Standard Lemma guide

handakuten

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /hænˈdæ.kuˌtɛn/
  • /hɑːnˈdɑː.kuˌtɛn/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A semi-voiced diacritic ( ゚) used with Japanese kana to change a /h/ to a /p/.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: maru

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Japanese 半濁点(はんだくてん) (handakuten), from Middle Chinese 半 (pàn, “half”) + 濁 (ɖæwk, “muddy, voiced”) + 點 (tém, “mark, spot”).

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 半濁點 /半浊点 (bànzhuódiǎn) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • French: handakuten — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Greek: χαντακουτέν (chantakoutén) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Greek: μάρου (márou) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Greek: μαρού (maroú) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Hebrew: האָנדָקוּטֶן (handákuten) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Japanese: 半濁点 (handakuten) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Japanese: 丸 (maru) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Japanese: 半濁り (hannigori) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Korean: 반탁점 (bantakjeom) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Russian: хандакутэ́н (xandakutɛ́n) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Russian: ма́ру (máru) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Russian: мару́ (marú) — Japanese semi-voiced mark
  • Russian: ханниго́ри (xannigóri) — Japanese semi-voiced mark