Fu (hiragana: ふ, katakana: フ) in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is made in four strokes, while the katakana in one. It represents the phoneme , although for phonological reasons (general scheme for /h/ group, whose only phonologic survivor to /f/ ([ɸ]) remaining is ふ: b←p←f→h), the actual pronunciation is , which is why it is romanized fu in Hepburn romanization instead of hu as in Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki rōmaji (Korean 후 /hu/ creates the same phonetic effect as lips are projected when pronouncing "u"). Written with a dakuten (ぶ, ブ), they both represent a "bu" sound, and written with handakuten (ぷ, プ) they both represent a "pu" sound.
The katakana フ is frequently combined with other vowels to represent sounds in foreign words. For example, the word "file" is written in Japanese as ファイル (fairu), with ファ representing a non-native sound, fa. and in loanwords beginning with the clusters "fl", "fr", "bl", "br", "pl" and "pr". this kana, along with their dakuten and handakuten forms, is often combined with r- kanas.
In certain Okinawan writing systems, ふ/フ can be written as ふぁ, ふぃ, ふぇ to make both fa, fi, and fe sounds as well as representing the sounds hwa, hwi, and hwe. In the Ryukyu University system, fa/hwa is written using the wa kana instead, ふゎ/フヮ. In the Ainu language the katakana with a handakuten プ can be written as a small ㇷ゚ to represent a final p sound. In the Sakhalin dialect, フ without a handakuten can be written as small ㇷ to represent a final h sound after an u sound (ウㇷ uh).
FormsRōmajiHiraganaKatakanaExample words (with kanji)Normal f-(は行 ha-gyō)fuふフふゆ fuyu 冬 winter ふえる fueru 増える to grow/increase ふつう futsū 普通 normal ふみきり fumikiri 踏み切り level crossing ふとん futon 布団 quilt/blanket ふるえる furueru 震える to shake フランス furansu Francefuu, fwufūふう, ふぅふーフウ, フゥフーAddition dakuten b-(ば行 ba-gyō)buぶブはんぶん hanbun 半分 half かぶ kabu 株 share/stump ぶし bushi 武士 samurai ハーブ hābu herbbuu, bwubūぶう, ぶぅぶーブウ, ブゥブーAddition handakuten p-(ぱ行 pa-gyō)puぷプきっぷ kippu 切符 stamp おんぷ ompu 音符 notepuu, pwupūぷう, ぷぅぷープウ, プゥプー
Other additional formsRōmajiHiraganaKatakana+Form A (f-/fw-/fy-)fa, fwaふぁ, ふゎファ, フヮファール fāru foulfi, fwiふぃフィフィンランド finrando Finland(fwu)(ふぅ)(フゥ)フリー furī Freefe, fweふぇフェフェルト feruto feltfo, fwoふぉフォフォード fōdo FordfyaふゃフャfyuふゅフュfyeふぃぇフィェfyoふょフョRōmajiHiraganaKatakana+Form B (bw-)bwaぶぁ, ぶゎブァ, ブヮbwiぶぃブィ(bwu)(ぶぅ)(ブゥ)bweぶぇブェbwoぶぉブォRōmajiHiraganaKatakana+Form C (pw-)pwaぷぁ, ぷゎプァ, プヮpwiぷぃプィ(pwu)(ぷぅ)(プゥ)pweぷぇプェpwoぷぉプォ
Stroke order 4 1
Other communicative representations
Braille forms ふ / フ in Japanese Braille ふ / フ fu ぶ / ブ bu ぷ / プ pu ふう / フー fū ぶう / ブー bū ぷう / プー pū Other kana based on Braille ふ ひゅ / ヒゅ hyu びゅ / ビュ byu ぴゅ / ピュ pyu ひゅう / ヒュー hyū びゅう / ビュー byū ぴゅう / ピュー pyū
Computer encodings
References