Some hiragana combine to form Yōon sounds. In these combinations, the first character remains full-sized, while the second is smaller. There are 36 of these combinations. Examples include きょ(kyo) and しょ(sho) which represent single blended syllables rather than separate sounds. This blending is crucial in words like きょう(kyou, today) and しょうがっこう(shougakkou, elementary school).