Learn Japanese

Katakana

Katakana is another Japanese syllabary. It is used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words , to represent onomotopeia; for technical and scientific terms; and for names or plants and animals. Katakana are characterized by short, straight strokes and sharp corners.

This section represents 46 Basic Katakana characters (gojuon) and characters with diacritics (dakuten, handakuten).

1. Katakana Chart

Memorize the reading of all 46 katakana characters as quickly as you can

ｱ イ ウ エ オ
a.  I. U. E. O
カ キ ク ケ コ
Ka ki ku ke ko
サシ.  ス セ ソ
Se shi su. Se so
タ チ.  ツ.   テ.  ト
Ta chi tsu te to
ナ ニ  ヌ.  ネ.  ノ
Na ni nu ne no
ハ ヒ  フ.  へ.  ホ
Ha hi hu he ho
マ.   ミ. ム. メ.  モ
Ma mi mu me mo
ヤ。  ユ。  ヨ
Ya.    Yu.     Yo
ラ。リ ル。レ ロ
Ra.  Ri. Ru Re Ro
ワ。                  ヲ
Wa.             (Wo) o
ン
N

2.  Writing of the Characters

1) General Rules of Stroke orders

Both kana (hiragana and Katakana) and kanji have the same general rules of Stroke orders.

a) Write from top to bottom, and left to right

ミ (3. Top line first) ツ (3. Left line first)

b) Horizontal before vertical

When horizontal and vertical lines cross, horizontal lines are usually written before vertical lines.

オ (3) ホ (4)

c) Character-spanning Strokes last

Vertical line that pass through other strokes are written after the strokes passed through are written.

キ (３) モ (3)

Practice writing Katakana

When you write Japanese Characters, pay special attention to:

a. Length of each the line

b. Small hooks

c. How the lines curve

d. Angles of lines

e. Space between lines

3. Katakana with Diacritical Marks

You can create 23 additional sounds by adding Diacritical marks. With short parallel lines, the unvoiced consonants [k], [s], [t], and [h] become voiced consonants [g], [z], [d], and [b] respectively. Additionally, by adding a small circle to [h], the sound changes to [p].

ガ ギ  グ ゲ ゴ
Ga gi gu ge go
ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ
Za ji zu ze zo
ダ ヂ ヅ デ ド
Da ji zu de do
バ ビ ブ ベ ボ
Ba bi bu be bo
パ ピ プ ペ ポ
Pa pi pu pe po

* [ヂ] and [ヅ] are pronounced the same as [ジ] and [ズ] respectively, and have limited use.

4. Transcribing contracted sounds

When small 「ヤ」「ユ」「ヨ」are added to the letters in the 「イ」 column except for 「イ」. It transcribe contracted sounds. Contracted sounds are single syllable.

キャ キュ キョ ギャ ギュ ギョ
Kya.  Kyu kyo gya.   Gyu gyo
シャ シュ ショジャ ジュ ジョ
Sha. Shu sho.  Ja.  Ju.     Jo
チャ チュ チョ
Cha chu cho
ニャ ニュ ニョ
Nya nyu nyo
ヒャ ヒュ ヒョ ビャビュビョ
Hya hyu hyo bya.   Byu byo
ミャ ミュ ミョ ピャ ピュ ピョ
Mya myu myo pya pyu pyo
リャ リュ リョ
Rya ryu ryo

5. Other Rules

1) long vowels

The long vowels are written with 「ー」symbol.

ケーキ ke e ki (cake)

アイスクリーム a i su ku ri i mu (ice cream)

コンピューター ko n pyu u ta a (computer)

2)Additional combination with small letters for foreign sounds

These sound combination waa created for transcribing foreign words because Japanese language did not have them.

ウイ ウエ ウオ
Ui.    Ue.    Uo
シェ ジェ
she je
チェ
Che
テイ デイ デユ
Ti。 di.    Dyu
フア フイ フエ フオ
Hua hui. Hue huo

ウイ。ウイキペヂア。ui ki pe di a. Wikipedia

ウエ。ウエデイングドレス。ue di n gu do re su. Wedding dress

ウオ。ウオークマン。uo o ku ma n.  Walkman

シェ。 シェイクスピア。she i ku su pi a. Shakespeare

ジェ。ジェームズ。je e mu zu. James

チェ。チェリーパイ。che ri i pa i.  Cherry pie

フア。 ウアイナルフアンタジー

パーティー pa a ti i.   Party

チェス。 che su.   Chess

ファストフード。fa su to fu u do. Fast food

プロジェクト。fu ro je ku to. Project

カリフォルニア。ka ri fo ru ni a. California

3) The sound [v]

[V] sound is usually written with 「バビプベポ」as in 「バージニｱ」(ba a ji ni a: Virginia), however, sometimes it is written with 「ヴ」letter to be closer to the pronunciation of the original language.

ヴィーナス: vi i na su (Venus)