Katakana
From MIWiki
Katakana (along with Hiragana and Kanji) is one of the three primary systems for writing Japanese (four, if one includes romanji). Katakana characters are typified by straighter lines and sharper angles than either Hiragana or Kanji.
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Details
Katakana is a set of characters known as a | syllabary, meaning that each character represents a syllable. Contrast this to many western alphabets where each character represents a phoneme or sound and those phonemes are combined to represent syllables and words.
In Katakana, most characters represent a consonant and a vowel sound, for example: カ"ka", キ"ki", コ"ko".
Usage
Katakana is used principally to represent foreign words brought into the language. For example: インタアネット ("intaanetto") is Internet. Katakana is also used for:
- Names of foreign countries, places and people
- Onomatopoeia (words representing sounds – チン "Ding!")
- Technical, medical or scientific words
- Company names (スズキ "Suzuki")
- For emphasis, especially on signs
- Computer output
- When the writer wishes to imply foreign accent or language
- Musical notation
See also
Wikipedia-Katakana Wikipedia-Japanese Writing
Table of katakana
This is a table of katakana together with their Hepburn romanization. The first chart sets out the standard katakana (characters with a red Romanization are obsolete).
| vowels | yōon | ||||||
| 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 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 | (ヰ) wi | (ヱ) we | 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 (ji) | ヅ (zu) | 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 pyo |
|
Below are modern additions to the katakana, used mainly to represent sounds from other languages. | |||||||
| イェ ye | |||||||
| ウィ wi | ウェ we | ウォ wo | |||||
| ヷ va | ヸ vi | ヴ vu | ヹ ve | ヺ vo | |||
| 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 | フゥ hu | フェ fe | フォ fo | フュ fyu | ||
