| Hiragana Image: | Japanese Hiragana kyokashotai TI.svg |
| Katakana Image: | Japanese Katakana kyokashotai TI.svg |
| Transliteration: | chi |
| Transliteration Dakuten: | dji |
| Hiragana Manyogana: | 知 |
| Katakana Manyogana: | 千 |
| Other Manyogana: | 知 智 陳 千 乳 血 茅 |
| Dakuten Manyogana: | 遅 治 地 恥 尼 泥 |
| Spelling: | 千鳥のチ (Chidori no "chi") |
ち, in hiragana, or チ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both are phonemically pronounced as //ti//, reflected in the Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki romanization ti, although, for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is pronounced as /ja/, which is reflected in the Hepburn romanization chi.
The kanji for one thousand (千, sen), appears similar to チ, and at one time they were related, but today チ is used as phonetic, while the kanji carries an entirely unrelated meaning.
Many onomatopoeic words beginning with ち pertain to things that are small or quick.[1]
The dakuten forms ぢ, ヂ, are uncommon. They are primarily used for indicating a voiced consonant in the middle of a compound word (see rendaku), and they don't usually begin a word. The dakuten form of the shi character is sometimes used when transliterating "di", as opposed to チ's dakuten form; for example, Aladdin is written as アラジン Arajin, and radio is written as ラジオ. It is, however, more common to use ディ instead, such as ディオン to translate the name Dion.
In the Ainu language, チ by itself is pronounced pronounced as /[t͡s]/, and can be combined with the katakana ヤ, ユ, エ, and ヨ to write the other pronounced as /[t͡s]/ sounds. The combination チェ (pronounced pronounced as /[t͡se]/), is interchangeable with セ゚.
| Form | Rōmaji | Hiragana | Katakana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal ch-/t- (た行 ta-gyō) | chi | ち | チ |
| chii, chyi chī | ちい, ちぃ ちー | チイ, チィ チー | |
| Addition yōon ch-/ty- (ちゃ行 cha-gyō) | cha | ちゃ | チャ |
| chaa chā | ちゃあ, ちゃぁ ちゃー | チャア, チャァ チャー | |
| chu | ちゅ | チュ | |
| chuu, chwu chū | ちゅう, ちゅぅ ちゅー | チュウ, チュゥ チュー | |
| cho | ちょ | チョ | |
| chou choo chō | ちょう, ちょぅ ちょお, ちょぉ ちょー | チョウ, チョゥ チョオ, チョォ チョー | |
| Addition dakuten d- (j/z-) (だ行 da-gyō) | ji | ぢ | ヂ |
| jii, jyi jī | ぢい, ぢぃ ぢー | ヂイ, ヂィ ヂー | |
| Addition yōon and dakuten dy- (j/zy-) (ぢゃ行 dya-gyō) | ja | ぢゃ | ヂャ |
| jaa jā | ぢゃあ, ぢゃぁ ぢゃー | ヂャア, ヂャァ ヂャー | |
| ju | ぢゅ | ヂュ | |
| juu, jwu jū | ぢゅう, ぢゅぅ ぢゅー | ヂュウ, ヂュゥ ヂュー | |
| jo | ぢょ | ヂョ | |
| jou joo jō | ぢょう, ぢょぅ ぢょお, ぢょぉ ぢょー | ヂョウ, ヂョゥ ヂョオ, ヂョォ ヂョー |
| Ch/J/Dy + Yōon braille | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ち / チ chi | ぢ / ヂ ji/di | ちい / チー chī | ぢい / ヂー jī/dī | ちゃ / チャ cha | ぢゃ / ヂャ ja/dya | ちゃあ / チャー chā | ぢゃあ / ヂャー jā/dya | |
| Ch/J/Dy + Yōon braille | ||||||||
| ちゅ / チュ chu | ぢゅ / ヂュ ju/dyu | ちゅう / チュー chū | ぢゅう / ヂュー jū/dyū | ちょ / チョ cho | ぢょ / ヂョ jo/dyo | ちょう / チョー chō | ぢょう / ヂョー jō/dyō | |