He (kana)

He (へ, ヒ) is a Japanese kana. It represents two distinct sounds depending on its usage.

Forms:

• Hiragana: へ
• Katakana: ヘ

Pronunciation:

• Normally pronounced as /he/ (IPA: [he̞]), similar to the English "he" as in "hello".
• When used as a particle, specifically the topic particle, it is pronounced /wa/ (IPA: [ɰa]). This is a historical remnant and an exception to the usual sound associated with the kana.

Usage:

• As a kana, it represents the /he/ sound in words.
• As the topic particle (は), written as へ in hiragana, it indicates the topic of a sentence. This is one of the most frequent uses of the hiragana 'he'. When used as a topic marker, it always follows the noun or phrase that it marks. For example, "Watashi wa..." (私は...) which translates to "As for me..." or "Regarding me...".

Stroke Order:

• Hiragana (へ): One stroke. A diagonal stroke moving downwards from left to right, then curving upwards.
• Katakana (ヘ): One stroke. A straight diagonal line from upper left to lower right.

Historical Origins:

Both the hiragana へ and katakana ヘ are derived from the kanji 部.