N5 · Writing Japanese
Katakana
katakana, the angular syllabary
The same sounds as hiragana in a sharper hand, used for loanwords, foreign names and emphasis.
Katakana is a second syllabary that matches hiragana sign for sign: the same forty-six sounds, the same table, the same dakuten and handakuten. カ and か are the same syllable, written in a different hand. The signs look angular because each one grew out of a piece of a kanji, squeezed in beside the lines of Chinese texts as a reading aid.
What changes is the job. Katakana writes words borrowed from other languages (コーヒー, テレビ, パソコン), foreign names and places (ロンドン, スミス), many sound words, and anything a writer wants to set apart, rather as English uses italics. A word in katakana tells the reader "this sounds foreign" or "this is meant as a sound", before they have read it.
A long vowel is written differently from hiragana. Instead of adding a vowel sign, katakana uses a bar, ー, for the extra beat: コーヒー, ケーキ, スーパー. And because foreign words bring sounds that older Japanese did not have, katakana combines a sign with a small vowel to make new ones: ファ(fa)ティ(ti)ディ(di)ウィ(wi)シェ(she)チェ(che)
English speakers stumble less over the signs than over the words. A loanword is a Japanese word now: it is pronounced in Japanese syllables, with a vowel after almost every consonant, so "McDonald's" becomes マクドナルド, and it is no use saying it the English way and hoping. Meanings drift too: マンション is a block of flats, not a mansion, and アルバイト, from German, is a part-time job.
The form
| the vowels: a i u e o | アイウエオ |
| k-row | カキクケコ |
| s-row | サシスセソ |
| t-row | タチツテト |
| n-row | ナニヌネノ |
| h-row | ハヒフヘホ |
| m-row | マミムメモ |
| y-row | ヤユヨ |
| r-row | ラリルレロ |
| w-row and the final n | ワヲン |
| the long-vowel bar | コーヒー・ケーキ・ノート |
| sounds for loanwords | ファ・フィ・フェ・フォ・ティ・ディ・ウィ・シェ・チェ・ジェ |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Loanwords and foreign names are written in katakana.
コーヒーとケーキをください。Coffee and cake, please.
A long vowel is written with the bar ー, not with an extra vowel sign.
スーパーで買いました。I bought it at the supermarket.
A small ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ or ォ after a sign builds a sound that older Japanese did not have.
パーティーは何時からですか。What time does the party start?
Katakana can also mark a sound or give a word emphasis, the way italics do in English.
ドアがバタンと閉まりました。The door shut with a bang.
A closer look
A loanword is a Japanese word
Japanese syllables mostly end in a vowel, so a borrowed word gains vowels on the way in. "Strike" has one syllable in English and five beats in ストライク: su-to-ra-i-ku. After t and d the added vowel is usually o (ベッド, bed), after most other consonants it is u. Pronouncing a loanword with all its beats is not an accent; it is the word.
Long words are often cut down to three or four beats: パソコンfrom "personal computer"スマホfrom "smartphone"コンビニfrom "convenience store" An English speaker will not guess these, and a Japanese listener may not recognise the full English form either, so they are worth learning as words of their own.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
a word was borrowed centuries ago
it may be written in hiragana or even kanji, because it no longer feels foreign: たばこ, てんぷら.
たばこは吸いません。I do not smoke.
Katakana marks words that still sound foreign. A word that arrived long enough ago has become part of the native stock, and its spelling followed.
How to spot it
- ー
- ファ
- ティ
- ッ
- ヴ
Example sentences
私はロンドンから来ました。I come from London.
コンビニでパンを買いました。I bought bread at the convenience store.
このレストランには英語のメニューもあります。This restaurant also has a menu in English.
名前はカタカナで書いてください。Please write your name in katakana.
駅の前にスーパーがあります。There is a supermarket in front of the station.
毎朝コーヒーを飲みます。I drink coffee every morning.
8 more example sentences
テレビを見ます。I watch television.
スマホを忘れました。I forgot my phone.
来週、パーティーがあります。There is a party next week.
このビルの十階にカフェがあります。There is a café on the tenth floor of this building.
兄はマンションに住んでいます。My older brother lives in a flat.
アルバイトは何時までですか。What time does your part-time job finish?
スミスさんはカナダ人です。Ms Smith is Canadian.
夏休みにアメリカへ行きます。I am going to America in the summer holidays.
Worth knowing (2)
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The bar turns in vertical writing
In horizontal text the long-vowel bar is horizontal. When the text runs from top to bottom, the bar turns with it and becomes a vertical stroke, because it always points in the direction of reading.
縦書きでは「ー」も縦になります。In vertical writing the bar is vertical too.
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シ and ツ, ソ and ン
Two pairs of katakana are almost the same picture. In シ (shi) and ン (n) the long stroke rises from bottom left; in ツ (tsu) and ソ (so) it falls from the top. Watching the direction of that one stroke is the whole trick.
シャツとソックスを買いました。I bought a shirt and some socks.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
In hiragana a long vowel is written by adding a vowel sign, so learners carry the habit over. In katakana the extra beat is a bar, ー, and a word spelt with vowel signs instead looks as odd to a Japanese reader as "kawfee" would to an English one.
Katakana is the same table in a different hand: loanwords, foreign names, and a bar for every long vowel.
Your turn
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