| Katakana 片仮名 カタカナ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | ~800 CE to the present |
| Direction | Vertical right-to-left, left-to-right  |
| Languages | Japanese, Ryukyuan, Hachijō, Ainu[1] Taiwanese Hokkien, Palauan (formerly) |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Hiragana |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Kana (411), Katakana |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Katakana |
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| Japanese writing |
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| Components |
| Uses |
| Transliteration |
Katakana (片仮名、カタカナ, IPA: [katakaꜜna, kataꜜkana]) is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana,[2] kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji).
The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are both kana systems. With one or two minor exceptions, each syllable (strictly mora) in the Japanese language is represented by one character or kana in each system. Each kana represents either a vowel such as "a" (katakana ア); a consonant followed by a vowel such as "ka" (katakana カ); or "n" (katakana ン), a nasal sonorant which, depending on the context, sounds like English m, n or ng ([ŋ]) or like the nasal vowels of Portuguese or Galician.[citation needed]
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 to italics in English; specifically, it is used for transcription of foreign-language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words (collectively gairaigo); for emphasis; to represent onomatopoeia; for technical and scientific terms; and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies.
Katakana evolved from Japanese Buddhist monks transliterating Chinese texts into Japanese.[3]
- ^ McAuley, Thomas E. (2001). Language change in East Asia. Routledge. p. 90. ISBN 0700713778.
- ^ 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."
- ^ "How did katakana and hiragana originate?".