Katakana:
Because a lot of new words have been added to the Japanese
vocabulary, the Japanese created a separate syllabary that would be
exclusively for foreign words. Although quite similar to hiragana, this
particular syllabary gives words a distinct foreign look, and unlike hiragana,
it is written with mostly straight lines. Katakana is an important syllabary
that will allow you to read loan words and hybrids. It’s recommended to
learn both katakana and hiragana. Although it is acceptable to write
katakana words with hiragana, the reverse is not the case. So you can
write “koohii” (coffee) with either hiragana or katakana, but you cannot
write “watashi” (myself) with kana, because it is a native Japanese word.
Double consonants & vowels:
Like in hiragana, double consonants are expressed with a half-sized “tsu”
before the syllable. Therefore, if we write “shotto” (shot), we write it: ショッ
ト. Double vowels are different than in hiragana. In katakana, we use a
short dash “ー” after the syllable to extend it. Therefore koohii (coffee)
would be written as コーヒー. Because of this, every vowel is extended like
this, and you don’t have to worry about how to extend an O or an I, like in
hiragana.
Ten-ten and Maru:
Just like in hiragana, you can apply “ten-ten” (two dots) or a “maru”
(circle) to the top-right corner of the character to change the sound. Ten-
ten softens the sound, turning Ka into Ga, and Su into Zu. And maru will
harden the sound, making Ha into Pa. Ten-ten can be applied to several
series of Katakana, and maru can only be applied to the H series.
Katakana Charts:
Vowels:
A I U E O
ア イ ウ エ オ
K series:
KA KI KU KE KO
カ キ ク ケ コ
G series:
GA GI GU GE GO
ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ
S series:
SA SHI SU SE SO
サ シ ス セ ソ
Z series:
ZA JI ZU ZE ZO
ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ
T series:
TA CHI TSU TE TO
タ チ ツ テ ト
D series:
DA JI* ZU* DE DO
ダ ヂ ジ デ ド
N series:
NA NI NU NE NO
ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ
H series:
HA HI FU HE HO
ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ
H series:
BA BI BU BE BO
バ ビ ブ ベ ボ
P series:
PA PI PU PE PO
パ ピ プ ペ ポ
M series:
MA MI MU ME MO
マ ミ ム メ モ
Y series:
YA YU YO
ヤ ユ ヨ
R series:
RA RI RU RE RO
ラ リ ル レ ロ
W series and N:
WA WO** N
ワ ヲ ソ
Modified syllables (syllables with a half-sized Ya, Yu or Yo)
KYA KYU KYO
キャ キュ キョ
GYA GYU GYO
ギャ ギュ ギョ
SHA SHU SHO
シャ シュ ショ
JA JU JO
ジャ ジュ ジョ
CHA CHU CHO
チャ チュ チョ
NYA NYU NYO
ニャ ニュ ニョ
HYA HYU HYO
ヒャ ヒュ ヒョ
BYA BYU BYO
ビャ ビュ ビョ
PYA PYU PYO
ピャ ピュ ピョ
MYA MYU MYO
ミャ ミュ ミョ
RYA RYU RYO
リャ リュ リョ
* Ji and Zu are already in the T series, so we don’t really use these
characters anymore. You might find them in older literature, but its very
rare.
**Wo in Katakana is actually never used. This is because this particle is
used as grammar and should therefore be written in hiragana. At rare
occasions, writers might type computer or robot sentences in all-katakana,
so you might see it once or twice.
For any questions, comments or additions to this document, you are
welcome to email me at webmaster@millennial-fair.com. This document
may not be used on any other website than Millennial Fair. This document
has been modified to standard printing range for A4 paper. The
intellectual copyrights of this document belong to me, Jonathan Wu. If
you are using this document as part of a work of your own, please credit
the author of this document. You are free to use this document for your
personal education. You may not sell or otherwise distribute this document.
May 21, 2004 – Jonathan Wu
