Writing system · Foundation
Dakuten and handakuten: ゛ and ゜
How voicing marks turn familiar kana into new sounds.
In short
Dakuten ゛ changes several unvoiced kana rows into voiced sounds; handakuten ゜ changes the H row into P sounds.
How it works
Examples include か→が, さ→ざ, た→だ, は→ば, and は→ぱ. The written base stays recognizable, so learn the changed sound as a transformation of a kana you already know.
Useful contrast
The mark changes pronunciation, not word class or grammar. Context still determines what the resulting word means.
Examples
かぎ
key
ぱん
bread
Common pitfall
Do not treat ば and ぱ as decorative variants of は. The mark is part of the spelling and can distinguish entirely different words.