Tsu (kana)

つ, in hiragana, or ツ in katakana, and the variant form ㋡, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both are phonemically /tu͍/ although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is [t͡su͍] ( listen). In the Ainu language, where the sound [tu͍] does exist, it is often written as ツ゚ or ト゚.

The sokuon, which are used mainly to indicate consonant gemination, are identical but somewhat smaller.

The dakuten forms づ, ヅ, pronounced the same as the dakuten forms of the su kana in most dialects (see yotsugana), are uncommon. They are primarily used for indicating a voiced consonant in the middle of a compound word (see rendaku), and they can never begin a word.

The katakana form is becoming increasingly popular as an emoticon in the Western world due to its resemblance to a smiling face.

Stroke order