Katakana is one of the basic characters of the Japanese language, and it is widely used especially for the notation of loanwords and foreign words.
The shape is linear and angular, giving a different impression from Hiragana.
There are eight categories: voiceless sounds, voiced sounds, semi-voiced sounds, contracted sounds, syllabic nasal, double consonant, long sound, and Katakana for representing foreign pronunciations.
Voiceless sounds consist of 45 characters such as “ア”, “イ”, “ウ”, etc., and they are the most basic characters forming the foundation of Katakana words. Most Katakana words in Japanese are composed of voiceless sounds.
Voiced sounds are marked with “ ゛” in the upper right of the character, and there are 20 characters such as “ガ”, “ギ”, “グ”, etc.
Semi-voiced sounds are marked with “ ゜” in the upper right of the character, and there are 5 characters such as “パ”, “ピ”, “プ”, etc.,
Contracted sounds are accompanied by small “ャ”, “ュ”, “ョ”, and there are 36 characters such as “キャ”, “キュ”, “キョ”, etc.
The syllabic nasal is only “ン”. In Japanese, no word begins with “ン”, and it must always appear from the second position onward.
The double consonant is only “ッ”. It comes between characters, representing a short, clipped sound between the preceding and following sounds. In Japanese, no word begins or ends with “ッ”, and it never appears at the beginning or end of a word.
The long sound is only “ー”, which extends the sound of the preceding character.
Katakana for representing foreign pronunciations include “ウィ”, “ウェ”, “ウォ”, etc., which express sounds close to English or other foreign languages.
A single Katakana character does not have meaning and functions as a symbol representing sounds. For example, the character “ア” does not carry meaning but represents the sound “a”.
A word with meaning is formed only by combining multiple Katakana characters. For example, combining “ア”, “メ”, “リ”, and “カ” creates the word “アメリカ”, which has meaning.
As the first step in learning Japanese, it is very important to understand the correct reading and writing of Katakana.
Voiceless Sound
| ア | イ | ウ | エ | オ |
| a | i | u | e | o |
| カ | キ | ク | ケ | コ |
| ka | ki | ku | ke | ko |
| サ | シ | ス | セ | ソ |
| sa | shi | su | se | so |
| タ | チ | ツ | テ | ト |
| ta | chi | tsu | te | to |
| ナ | ニ | ヌ | ネ | ノ |
| na | ni | nu | ne | no |
| ハ | ヒ | フ | ヘ | ホ |
| ha | hi | hu | he | ho |
| マ | ミ | ム | メ | モ |
| ma | mi | mu | me | mo |
| ヤ | ユ | ヨ | ||
| ya | yu | yo | ||
| ラ | リ | ル | レ | ロ |
| ra | ri | ru | re | ro |
| ワ | ヲ | |||
| wa | wo |
Voiced Sound
| ガ | ギ | グ | ゲ | ゴ |
| ga | gi | gu | ge | go |
| ザ | ジ | ズ | ゼ | ゾ |
| za | ji | zu | ze | zo |
| ダ | ヂ | ヅ | デ | ド |
| da | ji | zu | de | do |
| バ | ビ | ブ | ベ | ボ |
| ba | bi | bu | be | bo |
Semi-voiced Sound
| パ | ピ | プ | ペ | ポ |
| pa | pi | pu | pe | po |
Contracted Sound
| キャ | キュ | キョ | ||
| kya | kyu | kyo | ||
| シャ | シュ | ショ | ||
| sha | shu | sho | ||
| チャ | チュ | チョ | ||
| cha | chu | cho | ||
| ニャ | ニュ | ニョ | ||
| nya | nyu | nyo | ||
| ヒャ | ヒュ | ヒョ | ||
| hya | hyu | hyo | ||
| ミャ | ミュ | ミョ | ||
| mya | myu | myo | ||
| リャ | リュ | リョ | ||
| rya | ryu | ryo | ||
| ギャ | ギュ | ギョ | ||
| gya | gyu | gyo | ||
| ジャ | ジュ | ジョ | ||
| ja | ju | jo | ||
| ヂャ | ヂュ | ヂョ | ||
| ja | ju | jo | ||
| ビャ | ビュ | ビョ | ||
| bya | byu | byo | ||
| ピャ | ピュ | ピョ | ||
| pya | pyu | pyo |
Syllabic Nasal
| ン | ||||
| n |
Double Consonant
| ッ | ||||
| tsu |
Long Sound
| ー | ||||
| – |
Katakana for representing foreign pronunciation
| ウィ | ウェ | ウォ | ||
| wi | we | wo | ||
| ヴァ | ヴィ | ヴェ | ヴォ | |
| va | vi | ve | vo | |
| シェ | ||||
| she | ||||
| ジェ | ||||
| je | ||||
| チェ | ||||
| che | ||||
| ツァ | ツィ | ツェ | ツォ | |
| tsa | tsi | tse | tso | |
| ティ | ||||
| ti | ||||
| ディ | デュ | |||
| di | du | |||
| トゥ | ||||
| tu | ||||
| ファ | フィ | フュ | フェ | フォ |
| fa | fi | fyu | fe | fo |