Как пишется катакана на японском

В этом разделе вы узнаете, как писать катакану правильно.

Также есть 46 основных символов катаканы, и вы увидите, как писать каждый символ в правильном порядке.

Написание японских иероглифов катакана можно выучить так же, как и хирагану. Сначала выучите хирагану.

Точно так же их 46. 

На диаграммах, которые вы собираетесь увидеть, первый символ слева в каждой строке показывает полный (законченный) символ катаканы.

В следующих столбцах показаны штрихи в правильном порядке. Следуйте зеленой линии каждого штриха, запомните, как правильно писать каждый символ.

По сравнению со знаками хираганы, символы катаканы имеют более прямые линии и более угловатые формы. Их также несложно научиться писать после некоторой практики.

Будьте осторожны с некоторыми похожими символами катаканы, например ソ (so) и ン (n). Основное отличие — направление второго штриха.

Для ソ (so) второй штрих начинается сверху справа и по диагонали вниз до нижнего левого угла.

В то время как для ン (n) это штрих, начинающийся снизу слева и по диагонали чуть ниже верхнего правого.

Есть пять хороших способов, которые облегчат вам процесс запоминания символов катаканы:

1. Писать символы катаканы от руки 【важно знать порядок написания черт】
2. Читать символы катаканы в контексте 【необходимы материалы для чтения】
3. Проходить тесты 【нужны соответствующие тесты】
4. Слушать произношение 【нужны соответствующие аудиофайлы】
5. Карточки символов катаканы 【о них вы узнаете ниже】

※Мы решили все за вас, и собрали все эти способы в специальном курсе, что бы сэкономить ваше время и облегчить процесс обучения! Настоятельно вам рекомендуем приобрести курсы японского языка.

Видео урок : «как учить катакану»

Как писать катакану гласной строки

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы ア (a), イ (i), ウ (u), エ (e) и オ (o). А также их написание в правильном порядке.

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Как писать катакану ka-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы カ (ka), キ (ki), ク (ku), ケ (ke) и コ (ko) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

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Напишите катакану sa-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы サ (sa), シ (shi), ス (su), セ (se) и ソ (so) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

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Как писать катакану ta-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы タ (ta), チ (chi), ツ (tsu), テ (te) и ト (to) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

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Напишите катакану na-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы ナ (na), ニ (ni), ヌ (nu), ネ (ne) и ノ (no) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

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Практикуйтесь столько раз, сколько сможете, и вы быстро научитесь писать символы катаканы, не обращаясь к схемам.

Скоро вы научитесь писать каждый знак, не глядя в схему, после некоторой практики.

Вы можете заметить, что некоторые символы катаканы на самом деле похожи на свои эквивалентные символы хираганы, такие как へ (he) ヘ (he) и り (ri) и リ (ri).

Это сэкономит вам время на изучение новых символов.

Напишите катакану ha-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы ハ (ha), ヒ (hi), フ (fu), ヘ (he) и ホ (ho) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

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Напишите катакану ma-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы マ (ma), ミ (mi), ム (mu), メ (me) и モ (mo) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

Как писать катакану ヤ, ユ, ヨ

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы ヤ (ya), ユ (yu) и ヨ (yo) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

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Напишите катакану ra-линии

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы ラ (ra), リ (ri), ル (ru), レ (re) и ロ (ro) А также их написание в правильном порядке.

Как писать катакану ワ, ヲ и ン

На следующей схеме вы видите знаки катаканы ワ (wa), ヲ (wo) и ン (n) А также их написание в правильном порядке .

Даже если было сложно, нужно лишь проявить свою решимость, и вы обязательно ее выучите! Напишите в комментариях, если вы что-то не поняли. Обязательно оставайтесь с нами, у нас есть все необходимое для изучения японского языка. 　Представляем вам подробные бесплатные уроки

ВАЖНЫЙ МОМЕНТ: НЕ ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬНО ЗАУЧИВАТЬ ВСЮ КАТАКАНУ ЧТО БЫ ПРОДВИГАТЬСЯ ДАЛЬШЕ! ПРОСТО ПРОДОЛЖАЙТЕ ПРОХОДИТЬ УРОКИ, СЛУШАТЬ АУДИО И ЧИТАТЬ, И ОНА ЗАПОМНИТЬСЯ САМА СОБОЙ

Как обычно, практика, практика, практика. Чем больше вы практикуетесь, тем быстрее вы научитесь писать все 46 символов катаканы. ЗДЕСЬ ВЫ НАЙДЕТЕ ПРАКТИЧЕСКИЕ УПРАЖНЕНИЯ ПО ЧТЕНИЮ КАТАКАНЫ.

В японском языке существует три системы письменности. Две слоговые азбуки — хирагана и катакана — используются одновременно с иероглифами, или кандзи, пришедшими в Японию из Китая. Давайте разберемся, как звучат хирагана и катакана на русском, чем они отличаются, рассмотрим таблицы с катаканой и узнаем, как лучше ее учить.

Японский язык: хирагана и катакана

Азбуки хирагана и катакана произошли от иероглифов в конце XIII — начале IX века. Алфавит катакана был изобретен буддустским монахом как разновидность скорописи. Сделано это было для того, чтобы люди, не знающие китайские буквы, смогли читать религиозные тексты.

Дословно ее название переводится как «сломанная кана» или «разделенные кандзи», что точно передает историю ее происхождения. Ведь знаки катаканы — это целые иероглифы в неизмененном виде или отдельные их части. Рассмотрите таблицу, представленную ниже, чтобы узнать, как были образованы знаки японских алфавитов.

Азбука хирагана и катакана содержат набор символов, каждый из которых обозначает отдельный слог. Несмотря на то, что оба алфавита фонетически одинаковые, на письме они совсем не похожи. В отличие от плавной хираганы с множеством изгибов и завитушек, катакана полна угловатых букв и прямых линий. 

У многих иностранцев возникает вопрос, зачем же японцам две одинаково звучащие азбуки? Однако их основное различие заключается в предназначении. Благодаря этому во время чтения текста человек уже может многое о нем сказать, даже не зная перевода.

Японский язык: азбука катакана — правила использования 

Несмотря на свое простое написание, из двух азбук катакана запоминается труднее. Скорее всего, это происходит из-за ее редкого использования. Катакана — это вторая азбука, а первой и основной считается хирагана. Приступая к изучению языка, ученики сначала сталкиваются именно с ней.

На хирагане пишутся и запоминаются первые слова и грамматические конструкции, так как она используется для обозначения служебных частей слов (окончаний, предлогов, послелогов). Катакана же обычно служит для записи заимствованных иностранных слов, или гайрайго. К таковым относятся термины, пришедшие из западных языков, а заимствованные слова из китайского или корейского пишутся кандзи. Например:

• ケーキ (ке:ки) от английского «cake» (торт);
• アイスクリーム (айсукри:му) от слова «ice-cream» (мороженное).
• コンクール (конку:ру) от французского «concours» (конкурс);
• ノルマ (норума) от русского «норма».

Длинная прямая черта, которую вы видите в примерах служит для обозначения долготы гласного звука. 

Названия иностранных городов, стран и западные имена — это точно такие же гайрайго, поэтому они записываются катаканой.

Но, помимо перечисленных самых распространенных вариантов, японский алфавит катакана встречается:

1. При записи слов, чьи кандзи практически вышли из обихода из-за сложного написания. Например, バラ (бара) — «роза» и ゴミ (гоми) — «мусор». К этим словам также относят медицинские термины. Так, болезнь «рак» чаще обозначают катаканой, нежели чем иероглифом 癌.
2. Когда нужно обратить внимание, сделать акцент на определенном слове. Такой приём часто используется в рекламе, на билбордах, дорожных знаках или табличках. Для сравнения, в западных языках для этого служит курсив или жирное выделение.
3. При написании технических терминов, названий деталей машин, растений, животных и т.д.. Например, クモ (кумо) — «паук».
4. В ономатопеях, или словах, передающих звук. グーグー (гу:гу) означает звук, издаваемый при храпе.
5. В манге, когда нужно подчеркнуть общение в неформальном стиле. Например, часто можно увидеть слово «он/она», написанное катаканой — アイツ (айцу). Такое написание дает читателю понять, что обращение, скорее всего, сделано в пренебрежительной манере.

Иероглифы советуют начать учить в последнюю очередь, когда обе слоговые азбуки будут полностью освоены. Кандзи — это важнейший элемент языка, так как ими пишутся существительные, прилагательные и глаголы.

Такой контраст в использовании разных систем письма позволяет визуально выделять слова в тексте и распознавать, к каким частям речи они относятся. Из-за этого скорость чтения вырастает, облегчая восприятие.

А чтобы больше узнать о двух японских алфавитах, читайте нашу статью про их различия. В ней также есть катакана и хирагана в таблицах с русской транскрипцией и полезные советы, как выучить все их знаки.

Японская азбука катакана

Как уже говорилось выше, эти азбуки одинаковы по содержанию. В годзюоне, японской таблице по катакане и хирагане, всего 46 основных слогов. Они разделены на десять рядов.

Катакана — полная таблица основных звуков:

Ряд А	ア  а	イ  и	ウ  у	エ  э	オ  о
Ряд КА	カ  ка	キ  ки	ク  ку	ケ  кэ	コ  ко
Ряд СА	サ  са	シ  си	ス  су	セ  сэ	ソ  со
Ряд ТА	タ  та	チ  ти	ツ  цу	テ  тэ	ト  то
Ряд НА	ナ  на	ニ  ни	ヌ  ну	ネ  нэ	ノ  но
Ряд ХА	ハ  ха	ヒ  хи	フ  фу	ヘ  хэ	ホ  хо
Ряд МА	マ  ма	ミ  ми	ム  му	メ  мэ	モ  мо
Ряд Я	ヤ  я		ユ  ю		ヨ  ё
Ряд РА	ラ  ра	リ  ри	ル  ру	レ  рэ	ロ  ро
Ряд ВА	ワ  ва				ヲ  о
					ン н

Если вы внимательно изучили таблицу, то, скорее всего, обратили внимание на несколько схожих между собой символов:

• シ (си) и ツ (цу);
• ソ (со) и ン (н).

Для запоминания таких непростых символов нужно использовать прописи с указанием порядка написания черт.

Кроме основных слогов, в хирагане и катакане есть дополнительные. Они служат для озвончения некоторых уже существующих звуков. Для их обозначения используется символ, который называ ется нигори. Это две наклонные черты, записываемые над символом в правом верхнем углу. Например, обычный глухой звук カ (ка) превращается в ガ (га). 

Надо помнить, что ряд «ХА» особенный. Помимо нигори, к нему можно добавить ханнигори, или знак в виде маленького кружочка, который превращает звук «х» в «п». То есть ハ (ха) может трансформироваться в バ (ба) и パ (па).

Катакана — таблица на русском (звонкие согласные):

Ряд КА	ガ  га	ギ  ги	グ  гу	ゲ  гэ	ゴ  го
Ряд СА	ザ дза	ジ  дзи	ズ  дзу	ゼ  дзэ	ゾ  дзо
Ряд ДА	ダ  да	ヂ  (дзи)	ヅ  (дзу)	デ  дэ	ド  до
Ряд БА	バ  ба	ビ  би	ブ  бу	ベ  бэ	ボ  бо
Ряд ПА	パ  па	ピ  пи	プ  пу	ペ пэ	ポ  по

Каждый японский алфавит — хирагана и катакана — также содержит слоги с мягкими согласными. Они образуются при слиянии слога, оканчивающегося на «и» и одной из трех маленьких гласных — «я», «ю», «ё».

Катакана — таблица на русском (слоги с мягкими согласными):

Маленькая буква	ャ  я	ュ  ю	ョ  ё
Ряд КА/ГА	キャ  кя	キュ  кю	キョ  кё	ギャ  гя	ギュ  гю	ギョ  гё
Ряд СА/ДЗА	シャ  ся	シュ  сю	ショ  сё	ジャ  дзя	ジュ  дзю	ジョ  дзё
Ряд ТА/ДА	チャ  тя	チュ  тю	チョ  тё	ヂャ  (дзя)	ヂュ  (дзю)	ヂョ  (дзё)
Ряд НА	ニャ  ня	ニュ  ню	ニョ  нё
Ряд ХА/БА/ПА	ヒャ  хя	ヒュ  хю	ヒョ  хё	ビャ  бя ピャ пя	ビュ  бю ピュ пю	ビョ  бё ピョ пё

Как вы уже знаете, в японском языке катакана и хирагана — слоговые азбуки, то есть в них нет отдельных согласных букв (кроме «н»). Поэтому при заимствовании слов возникают трудности в транскрипции. Для того, чтобы записать отсутствующие звуки используются наиболее близкие по звучанию.

Согласные звуки заменяются на слоги с «у», например, в последнем слоге слова «мышь» — マウス (маусу). В случае, когда надо использовать согласные «т» и «д», применяются слоги «то» и «до». Например, город Мадрид на японском звучит как «мадори:до», マドリード.

Чем больше появлялось иностранных слов, тем очевиднее становилась проблема: не все слоги японского языка могли точно передать западные звуки. Приходилось изобретать новые сочетания. Так как катакана — алфавит, служащий для записи иностранных слов, то записываются они исключительно на нем. Хираганой эти составные слоги написать нельзя.

Катакана таблица звуков, которые используются в заимствованных словах: 

	ユェ/イェ  е
ヷ/ヴァ  ва	ヴィ  ви	ヴ  ву	ヴェ  вэ	ヴォ  во	ヴャ вя	ヴュ вю	ヴョ  вё
			シェ  се
			ジェ  дзе
			チェ  те	ヂェ  дже
	スィ  си
	ズィ  дзи
	ティ  ти	トゥ  ту			テャ  тя	テュ  тю	テョ  тё
	ディ  ди	ドゥ  ду			デャ  дя	デュ дю	デョ дё
ツァ  ца	ツィ  ци		ツェ  цэ	ツォ  цо
ファ  фа	フィ  фи	ホゥ  ху	フェ  фэ	フォ  фо	フャ фя	フュ  фю	フョ  фё
			リェ  ре
ウァ  ва	ウィ  ви		ウェ  вэ	ウォ  во	ウャ вя	ウュ  вю	ウョ  вё
クァ  ква	クィ  кви	クゥ кву	クェ  квэ	クォ  кво
グァ  гва	グィ  гви	グゥ гву	グェ  гвэ	グォ  гво

Как выучить хирагану и катакану

Есть множество способов запомнить все эти японские символы. Для начала можно распечатать азбуки хирагана и катакана в таблице и повесить на видное место на рабочем столе. Будучи всегда перед глазами, буквы автоматически запомнятся.

Несмотря на то, что в наше время люди все реже пишут от руки, во время изучения нового языка вам потребуется использовать прописи. При записи слогов активизируется мышечная память и они быстрее запоминаются.

Надо помнить, что порядок написания черт очень важен. Он сильно упрощает жизнь, ведь навык письма становится автоматическим, что помогает при запоминании.

Можно начать с прописей для начинающих. В них нет звонких или составных слогов, но, запомнив написание основных сочетаний, с остальными не возникнет трудностей. Затем можно перейти на более сложные прописи по катакане.

Хотя катакана проще по написанию, она быстро забывается. Чтобы этого избежать, рекомендуется практиковать письмо этих двух алфавитов параллельно. Это поможет не путаться между ними в дальнейшем. Практические листы вы можете найти ниже.

Хирагана и катакана — прописи:

• азбука хирагана;
• азбука катакана.

А если вы еще не выучили правила написания хираганы достаточно, то советуем ознакомиться с нашей статьей о японском письме. В ней вы также найдете прописи хираганы и катаканы, скачать которые можно будет в формате PDF.

Еще один способ изучения языка — это мнемоника. Если пытаться просто зазубрить слово, то оно забудется через несколько дней. Поэтому лучше использовать специальные ассоциативные техники для запоминания новых слов или символов. Все три системы письменности — кандзи, катакана и хирагана — лучше учить таким методом.

Также для эффективного заучивания можно воспользоваться карточками: на одной стороне пишете букву, а на другой перевод. Но больше не надо вырезать их из картона, ведь на сайте Quizlet их можно создать в режиме онлайн. Там же вы найдете уже созданные материалы для обучения. Например, мнемонические карточки по хирагане и катакане для начинающих.

Еще один веселый способ выучить эту азбуку — разучить детскую песенку. Они очень преставичие, поэтому вам еще придется постараться, чтобы ее забыть.

Теперь вы знаете, как звучит японский алфавит катакана с переводом на русский и где он применяется. Катакана не менее важный аспект языка, чем ее азбука-сестра. С помощью нее в тексте делается акцент на отдельные слова, придавая им особый оттенок.

А что вам больше нравится: японская катакана и хирагана или кандзи? Напишите в комментариях!

Японская азбука катакана: таблица, произношение и написание. Самое главное, что надо знать о катакане! Изучайте таблицы катаканы на русском и методы их запоминания.

Katakana 片仮名 カタカナ
Script type	Syllabary
Time period	~800 CE to the present
Direction	vertical right-to-left, left-to-right
Languages	Japanese, Ryukyuan, Ainu[1] Taiwanese Hokkien, Palauan (formerly)
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle Bone Script Seal Script Clerical Script Regular script (Kanji) Man’yōgana Katakana
Sister systems	Hiragana
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Kana (411), ​Katakana
Unicode
Unicode alias	Katakana
Unicode range	Katakana: U+30A0–U+30FF Katakana Phonetic Extensions: U+31F0–U+31FF Enclosed CJK Letters and Months: U+3200–U+32FF Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms: U+FF00–U+FFEF Kana Extended-B: U+1AFF0–U+1AFFF Kana Supplement: U+1B000–U+1B0FF Kana Extended-A: U+1B100–U+1B12F Small Kana Extension: U+1B130–U+1B16F
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Katakana (片仮名、カタカナ, Japanese pronunciation: [katakaꜜna]^{[note 1]}) is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana,^[2] kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word katakana means «fragmentary kana», as the katakana characters are derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are both kana systems. With one or two minor exceptions, each syllable (strictly mora) in the Japanese language is represented by one character or kana in each system. Each kana represents either a vowel such as «a» (katakana ア); a consonant followed by a vowel such as «ka» (katakana カ); or «n» (katakana ン), a nasal sonorant which, depending on the context, sounds either like English m, n or ng ([ŋ]) or like the nasal vowels of Portuguese or Galician.

In contrast to the hiragana syllabary, which is used for Japanese words not covered by kanji and for grammatical inflections, the katakana syllabary usage is comparable to italics in English; specifically, it is used for transcription of foreign-language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words (collectively gairaigo); for emphasis; to represent onomatopoeia; for technical and scientific terms; and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.

Katakana evolved from Japanese Buddhist monks transliterating Chinese texts into Japanese.^[3]

Writing system[edit]

Overview[edit]

The complete katakana script consists of 48 characters, not counting functional and diacritic marks:

• 5 nucleus vowels
• 42 core or body (onset-nucleus) syllabograms, consisting of nine consonants in combination with each of the five vowels, of which three possible combinations (yi, ye, wu) are not canonical
• 1 coda consonant

These are conceived as a 5×10 grid (gojūon, 五十音, literally «fifty sounds»), as shown in the adjacent table, read ア (a), イ (i), ウ (u), エ (e), オ (o), カ (ka), キ (ki), ク (ku), ケ (ke), コ (ko) and so on. The gojūon inherits its vowel and consonant order from Sanskrit practice. In vertical text contexts, which used to be the default case, the grid is usually presented as 10 columns by 5 rows, with vowels on the right hand side and ア (a) on top. Katakana glyphs in the same row or column do not share common graphic characteristics. Three of the syllabograms to be expected, yi, ye and wu, may have been used idiosyncratically with varying glyphs, but never became conventional in any language and are not present at all in modern Japanese.

The 50-sound table is often amended with an extra character, the nasal ン (n). This can appear in several positions, most often next to the N signs or, because it developed from one of many mu hentaigana, below the u column. It may also be appended to the vowel row or the a column. Here, it is shown in a table of its own.

The script includes two diacritic marks placed at the upper right of the base character that change the initial sound of a syllabogram. A double dot, called dakuten, indicates a primary alteration; most often it voices the consonant: k→g, s→z, t→d and h→b; for example, カ (ka) becomes ガ (ga). Secondary alteration, where possible, is shown by a circular handakuten: h→p; For example; ハ (ha) becomes パ (pa). Diacritics, though used for over a thousand years, only became mandatory in the Japanese writing system in the second half of the 20th century. Their application is strictly limited in proper writing systems,^{[clarification needed]} but may be more extensive in academic transcriptions.

Furthermore, some characters may have special semantics when used in smaller sizes after a normal one (see below), but this does not make the script truly bicameral.

The layout of the gojūon table promotes a systematic view of kana syllabograms as being always pronounced with the same single consonant followed by a vowel, but this is not exactly the case (and never has been). Existing schemes for the romanization of Japanese either are based on the systematic nature of the script, e.g. nihon-shiki チ ti, or they apply some Western graphotactics, usually the English one, to the common Japanese pronunciation of the kana signs, e.g. Hepburn-shiki チ chi. Both approaches conceal the fact, though, that many consonant-based katakana signs, especially those canonically ending in u, can be used in coda position, too, where the vowel is unvoiced and therefore barely perceptible.

Japanese[edit]

Syllabary and orthography[edit]

Katakana used in Japanese orthography a i u e o ∅ ア イ ウ エ オ k カ キ ク ケ コ g ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ s サ シ ス セ ソ z ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ t タ チ ツ テ ト d ダ ヂ ヅ デ ド n ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ h ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ b バ ビ ブ ベ ボ p パ ピ プ ペ ポ m マ ミ ム メ モ y ヤ [4] ユ [4] ヨ r ラ リ ル レ ロ w ワ ヰ [4] ヱ ヲ ン (n) Functional marks and diacritics ッ ヽ ゛ ゜

Unused, extinct, or obsolete

Of the 48 katakana syllabograms described above, only 46 are used in modern Japanese, and one of these is preserved for only a single use:

• wi and we are pronounced as vowels in modern Japanese and are therefore obsolete, having been supplanted by i and e, respectively.
• wo is now used only as a particle, and is normally pronounced the same as vowel オ o. As a particle, it is usually written in hiragana (を) and the katakana form, ヲ, is almost obsolete.

A small version of the katakana for ya, yu or yo (ャ, ュ or ョ, respectively) may be added to katakana ending in i. This changes the i vowel sound to a glide (palatalization) to a, u or o, e.g. キャ (ki + ya) /kja/. Addition of the small y kana is called yōon.

A character called a sokuon, which is visually identical to a small tsu ッ, indicates that the following consonant is geminated (doubled). This is represented in rōmaji by doubling the consonant that follows the sokuon. In Japanese this is an important distinction in pronunciation; for example, compare サカ saka «hill» with サッカ sakka «author». Geminated consonants are common in transliterations of foreign loanwords; for example, English «bed» is represented as ベッド (beddo). The sokuon also sometimes appears at the end of utterances, where it denotes a glottal stop. However, it cannot be used to double the na, ni, nu, ne, no syllables’ consonants; to double these, the singular n (ン) is added in front of the syllable. The sokuon may also be used to approximate a non-native sound: Bach is written バッハ (Bahha); Mach as マッハ (Mahha).

Both katakana and hiragana usually spell native long vowels with the addition of a second vowel kana. However, in foreign loanwords, katakana instead uses a vowel extender mark, called a chōonpu («long vowel mark»). This is a short line (ー) following the direction of the text, horizontal for yokogaki (horizontal text), and vertical for tategaki (vertical text). For example, メール mēru is the gairaigo for e-mail taken from the English word «mail»; the ー lengthens the e. There are some exceptions, such as ローソク (rōsoku (蝋燭, «candle»)) or ケータイ(kētai (携帯, «mobile phone»)), where Japanese words written in katakana use the elongation mark, too.

Standard and voiced iteration marks are written in katakana as ヽ and ヾ, respectively.

Extended Katakana[edit]

Small versions of the five vowel kana are sometimes used to represent trailing off sounds (ハァ haa, ネェ nee), but in katakana they are more often used in yōon-like extended digraphs designed to represent phonemes not present in Japanese; examples include チェ (che) in チェンジ chenji («change»), ファ (fa) in ファミリー famirī («family») and ウィ (wi) and ディ (di) in ウィキペディア Wikipedia; see below for the full list.

Usage[edit]

In modern Japanese, katakana is most often used for transcription of words from foreign languages or loanwords (other than words historically imported from Chinese), called gairaigo.^[5] For example, «television» is written テレビ (terebi). Similarly, katakana is usually used for country names, foreign places, and foreign personal names. For example, the United States is usually referred to as アメリカ Amerika, rather than in its ateji kanji spelling of 亜米利加 Amerika.

Katakana are also used for onomatopoeia,^[5] words used to represent sounds – for example, ピンポン (pinpon), the «ding-dong» sound of a doorbell.

Technical and scientific terms, such as the names of animal and plant species and minerals, are also commonly written in katakana.^[6] Homo sapiens, as a species, is written ヒト (hito), rather than its kanji 人.

Katakana are often (but not always) used for transcription of Japanese company names. For example, Suzuki is written スズキ, and Toyota is written トヨタ. As these are common family names, Suzuki being the second most common in Japan,^[7] using katakana helps distinguish company names from surnames in writing. Katakana are commonly used on signs, advertisements, and hoardings (i.e., billboards), for example, ココ koko («here»), ゴミ gomi («trash»), or メガネ megane («glasses»). Words the writer wishes to emphasize in a sentence are also sometimes written in katakana, mirroring the usage of italics in European languages.^[5]

Pre–World War II official documents mix katakana and kanji in the same way that hiragana and kanji are mixed in modern Japanese texts, that is, katakana were used for okurigana and particles such as wa or o.

Katakana was also used for telegrams in Japan before 1988, and for computer systems – before the introduction of multibyte characters – in the 1980s. Most computers of that era used katakana instead of kanji or hiragana for output.

Although words borrowed from ancient Chinese are usually written in kanji, loanwords from modern Chinese dialects that are borrowed directly use katakana instead.

Examples of modern Chinese loanwords in Japanese

Japanese	Hepburn	Meaning	Chinese	Pinyin/Yale	Source language
マージャン	mājan	mahjong	麻將	májiàng	Mandarin
ウーロン茶	ūroncha	Oolong tea	烏龍茶	wūlóngchá
チャーハン	chāhan	fried rice	炒飯	chǎofàn
チャーシュー	chāshū	barbecued pork	叉燒	chā sīu	Cantonese
シューマイ	shūmai	shumai	燒賣	sīu máai

The very common Chinese loanword rāmen, written in katakana as ラーメン, is rarely written with its kanji (拉麺).

There are rare instances where the opposite has occurred, with kanji forms created from words originally written in katakana. An example of this is コーヒー kōhī, («coffee»), which can alternatively be written as 珈琲. This kanji usage is occasionally employed by coffee manufacturers or coffee shops for novelty.

Katakana is used to indicate the on’yomi (Chinese-derived readings) of a kanji in a kanji dictionary. For instance, the kanji 人 has a Japanese pronunciation, written in hiragana as ひと hito (person), as well as a Chinese derived pronunciation, written in katakana as ジン jin (used to denote groups of people). Katakana is sometimes used instead of hiragana as furigana to give the pronunciation of a word written in Roman characters, or for a foreign word, which is written as kanji for the meaning, but intended to be pronounced as the original.

Katakana are also sometimes used to indicate words being spoken in a foreign or otherwise unusual accent. For example, in a manga, the speech of a foreign character or a robot may be represented by コンニチワ konnichiwa («hello») instead of the more typical hiragana こんにちは. Some Japanese personal names are written in katakana. This was more common in the past, hence elderly women often have katakana names. This was particularly common among women in the Meiji and Taishō periods, when many poor, illiterate parents were unwilling to pay a scholar to give their daughters names in kanji.^[8] Katakana is also used to denote the fact that a character is speaking a foreign language, and what is displayed in katakana is only the Japanese «translation» of their words.

Some frequently used words may also be written in katakana in dialogs to convey an informal, conversational tone. Some examples include マンガ («manga»), アイツ aitsu («that guy or girl; he/him; she/her»), バカ baka («fool»), etc.

Words with difficult-to-read kanji are sometimes written in katakana (hiragana is also used for this purpose). This phenomenon is often seen with medical terminology. For example, in the word 皮膚科 hifuka («dermatology»), the second kanji, 膚, is considered difficult to read, and thus the word hifuka is commonly written 皮フ科 or ヒフ科, mixing kanji and katakana. Similarly, difficult-to-read kanji such as 癌 gan («cancer») are often written in katakana or hiragana.

Katakana is also used for traditional musical notations, as in the Tozan-ryū of shakuhachi, and in sankyoku ensembles with koto, shamisen and shakuhachi.

Some instructors teaching Japanese as a foreign language «introduce katakana after the students have learned to read and write sentences in hiragana without difficulty and know the rules.»^[9] Most students who have learned hiragana «do not have great difficulty in memorizing» katakana as well.^[10] Other instructors introduce katakana first, because these are used with loanwords. This gives students a chance to practice reading and writing kana with meaningful words. This was the approach taken by the influential American linguistics scholar Eleanor Harz Jorden in Japanese: The Written Language (parallel to Japanese: The Spoken Language).^[11]

Ainu[edit]

Katakana is commonly used by Japanese linguists to write the Ainu language. In Ainu katakana usage, the consonant that comes at the end of a syllable is represented by a small version of a katakana that corresponds to that final consonant followed by a vowel (for details of which vowel, please see the table at Ainu language § Special katakana for the Ainu language). For instance, the Ainu word up is represented by ウㇷ゚ (ウプ [u followed by small pu]). Ainu also uses three handakuten modified katakana: セ゚ ([tse]) and either ツ゚ or ト゚ ([tu̜]). In Unicode, the Katakana Phonetic Extensions block (U+31F0–U+31FF) exists for Ainu language support. These characters are used for the Ainu language only.

Taiwanese[edit]

Taiwanese kana (タイ ヲァヌ ギイ カア ビェン) is a katakana-based writing system once used to write Holo Taiwanese, when Taiwan was under Japanese control. It functioned as a phonetic guide for Chinese characters, much like furigana in Japanese or Zhùyīn fúhào in Chinese. There were similar systems for other languages in Taiwan as well, including Hakka and Formosan languages.

Unlike Japanese or Ainu, Taiwanese kana are used similarly to the zhùyīn fúhào characters, with kana serving as initials, vowel medials and consonant finals, marked with tonal marks. A dot below the initial kana represents aspirated consonants, and チ, ツ, サ, セ, ソ, ウ and オ with a superpositional bar represent sounds found only in Taiwanese.

Okinawan[edit]

Katakana is used as a phonetic guide for the Okinawan language, unlike the various other systems to represent Okinawan, which use hiragana with extensions. The system was devised by the Okinawa Center of Language Study of the University of the Ryukyus. It uses many extensions and yōon to show the many non-Japanese sounds of Okinawan.

Table of katakana[edit]

This is a table of katakana together with their Hepburn romanization and rough IPA transcription for their use in Japanese. Katakana with dakuten or handakuten follow the gojūon kana without them.

Characters shi シ and tsu ツ, and so ソ and n(g) ン, look very similar in print except for the slant and stroke shape. These differences in slant and shape are more prominent when written with an ink brush.

Katakana syllabograms

	Monographs (gojūon)	Digraphs (yōon)
a	i	u	e	o	ya	yu	yo
∅	ア a [a]	イ i [i]	ウ u [ɯ]	エ e [e][n 1]	オ o [o]
K	カ ka [ka]	キ ki [ki]	ク ku [kɯ]	ケ ke [ke]	コ ko [ko]	キャ kya [kʲa]	キュ kyu [kʲɯ]	キョ kyo [kʲo]
S	サ sa [sa]	シ shi [ɕi]	ス su [sɯ]	セ se [se]	ソ so [so]	シャ sha [ɕa]	シュ shu [ɕɯ]	ショ sho [ɕo]
T	タ ta [ta]	チ chi [t͡ɕi]	ツ tsu [t͡sɯ]	テ te [te]	ト to [to]	チャ cha [t͡ɕa]	チュ chu [t͡ɕɯ]	チョ cho [t͡ɕo]
N	ナ na [na]	ニ ni [ɲi]	ヌ nu [nɯ]	ネ ne [ne]	ノ no [no]	ニャ nya [ɲa]	ニュ nyu [ɲɯ]	ニョ nyo [ɲo]
H	ハ ha [ha]	ヒ hi [çi]	フ fu [ɸɯ]	ヘ he [he]	ホ ho [ho]	ヒャ hya [ça]	ヒュ hyu [çɯ]	ヒョ hyo [ço]
M	マ ma [ma]	ミ mi [mi]	ム mu [mɯ]	メ me [me]	モ mo [mo]	ミャ mya [mʲa]	ミュ myu [mʲɯ]	ミョ myo [mʲo]
Y	ヤ ya [ja]	[n 2]	ユ yu [jɯ]	エ [𛄡] ye [je] / [e][n 3]	ヨ yo [jo]
R	ラ ra [ɾa]	リ ri [ɾi]	ル ru [ɾɯ]	レ re [ɾe]	ロ ro [ɾo]	リャ rya [ɾʲa]	リュ ryu [ɾʲɯ]	リョ ryo [ɾʲo]
W	ワ wa [ɰa]	ヰ wi [ɰi] / [i][n 4]	[n 2]	ヱ we [ɰe] / [e][n 4]	ヲ wo [ɰo] / [o][n 4]
	Monographs with diacritics: gojūon with (han)dakuten	Digraphs with diacritics: yōon with (han)dakuten
a	i	u	e	o	ya	yu	yo
G	ガ ga [ɡa]	ギ gi [ɡi]	グ gu [ɡɯ]	ゲ ge [ɡe]	ゴ go [ɡo]	ギャ gya [ɡʲa]	ギュ gyu [ɡʲɯ]	ギョ gyo [ɡʲo]
Z	ザ za [za]	ジ ji [(d)ʑi]	ズ zu [(d)zɯ]	ゼ ze [ze]	ゾ zo [zo]	ジャ ja [(d)ʑa]	ジュ ju [(d)ʑɯ]	ジョ jo [(d)ʑo]
D	ダ da [da]	ヂ ji [(d)ʑi][n 5]	ヅ zu [(d)zɯ][n 5]	デ de [de]	ド do [do]	ヂャ ja [(d)ʑa][n 5]	ヂュ ju [(d)ʑɯ][n 5]	ヂョ jo [(d)ʑo][n 5]
B	バ ba [ba]	ビ bi [bi]	ブ bu [bɯ]	ベ be [be]	ボ bo [bo]	ビャ bya [bʲa]	ビュ byu [bʲɯ]	ビョ byo [bʲo]
P	パ pa [pa]	ピ pi [pi]	プ pu [pɯ]	ペ pe [pe]	ポ po [po]	ピャ pya [pʲa]	ピュ pyu [pʲɯ]	ピョ pyo [pʲo]
	Final nasal monograph	Polysyllabic monographs
n	iu	koto	shite	toki	tomo	nari
*	ン n [ɴ m n ɲ ŋ ɰ̃]	iu [jɯː]	ヿ koto [koto]	shite [ɕite]	/ toki [toki]	tomo [tomo]	nari [naɾi]
*						゙ domo [domo]
	Functional graphemes
sokuonfu	chōonpu	odoriji (monosyllable)	odoriji (polysyllable)
*	ッ (indicates a geminate consonant)	ー (after long vowel)	ヽ (reduplicates and unvoices syllable)	〱 (reduplicates and unvoices syllable)
*			ヾ (reduplicates and voices syllable)	〱゙ (reduplicates and voices syllable)
*			ヽ゚ (reduplicates and voices syllable)	〱゚ (reduplicates and voices syllable)

Notes

Extended Katakana[edit]

Using small versions of the five vowel kana, many digraphs have been devised, mainly to represent the sounds in words of other languages.

Digraphs with orange backgrounds are the general ones used for loanwords or foreign places or names, and those with blue backgrounds are used for more accurate transliterations of foreign sounds, both suggested by the Cabinet of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.^[12] Katakana combinations with beige backgrounds are suggested by the American National Standards Institute^[13] and the British Standards Institution as possible uses.^[14] Ones with purple backgrounds appear on the 1974 version of the Hyōjun-shiki formatting.^[15]

Pronunciations are shown in Hepburn romanization.

	イィ yi		イェ ye
ウァ wa*	ウィ wi	ウゥ wu*	ウェ we	ウォ wo
	ウュ wyu
ヴァ va	ヴィ vi	ヴ vu⁑	ヴェ ve	ヴォ vo
ヴャ vya		ヴュ vyu	ヴィェ vye	ヴョ vyo
	キェ kye
	ギェ gye
クァ kwa	クィ kwi		クェ kwe	クォ kwo
クヮ kwa
グァ gwa	グィ gwi		グェ gwe	グォ gwo
グヮ gwa
	シェ she
	ジェ je
	スィ si
	ズィ zi
	チェ che
ツァ tsa	ツィ tsi		ツェ tse	ツォ tso
	ツュ tsyu
	ティ ti	トゥ tu
	テュ tyu
	ディ di	ドゥ du
	デュ dyu
	ニェ nye
	ヒェ hye
	ビェ bye
	ピェ pye
ファ fa	フィ fi		フェ fe	フォ fo
フャ fya		フュ fyu	フィェ fye	フョ fyo
	ホゥ hu
	ミェ mye
	リェ rye
ラ゜ la	リ゜ li	ル゜ lu	レ゜ le	ロ゜ lo
リ゜ャ lya		リ゜ュ lyu	リ゜ェ lye	リ゜ョ lyo
ヷ va⁂	ヸ vi⁂		ヹ ve⁂	ヺ vo⁂

• * — The use of ウ in these two cases to represent w is rare in modern Japanese except for Internet slang and transcription of the Latin sound [w] into katakana. E.g.: ミネルウァ (Mineruwa «Minerva», from Latin MINERVA [mɪˈnɛrwa]); ウゥルカーヌス (Wurukānusu «Vulcan», from Latin VVLCANVS, Vulcānus [wʊlˈkaːnʊs]). The wa-type of foreign sounds (as in watt or white) is usually transcribed to ワ (wa), while the wu-type (as in wood or woman) is usually to ウ (u) or ウー (ū).
• ⁑ — ヴ has a rarely-used hiragana form in ゔ that is also vu in Hepburn romanization systems.
• ⁂ — The characters in green are obsolete in modern Japanese and very rarely used.^[16][17]

History[edit]

Katakana was developed in the 9th century (during the early Heian period) by Buddhist monks in Nara in order to transliterate texts and works of arts from India, by taking parts of man’yōgana characters as a form of shorthand, hence this kana is so-called kata (片, «partial, fragmented»). For example, ka (カ) comes from the left side of ka (加, lit. «increase», but the original meaning is no longer applicable to kana). The adjacent table shows the origins of each katakana: the red markings of the original Chinese character (used as man’yōgana) eventually became each corresponding symbol.^[18] Katakana is also heavily influenced by Sanskrit due to the original creators having travelled and worked with Indian Buddhists based in East Asia during the era.^[19][20]

Official documents of the Empire of Japan were written exclusively with kyūjitai and katakana.

Obsolete kana[edit]

Variant forms[edit]

Katakana have variant forms. For example, (ネ) and (ヰ).^[21] However, katakana’s variant forms are fewer than hiragana’s ones. Katakana’s choices of man’yōgana segments had stabilized early on and established – with few exceptions – an unambiguous phonemic orthography (one symbol per sound) long before the 1900 script regularization.^[22]

Polysyllabic kana[edit]

Yi, Ye and Wu[edit]

Stroke order[edit]

The following table shows the method for writing each katakana character. It is arranged in a traditional manner, where characters are organized by the sounds that make them up. The numbers and arrows indicate the stroke order and direction, respectively.

Computer encoding[edit]

In addition to fonts intended for Japanese text and Unicode catch-all fonts (like Arial Unicode MS), many fonts intended for Chinese (such as MS Song) and Korean (such as Batang) also include katakana.

Hiragana and katakana[edit]

In addition to the usual full-width (全角, zenkaku) display forms of characters, katakana has a second form, half-width (半角, hankaku) (there are no kanji). The half-width forms were originally associated with the JIS X 0201 encoding. Although their display form is not specified in the standard, in practice they were designed to fit into the same rectangle of pixels as Roman letters to enable easy implementation on the computer equipment of the day. This space is narrower than the square space traditionally occupied by Japanese characters, hence the name «half-width». In this scheme, diacritics (dakuten and handakuten) are separate characters. When originally devised, the half-width katakana were represented by a single byte each, as in JIS X 0201, again in line with the capabilities of contemporary computer technology.

In the late 1970s, two-byte character sets such as JIS X 0208 were introduced to support the full range of Japanese characters, including katakana, hiragana and kanji. Their display forms were designed to fit into an approximately square array of pixels, hence the name «full-width». For backward compatibility, separate support for half-width katakana has continued to be available in modern multi-byte encoding schemes such as Unicode, by having two separate blocks of characters – one displayed as usual (full-width) katakana, the other displayed as half-width katakana.

Although often said to be obsolete, the half-width katakana are still used in many systems and encodings. For example, the titles of mini discs can only be entered in ASCII or half-width katakana, and half-width katakana are commonly used in computerized cash register displays, on shop receipts, and Japanese digital television and DVD subtitles. Several popular Japanese encodings such as EUC-JP, Unicode and Shift JIS have half-width katakana code as well as full-width. By contrast, ISO-2022-JP has no half-width katakana, and is mainly used over SMTP and NNTP.

Unicode[edit]

Katakana was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for (full-width) katakana is U+30A0–U+30FF.

Encoded in this block along with the katakana are the nakaguro word-separation middle dot, the chōon vowel extender, the katakana iteration marks, and a ligature of コト sometimes used in vertical writing.

Katakana[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+30Ax

゠

ァ

ア

ィ

イ

ゥ

ウ

ェ

エ

ォ

オ

カ

ガ

キ

ギ

ク

U+30Bx

グ

ケ

ゲ

コ

ゴ

サ

ザ

シ

ジ

ス

ズ

セ

ゼ

ソ

ゾ

タ

U+30Cx

ダ

チ

ヂ

ッ

ツ

ヅ

テ

デ

ト

ド

ナ

ニ

ヌ

ネ

ノ

ハ

U+30Dx

バ

パ

ヒ

ビ

ピ

フ

ブ

プ

ヘ

ベ

ペ

ホ

ボ

ポ

マ

ミ

U+30Ex

ム

メ

モ

ャ

ヤ

ュ

ユ

ョ

ヨ

ラ

リ

ル

レ

ロ

ヮ

ワ

U+30Fx

ヰ

ヱ

ヲ

ン

ヴ

ヵ

ヶ

ヷ

ヸ

ヹ

ヺ

・

ー

ヽ

ヾ

ヿ

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Half-width equivalents to the usual full-width katakana also exist in Unicode. These are encoded within the Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms block (U+FF00–U+FFEF) (which also includes full-width forms of Latin characters, for instance), starting at U+FF65 and ending at U+FF9F (characters U+FF61–U+FF64 are half-width punctuation marks). This block also includes the half-width dakuten and handakuten. The full-width versions of these characters are found in the Hiragana block.

Katakana subset of Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

…

(U+FF00–U+FF64 omitted)

U+FF6x

･

ｦ

ｧ

ｨ

ｩ

ｪ

ｫ

ｬ

ｭ

ｮ

ｯ

U+FF7x

ｰ

ｱ

ｲ

ｳ

ｴ

ｵ

ｶ

ｷ

ｸ

ｹ

ｺ

ｻ

ｼ

ｽ

ｾ

ｿ

U+FF8x

ﾀ

ﾁ

ﾂ

ﾃ

ﾄ

ﾅ

ﾆ

ﾇ

ﾈ

ﾉ

ﾊ

ﾋ

ﾌ

ﾍ

ﾎ

ﾏ

U+FF9x

ﾐ

ﾑ

ﾒ

ﾓ

ﾔ

ﾕ

ﾖ

ﾗ

ﾘ

ﾙ

ﾚ

ﾛ

ﾜ

ﾝ

ﾞ

ﾟ

…

(U+FFA0–U+FFEF omitted)

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Circled katakana are code points U+32D0–U+32FE in the Enclosed CJK Letters and Months block (U+3200–U+32FF). A circled ン (n) is not included.

Katakana subset of Enclosed CJK Letters and Months[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

…

(U+3200–U+32CF omitted)

U+32Dx

㋐

㋑

㋒

㋓

㋔

㋕

㋖

㋗

㋘

㋙

㋚

㋛

㋜

㋝

㋞

㋟

U+32Ex

㋠

㋡

㋢

㋣

㋤

㋥

㋦

㋧

㋨

㋩

㋪

㋫

㋬

㋭

㋮

㋯

U+32Fx

㋰

㋱

㋲

㋳

㋴

㋵

㋶

㋷

㋸

㋹

㋺

㋻

㋼

㋽

㋾

㋿

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Extensions to Katakana for phonetic transcription of Ainu and other languages were added to the Unicode standard in March 2002 with the release of version 3.2.

The Unicode block for Katakana Phonetic Extensions is U+31F0–U+31FF:

Katakana Phonetic Extensions[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+31Fx

ㇰ

ㇱ

ㇲ

ㇳ

ㇴ

ㇵ

ㇶ

ㇷ

ㇸ

ㇹ

ㇺ

ㇻ

ㇼ

ㇽ

ㇾ

ㇿ

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Historic and variant forms of Japanese kana characters were added to the Unicode standard in October 2010 with the release of version 6.0.

The Unicode block for Kana Supplement is U+1B000–U+1B0FF:

Kana Supplement[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B00x

𛀀

𛀁

𛀂

𛀃

𛀄

𛀅

𛀆

𛀇

𛀈

𛀉

𛀊

𛀋

𛀌

𛀍

𛀎

𛀏

U+1B01x

𛀐

𛀑

𛀒

𛀓

𛀔

𛀕

𛀖

𛀗

𛀘

𛀙

𛀚

𛀛

𛀜

𛀝

𛀞

𛀟

U+1B02x

𛀠

𛀡

𛀢

𛀣

𛀤

𛀥

𛀦

𛀧

𛀨

𛀩

𛀪

𛀫

𛀬

𛀭

𛀮

𛀯

U+1B03x

𛀰

𛀱

𛀲

𛀳

𛀴

𛀵

𛀶

𛀷

𛀸

𛀹

𛀺

𛀻

𛀼

𛀽

𛀾

𛀿

U+1B04x

𛁀

𛁁

𛁂

𛁃

𛁄

𛁅

𛁆

𛁇

𛁈

𛁉

𛁊

𛁋

𛁌

𛁍

𛁎

𛁏

U+1B05x

𛁐

𛁑

𛁒

𛁓

𛁔

𛁕

𛁖

𛁗

𛁘

𛁙

𛁚

𛁛

𛁜

𛁝

𛁞

𛁟

U+1B06x

𛁠

𛁡

𛁢

𛁣

𛁤

𛁥

𛁦

𛁧

𛁨

𛁩

𛁪

𛁫

𛁬

𛁭

𛁮

𛁯

U+1B07x

𛁰

𛁱

𛁲

𛁳

𛁴

𛁵

𛁶

𛁷

𛁸

𛁹

𛁺

𛁻

𛁼

𛁽

𛁾

𛁿

U+1B08x

𛂀

𛂁

𛂂

𛂃

𛂄

𛂅

𛂆

𛂇

𛂈

𛂉

𛂊

𛂋

𛂌

𛂍

𛂎

𛂏

U+1B09x

𛂐

𛂑

𛂒

𛂓

𛂔

𛂕

𛂖

𛂗

𛂘

𛂙

𛂚

𛂛

𛂜

𛂝

𛂞

𛂟

U+1B0Ax

𛂠

𛂡

𛂢

𛂣

𛂤

𛂥

𛂦

𛂧

𛂨

𛂩

𛂪

𛂫

𛂬

𛂭

𛂮

𛂯

U+1B0Bx

𛂰

𛂱

𛂲

𛂳

𛂴

𛂵

𛂶

𛂷

𛂸

𛂹

𛂺

𛂻

𛂼

𛂽

𛂾

𛂿

U+1B0Cx

𛃀

𛃁

𛃂

𛃃

𛃄

𛃅

𛃆

𛃇

𛃈

𛃉

𛃊

𛃋

𛃌

𛃍

𛃎

𛃏

U+1B0Dx

𛃐

𛃑

𛃒

𛃓

𛃔

𛃕

𛃖

𛃗

𛃘

𛃙

𛃚

𛃛

𛃜

𛃝

𛃞

𛃟

U+1B0Ex

𛃠

𛃡

𛃢

𛃣

𛃤

𛃥

𛃦

𛃧

𛃨

𛃩

𛃪

𛃫

𛃬

𛃭

𛃮

𛃯

U+1B0Fx

𛃰

𛃱

𛃲

𛃳

𛃴

𛃵

𛃶

𛃷

𛃸

𛃹

𛃺

𛃻

𛃼

𛃽

𛃾

𛃿

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

The Unicode block for Small Kana Extension is U+1B130–U+1B16F:

Small Kana Extension[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B13x

𛄲

U+1B14x

U+1B15x

𛅐

𛅑

𛅒

𛅕

U+1B16x

𛅤

𛅥

𛅦

𛅧

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Kana Extended-A Unicode block is U+1B100–1B12F. It contains hentaigana (non-standard hiragana) and historic kana characters.

Kana Extended-A[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B10x

𛄀

𛄁

𛄂

𛄃

𛄄

𛄅

𛄆

𛄇

𛄈

𛄉

𛄊

𛄋

𛄌

𛄍

𛄎

𛄏

U+1B11x

𛄐

𛄑

𛄒

𛄓

𛄔

𛄕

𛄖

𛄗

𛄘

𛄙

𛄚

𛄛

𛄜

𛄝

𛄞

𛄟

U+1B12x

𛄠

𛄡

𛄢

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Kana Extended-B Unicode block is U+1AFF0–1AFFF. It contains kana originally created by Japanese linguists to write Taiwanese Hokkien known as Taiwanese kana.

Kana Extended-B[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1AFFx

𚿰

𚿱

𚿲

𚿳

𚿵

𚿶

𚿷

𚿸

𚿹

𚿺

𚿻

𚿽

𚿾

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Katakana in other Unicode blocks:

• Dakuten and handakuten diacritics are located in the Hiragana block:
  • U+3099 COMBINING KATAKANA-HIRAGANA VOICED SOUND MARK (non-spacing dakuten): ゙
  • U+309A COMBINING KATAKANA-HIRAGANA SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK (non-spacing handakuten): ゚
  • U+309B KATAKANA-HIRAGANA VOICED SOUND MARK (spacing dakuten): ゛
  • U+309C KATAKANA-HIRAGANA SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK (spacing handakuten): ゜
• Two katakana-based emoji are in the Enclosed Ideographic Supplement block:
  • U+1F201 SQUARED KATAKANA KOKO (‘here’ sign): 🈁
  • U+1F202 SQUARED KATAKANA SA (‘service’ sign): 🈂
• A katakana-based Japanese TV symbol from the ARIB STD-B24 standard is in the Enclosed Ideographic Supplement block:
  • U+1F213 SQUARED KATAKANA DE (‘data broadcasting service linked with a main program’ symbol): 🈓

Furthermore, as of Unicode 15.0, the following combinatory sequences have been explicitly named, despite having no precomposed symbols in the katakana block. Font designers may want to optimize the display of these composed glyphs. Some of them are mostly used for writing the Ainu language, the others are called bidakuon in Japanese. Other, arbitrary combinations with U+309A handakuten are also possible.

Katakana named sequences Unicode Named Character Sequences Database
Sequence name	Codepoints	Glyph
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGA	U+30AB	U+309A	カ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGI	U+30AD	U+309A	キ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGU	U+30AF	U+309A	ク゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGE	U+30B1	U+309A	ケ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGO	U+30B3	U+309A	コ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU CE	U+30BB	U+309A	セ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU TU	U+30C4	U+309A	ツ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU TO	U+30C8	U+309A	ト゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU P	U+31F7	U+309A	ㇷ゚

See also[edit]

• Japanese phonology
• Hiragana
• Historical kana usage
• Rōmaji
• Gugyeol
• Tōdaiji Fujumonkō, oldest example of kanji text with katakana annotations
• File:Beschrijving van Japan — ABC (cropped).jpg for the kana as described by Engelbert Kaempfer in 1727

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Practice pronunciation and stroke order of Kana
• Katakana Unicode chart
• Japanese dictionary with Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji on-screen keyboards
• Katakana study tool Archived 18 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine

Katakana 片仮名 カタカナ
Script type	Syllabary
Time period	~800 CE to the present
Direction	vertical right-to-left, left-to-right
Languages	Japanese, Ryukyuan, Ainu[1] Taiwanese Hokkien, Palauan (formerly)
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle Bone Script Seal Script Clerical Script Regular script (Kanji) Man’yōgana Katakana
Sister systems	Hiragana
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Kana (411), ​Katakana
Unicode
Unicode alias	Katakana
Unicode range	Katakana: U+30A0–U+30FF Katakana Phonetic Extensions: U+31F0–U+31FF Enclosed CJK Letters and Months: U+3200–U+32FF Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms: U+FF00–U+FFEF Kana Extended-B: U+1AFF0–U+1AFFF Kana Supplement: U+1B000–U+1B0FF Kana Extended-A: U+1B100–U+1B12F Small Kana Extension: U+1B130–U+1B16F
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Katakana (片仮名、カタカナ, Japanese pronunciation: [katakaꜜna]^{[note 1]}) is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana,^[2] kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word katakana means «fragmentary kana», as the katakana characters are derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are both kana systems. With one or two minor exceptions, each syllable (strictly mora) in the Japanese language is represented by one character or kana in each system. Each kana represents either a vowel such as «a» (katakana ア); a consonant followed by a vowel such as «ka» (katakana カ); or «n» (katakana ン), a nasal sonorant which, depending on the context, sounds either like English m, n or ng ([ŋ]) or like the nasal vowels of Portuguese or Galician.

In contrast to the hiragana syllabary, which is used for Japanese words not covered by kanji and for grammatical inflections, the katakana syllabary usage is comparable to italics in English; specifically, it is used for transcription of foreign-language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words (collectively gairaigo); for emphasis; to represent onomatopoeia; for technical and scientific terms; and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.

Katakana evolved from Japanese Buddhist monks transliterating Chinese texts into Japanese.^[3]

Writing system[edit]

Overview[edit]

The complete katakana script consists of 48 characters, not counting functional and diacritic marks:

• 5 nucleus vowels
• 42 core or body (onset-nucleus) syllabograms, consisting of nine consonants in combination with each of the five vowels, of which three possible combinations (yi, ye, wu) are not canonical
• 1 coda consonant

These are conceived as a 5×10 grid (gojūon, 五十音, literally «fifty sounds»), as shown in the adjacent table, read ア (a), イ (i), ウ (u), エ (e), オ (o), カ (ka), キ (ki), ク (ku), ケ (ke), コ (ko) and so on. The gojūon inherits its vowel and consonant order from Sanskrit practice. In vertical text contexts, which used to be the default case, the grid is usually presented as 10 columns by 5 rows, with vowels on the right hand side and ア (a) on top. Katakana glyphs in the same row or column do not share common graphic characteristics. Three of the syllabograms to be expected, yi, ye and wu, may have been used idiosyncratically with varying glyphs, but never became conventional in any language and are not present at all in modern Japanese.

The 50-sound table is often amended with an extra character, the nasal ン (n). This can appear in several positions, most often next to the N signs or, because it developed from one of many mu hentaigana, below the u column. It may also be appended to the vowel row or the a column. Here, it is shown in a table of its own.

The script includes two diacritic marks placed at the upper right of the base character that change the initial sound of a syllabogram. A double dot, called dakuten, indicates a primary alteration; most often it voices the consonant: k→g, s→z, t→d and h→b; for example, カ (ka) becomes ガ (ga). Secondary alteration, where possible, is shown by a circular handakuten: h→p; For example; ハ (ha) becomes パ (pa). Diacritics, though used for over a thousand years, only became mandatory in the Japanese writing system in the second half of the 20th century. Their application is strictly limited in proper writing systems,^{[clarification needed]} but may be more extensive in academic transcriptions.

Furthermore, some characters may have special semantics when used in smaller sizes after a normal one (see below), but this does not make the script truly bicameral.

The layout of the gojūon table promotes a systematic view of kana syllabograms as being always pronounced with the same single consonant followed by a vowel, but this is not exactly the case (and never has been). Existing schemes for the romanization of Japanese either are based on the systematic nature of the script, e.g. nihon-shiki チ ti, or they apply some Western graphotactics, usually the English one, to the common Japanese pronunciation of the kana signs, e.g. Hepburn-shiki チ chi. Both approaches conceal the fact, though, that many consonant-based katakana signs, especially those canonically ending in u, can be used in coda position, too, where the vowel is unvoiced and therefore barely perceptible.

Japanese[edit]

Syllabary and orthography[edit]

Katakana used in Japanese orthography a i u e o ∅ ア イ ウ エ オ k カ キ ク ケ コ g ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ s サ シ ス セ ソ z ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ t タ チ ツ テ ト d ダ ヂ ヅ デ ド n ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ h ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ b バ ビ ブ ベ ボ p パ ピ プ ペ ポ m マ ミ ム メ モ y ヤ [4] ユ [4] ヨ r ラ リ ル レ ロ w ワ ヰ [4] ヱ ヲ ン (n) Functional marks and diacritics ッ ヽ ゛ ゜

Unused, extinct, or obsolete

Of the 48 katakana syllabograms described above, only 46 are used in modern Japanese, and one of these is preserved for only a single use:

• wi and we are pronounced as vowels in modern Japanese and are therefore obsolete, having been supplanted by i and e, respectively.
• wo is now used only as a particle, and is normally pronounced the same as vowel オ o. As a particle, it is usually written in hiragana (を) and the katakana form, ヲ, is almost obsolete.

A small version of the katakana for ya, yu or yo (ャ, ュ or ョ, respectively) may be added to katakana ending in i. This changes the i vowel sound to a glide (palatalization) to a, u or o, e.g. キャ (ki + ya) /kja/. Addition of the small y kana is called yōon.

A character called a sokuon, which is visually identical to a small tsu ッ, indicates that the following consonant is geminated (doubled). This is represented in rōmaji by doubling the consonant that follows the sokuon. In Japanese this is an important distinction in pronunciation; for example, compare サカ saka «hill» with サッカ sakka «author». Geminated consonants are common in transliterations of foreign loanwords; for example, English «bed» is represented as ベッド (beddo). The sokuon also sometimes appears at the end of utterances, where it denotes a glottal stop. However, it cannot be used to double the na, ni, nu, ne, no syllables’ consonants; to double these, the singular n (ン) is added in front of the syllable. The sokuon may also be used to approximate a non-native sound: Bach is written バッハ (Bahha); Mach as マッハ (Mahha).

Both katakana and hiragana usually spell native long vowels with the addition of a second vowel kana. However, in foreign loanwords, katakana instead uses a vowel extender mark, called a chōonpu («long vowel mark»). This is a short line (ー) following the direction of the text, horizontal for yokogaki (horizontal text), and vertical for tategaki (vertical text). For example, メール mēru is the gairaigo for e-mail taken from the English word «mail»; the ー lengthens the e. There are some exceptions, such as ローソク (rōsoku (蝋燭, «candle»)) or ケータイ(kētai (携帯, «mobile phone»)), where Japanese words written in katakana use the elongation mark, too.

Standard and voiced iteration marks are written in katakana as ヽ and ヾ, respectively.

Extended Katakana[edit]

Small versions of the five vowel kana are sometimes used to represent trailing off sounds (ハァ haa, ネェ nee), but in katakana they are more often used in yōon-like extended digraphs designed to represent phonemes not present in Japanese; examples include チェ (che) in チェンジ chenji («change»), ファ (fa) in ファミリー famirī («family») and ウィ (wi) and ディ (di) in ウィキペディア Wikipedia; see below for the full list.

Usage[edit]

In modern Japanese, katakana is most often used for transcription of words from foreign languages or loanwords (other than words historically imported from Chinese), called gairaigo.^[5] For example, «television» is written テレビ (terebi). Similarly, katakana is usually used for country names, foreign places, and foreign personal names. For example, the United States is usually referred to as アメリカ Amerika, rather than in its ateji kanji spelling of 亜米利加 Amerika.

Katakana are also used for onomatopoeia,^[5] words used to represent sounds – for example, ピンポン (pinpon), the «ding-dong» sound of a doorbell.

Technical and scientific terms, such as the names of animal and plant species and minerals, are also commonly written in katakana.^[6] Homo sapiens, as a species, is written ヒト (hito), rather than its kanji 人.

Katakana are often (but not always) used for transcription of Japanese company names. For example, Suzuki is written スズキ, and Toyota is written トヨタ. As these are common family names, Suzuki being the second most common in Japan,^[7] using katakana helps distinguish company names from surnames in writing. Katakana are commonly used on signs, advertisements, and hoardings (i.e., billboards), for example, ココ koko («here»), ゴミ gomi («trash»), or メガネ megane («glasses»). Words the writer wishes to emphasize in a sentence are also sometimes written in katakana, mirroring the usage of italics in European languages.^[5]

Pre–World War II official documents mix katakana and kanji in the same way that hiragana and kanji are mixed in modern Japanese texts, that is, katakana were used for okurigana and particles such as wa or o.

Katakana was also used for telegrams in Japan before 1988, and for computer systems – before the introduction of multibyte characters – in the 1980s. Most computers of that era used katakana instead of kanji or hiragana for output.

Although words borrowed from ancient Chinese are usually written in kanji, loanwords from modern Chinese dialects that are borrowed directly use katakana instead.

Examples of modern Chinese loanwords in Japanese

Japanese	Hepburn	Meaning	Chinese	Pinyin/Yale	Source language
マージャン	mājan	mahjong	麻將	májiàng	Mandarin
ウーロン茶	ūroncha	Oolong tea	烏龍茶	wūlóngchá
チャーハン	chāhan	fried rice	炒飯	chǎofàn
チャーシュー	chāshū	barbecued pork	叉燒	chā sīu	Cantonese
シューマイ	shūmai	shumai	燒賣	sīu máai

The very common Chinese loanword rāmen, written in katakana as ラーメン, is rarely written with its kanji (拉麺).

There are rare instances where the opposite has occurred, with kanji forms created from words originally written in katakana. An example of this is コーヒー kōhī, («coffee»), which can alternatively be written as 珈琲. This kanji usage is occasionally employed by coffee manufacturers or coffee shops for novelty.

Katakana is used to indicate the on’yomi (Chinese-derived readings) of a kanji in a kanji dictionary. For instance, the kanji 人 has a Japanese pronunciation, written in hiragana as ひと hito (person), as well as a Chinese derived pronunciation, written in katakana as ジン jin (used to denote groups of people). Katakana is sometimes used instead of hiragana as furigana to give the pronunciation of a word written in Roman characters, or for a foreign word, which is written as kanji for the meaning, but intended to be pronounced as the original.

Katakana are also sometimes used to indicate words being spoken in a foreign or otherwise unusual accent. For example, in a manga, the speech of a foreign character or a robot may be represented by コンニチワ konnichiwa («hello») instead of the more typical hiragana こんにちは. Some Japanese personal names are written in katakana. This was more common in the past, hence elderly women often have katakana names. This was particularly common among women in the Meiji and Taishō periods, when many poor, illiterate parents were unwilling to pay a scholar to give their daughters names in kanji.^[8] Katakana is also used to denote the fact that a character is speaking a foreign language, and what is displayed in katakana is only the Japanese «translation» of their words.

Some frequently used words may also be written in katakana in dialogs to convey an informal, conversational tone. Some examples include マンガ («manga»), アイツ aitsu («that guy or girl; he/him; she/her»), バカ baka («fool»), etc.

Words with difficult-to-read kanji are sometimes written in katakana (hiragana is also used for this purpose). This phenomenon is often seen with medical terminology. For example, in the word 皮膚科 hifuka («dermatology»), the second kanji, 膚, is considered difficult to read, and thus the word hifuka is commonly written 皮フ科 or ヒフ科, mixing kanji and katakana. Similarly, difficult-to-read kanji such as 癌 gan («cancer») are often written in katakana or hiragana.

Katakana is also used for traditional musical notations, as in the Tozan-ryū of shakuhachi, and in sankyoku ensembles with koto, shamisen and shakuhachi.

Some instructors teaching Japanese as a foreign language «introduce katakana after the students have learned to read and write sentences in hiragana without difficulty and know the rules.»^[9] Most students who have learned hiragana «do not have great difficulty in memorizing» katakana as well.^[10] Other instructors introduce katakana first, because these are used with loanwords. This gives students a chance to practice reading and writing kana with meaningful words. This was the approach taken by the influential American linguistics scholar Eleanor Harz Jorden in Japanese: The Written Language (parallel to Japanese: The Spoken Language).^[11]

Ainu[edit]

Katakana is commonly used by Japanese linguists to write the Ainu language. In Ainu katakana usage, the consonant that comes at the end of a syllable is represented by a small version of a katakana that corresponds to that final consonant followed by a vowel (for details of which vowel, please see the table at Ainu language § Special katakana for the Ainu language). For instance, the Ainu word up is represented by ウㇷ゚ (ウプ [u followed by small pu]). Ainu also uses three handakuten modified katakana: セ゚ ([tse]) and either ツ゚ or ト゚ ([tu̜]). In Unicode, the Katakana Phonetic Extensions block (U+31F0–U+31FF) exists for Ainu language support. These characters are used for the Ainu language only.

Taiwanese[edit]

Taiwanese kana (タイ ヲァヌ ギイ カア ビェン) is a katakana-based writing system once used to write Holo Taiwanese, when Taiwan was under Japanese control. It functioned as a phonetic guide for Chinese characters, much like furigana in Japanese or Zhùyīn fúhào in Chinese. There were similar systems for other languages in Taiwan as well, including Hakka and Formosan languages.

Unlike Japanese or Ainu, Taiwanese kana are used similarly to the zhùyīn fúhào characters, with kana serving as initials, vowel medials and consonant finals, marked with tonal marks. A dot below the initial kana represents aspirated consonants, and チ, ツ, サ, セ, ソ, ウ and オ with a superpositional bar represent sounds found only in Taiwanese.

Okinawan[edit]

Katakana is used as a phonetic guide for the Okinawan language, unlike the various other systems to represent Okinawan, which use hiragana with extensions. The system was devised by the Okinawa Center of Language Study of the University of the Ryukyus. It uses many extensions and yōon to show the many non-Japanese sounds of Okinawan.

Table of katakana[edit]

This is a table of katakana together with their Hepburn romanization and rough IPA transcription for their use in Japanese. Katakana with dakuten or handakuten follow the gojūon kana without them.

Characters shi シ and tsu ツ, and so ソ and n(g) ン, look very similar in print except for the slant and stroke shape. These differences in slant and shape are more prominent when written with an ink brush.

Katakana syllabograms

	Monographs (gojūon)	Digraphs (yōon)
a	i	u	e	o	ya	yu	yo
∅	ア a [a]	イ i [i]	ウ u [ɯ]	エ e [e][n 1]	オ o [o]
K	カ ka [ka]	キ ki [ki]	ク ku [kɯ]	ケ ke [ke]	コ ko [ko]	キャ kya [kʲa]	キュ kyu [kʲɯ]	キョ kyo [kʲo]
S	サ sa [sa]	シ shi [ɕi]	ス su [sɯ]	セ se [se]	ソ so [so]	シャ sha [ɕa]	シュ shu [ɕɯ]	ショ sho [ɕo]
T	タ ta [ta]	チ chi [t͡ɕi]	ツ tsu [t͡sɯ]	テ te [te]	ト to [to]	チャ cha [t͡ɕa]	チュ chu [t͡ɕɯ]	チョ cho [t͡ɕo]
N	ナ na [na]	ニ ni [ɲi]	ヌ nu [nɯ]	ネ ne [ne]	ノ no [no]	ニャ nya [ɲa]	ニュ nyu [ɲɯ]	ニョ nyo [ɲo]
H	ハ ha [ha]	ヒ hi [çi]	フ fu [ɸɯ]	ヘ he [he]	ホ ho [ho]	ヒャ hya [ça]	ヒュ hyu [çɯ]	ヒョ hyo [ço]
M	マ ma [ma]	ミ mi [mi]	ム mu [mɯ]	メ me [me]	モ mo [mo]	ミャ mya [mʲa]	ミュ myu [mʲɯ]	ミョ myo [mʲo]
Y	ヤ ya [ja]	[n 2]	ユ yu [jɯ]	エ [𛄡] ye [je] / [e][n 3]	ヨ yo [jo]
R	ラ ra [ɾa]	リ ri [ɾi]	ル ru [ɾɯ]	レ re [ɾe]	ロ ro [ɾo]	リャ rya [ɾʲa]	リュ ryu [ɾʲɯ]	リョ ryo [ɾʲo]
W	ワ wa [ɰa]	ヰ wi [ɰi] / [i][n 4]	[n 2]	ヱ we [ɰe] / [e][n 4]	ヲ wo [ɰo] / [o][n 4]
	Monographs with diacritics: gojūon with (han)dakuten	Digraphs with diacritics: yōon with (han)dakuten
a	i	u	e	o	ya	yu	yo
G	ガ ga [ɡa]	ギ gi [ɡi]	グ gu [ɡɯ]	ゲ ge [ɡe]	ゴ go [ɡo]	ギャ gya [ɡʲa]	ギュ gyu [ɡʲɯ]	ギョ gyo [ɡʲo]
Z	ザ za [za]	ジ ji [(d)ʑi]	ズ zu [(d)zɯ]	ゼ ze [ze]	ゾ zo [zo]	ジャ ja [(d)ʑa]	ジュ ju [(d)ʑɯ]	ジョ jo [(d)ʑo]
D	ダ da [da]	ヂ ji [(d)ʑi][n 5]	ヅ zu [(d)zɯ][n 5]	デ de [de]	ド do [do]	ヂャ ja [(d)ʑa][n 5]	ヂュ ju [(d)ʑɯ][n 5]	ヂョ jo [(d)ʑo][n 5]
B	バ ba [ba]	ビ bi [bi]	ブ bu [bɯ]	ベ be [be]	ボ bo [bo]	ビャ bya [bʲa]	ビュ byu [bʲɯ]	ビョ byo [bʲo]
P	パ pa [pa]	ピ pi [pi]	プ pu [pɯ]	ペ pe [pe]	ポ po [po]	ピャ pya [pʲa]	ピュ pyu [pʲɯ]	ピョ pyo [pʲo]
	Final nasal monograph	Polysyllabic monographs
n	iu	koto	shite	toki	tomo	nari
*	ン n [ɴ m n ɲ ŋ ɰ̃]	iu [jɯː]	ヿ koto [koto]	shite [ɕite]	/ toki [toki]	tomo [tomo]	nari [naɾi]
*						゙ domo [domo]
	Functional graphemes
sokuonfu	chōonpu	odoriji (monosyllable)	odoriji (polysyllable)
*	ッ (indicates a geminate consonant)	ー (after long vowel)	ヽ (reduplicates and unvoices syllable)	〱 (reduplicates and unvoices syllable)
*			ヾ (reduplicates and voices syllable)	〱゙ (reduplicates and voices syllable)
*			ヽ゚ (reduplicates and voices syllable)	〱゚ (reduplicates and voices syllable)

Notes

Extended Katakana[edit]

Using small versions of the five vowel kana, many digraphs have been devised, mainly to represent the sounds in words of other languages.

Digraphs with orange backgrounds are the general ones used for loanwords or foreign places or names, and those with blue backgrounds are used for more accurate transliterations of foreign sounds, both suggested by the Cabinet of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.^[12] Katakana combinations with beige backgrounds are suggested by the American National Standards Institute^[13] and the British Standards Institution as possible uses.^[14] Ones with purple backgrounds appear on the 1974 version of the Hyōjun-shiki formatting.^[15]

Pronunciations are shown in Hepburn romanization.

	イィ yi		イェ ye
ウァ wa*	ウィ wi	ウゥ wu*	ウェ we	ウォ wo
	ウュ wyu
ヴァ va	ヴィ vi	ヴ vu⁑	ヴェ ve	ヴォ vo
ヴャ vya		ヴュ vyu	ヴィェ vye	ヴョ vyo
	キェ kye
	ギェ gye
クァ kwa	クィ kwi		クェ kwe	クォ kwo
クヮ kwa
グァ gwa	グィ gwi		グェ gwe	グォ gwo
グヮ gwa
	シェ she
	ジェ je
	スィ si
	ズィ zi
	チェ che
ツァ tsa	ツィ tsi		ツェ tse	ツォ tso
	ツュ tsyu
	ティ ti	トゥ tu
	テュ tyu
	ディ di	ドゥ du
	デュ dyu
	ニェ nye
	ヒェ hye
	ビェ bye
	ピェ pye
ファ fa	フィ fi		フェ fe	フォ fo
フャ fya		フュ fyu	フィェ fye	フョ fyo
	ホゥ hu
	ミェ mye
	リェ rye
ラ゜ la	リ゜ li	ル゜ lu	レ゜ le	ロ゜ lo
リ゜ャ lya		リ゜ュ lyu	リ゜ェ lye	リ゜ョ lyo
ヷ va⁂	ヸ vi⁂		ヹ ve⁂	ヺ vo⁂

• * — The use of ウ in these two cases to represent w is rare in modern Japanese except for Internet slang and transcription of the Latin sound [w] into katakana. E.g.: ミネルウァ (Mineruwa «Minerva», from Latin MINERVA [mɪˈnɛrwa]); ウゥルカーヌス (Wurukānusu «Vulcan», from Latin VVLCANVS, Vulcānus [wʊlˈkaːnʊs]). The wa-type of foreign sounds (as in watt or white) is usually transcribed to ワ (wa), while the wu-type (as in wood or woman) is usually to ウ (u) or ウー (ū).
• ⁑ — ヴ has a rarely-used hiragana form in ゔ that is also vu in Hepburn romanization systems.
• ⁂ — The characters in green are obsolete in modern Japanese and very rarely used.^[16][17]

History[edit]

Katakana was developed in the 9th century (during the early Heian period) by Buddhist monks in Nara in order to transliterate texts and works of arts from India, by taking parts of man’yōgana characters as a form of shorthand, hence this kana is so-called kata (片, «partial, fragmented»). For example, ka (カ) comes from the left side of ka (加, lit. «increase», but the original meaning is no longer applicable to kana). The adjacent table shows the origins of each katakana: the red markings of the original Chinese character (used as man’yōgana) eventually became each corresponding symbol.^[18] Katakana is also heavily influenced by Sanskrit due to the original creators having travelled and worked with Indian Buddhists based in East Asia during the era.^[19][20]

Official documents of the Empire of Japan were written exclusively with kyūjitai and katakana.

Obsolete kana[edit]

Variant forms[edit]

Katakana have variant forms. For example, (ネ) and (ヰ).^[21] However, katakana’s variant forms are fewer than hiragana’s ones. Katakana’s choices of man’yōgana segments had stabilized early on and established – with few exceptions – an unambiguous phonemic orthography (one symbol per sound) long before the 1900 script regularization.^[22]

Polysyllabic kana[edit]

Yi, Ye and Wu[edit]

Stroke order[edit]

The following table shows the method for writing each katakana character. It is arranged in a traditional manner, where characters are organized by the sounds that make them up. The numbers and arrows indicate the stroke order and direction, respectively.

Computer encoding[edit]

In addition to fonts intended for Japanese text and Unicode catch-all fonts (like Arial Unicode MS), many fonts intended for Chinese (such as MS Song) and Korean (such as Batang) also include katakana.

Hiragana and katakana[edit]

In addition to the usual full-width (全角, zenkaku) display forms of characters, katakana has a second form, half-width (半角, hankaku) (there are no kanji). The half-width forms were originally associated with the JIS X 0201 encoding. Although their display form is not specified in the standard, in practice they were designed to fit into the same rectangle of pixels as Roman letters to enable easy implementation on the computer equipment of the day. This space is narrower than the square space traditionally occupied by Japanese characters, hence the name «half-width». In this scheme, diacritics (dakuten and handakuten) are separate characters. When originally devised, the half-width katakana were represented by a single byte each, as in JIS X 0201, again in line with the capabilities of contemporary computer technology.

In the late 1970s, two-byte character sets such as JIS X 0208 were introduced to support the full range of Japanese characters, including katakana, hiragana and kanji. Their display forms were designed to fit into an approximately square array of pixels, hence the name «full-width». For backward compatibility, separate support for half-width katakana has continued to be available in modern multi-byte encoding schemes such as Unicode, by having two separate blocks of characters – one displayed as usual (full-width) katakana, the other displayed as half-width katakana.

Although often said to be obsolete, the half-width katakana are still used in many systems and encodings. For example, the titles of mini discs can only be entered in ASCII or half-width katakana, and half-width katakana are commonly used in computerized cash register displays, on shop receipts, and Japanese digital television and DVD subtitles. Several popular Japanese encodings such as EUC-JP, Unicode and Shift JIS have half-width katakana code as well as full-width. By contrast, ISO-2022-JP has no half-width katakana, and is mainly used over SMTP and NNTP.

Unicode[edit]

Katakana was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for (full-width) katakana is U+30A0–U+30FF.

Encoded in this block along with the katakana are the nakaguro word-separation middle dot, the chōon vowel extender, the katakana iteration marks, and a ligature of コト sometimes used in vertical writing.

Katakana[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+30Ax

゠

ァ

ア

ィ

イ

ゥ

ウ

ェ

エ

ォ

オ

カ

ガ

キ

ギ

ク

U+30Bx

グ

ケ

ゲ

コ

ゴ

サ

ザ

シ

ジ

ス

ズ

セ

ゼ

ソ

ゾ

タ

U+30Cx

ダ

チ

ヂ

ッ

ツ

ヅ

テ

デ

ト

ド

ナ

ニ

ヌ

ネ

ノ

ハ

U+30Dx

バ

パ

ヒ

ビ

ピ

フ

ブ

プ

ヘ

ベ

ペ

ホ

ボ

ポ

マ

ミ

U+30Ex

ム

メ

モ

ャ

ヤ

ュ

ユ

ョ

ヨ

ラ

リ

ル

レ

ロ

ヮ

ワ

U+30Fx

ヰ

ヱ

ヲ

ン

ヴ

ヵ

ヶ

ヷ

ヸ

ヹ

ヺ

・

ー

ヽ

ヾ

ヿ

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Half-width equivalents to the usual full-width katakana also exist in Unicode. These are encoded within the Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms block (U+FF00–U+FFEF) (which also includes full-width forms of Latin characters, for instance), starting at U+FF65 and ending at U+FF9F (characters U+FF61–U+FF64 are half-width punctuation marks). This block also includes the half-width dakuten and handakuten. The full-width versions of these characters are found in the Hiragana block.

Katakana subset of Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

…

(U+FF00–U+FF64 omitted)

U+FF6x

･

ｦ

ｧ

ｨ

ｩ

ｪ

ｫ

ｬ

ｭ

ｮ

ｯ

U+FF7x

ｰ

ｱ

ｲ

ｳ

ｴ

ｵ

ｶ

ｷ

ｸ

ｹ

ｺ

ｻ

ｼ

ｽ

ｾ

ｿ

U+FF8x

ﾀ

ﾁ

ﾂ

ﾃ

ﾄ

ﾅ

ﾆ

ﾇ

ﾈ

ﾉ

ﾊ

ﾋ

ﾌ

ﾍ

ﾎ

ﾏ

U+FF9x

ﾐ

ﾑ

ﾒ

ﾓ

ﾔ

ﾕ

ﾖ

ﾗ

ﾘ

ﾙ

ﾚ

ﾛ

ﾜ

ﾝ

ﾞ

ﾟ

…

(U+FFA0–U+FFEF omitted)

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Circled katakana are code points U+32D0–U+32FE in the Enclosed CJK Letters and Months block (U+3200–U+32FF). A circled ン (n) is not included.

Katakana subset of Enclosed CJK Letters and Months[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

…

(U+3200–U+32CF omitted)

U+32Dx

㋐

㋑

㋒

㋓

㋔

㋕

㋖

㋗

㋘

㋙

㋚

㋛

㋜

㋝

㋞

㋟

U+32Ex

㋠

㋡

㋢

㋣

㋤

㋥

㋦

㋧

㋨

㋩

㋪

㋫

㋬

㋭

㋮

㋯

U+32Fx

㋰

㋱

㋲

㋳

㋴

㋵

㋶

㋷

㋸

㋹

㋺

㋻

㋼

㋽

㋾

㋿

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Extensions to Katakana for phonetic transcription of Ainu and other languages were added to the Unicode standard in March 2002 with the release of version 3.2.

The Unicode block for Katakana Phonetic Extensions is U+31F0–U+31FF:

Katakana Phonetic Extensions[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+31Fx

ㇰ

ㇱ

ㇲ

ㇳ

ㇴ

ㇵ

ㇶ

ㇷ

ㇸ

ㇹ

ㇺ

ㇻ

ㇼ

ㇽ

ㇾ

ㇿ

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

Historic and variant forms of Japanese kana characters were added to the Unicode standard in October 2010 with the release of version 6.0.

The Unicode block for Kana Supplement is U+1B000–U+1B0FF:

Kana Supplement[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B00x

𛀀

𛀁

𛀂

𛀃

𛀄

𛀅

𛀆

𛀇

𛀈

𛀉

𛀊

𛀋

𛀌

𛀍

𛀎

𛀏

U+1B01x

𛀐

𛀑

𛀒

𛀓

𛀔

𛀕

𛀖

𛀗

𛀘

𛀙

𛀚

𛀛

𛀜

𛀝

𛀞

𛀟

U+1B02x

𛀠

𛀡

𛀢

𛀣

𛀤

𛀥

𛀦

𛀧

𛀨

𛀩

𛀪

𛀫

𛀬

𛀭

𛀮

𛀯

U+1B03x

𛀰

𛀱

𛀲

𛀳

𛀴

𛀵

𛀶

𛀷

𛀸

𛀹

𛀺

𛀻

𛀼

𛀽

𛀾

𛀿

U+1B04x

𛁀

𛁁

𛁂

𛁃

𛁄

𛁅

𛁆

𛁇

𛁈

𛁉

𛁊

𛁋

𛁌

𛁍

𛁎

𛁏

U+1B05x

𛁐

𛁑

𛁒

𛁓

𛁔

𛁕

𛁖

𛁗

𛁘

𛁙

𛁚

𛁛

𛁜

𛁝

𛁞

𛁟

U+1B06x

𛁠

𛁡

𛁢

𛁣

𛁤

𛁥

𛁦

𛁧

𛁨

𛁩

𛁪

𛁫

𛁬

𛁭

𛁮

𛁯

U+1B07x

𛁰

𛁱

𛁲

𛁳

𛁴

𛁵

𛁶

𛁷

𛁸

𛁹

𛁺

𛁻

𛁼

𛁽

𛁾

𛁿

U+1B08x

𛂀

𛂁

𛂂

𛂃

𛂄

𛂅

𛂆

𛂇

𛂈

𛂉

𛂊

𛂋

𛂌

𛂍

𛂎

𛂏

U+1B09x

𛂐

𛂑

𛂒

𛂓

𛂔

𛂕

𛂖

𛂗

𛂘

𛂙

𛂚

𛂛

𛂜

𛂝

𛂞

𛂟

U+1B0Ax

𛂠

𛂡

𛂢

𛂣

𛂤

𛂥

𛂦

𛂧

𛂨

𛂩

𛂪

𛂫

𛂬

𛂭

𛂮

𛂯

U+1B0Bx

𛂰

𛂱

𛂲

𛂳

𛂴

𛂵

𛂶

𛂷

𛂸

𛂹

𛂺

𛂻

𛂼

𛂽

𛂾

𛂿

U+1B0Cx

𛃀

𛃁

𛃂

𛃃

𛃄

𛃅

𛃆

𛃇

𛃈

𛃉

𛃊

𛃋

𛃌

𛃍

𛃎

𛃏

U+1B0Dx

𛃐

𛃑

𛃒

𛃓

𛃔

𛃕

𛃖

𛃗

𛃘

𛃙

𛃚

𛃛

𛃜

𛃝

𛃞

𛃟

U+1B0Ex

𛃠

𛃡

𛃢

𛃣

𛃤

𛃥

𛃦

𛃧

𛃨

𛃩

𛃪

𛃫

𛃬

𛃭

𛃮

𛃯

U+1B0Fx

𛃰

𛃱

𛃲

𛃳

𛃴

𛃵

𛃶

𛃷

𛃸

𛃹

𛃺

𛃻

𛃼

𛃽

𛃾

𛃿

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0

The Unicode block for Small Kana Extension is U+1B130–U+1B16F:

Small Kana Extension[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B13x

𛄲

U+1B14x

U+1B15x

𛅐

𛅑

𛅒

𛅕

U+1B16x

𛅤

𛅥

𛅦

𛅧

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Kana Extended-A Unicode block is U+1B100–1B12F. It contains hentaigana (non-standard hiragana) and historic kana characters.

Kana Extended-A[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1B10x

𛄀

𛄁

𛄂

𛄃

𛄄

𛄅

𛄆

𛄇

𛄈

𛄉

𛄊

𛄋

𛄌

𛄍

𛄎

𛄏

U+1B11x

𛄐

𛄑

𛄒

𛄓

𛄔

𛄕

𛄖

𛄗

𛄘

𛄙

𛄚

𛄛

𛄜

𛄝

𛄞

𛄟

U+1B12x

𛄠

𛄡

𛄢

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Kana Extended-B Unicode block is U+1AFF0–1AFFF. It contains kana originally created by Japanese linguists to write Taiwanese Hokkien known as Taiwanese kana.

Kana Extended-B[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1AFFx

𚿰

𚿱

𚿲

𚿳

𚿵

𚿶

𚿷

𚿸

𚿹

𚿺

𚿻

𚿽

𚿾

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Katakana in other Unicode blocks:

• Dakuten and handakuten diacritics are located in the Hiragana block:
  • U+3099 COMBINING KATAKANA-HIRAGANA VOICED SOUND MARK (non-spacing dakuten): ゙
  • U+309A COMBINING KATAKANA-HIRAGANA SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK (non-spacing handakuten): ゚
  • U+309B KATAKANA-HIRAGANA VOICED SOUND MARK (spacing dakuten): ゛
  • U+309C KATAKANA-HIRAGANA SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK (spacing handakuten): ゜
• Two katakana-based emoji are in the Enclosed Ideographic Supplement block:
  • U+1F201 SQUARED KATAKANA KOKO (‘here’ sign): 🈁
  • U+1F202 SQUARED KATAKANA SA (‘service’ sign): 🈂
• A katakana-based Japanese TV symbol from the ARIB STD-B24 standard is in the Enclosed Ideographic Supplement block:
  • U+1F213 SQUARED KATAKANA DE (‘data broadcasting service linked with a main program’ symbol): 🈓

Furthermore, as of Unicode 15.0, the following combinatory sequences have been explicitly named, despite having no precomposed symbols in the katakana block. Font designers may want to optimize the display of these composed glyphs. Some of them are mostly used for writing the Ainu language, the others are called bidakuon in Japanese. Other, arbitrary combinations with U+309A handakuten are also possible.

Katakana named sequences Unicode Named Character Sequences Database
Sequence name	Codepoints	Glyph
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGA	U+30AB	U+309A	カ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGI	U+30AD	U+309A	キ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGU	U+30AF	U+309A	ク゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGE	U+30B1	U+309A	ケ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGO	U+30B3	U+309A	コ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU CE	U+30BB	U+309A	セ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU TU	U+30C4	U+309A	ツ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU TO	U+30C8	U+309A	ト゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU P	U+31F7	U+309A	ㇷ゚

See also[edit]

• Japanese phonology
• Hiragana
• Historical kana usage
• Rōmaji
• Gugyeol
• Tōdaiji Fujumonkō, oldest example of kanji text with katakana annotations
• File:Beschrijving van Japan — ABC (cropped).jpg for the kana as described by Engelbert Kaempfer in 1727

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Practice pronunciation and stroke order of Kana
• Katakana Unicode chart
• Japanese dictionary with Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji on-screen keyboards
• Katakana study tool Archived 18 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine