Why is じどうしゃ (jidoushiya), jidōsha instead?


From what I understand, **the hiragana characters above should make the word
jidoushiya** , but **for some reason it is actually jidōsha**.

Why did the word change this way even though the characters are:

> **じ** → ji, **ど** → do, **う** → u, **し** → shi and **ゃ** → ya?




The small ゃ is different to the larger や. When using the smaller ゃ after a
character in the i-line, it modifies the sound before it;

So, しや='shiya' but しゃ='sha' Similarly, りや='riya' but りゃ='rya'

As for the ō, this is a notation which refers to an extended sound. Following
お with う extends the sound to be twice as long, and this can be written either
as 'ou' or 'ō' depending on personal preference.

Edit: this shows all the ways you can modify characters in this way in
hiragana: [![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y3WYy.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y3WYy.jpg)

You can also do similar things with katakana such as ティ='ti' because this
isn't normally a sound you can make in Japanese. These can usually be guessed,
though.




The small ゃ is different to the larger や. When using the smaller ゃ after a
character in the i-line, it modifies the sound before it;

So, しや='shiya' but しゃ='sha' Similarly, りや='riya' but りゃ='rya'

As for the ō, this is a notation which refers to an extended sound. Following
お with う extends the sound to be twice as long, and this can be written either
as 'ou' or 'ō' depending on personal preference.

Edit: this shows all the ways you can modify characters in this way in
hiragana: [![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y3WYy.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y3WYy.jpg)

You can also do similar things with katakana such as ティ='ti' because this
isn't normally a sound you can make in Japanese. These can usually be guessed,
though.

