Katakana　カタカナ

第5課: Kana II: Katakana　　仮名②・片仮名

Katakana is the neglected big brother of Hiragana. Both Kana systems are used together to write out the same moraic sound combinations but in different semantic situations. First, this lesson will focus on learning the many symbols that exist in Katakana. 

Katakana　カタカナ

The first set of Katakana symbols that we will study are those found in the Gojūonzu (Table of 50 Sounds), which is arranged in the same way as it is for Hiragana. Pay attention to the stroke orders shown in the chart, and try to emulate them in your writing as best as possible to make your writing as legible as possible. 

■The Characters ヰ & ヱ
Due to the gradual disappearance of the consonant /w/, both the Katakana symbols for /wi/ ヰ and /we/ ヱ are rarely used and are currently only seen occasionally in personal names and place names; however, in older literature written prior to 1945, they will be seen with greater frequency. When you encounter these symbols, they are to be pronounced as [i] and [e] respectively.

■The Character ヲ

The symbol for /wo/ is usually pronounced as [o], but there are still many speakers who pronounce it as [wo], which is the traditional pronunciation. ヲ is not as frequently used as を, but it is not obsolete. 

■The Character ン

The moraic consonant /N/ is represented with ン regardless of how it is pronounced, further indicating how the consonant is deemed as one unit with several iterations rather than as several consonants. One thing that must be noted is that in Standard Japanese, ン is always either in word-medial or word-final position but never in word-initial position. 

General Handwriting Rules　　書き順の基本的なルール

1. Write strokes from top to bottom and left to right.
2. Horizontal strokes come before vertical strokes.  
3. Take especial note to the stroke orders of シ and ツ.  For シ, its third stroke is irregularly written from the bottom upward, which is how you can distinguish it from ツ, which is written regularly.
4. Also take note of the stroke orders of ソ and ン. For ン, its second stroke is irregularly written from the bottom upward, which is how you can distinguish it from ソ, which is written regularly.
5. When there are horizontal strokes that span the length of the symbol, those strokes aren’t first from top to bottom regardless if other strokes may start higher up. Take キ as an example.

Examples of Katakana 　「カタカナ」の例

The best way to learn how to read Hiragana is by practicing with actual Japanese words written in it. Below is a list of 60 common words written without romanization. Utilize the chart above to look up any symbol that you don’t know how to read. 

アフリカ Africa	トマト Tomato	アメリカ America	モスクワ Moscow
アクセス access	レタスlettuce	カクテル cocktail	ホテル hotel
エアコン air conditioner	カラオケ karaoke	ハンカチ handkerchief	タオル towel
オンライン online	アルミ aluminum	ミルク milk	センチ centimeter
オフライン offline	イタリア Italy	ナイフ knife	クラス class
カステラ sponge cake	フランス France	レモンlemon	システム system
ホチキス stapler	メキシコ Mexico	ロシア Russia	トヨタ Toyota
マラソン marathon	ノルマ quota	コロナ corona	レストラン restaurant
コメント comment	リンク link	リクエスト request	シナリオ scenario
サイレン siren	サンタ Santa	コアラ koala	トン ton
テニス tennis	イヤホン earbud	ストレスstress	マイナス minus
クリア clear	ケアcare	コスト cost	コンテンツ content
センス sense	ノウハウ know-how	メンタル mental state	モラル morals
リアル real	レアrare	アイロン iron	アカウント account
アクセント  accent	カラフル colorful	クリスマス Christmas	コンマ comma

The Diacritics ゛ & ゜　濁点・半濁点 

The same diacritics are used in Katakana as in Hiragana.  When 「゛」 is attached to an unvoiced consonant Kana, the Kana becomes pronounced as the voiced equivalent (ex. か ＝ /ka/, が＝ /ga/). As for 「゜」, it attaches to /h/ Kana to represent /p/. 

※When writing these characters, you follow the same stroke orders as before but you add the diacritics at the very end. 
※If you recall from Lesson 2, you will realize that ぢ and づ are, in fact, the Hiragana for /dji/ and /dzu/ respectively, but they are rendered in this chart as [ji] and [zu], reflecting the fact that they are pronounced the same way as じ and ず respectively. 

※The Japanese name for 「゛」 is だくてん. It’s also colloquially known as てんてん or にごり.
※The Japanese name for 「゜」is はんだくてん.  

Examples of Words with Diacritics　濁点・半濁点を使った単語の例

アドバイス  advice	ラジオradio	イギリスEngland	インドIndia
ポケモン Pokemon	イベントevent	エプロンapron	オランダHolland/Netherlands
エゴego	エジプトEgypt	カジノcasino	ガス gas
ギフトgift	クラゲjellyfish	モンゴルMongolia	ゴルフ golf
ピンクpink	サイズsize	サンダル sandal	ドル dollar
ゼロzero	ゾンビzombie	ダイヤモンド diamond	タイペイ Taipei
ベルリンBerlin	ロンドンLondon	フライパン frying pan	パンダ panda
テレビTV	ズボンpants	マクドナルド McDonald’s	バスケ basketball
ビルbuilding	ピザpizza	メダル medal	ブラウザ browser
ゴミtrash	ピアノpiano	ビタミン vitamin	バスbus
パンbread	バナナbanana	デジカメ digital camera	パチンコpachinko
ドアdoor	ビデオvideo	パソコン personal computer	セレブcelebrity
カナダCanada	プレゼントpresent	コンビニconvenience store	ダンスdance
ジムgym	シビアsevere	タバコ tobacco	タピオカtapioca
ダムdam	チヂミbuchimgae	デバイスdevice	ドラマdrama

Palatal Sounds in Katakana　拗音の片仮名

Palatal sounds are represented in Katakana by following a /i/-sound symbol with a small-sized /y/-sound symbol. These small-sized /y/-sound Katakana are ャ, ュ, and ョ, and they make the following combinations.

※Just as before, there are two ways to write [ja], [ju], and [jo], but remember that those written with ヂ correspond to the consonant /dj/ and those written with ジ correspond to the consonant /j/. 

Example Words with Palatal Sounds 　拗音を使った単語の例

カジュアルcasual	カリキュラムcurriculum	キャベツcabbage
キャンセルcancel	ギャンブルgamble	シャツshirt
シャンデリア chandelier	ジャンプjump	ジョギングjogging
チャイムchime	チャンネルchannel	パジャマpajamas
マンション condominium	ピュアpure	ジャズjazz
ピョンヤン Pyeongyang	チャンピオンchampion	ギクシャクawkwardness
ミュンヘンMunich	ジュニアjunior	ジャンルgenre
チュニジアTunisia	チャンピオンchampion	ギャングgang

Additional Sound Katakana　特殊音の片仮名

The Japanese mora inventory has gradually expanded to accommodate the influx of loanwords from other languages. As a result, ways to write out these sounds in Kana needed to be created. Katakana is most known for its use in transcribing such loanwords, but it is not limited to this, nor is it a set rule to have to write loanwords in Katakana. So for the glyphs introduced below, you can mirror them in Hiragana at well, but it will be very unlikely that you’ll ever see them not written in Katakana. 

	+/a/	+/i/	+/u/	+/e/	+/o/
/kw/+	クァ・クヮ			クェ	クォ
/gw/+	グァ・グヮ			グェ	グォ
/s/+		スィ
/z/+		ズィ
/sh/+				シェ
/j/+				ジェ
/t/+		ティ	トゥ
/ch/+				チェ
/ts/+	ツァ	ツィ		ツェ	ツォ
/ty/+			テュ
/d/+		ディ	ドゥ
/dy/+			デュ
/f/+	ファ	フィ		フェ	フォ
/w/+		ウィ		ウェ	ウォ
/y/+				イェ
/v/+*	ヴァ	ヴィ・ヸ	ヴ	ヴェ・ヹ	ヴォ・ヺ

※Loanwords exhibit sounds that would otherwise not be treated as (separate) consonants, but some glyphs may not be pronounced as intended. For instance, although there are glyphs for /si/ and /zi/, they would still be pronounced as [shi] and [ji] respectively by most speakers.

※To create these glyphs, additional small kana (sutegana) have been invented involving vowels and /w/-sound Kana.

※Additional w-sounds and y-sounds are usually pronounced broken up as if they were written with full-sized characters. For instance, kiwi can either be pronounced as kiui キウイ or kiwi キウィ.

※/v/ is not a native sound in Japanese. Although younger speakers may try to pronounce loanwords with /v/ as [v], most speakers pronounce it as [b] as it is the standard pronunciation. In older texts, /v/ was represented by adding the ゛diacritic to a /w/-sound Kana. Nowadays, the sounds are represented by following ヴ with the appropriate small-sized vowel Kana. 

Words with Additional Sounds　　　特殊音の入った単語

ウォン the Korean won	シェフchef	チェス chess
ウェブサイト website	ネガティヴ*ネガティブnegative	ディスクdisc
ネイティヴ *ネイティブnative	プレッツェルpretzel	チェコCzech
ディスコdisco	ファンfan	カフェcafe
ファイルfile	フェイクfake	フォンデュfondue
フィリピンPhillipines	イェルサレムJerusalem	フォントfont
ハイウェイhighway	フィルムfilm	フィギュアfigure
マニフェストmanifesto	ウィキペディアWikipedia	シェイクスピア Shakespeare
ファミレスfamily restaurant	クォリティquality	ツェツェバエTsetes fly
ファイトfighting spirit	デュエットduet	おとっつぁん*father

※Any word with a /v/-sound Kana can be rewritten with a /b/-sound Kana. The choice is yours. 

※おとっつぁん is an example of additional sounds being written in Hiragana, and it is also an example of these sounds being used outside of loanwords. In fact, various dialects and colloquial expressions of native origin utilize sounds outside the traditional set of Kana symbols. 

Long Consonants with Small “tsu”　長子音を示す促音「ッ」

Long consonants are represented by the small “tsu” (sokuon 促音), which in Katakana is ッ. It is very important not to confuse it with a full-sized ツ as they are not pronounced the same.

マットmat	アップup(load)/(close-)up	ガッツgutz	クリックclick
ロボットrobot	エチケット  etiquette	キャップcap	コップ glass
アグレッシブ aggressive	カップルcupple	ギャップgap	カップcup

To be Continued　次章につづく

Now that we have learned all the basic symbols of Hiragana and Katakana,  we will next focus on orthographical rules which govern how to use them. After that, we will learn about Kanji, concluding our coverage on the basics of Japanese writing.