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Yōon are represented inhiragana using a kana ending ini, such asき (ki) orに (ni), plus a smaller version of one of the threey kana,や (ya),ゆ (yu) orよ (yo). For example,今日 (kyō'today') is writtenきょう[kʲoo], using a small version of theよ kana. Contrast this with器用 (kiyō'skillful'), which is writtenきよう[kijoo], with a full-sized よ kana. Inhistorical kana orthography,yōon were not distinguished with the smaller kana, and had to be determined by context.
In earlier stages of Japanese, and in certain dialects,yōon can also be formed with the kanawa,wi,we, andwo; for example,くゎ/クヮkwa,くゐ/クヰkwi,くゑ/クヱkwe,くを/クヲkwo.[citation needed] Although obsolete in modern Japanese,kwa andkwi can still be found in several of theRyukyuan languages today (e.g.Okinawan), whilekwe is formed with the digraphくぇ.Kwa also appears in theKagoshima dialect. Instead of the kanaき, these are formed with the kana forku,く/ク. Some older transliterations in English follow the earlier pronunciation, e.g.Kwaidan,Kwannon, and suchyōon may appear in loanwords e.g.ムジカ・アンティクヮ・ケルン "Musica Antiqua Köln". They were also used to writeHakka inTaiwan under Japanese rule (calledCantonese kana [ja]).
InJapanese Braille, Yōon is indicated with one of the yōon, yōon+dakuten, or yōon+handakuten prefixes.
Unlike in kana, Braille yōon is prefixed to the -a/-u/-o morae, rather than appending ya, yu or yo to an -i kana, e.g.kyu: きゅ - ki + yu→⠈⠩ - yōon + ku. Likewise, the -w- morae are indicated by a prefix of the -a/-i/-e/-o morae, rather than an -u mora, e.g. くぁ / くゎ (kwa) = -w- + ka:⠢⠡.
