ち (chi), hiragana basic
ち
chi
た row · i column
hiraganabasic2 strokes
Stroke order
Pronunciation
Say chi, with a ch sound, not ti. It is one short beat.
katakana counterpart
Variants
Similar characters
Words with ち
父ちちmy father
小さいちいさいsmall
小さなちいさなsmall (+ noun)
How to remember it
ちImagine a curled piece of cheese beneath the crossing strokes. Cheese cues the ch sound in chi; the Japanese vowel stays short.
Where it comes from
知ち
ち developed from the cursive writing of 知. The flowing form became a sound symbol independent of the meaning know.