O (kana)


In Japanese writing, the kana お and オ occupy the fifth place, between え and か, in the modern Gojūon system of collating kana. In the Iroha, they occupy the 27th, between の and く. In the table at right, お lies in the first column and the fifth row. Both represent Close-mid back rounded vowel|.
FormRōmajiHiraganaKatakana
Normal a/i/u/e/o
oおオ
Normal a/i/u/e/o
ou
ō		おう, おぅ
おお, おぉ
おー, お～		オウ, オゥ
オオ, オォ
オー, オ～

Derivation

お and オ originate, via man'yōgana, from the kanji 於.

Variant forms

Scaled-down versions of the kana are used to express morae foreign to the Japanese language, such as フォ.

Stroke order

The hiragana お is made with three strokes:
  1. A horizontal line from left to right.
  2. A stroke consisting of a vertical line, a small diagonal line going upwards and to the left, and an open curve heading right and downwards.
  3. A small curved stroke on the right.
The katakana オ is made with three strokes:
  1. At the top, a horizontal stroke from left to right.
  2. A downward vertical stroke cutting through the first stroke, with a small hook at the end facing left.
  3. At the intersection of the first two strokes, a diagonal line going downwards and to the left.

    Other communicative representations

When lengthening "-o" syllables in Japanese braille, a chōon is always used, as in standard katakana usage instead of adding an お / オ.