Is ま (ma) related to ほ (ho) or は (ha) related to よ (yo)? What does adding a bar to the left mean?


I understand these character similarities might be arbitrary, like M and W
being flipped. But it's tripping me up enough times that I thought if I knew a
reason, perhaps it would help me memorize these characters.

ち (chi), き (ki), and さ (sa) are also similar, but they are actually different.
Though I think I would have preferred ち (*sa), き (ki), and さ (*chi) so the
direction of the 5 would characterize the "i" sound. Sadly, it isn't
consistent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, is ま (ma) related to ほ (ho) or よ(yo) related to は (ha)? It seems the bar
means the "h" consonant but the musical note does not vocalize consistently
(it either means ("a" or "o") or ("m" or "y") by itself).




Apart from the [diacritic-
derived](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakuten_and_handakuten) characters,
_hiragana_ (and _kana_ in general) should be seen as non-reduceable graphical
units. They are **not derived from simpler functional units**. Their formation
is based on the principle of _graphical abbreviation from more complex
characters_ , and in _hiragana_ 's case, the inspiration behind the shapes is
[cursive script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_\(East_Asia\)).

In a similar manner, Latin alphabet letters are not made from structurally
simpler functional elements; "t" is not derived from "l" with the addition of
a horizontal line, "d" is not the merger between "c" and "l", "n" is not an
upside-down "u", etc.

This means that you shouldn't try to break _hiragana_ into components or
strokes and try to deduce if there is some sort of logic across _hiragana_
characters which relates to the spoken language. There simply isn't.

  * Why does き appear to be さ with a line added? Because the cursive abbreviation of [機]{き}, with most of the left hand side cut out, turns out to appear similar to the cursive abbreviation of [左]{さ} but with an extra line. 機 is not related to 左 in any sense, apart from the fact that they may look similar if someone writes in a quick scrawl.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9OwV8.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9OwV8.png)

  * ほ is the cursive abbreviation of 保, and は is the cursive abbreviation of 波. Notice how 亻 and 氵 are both reduced to an identical vertical stroke in ほ and は.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/upI38.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/upI38.png)

* * *

_Images taken from the[Wikipedia hiragana
chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana#/media/File:Hiragana_origin.svg)_.




Apart from the [diacritic-
derived](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakuten_and_handakuten) characters,
_hiragana_ (and _kana_ in general) should be seen as non-reduceable graphical
units. They are **not derived from simpler functional units**. Their formation
is based on the principle of _graphical abbreviation from more complex
characters_ , and in _hiragana_ 's case, the inspiration behind the shapes is
[cursive script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_\(East_Asia\)).

In a similar manner, Latin alphabet letters are not made from structurally
simpler functional elements; "t" is not derived from "l" with the addition of
a horizontal line, "d" is not the merger between "c" and "l", "n" is not an
upside-down "u", etc.

This means that you shouldn't try to break _hiragana_ into components or
strokes and try to deduce if there is some sort of logic across _hiragana_
characters which relates to the spoken language. There simply isn't.

  * Why does き appear to be さ with a line added? Because the cursive abbreviation of [機]{き}, with most of the left hand side cut out, turns out to appear similar to the cursive abbreviation of [左]{さ} but with an extra line. 機 is not related to 左 in any sense, apart from the fact that they may look similar if someone writes in a quick scrawl.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9OwV8.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9OwV8.png)

  * ほ is the cursive abbreviation of 保, and は is the cursive abbreviation of 波. Notice how 亻 and 氵 are both reduced to an identical vertical stroke in ほ and は.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/upI38.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/upI38.png)

* * *

_Images taken from the[Wikipedia hiragana
chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana#/media/File:Hiragana_origin.svg)_.

