Learn Japanese : Katakana Alphabet (Kanas & Moras)
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Kanas &Moras
Kanas refer to the Japanese syllabic writing in Hiragana and Katakana. Kanas are used in order to write the Japanese language according to the pronunciation. The Katanana Alphabets tables below show the coloumn of kanas from K to P.
Moras are units of sound in Japanese. One kana letter (ex. ka) or one kana letter accompanied by a small kana letter (ex. kya) basically corresponds to one mora.
Katakana Vowels & Semi-Vowels
The Japanese language is based on five vowel sounds : ァ(a), ィ (i), ゥ(u), ェ(e) and ォ (o). They are pronounced : a as in ask ; i as in we ; u as in soon ; e as in get and o as in oh. All spoken sounds are derived from these vowels. They are used alone or are either attached to a consonant (ex. k + a = ka カ) or a consonant plus a semi-vowel w or y (ex. k + y + a = kya キャ). The exception to this is a special mora ン (n) which is not followed by vowels. ex. ペン pen.
Katakana Long Vowels :
A long vowel is pronounced twice as long as the ordinary vowels : a, i, u, e and o become ā, ī, ū, ē and ō To denote a long vowel in the Katakana script, a symbol 'ー' (called chōon in Japanese) is used for all the vowels, unlike in Hiragana. ex. taxi is takushī or takushii = タクシー Exception : For the long vowel ō 'u' (not 'o') is added for the Romaji script. However, in the Katakana script this does not reflect any change. ex. notebook is nōto or nouto =ノート
Katakana Alphabets (Consonants) Table
In the table below, the roman letters in blue indicate how the alphabets (consonants) are pronounced. They are pronounced : a as in ask ; i as in we ; u as in soon ; e as in get and o as in oh. The highlighted ones are exceptions to the pattern.
Observe the similarity between rows K & G ; S & Z ; T & D and H, B & P
Note that the alphabets ヂ (di / dji) and ヅ(du / dzu) may also be pronounced as 'ji' and 'zu respectively. Their usage is very rare and are not used for nouns and verbs.
Note that ン (n) is a consonant and can form a a syllable on its own without a vowel. Letter ヴ is used for the V sound ヴァ[va] ヴィ[vi] ヴ[vu] ヴェ[ve] and ヴォ[vo] explained below under small scripts.
In Japanese scripts, syllables are organized in the form of a table (5 x 10), called gojūon-zu (literally means table of 50 sounds). In addition to the gojūon, there are modified forms to describe more sounds : 20 dakuon, 5 handakuon, 36 yōon and 1 sokuon (the small kana っtsu) explained below under small scripts.
Katakana Small Scripts / letters
One kana letter (ex. ka) or one kana letter accompanied by a small kana letter (ex. kya) corresponds to one mora. This combination is called yōon in Japanese. There are 9 small scripts in Katakana. They are : ァ(a), ィ(i),ゥ(u), ェ(e),ォ(o),ャ(ya), ュ(yu), ョ(yo), and ッ (tsu). The small scripts ァ(a), ィ(i),ゥ(u), ェ(e),ォ(o) : may combine with Katakana kanas to form foreign words like: ァ(a) family = ファミリ
ィ(i) Philippines = フィリピン ゥ(u) Toulouse = トゥー ルズ ェ(e) ferry = フェリー ォ(o) fork = フォーク Note that for words starting with f / ph, fu フ is used.
These vowels may also combine with the alphabet ヴ (vu) to form words with 'V' sound. ァ(a) Viking = ヴァイキング ; violin = ヴァイオリン ィ(i) Venus = ヴィーナス ェ(e) Veda = フェーダ ォ(o) Voltaire = フォルテール
The small script ッ (tsu) (called sokuon) is used to denote pause between two letters when a particular letter is doubled, as these singular letters do not exist. ex.sutaffu (staff) has a doubled consonant f, and since its singular form does not exist, the small ッ is used. It will hence be written in Katakana as : スタッフ. Note that the small ッ is used before the doubled letter, in this case, f. This small kana ッ has no sound and hence will not be pronounced 'tsu'. It is only a graphical indication to denote the doubling of the consonant.
Exception : ッ (tsu) cannot be used to double the na, ni, nu, ne, no syllables. The singular ン (n) letter which already exists is added in front of the syllable to double it. ex. Sannoze (San Jose) sa-n-no-ze = サンノゼ not サッノゼ . The small scripts ャ(ya), ュ(yu) and ョ(yo) may be added to Katakana kanas ending in i ex. ki キ + small ya ャ = kya キャ ; shi シ + small yo ョ = sho ショ
Word examples : konpyūta (computer) = コンピュータ ; chokorēto (chocolate) = チョコレート
キ (ki), ギ (gi), シ(shi) ジ (ji), チ(chi), ニ (ni), ヒ (hi), ビ (bi), ピ (pi), ミ (mi) and リ(ri) can combine with small ャ(ya), ュ(yu) and ョ(yo) to form moras as shown in the table below.
Exercises to Practice Katakana Alphabets Exercises to Practice HiraganaAlphabets |
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