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Katakana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japanese syllabary
For the Unicode block, seeKatakana (Unicode block).

Katakana
片仮名
カタカナ
Script type
Time period
c. 800 – present
DirectionVertical right-to-left, left-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesJapanese,Ryukyuan,Hachijō,Ainu[1]
Taiwanese Hokkien,Hakka,Palauan (formerly)
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Hiragana
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Kana(411), ​Katakana
Unicode
Unicode alias
Katakana
 This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Japanese writing
Japanese writing
Components
Uses
Transliteration

Katakana (片仮名カタカナ,IPA:[katakaꜜna,kataꜜkana]) is a Japanesesyllabary, one component of theJapanese writing system along withhiragana,[2]kanji and in some cases theLatin script (known asrōmaji).

The wordkatakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are bothkana systems. With one or two minor exceptions, each syllable (strictlymora) in the Japanese language is represented by one character orkana in each system. Each kana represents either a vowel such as "a" (katakana); a consonant followed by a vowel such as "ka" (katakana); or "n" (katakana), anasalsonorant which, depending on the context, sounds like Englishm,n orng ([ŋ]) or like thenasal vowels ofPortuguese orGalician.[3]

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 toitalics in English; specifically, it is used fortranscription of foreign-language words intoJapanese and the writing ofloan words (collectivelygairaigo); for emphasis; to representonomatopoeia; for technical and scientific terms; and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.

Katakana evolved fromJapanese Buddhist monks transliterating Chinese texts into Japanese.[4]

Writing system

[edit]

Overview

[edit]
Gojūon – Katakana characters with a nucleus
aiueo
k
s
t
n
h
m
y[5][5]
r
w[5]
(n)

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

  • 5nucleus vowels
  • 42core orbody (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
  • 1coda 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. Thegojūon inherits its vowel and consonant order fromSanskrit practice. Invertical 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. Katakanaglyphs in the same row or column do not share common graphic characteristics. Three of thesyllabograms to be expected,yi,ye andwu, may have been used idiosyncratically with varyingglyphs, 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 theN signs or, because it developed from one of manymuhentaigana, below theu column. It may also be appended to the vowel row or thea 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, calleddakuten, indicates a primary alteration; most often it voices the consonant:kg,sz,td andhb; for example,カ (ka) becomesガ (ga). Secondary alteration, where possible, is shown by a circularhandakuten:hp; 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 trulybicameral.

The layout of thegojūon 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 theromanization of Japanese either are based on the systematic nature of the script, e.g.nihon-shikiti, or they apply some Westerngraphotactics, usually the English one, to the common Japanese pronunciation of the kana signs, e.g.Hepburn-shikichi. Both approaches conceal the fact, though, that many consonant-based katakana signs, especially those canonically ending inu, can be used in coda position, too, where the vowel isunvoiced and therefore barely perceptible.

Japanese

[edit]

Syllabary and orthography

[edit]
Katakana used in Japanese orthography
aiueo
k
g
s
z
t
d
n
h
b
p
m
y[5][5]
r
w[5]
(n)
Functional marks
and diacritics
  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 andwe are pronounced as vowels in modern Japanese and are therefore obsolete, having been supplanted byi ande, respectively.
  • wo is now used only as aparticle, 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 forya,yu oryo (ャ, ュ or ョ, respectively) may be added to katakana ending ini. This changes thei vowel sound to a glide (palatalization) toa,u oro, e.g. キャ (ki + ya) /kja/. Addition of the smally kana is calledyōon.

A character called asokuon, which is visually identical to a smalltsu ッ, indicates that the following consonant isgeminated (doubled). This is represented in rōmaji by doubling the consonant that follows thesokuon. 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 aglottal stop. However, it cannot be used to double thena,ni,nu,ne,no syllables' consonants; to double these, the singularn (ン) is added in front of the syllable. Thesokuon 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 nativelong vowels with the addition of a second vowel kana. However, in foreign loanwords, katakana instead uses a vowel extender mark, called achōonpu ("long vowel mark"). This is a short line (ー) following the direction of the text, horizontal foryokogaki (horizontal text), and vertical fortategaki (vertical text). For example, メールmēru is thegairaigo for e-mail taken from the English word "mail"; the ー lengthens thee. 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 theelongation mark, too.

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

Extensions
[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 representphonemes 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]
Main article:Japanese writing system
Collection of poems by priestMyōe, 1248

In modern Japanese, katakana is most often used for transcription of words from foreign languages or loanwords (other than words historically imported from Chinese), calledgairaigo.[6] For example, "ice cream" is writtenアイスクリーム (aisukurīmu). 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 itsateji kanji spelling of亜米利加 (Amerika).

Katakana are also used for onomatopoeia,[6] 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.[7]Homo sapiens, as a species, is writtenヒト (hito), rather than its kanji.

Katakana are often (but not always) used for transcription of Japanese company names. For example,Suzuki is writtenスズキ, andToyota is writtenトヨタ. As these are common family names, Suzuki being the second most common in Japan,[8] 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 ofitalics in European languages.[6]

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 forokurigana and particles such aswa oro.

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

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

Examples of modern Chinese loanwords in Japanese
JapaneseHepburnMeaningChinesePinyin/YaleSource language
マージャンmājanmahjong麻將májiàngMandarin
ウーロン茶ūronchaOolong tea烏龍茶wūlóngchá
チャーハンchāhanfried rice炒飯chǎofàn
チャーシューchāshūbarbecued pork叉燒chā sīuCantonese
シューマイshūmaishumai燒賣sīu máai

The very common Chinese loanwordrāmen, 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 theon'yomi (Chinese-derived readings) of a kanji in akanji 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 asfurigana 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.

In this travel warning, the kanji for "fog" () has been written in katakana (キリ) to make it more immediately readable.

Katakana are also sometimes used to indicate words being spoken in a foreign or otherwise unusual accent. For example, in amanga, 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. SomeJapanese 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 theMeiji andTaishō periods, when many poor, illiterate parents were unwilling to pay a scholar to give their daughters names in kanji.[9] 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 withmedical terminology. For example, in the word皮膚科hifuka ("dermatology"), the second kanji,, is considered difficult to read, and thus the wordhifuka is commonly written皮フ科 orヒフ科, mixing kanji and katakana. Similarly, difficult-to-read kanji such asgan ("cancer") are often written in katakana or hiragana.

Katakana is also used for traditional musical notations, as in theTozan-ryū ofshakuhachi, and insankyoku ensembles withkoto,shamisen andshakuhachi.

Some instructors teaching Japanese as a foreign language "introducekatakana after the students have learned to read and write sentences inhiragana without difficulty and know the rules."[10] Most students who have learned hiragana "do not have great difficulty in memorizing" katakana as well.[11] 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 scholarEleanor Harz Jorden inJapanese: The Written Language (parallel toJapanese: The Spoken Language).[12]

A page of theMeiji Constitution written exclusively withkyūjitai and katakana

Ainu

[edit]
Main article:Ainu language § Writing

Katakana is commonly used by Japanese linguists to write theAinu 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 atAinu language § Special katakana for the Ainu language). For instance, the Ainu wordup is represented byウㇷ゚ ( [u followed by smallpu]). 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]
Main article:Taiwanese kana

Taiwanese kana (タイ ヲァヌ ギイ カア ビェン) is a katakana-based writing system once used to writeHolo Taiwanese, whenTaiwan wasunder Japanese rule. It functioned as a phonetic guide forChinese characters, much like furigana in Japanese or Zhùyīn fúhào in Chinese. There were similar systems for other languages in Taiwan as well, includingHakka andFormosan languages.

Unlike Japanese or Ainu, Taiwanese kana are used similarly to thezhùyīn 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]
Main article:Okinawan scripts

Katakana is used as a phonetic guide for theOkinawan 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 theUniversity 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 theirHepburn romanization and roughIPA transcription for their use in Japanese. Katakana withdakuten orhandakuten follow thegojūon kana without them.

Charactersshi,tsu,so, andn look very similar in print except for the slant and stroke shape. These differences in slant and shape are more prominent when written with anink brush.

Katakana syllabograms
Monographs (gojūon)Digraphs (yōon)
aiueoyayuyo

a[a]

i[i]

u[ɯ]

e[e][n 1]

o[o]
K
ka[ka]

ki[ki]

ku[kɯ]

ke[ke]

ko[ko]
キャ
kya[kʲa]
キュ
kyu[kʲɯ]
キョ
kyo[kʲo]
S
sa[sa]

shi[ɕi]

su[sɯ]

se[se]

so[so]
シャ
sha[ɕa]
シュ
shu[ɕɯ]
ショ
sho[ɕo]
T
ta[ta]

chi[t͡ɕi]

tsu[t͡sɯ]

te[te]

to[to]
チャ
cha[t͡ɕa]
チュ
chu[t͡ɕɯ]
チョ
cho[t͡ɕo]
N
na[na]

ni[ɲi]

nu[nɯ]

ne[ne]

no[no]
ニャ
nya[ɲa]
ニュ
nyu[ɲɯ]
ニョ
nyo[ɲo]
H
ha[ha]

hi[çi]

fu[ɸɯ]

he[he]

ho[ho]
ヒャ
hya[ça]
ヒュ
hyu[çɯ]
ヒョ
hyo[ço]
M
ma[ma]

mi[mi]

mu[mɯ]

me[me]

mo[mo]
ミャ
mya[mʲa]
ミュ
myu[mʲɯ]
ミョ
myo[mʲo]
Y
ya[ja]
𛄠
yi ([i])[n 2]

yu[jɯ]

ye[je] / [e][n 3]

yo[jo]
R
ra[ɾa]

ri[ɾi]

ru[ɾɯ]

re[ɾe]

ro[ɾo]
リャ
rya[ɾʲa]
リュ
ryu[ɾʲɯ]
リョ
ryo[ɾʲo]
W
wa[wa]

wi[wi] / [i][n 4]
𛄢
wu ([ɯ])[n 2]

we[we] / [e][n 4]

wo[wo] / [o][n 4]
Monographs with diacritics:gojūon with (han)dakutenDigraphs with diacritics:yōon with (han)dakuten
aiueoyayuyo
G
ga[ɡa]

gi[ɡi]

gu[ɡɯ]

ge[ɡe]

go[ɡo]
ギャ
gya[ɡʲa]
ギュ
gyu[ɡʲɯ]
ギョ
gyo[ɡʲo]
Z
za[(d)za]

ji[(d)ʑi]

zu[(d)zɯ]

ze[(d)ze]

zo[(d)zo]
ジャ
ja[(d)ʑa]
ジュ
ju[(d)ʑɯ]
ジョ
jo[(d)ʑo]
D
da[da]

ji[(d)ʑi][n 5]

zu[(d)zɯ][n 5]

de[de]

do[do]
ヂャ
ja[(d)ʑa][n 5]
ヂュ
ju[(d)ʑɯ][n 5]
ヂョ
jo[(d)ʑo][n 5]
B
ba[ba]

bi[bi]

bu[bɯ]

be[be]

bo[bo]
ビャ
bya[bʲa]
ビュ
byu[bʲɯ]
ビョ
byo[bʲo]
P
pa[pa]

pi[pi]

pu[pɯ]

pe[pe]

po[po]
ピャ
pya[pʲa]
ピュ
pyu[pʲɯ]
ピョ
pyo[pʲo]
Final nasal monographPolysyllabic monographs
niukotoshitetokitomonari
*
n
[mnɲŋɴɰ̃]

iu[jɯː]

koto[koto]

shite[ɕite]
/
toki[toki]

tomo[tomo]

nari[naɾi]
*
domo[domo]
Functional graphemes
sokuonfuchōonpuodoriji (monosyllable)odoriji (polysyllable)
*
(indicates ageminate consonant)

(indicates a long vowel)

(reduplicates and
unvoices syllable)

(reduplicates and
unvoices syllable)
*
(reduplicates and
voices syllable)
〱゙
(reduplicates and
voices syllable)
*ヽ゚
(reduplicates and
voices syllable)
〱゚
(reduplicates and
voices syllable)

Notes

  1. ^Prior to thee/ye merger in the mid-Heian period, a different character (𛀀) was used in positione.
  2. ^abTheoretical combinationsyi andwu are unused . Some katakana were invented for them by linguists in the Edo and Meiji periods in order to fill out the table, but they were never actually used in normal writing.
  3. ^The combinationye existed prior to the mid-Heian period and was represented in very early katakana, but has been extinct  for over a thousand years, having merged withe in the 10th century. Theye katakana () was adopted fore (displacing𛀀, the character originally used fore); the alternate katakana𛄡 was invented forye in the Meiji period for use in representations of Old and Early Classical Japanese so as to avoid confusion with the modern use of fore.
  4. ^abcThe characters in positionswi andwe are obsolete  in modern Japanese, and have been replaced by (i) and (e). The characterwo, in practice normally pronouncedo, is preserved in only one use: as a particle. This is normally written in hiragana (), so katakana sees only limited use. SeeGojūon and the articles on each character for details.
  5. ^abcdeThe (di) and (du) kana (often romanised asji andzu) are primarily used for etymological spelling , when the unvoiced equivalents (ti) and (tu) (usually romanised aschi andtsu) undergo a sound change (rendaku) and become voiced when they occur in the middle of a compound word. In other cases, the identically-pronounced (ji) and (zu) are used instead. (di) and (du) can never begin a word, and they are not common in katakana, since the concept ofrendaku does not apply to transcribed foreign words, one of the major uses of katakana.

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 withorange backgrounds are the general ones used for loanwords or foreign places or names, and those withblue backgrounds are used for more accurate transliterations of foreign sounds, both suggested by theCabinet of Japan'sMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.[13] Katakana combinations withbeige backgrounds are suggested by theAmerican National Standards Institute[14] and theBritish Standards Institution as possible uses.[15] Ones withpurple backgrounds appear on the 1974 version of the Hyōjun-shiki formatting.[16]

Pronunciations are shown inHepburn romanization.

-a-ya-i-u-yu-e-o-yo
i-イィyiイェye
u-ウァwa[a]ウャwyaウィwiウゥwu[a]ウュwyuウェweウォwoウョwyo
ウィェwye
vu[b]ヴァvaヴャvyaヴィvi-ヴュvyuヴェveヴォvoヴョvyo[c]
ヴィェvye
ウ゚n[d]
ki-キェkye[c]
gi-ギェgye
ku-クァkwaクィkwi[e]クェkweクォkwo
クヮkwa
gu-グァgwaグィgwi[e][c]グェgwe[c]グォgwo[c]
グヮgwa
k-カ゚nga[f]キ゚ngi[f]ク゚ngu[f]ケ゚nge[f]コ゚ngo[f]
shi-シェshe
chi-チェche
ji-ジェje
dji-ヂェje
su-スィsi[c]
tsu-ツァtsaツャtsyaツィtsiツュtsyuツェtseツォtsoツョtsyo
ツィェtsye
zu-ズィzi[c]
dzu-ヅァzaヅャzyaヅィziヅュzyuヅェzeヅォzoヅョzyo
ヅィェzye
te-ティtiテュtyu
to-トィtwi[e]トゥtu
de-ディdiデュdyu
do-ドィdwi[e]ドゥdu
ni-

nu-

ヌィnwi[e]ニェnye[c]
hi-ヒェhye[c]
ビェbye
ピェpye
fu-ファfaフャfyaフィfiフュfyuフェfeフォfoフョfyo[c]
フィェfye
ブィbwi[e]
プィpwi[e]
ホゥhu
mi-

mu-

ムィmwi[e]ミェmye
ri-

ru-

ルィrwi[e]リェrye
r-ラ゚la[g]リ゚li[g]ル゚lu[g]レ゚le[g]ロ゚lo[g]
ri-リ゚ャlya[g]リ゚ュlyu[g]リ゚ェlye[g]リ゚ョlyo[g]
w-va[h]vi[h]ve[h]vo[h]
  1. ^abThe use of in these two cases to representw is rare in modern Japanese except for Internet slang and customary transcription of the Latin sound[w] into katakana. E.g.:ミネルウァ (Mineruwa "Minerva", from LatinMINERVA[mɪˈnɛrwa]);ウゥルカーヌス (Wurukānusu "Vulcan", from LatinVVLCANVS,Vulcānus[lˈkaːnʊs]). Thewa-type of foreign sounds (as inwatt orwhite) is usually transcribed to (wa), while thewu-type (as inwood orwoman) is usually to (u) orウー (ū).
  2. ^ has a rarely-usedhiragana form in that is alsovu in Hepburn romanization systems.
  3. ^abcdefghijMentioned in Note 1「留意事項その1」 of 1991 Cabinet Order No. 2 as examples of other "usage unregulated" by the guidelines.
  4. ^Prescribed by「文部省制定 發音符號」, published by the Japanese Ministry of Education in 1944, as a way to transcribe initial (u) when pronounced nasally. For example,ウ゚マイ (nmai) as a transcription ofうまい (umai). Usually, (n) is used for this purpose instead, as inンマイ (nmai).
  5. ^abcdefghiEmployed in the transcription ofhard consonants +i in Slavic languages.
  6. ^abcdeSometimes used in Japanese linguistics to transcribe thebidakuon [ja][ŋ] initial.
  7. ^abcdefghiSometimes used in Japanese linguistics to mark an explicit[l] sound.
  8. ^abcdObsolete in modern Japanese and very rarely used.[17][18]

History

[edit]
Roots of katakana highlighted
Japanese katakana in a 1873 textbook

Katakana was developed in the 9th century (during the earlyHeian period) byBuddhist monks in Nara in order to transliterate texts and works of arts from India, by taking parts ofman'yōgana characters as a form of shorthand, hence this kana is so-calledkata (, "partial, fragmented"). For example,ka () comes from the left side ofka (, 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 originalChinese character (used asman'yōgana) eventually became each corresponding symbol.[19] 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.[20][21]

Official documents of theEmpire of Japan were written exclusively withkyūjitai and katakana.

Obsolete kana

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Variant forms

[edit]
See also:hentaigana

Katakana have variant forms. For example,(ネ) and(ヰ).[22] However, katakana's variant forms are fewer than hiragana's. Katakana's choices ofman'yōgana segments had stabilized early on and established – with few exceptions – an unambiguousphonemic orthography (one symbol per sound) long before the 1900 script regularization.[23]

Polysyllabic kana

[edit]
See also:kana ligature

Yi, Ye and Wu

[edit]
See also:Yi (kana),Ye (kana), andWu (kana)

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 thestroke order and direction, respectively.

Computer encoding

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

Hiragana and katakana

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Main article:Half-width kana

In addition to the usual full-width (全角,zenkaku) display forms of characters, katakana has a second form,half-width (半角,hankaku). The half-width forms were originally associated with theJIS 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 asJIS 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 ofmini 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 asEUC-JP,Unicode andShift 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 overSMTP andNNTP.

Unicode

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Main articles:Katakana (Unicode block),Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms (Unicode block),Enclosed CJK Letters and Months (Unicode block),Katakana Phonetic Extensions (Unicode block),Kana Supplement (Unicode block),Small Kana Extension (Unicode block),Kana Extended-A (Unicode block),Kana Extended-B (Unicode block), andCJK Compatibility

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 thenakaguro word-separationmiddle dot, thechōon vowel extender, the katakanaiteration marks, and aligature ofコト sometimes used in vertical writing.

Katakana[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+30Ax
U+30Bx
U+30Cx
U+30Dx
U+30Ex
U+30Fx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Half-width equivalents to the usual full-width katakana also exist in Unicode. These are encoded within theHalfwidth 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 ofHalfwidth and Fullwidth Forms[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
...(U+FF00–U+FF64 omitted)
U+FF6x
U+FF7xソ
U+FF8x
U+FF9x
...(U+FFA0–U+FFEF omitted)
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

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 ofEnclosed CJK Letters and Months[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
...(U+3200–U+32CF omitted)
U+32Dx
U+32Ex
U+32Fx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

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)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+31Fx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

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)
 0123456789ABCDEF
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 16.0

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


Small Kana Extension[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1B13x𛄲
U+1B14x
U+1B15x𛅐𛅑𛅒𛅕
U+1B16x𛅤𛅥𛅦𛅧
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

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

Kana Extended-A[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
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 16.0
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 writeTaiwanese Hokkien known asTaiwanese kana.

Kana Extended-B[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1AFFx𚿰𚿱𚿲𚿳𚿵𚿶𚿷𚿸𚿹𚿺𚿻𚿽𚿾
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The CJK Compatibility block contains in the range U+3330-3357 square versions of katakana words, usually measure units or abbreviations of loanwords:

CJK Compatibility[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+330x
U+331x
U+332x
U+333x
U+334x
U+335x
U+336x
U+337x
U+338x
U+339x
U+33Ax
U+33Bx
U+33Cx
U+33Dx
U+33Ex
U+33Fx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0


Katakana in other Unicode blocks:

  • Dakuten andhandakuten diacritics are located in theHiragana 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-basedemoji are in theEnclosed Ideographic Supplement block:
    • U+1F201 SQUARED KATAKANA KOKO ('here' sign): 🈁
    • U+1F202 SQUARED KATAKANA SA ('service' sign): 🈂
  • A katakana-based Japanese TV symbol from theARIB STD-B24 standard is in theEnclosed Ideographic Supplement block:
    • U+1F213 SQUARED KATAKANA DE ('data broadcasting service linked with a main program' symbol): 🈓

Furthermore, as of Unicode 16.0, 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 theAinu language, the others are calledbidakuon [ja] in Japanese. Other, arbitrary combinations with U+309A handakuten are also possible.

Katakana named sequences
Unicode Named Character Sequences Database
Sequence nameCodepointsGlyph
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGAU+30ABU+309Aカ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGIU+30ADU+309Aキ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGUU+30AFU+309Aク゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGEU+30B1U+309Aケ゚
KATAKANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGOU+30B3U+309Aコ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU CEU+30BBU+309Aセ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU TUU+30C4U+309Aツ゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU TOU+30C8U+309Aト゚
KATAKANA LETTER AINU PU+31F7U+309Aㇷ゚

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^McAuley, Thomas E. (2001).Language change in East Asia. Routledge. p. 90.ISBN 0700713778.
  2. ^Roy Andrew Miller (1966)A Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons in the Modern Language, Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo, Japan, p. 28, Lesson 7: Katakana:a—no. "Side by side with hiragana, modern Japanese writing makes use of another complete set of similar symbols called the katakana."
  3. ^Vance, Timothy J. (1987).An Introduction to Japanese Phonology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-360-2.
  4. ^"How did katakana and hiragana originate?".
  5. ^abcdefSeeobsolete kana
  6. ^abc"The Japanese Writing System (2) Katakana", p. 29 inYookoso! An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese. McGraw-Hill, 1993,ISBN 0070722935
  7. ^"Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji". Japanese Word Characters. 8 September 2010. Retrieved15 October 2011.
  8. ^"明治安田生命 全国同姓調査 [Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company – National same family name investigation]"(PDF) (Press release).Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company. 24 September 2008. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 17 January 2012. Retrieved24 May 2018.
  9. ^Tackett, Rachel."Why old Japanese women have names in katakana".RocketNews24. Archived fromthe original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved19 September 2015.
  10. ^Mutsuko Endo Simon (1984) Section 3.3 "Katakana", p. 36 inA Practical Guide for Teachers of Elementary Japanese, Center for Japanese Studies, theUniversity of Michigan.ISBN 0939512165
  11. ^Simon, p. 36
  12. ^Reading Japanese, Lesson 1. joyo96.org
  13. ^Cabinet of Japan."平成3年6月28日内閣告示第2号:外来語の表記" [Japanese cabinet order No.2 (28 June 1991):The notation of loanword].Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Archived fromthe original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved25 May 2011.
  14. ^"米国規格(ANSI Z39.11-1972)―要約". Retrieved27 February 2016.[self-published source]
  15. ^"英国規格(BS 4812 : 1972)―要約". Retrieved27 February 2016.[self-published source]
  16. ^"標準式ローマ字つづり―引用". Retrieved27 February 2016.[self-published source]
  17. ^Cabinet of Japan (16 November 1946).昭和21年内閣告示第33号 「現代かなづかい」 [Japanese Cabinet Order No.33 in 1946 – Modern kana usage] (in Japanese). Archived fromthe original on 6 October 2001. Retrieved25 May 2011.
  18. ^Cabinet of Japan (1 July 1986).昭和61年内閣告示第1号 「現代仮名遣い」 [Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 in 1986 – Modern kana usage] (in Japanese).Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Archived fromthe original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved25 May 2011.
  19. ^Japanese katakana. Omniglot.com
  20. ^Aiyar, Pallavi (9 June 2018)."The oldest recorded Indian in Japan impacts the country's culture even today".The Hindu.ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved18 September 2022.
  21. ^"The Influence of Sanskrit on the Japanese Sound System – संस्कृता वाक्".sites.google.com. Archived fromthe original on 20 September 2014. Retrieved18 September 2022.
  22. ^『小学略則教授法』「五十音図」
  23. ^Tranter, Nicolas (2012).The Languages of Japan and Korea. Routledge. p. 218.ISBN 978-0-415-46287-7.

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