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ら and ラ

Pronunciation

These characters represent a blend between the “La” sound in “Lock” and “Da” sound in “Dot”.

Despite usually being written as "RA" in roman characters. 

ら Memorization Story

The hiragana ら is a llama looking to his own left, sort of over his back.

ら Continued...

If that doesn’t work for you, perhaps this RAptor shouting "RUUUUN!" to his raptor buddies could be helpful.

ラ Memorization Story

The katakana ラ is half a ramen bowl, with the line on top being the chopsticks holding up some noodles for the camera.

Writing

 
 

Sometimes this will be written with the lower portion being a smaller curve than the one you might remember from ち. But it is perfectly okay to write it exactly LIKE ち, with basically a full on hiragana つ on the bottom. You should think of the top dash being directly connected to the vertical line below it. 

Font Examples

ら　　ラ

ら　　ラ

ら　　ラ

ら　　ラ

ら　　ラ

Typing

Hiragana ら
Type the letters “ra”.

Katakana ラ
Type “ra” and press the F7 key, or press spacebar until the katakana appears. 

Word(s)

そら

sky

ラマ

llama

はたらく

to work

 

Historical Form

Hiragana
良→ら

HISTORICAL VERSION

Katakana
良→ラ

PART BORROWED

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ToKini Kana Introduction Page あ・ア い・イ う・ウ え・エ お・オ Consonant Vowel Combinations か・カ き・キ く・ク け・ケ こ・コ Kana Reading Practice 1 さ・サ し・シ す・ス せ・セ そ・ソ た・タ ち・チ つ・ツ て・テ と・ト Kana Reading Practice 2 な・ナ に・ニ ぬ・ヌ ね・ネ の・ノ は・ハ ひ・ヒ ふ・フ へ・ヘ ほ・ホ Kana Reading Practice 3 ま・マ み・ミ む・ム め・メ も・モ や・ヤ ゆ・ユ よ・ヨ Kana Reading Practice 4 ら・ラ り・リ る・ル れ・レ ろ・ロ わ・ワ を・ヲ ん・ン Kana Reading Practice 5 Dakuten, Han-Dakuten, and Sokuon Kana Reading Practice 6 Kana Combinations Kana Reading Practice 7 Special Katakana Combinations The End Kana Worksheets