Katakana

Katakana (カタカナ) is a Japanese script for writing words borrowed from other languages. It is easier to read than kanji, the picture method that is based on Chinese characters. Once the 46 katakana symbols have been learned, a reader knows how to pronounce them.

Both katakana and hiragana are syllabaries. English uses the letters of the alphabet, and most words, each letter stands for a bit of sound (phoneme). In a syllabary, each symbol stands for a syllable. For example, English “Wagamama” has each of the eight letters stand for a sound: “W-a-g-a-m-a-m-a”. However, if the word “Wagamama” is divided into syllables, there are four syllables: Wa-ga-ma-ma. In katakana, it is written with four symbols: ワガママ.

Hiragana works in the same way, but most symbols. Katakana is perhaps a little easier to learn than hiragana because the symbols are simpler and more “squared off”.This refers to modern angular katakana (カタカナ) Together, Katakana and Hiragana are called “kana.”

 Table of katakana 
This is a table of the basic katakana strokes. The first chart shows the basic katakana. Characters with red letters next to them are no longer used.
 vowelsyōonア aイ iウ uエ eオ o ャ ya ュ yu ョ yoカ kaキ kiク kuケ keコ koキャ kyaキュ kyuキョ kyoサ saシ shiス suセ seソ soシャ shaシュ shuショ shoタ taチ chiツ tsuテ teト toチャ chaチュ chuチョ choナ naニ niヌ nuネ neノ noニャ nyaニュ nyuニョ nyoハ haヒ hiフ hu, fuヘ heホ hoヒャ hyaヒュ hyuヒョ hyoマ maミ miム muメ meモ moミャ myaミュ myuミョ myoヤ yaユ yuヨ yoラ raリ riル ruレ reロ roリャ ryaリュ ryuリョ ryoワ waヲ woン nガ gaギ giグ guゲ geゴ goギャ gyaギュ gyuギョ gyoザ zaジ jiズ zuゼ zeゾ zoジャ jaジュ juジョ joダ daヂ (dji)ヅ (dzu)デ deド doヂャ (ja)ヂュ (ju)ヂョ (jo)バ baビ biブ buベ beボ boビャ byaビュ byuビョ byoパ paピ piプ puペ peポ poピャ pyaピュ pyuピョ pyoBecause Japanese today borrows so many foreign words they have invented several extra katakana symbols to help to write sounds that the Japanese language does not have:イェ yeウィ wiウェ weウォ woヴ vuヴァ vaヴィ viヴェ veヴォ voヴャ vyaヴュ vyuヴョ vyoシェ sheジェ jeチェ cheティ tiトゥ tuテュ tyuディ diドゥ duデュ dyuツァ tsaツィ tsiツェ tseツォ tsoファ faフィ fiフェ feフォ foフュ fyu

From the first table, it can be seen that there are 46 basic characters (top left, first five columns, from "a" to "wa"). Diphthongs (vowels that slide from one sound to the other) are written with an extra symbol in small print. For example, the sound “mu” in our word “music” sounds like “myu” so it is written ミュ (mi+yu). Therefore, the word “musical” (as in a stage musical) is written: ミュージカル.
A long vowel is shown in katakana by a kind of dash, called a “choon” (ー).

 Use 
Katakana is used to write words that have been borrowed from other languages  foreign names and names of countries. For example, America is written as アメリカ.

It is not always easy to recognize the words because Japanese does not have all of the English sounds. That makes Japanese use other ways to pronounce and write words. For example, the word “coffee” is written コーヒー (koo-hii). Words are sometimes shortened as well: “television” is written as テレビ (pronounced “te-re-bi”).

It is sometimes impossible to show the difference between two foreign words, e.g. ラーラー could spell either the name “Lara” or “Lala” (as in the Teletubbies). The Japanese have just one sound, which is somewhere between our “r” and “l”.

In Japanese, a consonant is always followed by a vowel. Since words or syllables cannot end in a consonant except “n” or “m,” Japanese adds an extra vowel. “Ski” (as in skiing) becomes “sukī” (スキー), and a “musical”, as noted earlier, becomes “myuujikaru” (ミュージカル).

Katakana can be also used for onomatopoeic words like “ding,” or to make words look important, or for scientific names of species. Sentences in books or cartoons may be written in katakana to show that someone is supposed to be speaking with a foreign accent. It is often used to write the names of Japanese companies:. Suzuki is written スズキ and Toyota トヨタ.

A small “tsu” ッ, called a “sokuon,” shows  as a double consonant: the English word “bed” is used in Japanese for a western-style bed, pronounced “beddo” and written ベッド. The ッ makes the “e” vowel short.

Learning to read katakana is useful for reading Japanese signs or restaurant menus.

Japanese sentences are written usually with a mixture of katakana, hiragana and kanji:
私はアメリカ人です (Watashi wa amerikajin desu: I am American).has “amerika” written in katakana, "Watashi"(私) and the ending “-jin”(人) are written in kanji, and “desu” (I am) is in hiragana.

 Related pages 
 Japanese language
 Hiragana
 Writing system
 Syllabary

 Footnotes 

 Other websites 
 Real Kana Practice katakana using different typefaces
 Katakana Lessons 
 Test your Katakana knowledge 

Category:Japanese writing system