つ, 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 ツ 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 ㋡, 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...

, each of which represents 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 are phonemically /tu͍/ 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 t͡su͍. In the Ainu language, where the sound [tu͍] does exist, it is often written as ツ゚ or ト゚.

The sokuon

Sokuon

The is a Japanese symbol consisting of a small hiragana or katakana tsu. In less formal language it is called or , meaning "little tsu". Compare to a full-sized tsu:The sokuon is used for various purposes...

, which are used mainly to indicate consonant gemination, are identical but somewhat smaller.

The 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...

 forms づ, ヅ, pronounced the same as the dakuten forms of the su kana

Su (kana)

す, in hiragana, or ス in katakana is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Their shapes come from the kanji 寸 and 須, respectively. Both kana represent the sound )...

 in most dialects (see yotsugana

Yotsugana

refers to the four kanaジ, ヂ, ズ, ヅ of the Japanese language. Traditionally four distinct phonemes, currently they are either one, two, three, or four distinct phonemes depending on dialect...

), are uncommon. They are primarily used for indicating a voiced consonant in the middle of a compound word (see rendaku

Rendaku

is a phenomenon in Japanese morphophonology that governs the voicing of the initial consonant of the non-initial portion of a compound or prefixed word...

), and they can never begin a word.

The katakana form is becoming 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.

Forms	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 ts- (た行 ta-gyō)	tsu	つ	ツ
	tsuu tsū	つう, つぅ つー	ツウ, ツゥ ツー
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...  d/z- (だ行 da-gyō)	du, zu, dzu	づ	ヅ
	duu, zuu dū, zū	づう, づぅ づー	ヅウ, ヅゥ ヅー

Other additional forms

EWLINE Form A (ts-) 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... Tsa つぁ ツァ Tsi つぃ ツィ Tsu つ ツ Tse つぇ ツェ Tso つぉ ツォ

EWLINE Form B (zw-) 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... Zwa づぁ ヅァ Zwi づぃ ヅィ Dzu づ ヅ Zwe づぇ ヅェ Zwo づぉ ヅォ

Stroke order