Ra (kana)

Hiragana	Katakana
Transliteration	ra, la
Hiragana origin:	良
Katakana origin:	良
kana gojūon wa ra ya ma ha na ta sa ka a sokuon wi ri mi hi ni chi shi ki i dakuten n ru yu mu fu nu tsu su ku u chōonpu we re me he ne te se ke e wo ro yo mo ho no to so ko o

ら, in hiragana, or ラ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both versions are written with two strokes and have origins in the character 良; both characters represent [ɽa] ( listen) In the Ainu language, Japanese linguists developed a small katakana ㇻ that is used to represent a final r sound after an a sound (アㇻ ar). ラ is not pronounced as rounded trilling English r. The Japanese ラ is pronounced between the L and R of English, and somewhat closer to L than are the other r-kana.

Stroke order

Stroke order in writing ら

Stroke order in writing ラ

Other communicative representations

• Computer encodings

ら / ラ in Japanese Braille
ら / ラ ra	らあ / ラー rā	Other kana based on Braille ら
		りゃ / リャ rya	りゃあ / リャー ryā

See also

• Japanese phonology