Katakana is one of the two phonetic writing systems used in Japanese. It is primarily used for writing words and sounds that aren’t native to the Japanese Language.
Loanwords (外来語, Gairaigo), or foreign words, are words from outside the language that have been transcribed to Japanese. This can be anything from an object, town, name, etc. that is outside of the country.
Katakana is important as there are many objects from outside Japan that have are used within the country.
Katakana Characters
Katakana has 46 basic characters and the characteristics of katakana characters are more straight and jagged then hiragana characters.
| Vowel | A | I | U | E | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ア (a) | イ (i) | ウ (u) | エ (e) | オ (o) | |
| K | カ (ka) | キ (ki) | ク (ku) | ケ (ke) | コ (ko) |
| S | サ (sa) | シ (shi) | ス (su) | セ (se) | ソ (so) |
| T | タ (ta) | チ (chi) | ツ (tsu) | テ (te) | ト (to) |
| N | ナ (na) | ニ (ni) | ヌ (nu) | ネ (ne) | ノ (no) |
| H | ハ (ha) | ヒ (hi) | フ (fu) | ヘ (he) | ホ (ho) |
| M | マ (ma) | ミ (mi) | ム (mu) | メ (me) | モ (mo) |
| Y | ヤ (ya) | ユ (yu) | ヨ (yo) | ||
| R | ラ (ra) | リ (ri) | ル (ru) | レ (re) | ロ (ro) |
| W | ワ (wa) | ヲ (wo) | |||
| N | ン (n) |
The sounds of the hiragana characters all end with a, i, u, e, o with the exception of ン (n).
Katakana with Diacritical Marks
There are certain hiragana that have their sounds change by adding a diacritic mark to change the sound of certain hiragana.
Dakuten (゛), or ten-ten, is the small diagonal mark placed on the top right of hiragana characters to change the sound of certain characters.
Handakuten (゜) is the small circled placed of on the top right of characters starting with H to change the sound from H to P.
| Vowel | A | I | U | E | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | ガ (ga) | ギ (gi) | グ (gu) | ゲ (ge) | ゴ (go) |
| Z | ザ (za) | ジ (ji) | ズ (zu) | ゼ (ze) | ゾ (zo) |
| D | ダ (da) | ヂ (ji) | ヅ (zu) | デ (de) | ド (do) |
| B | バ (ba) | ビ (bi) | ブ (bu) | ベ (be) | ボ (bo) |
| P | パ (pa) | ピ (pi) | プ (pu) | ペ (pe) | ポ (po) |
Katakana Contracted Sounds
Contracted sounds are a type of syllable that is formed by having a small “Y” hiragana: ャ(ya), ュ(yu), or ョ(yo). This results in creating a character ending in those sounds.
| Row | Ya (ヤ) | Yu (ユ) | Yo (ヨ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| K | キャ (kya) | キュ (kyu) | キョ (kyo) |
| S | シャ (sha) | シュ (shu) | ショ (sho) |
| T | チャ (cha) | チュ (chu) | チョ (cho) |
| N | ニャ (nya) | ニュ (nyu) | ニョ (nyo) |
| H | ヒャ (hya) | ヒュ (hyu) | ヒョ (hyo) |
| M | ミャ (mya) | ミュ (myu) | ミョ (myo) |
| R | リャ (rya) | リュ (ryu) | リョ (ryo) |
| G | ギャ (gya) | ギュ (gyu) | ギョ (gyo) |
| Z | ジャ (ja) | ジュ (ju) | ジョ (jo) |
| D | ヂャ (ja) | ヂュ (ju) | ヂョ (jo) |
| B | ビャ (bya) | ビュ (byu) | ビョ (byo) |
| P | ピャ (pya) | ピュ (pyu) | ピョ (pyo) |
ッ (Sokuon) Connecting Sounds
In Japanese, the small ッ (not the regular-sized ツ) is used to connect the sounds of the end of the first character to the beginning of the next character. This small ッ appears in the middle of words and affects pronunciation by adding a slight pause before the following consonant. It makes speech sound more natural and rhythmical.
The small ッ is placed before a consonant in the K, S, T, or P rows. When this happens, the consonant is doubled in pronunciation.
For example, if we look at the word マット, it is pronounced as matto with a small pause before the “t” sound.
If the small ッ is removed, it would become マト, pronounced as mato instead.
This rule applies similarly in both Hiragana and Katakana, making small っ (ッ) essential for accurate pronunciation and meaning in Japanese.
Long Vowels
In the katakana writing system, long vowels—sounds that are extended beyond their normal duration—are represented differently from hiragana or kanji. While hiragana uses an additional vowel to indicate elongation (e.g., おお for “oo”), katakana employs a horizontal line called a chōonpu (ー) to signify the extension of a vowel sound. This system is both efficient and visually distinct, making it particularly suited for writing loanwords and foreign terms.
How Long Vowels Are Represented
The chōonpu (ー) is placed immediately after the vowel it extends. The pronunciation of the extended vowel remains consistent with its original sound, but it is held for approximately twice the duration of a regular vowel.
Examples:
スーパー (sūpā) – “super”
Here, the “ū” and “ā” sounds are elongated by the horizontal lines.
コーヒー (kōhī) – “coffee”
The long vowel in コー extends the “o” sound.
ゲーム (gēmu) – “game”
The chōonpu after ゲ lengthens the “e” sound.