| Hiragana Image: | Japanese Hiragana kyokashotai KO.svg |
| Katakana Image: | Japanese Katakana kyokashotai KO.svg |
| Transliteration: | ko |
| Transliteration Dakuten: | go |
| Transliteration Handakuten: | (ngo) |
| Hiragana Manyogana: | 己 |
| Katakana Manyogana: | 己 |
| Other Manyogana: | 古 姑 枯 故 侯 孤 児 粉 己 巨 去 居 忌 許 虚 興 木 |
| Dakuten Manyogana: | 吾 呉 胡 娯 後 籠 児 悟 誤 其 期 碁 語 御 馭 凝 |
| Spelling: | 子供のコ (Kodomo no "ko") |
| Footnote: | These Man'yōgana originally represented morae with one of two different vowel sounds, which merged in later pronunciation. |
こ, in hiragana or コ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both represent pronounced as /ja/. The shape of these kana comes from the kanji 己.
This character may be supplemented by a dakuten; it becomes ご in hiragana, ゴ in katakana and go in Hepburn romanization. Also, the pronunciation is affected, transforming into pronounced as /[ɡo]/ in initial positions and varying between pronounced as /[ŋo]/ and pronounced as /[ɣo]/ in the middle of words.
A handakuten (゜) does not occur with ko in normal Japanese text, but it may be used by linguists to indicate a nasal pronunciation pronounced as /[ŋo]/.
| Form | Rōmaji | Hiragana | Katakana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal k- (か行 ka-gyō) | ko | こ | コ |
| kou koo kō | こう, こぅ こお, こぉ こー | コウ, コゥ コオ, コォ コー | |
| Addition dakuten g- (が行 ga-gyō) | go | ご | ゴ |
| gou goo gō | ごう, ごぅ ごお, ごぉ ごー | ゴウ, ゴゥ ゴオ, ゴォ ゴー |
| こ / コ in Japanese Braille | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| こ / コ ko | ご / ゴ go | こう / コー kō/kou | ごう / ゴー gō/gou | Other kana based on Braille こ | ||||
| きょ / キョ kyo | ぎょ / ギョ gyo | きょう / キョー kyō/kyou | ぎょう / ギョー gyō/gyou | |||||