A GUIDE TO KATAKANA

Katakana syllables are characterized by short, straight strokes and sharp corners.

These Katakana syllables are used to write words borrowed from other languages.

For emphasis, to represent onomatopoeia, for technical and scientific terms, and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.

WHAT IS CHōONPU?

Chōonpu is a horizontal or vertical line in the centre of the text with the width of one kanji or character. It is written horizontally in horizontal text and vertically in vertical text.

The chōonpu is usually used to indicate a long vowel sound in katakana writing, and rarely in hiragana writing.

For example:

Now, let’s see the Katakana syllables.

LEARNING KATAKANA || A SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE KA SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE SA SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE TA SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE NA SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE HA SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE MA SERIES

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE YA SERIES

Here are some words from the ‘Ya’ series:

LEARNING KATAKANA || THE RA SERIES

KATAKANA LAST THREE SYLLABLES

Example: Play ワイン wainn Wine

EXTENDING KATAKANA

Combinations of small versions of the five vowels i.e., ア、イ、ウ、エ and オ are known as extended katakana.

These standard katakana symbols are used to create more accurate representations of the pronunciations of words in other languages. 

For example:

ADDITIONAL SYLLABLES

USE OF DAKUTEN

USE OF HANDAKUTEN

Handakuten converts the ハ (ha) series into パ = the Pa series.

USE OF SMALL ALPHABET // SOKUON 促音

The sokuon (促音) is a symbol in the form of a small hiragana or katakana tsu.

In less formal language it is called chiisai tsu (小さいつ ) or chiisana tsu (小さなつ), meaning “small tsu“. It can never appear at the beginning of the word.

ッ is used to stress the word by doubling the consonant.

For example:

OTHER SYLLABLES // YOUON 拗音

Just like Hiragana, the youon (拗音), is a combination of a katakana ending in i, such as シ (shi), with a smaller version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo.

ヤ、ユ and ヨ are often used in combination with the basic syllables キ、シ、チ、ニー、ヒ、ミ、 and リ.

For example:

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MORE RESOURCES

Want to learn more? Check out these other free resources:

• Learn how to use Hiragana
• Learn how to use Kanji
• Learn why there are three alphabets in Japanese

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