [d͡ʑi] or [ʑi] in the middle of words).

The dakuten form of this character is used when transliterating "di" occasionally, as opposed to チ's dakuten form; for example, Aladdin is written as アラジン Arajin, and radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 is written as ラジオ.

In the Ainu language, シ is used to represent the ʃi sound. It can also be written as a half-width ㇱ to represent a final s sound, pronounced ɕ. In addition, it can be written as half-width with a handakuten (which can be entered into a computer as either one character (ツ゚) or two combined characters (ツ゜)) to represent the sound tu, which is interchangeable with the katakana ト゚.

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 sh- (さ行 sa-gyō)	Shi	し	シ	Sid (シッド, Shiddo)
	Shī	しい, しぃ しー	シイ, シィ シー	Seed Seed A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...  (シイド, Shīdo)
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...  sh- (しゃ行 sha-gyō)	Sha	しゃ	シャ	Shadow the Hedgehog Shadow the Hedgehog is a character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Shadow is an artificially-created life form. His trademark hover shoes propel him at extreme speeds that rival those of Sonic, and with a Chaos Emerald he has the ability to distort time and space using "Chaos Control." Often referred to as being...  (シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Shadō za Hejjihoggu)
	Shā	しゃあ しゃー	シャア Char Aznable , born is a fictional character from the Gundam franchise. He is originally one of the main antagonists in Mobile Suit Gundam and later becomes one of the protagonists of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. In his final appearance in Char's Counterattack, he assumes leadership of the Neo Zeon movement,... シャー	Keyboard Crusher (キーボード・クラシャー, Kībōdo Kurashā)
	Shu	しゅ	シュ	Shrine (シュライン, Shurain)
	Shū	しゅう しゅー	シュウ シュー	Shooting Shooting Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...  (シュウティング, Shūtingu)
	Sho	しょ	ショ	Shock (ショック, Shokku)
	Shō	しょう しょお しょー	ショウ ショオ ショー	Showtime (ショウタイム, Shōtaimu)
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...  j- (ざ行 za-gyō)	Jī	じ	ジ
	Jī	じい, じぃ じー	ジイ, ジィ ジー	Jeans (ジインズ, Jīnzu)
Addition yōon and dakuten j- (じゃ行 ja-gyō)	Ja	じゃ	ジャ	Jack (ジャック, Jakku)
	Jā	じゃあ じゃー	ジャア ジャー	Ginger (ジンジャア, Jinjā)
	Ju	じゅ	ジュ	Julius (ジュリアス, Juriasu)
	Jū	じゅう じゅー	ジュウ ジュー	Juice (ジュウス, Jūsu)
	Jo	じょ	ジョ	John Lennon (ジョン・レノン, Jon Renon)
	Jō	じょう じょお じょー	ジョウ ジョオ ジョー	Samantha Jones (サマンサ・ジョウンス, Samansa Jōnsu)

Other additional forms

EWLINE Form A (sh-) 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... She しぇ シェ Shade Shade Shade is the blocking of sunlight by any object, and also the shadow created by that object. Shade also consists of the colors grey, black, white, etc...  (シェード, Shēdo)

EWLINE Form B (j-) 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... Je じぇ ジェ Jet the Hawk (ジェット・ザ・ホーク, Jetto za Hōku)

Stroke order