Hiragana

Japanese writing is divided into 4 styles, two of which are syllabary(s), one being Hiragana.

Although Hiragana is phonetic, it is used only for representing Japanese words. To write foreign words or onomatopaeic?, katakana is used. It is made of 46 characters, which consist of vowels and vowel-consonant combinations such as "ka" or "hi".

Hiragana formed from the practice which developed in the 8th century CE of using Chinese characters exclusively for their phonetic meanings. Literature was transcribed using a reduced set of characters. Eventually, the symbols were simplified, and the set reduced. The result was Hiragana.

Hiragana was not accepted by everyone. Many felt that the language of the educated was still Chinese. However it gained in popularity among women as they were not allowed higher education. Eventually, it became used by everyone.