Brenton
Philip SharpKatakana
April 5th 2008 11:24
かたかな (Katakana) is the other Alphabet used in Japanese. This script is predominantly used for Foreign words (foreign to Japan of course). It can also be used for onomatopoeia, such as the sound of a doorbell ピンポン (Pinpon!) or a roar ガウガウ (Gao, gao!) It literally means 'fragmentary kana' as a reference to it's origins, of being taken from more complex Kanji.
ア A For Alfred the Butler. (Standing up straight like a Butler waiting to serve.
イ I For it's only half the letter - Looks like an I (with the bottom chopped off)
ウ U Ooh, look down there! (Looks like an arrow pointing down)
エ E - You need to work out a way to remember that the E sound looks like an I. Personally I think of it as a 'Kiwi Letter' as the New Zealand accent swaps Es and Is.
オ O - Standing on one leg - looks like a figure standing on one leg.
ハ Ha Hachi - Hachi (八 ) is the Japanese かんじ for 8.
ヒ Hi - He is sitting down - Looks like a man sitting down.
フ Fu - Want food! Looks like a huge mouth.
ヘ He - Where is Heaven? Looks like an arrow pointing up.
ホ Ho - Hopping between rocks. - Looks like a dude on one leg, hopping between rocks on either side.
カ Ka for Katakana. The Character is bent over, holding the line, a katakana.
キ Ki for Keyhole (looks like a key in a keyhole.)
ク Ku. For cook - looks like a Chef with his mouth wide open.
ケ Ke for Keg - Similar to it's Hiragana Counterpart, the Ke resembles a Keg of beer.
コ Ko for Covern. Resembles a cave, or covern.
ラ Ra - (probably not 100% politically correct) - Beat the rapist with a stick! - Looks like a man bent over being hit with a stick.
リ Ri - Really long line - one line is a lot longer than the other.
ル Ru - Kangaroo - Looks like the legs of a jumping Kangaroo.
レ Re - Remon Wedge! In Japanese, we replace Ls with Rs. So this slice of Lemon is Remon.
ロ Ro - A Rock.
サ Sa - Another Sunset - this one emphasizing the Sa sound.
シ Shi - She is smiling.
ス Su - Soon this sculpture will be complete - At the moment, the sculpture (big line) has to be supported by the second line.
セ Se - This one again relates to the hiragana for se - now one lover has left, leaving the other alone in the sunset.
ソ So - Sowing a button - the little line is a button, big line is the needle.
タ Ta for Tammohawk. If you can get over the gross mispronounciation and not mix it up with 'to', then it's easy to remember that Ta looks like a Tommohawk.
チ Chi for Chickenhouse - it looks like the bit the Chickens stand on.
ツ Tsu for smile for the Tsunami.
テ Te for T (or more accurately, T for Te). Helps to remind you it's a T with a line. The more familiar of you with Japan should just remember it's a lot like the symbol for Japan Post.
ト To for Tommy taking a tinkle as it looks like a figure having a wee. Or the more refined and mature of you can remember it as totem pole (yawn).
ヤ Ya for Yak. Again.
ユ Yu for 'You can go left.
ヨ Yo for, Yo man, this E is backwards.
ワ Wa for Waa! a long way down! (looks like an arrow pointing down)
ヲ Wo This is rarely used. Except, according to Phillip Sharp,
...in, say, children's video games or books -- which are often written in ONLY katakana. In these cases, that character is the direct object marker
ン N. This looks like so, but it is more in the shape of a capital N.
ヴ Vu. Almost never used.Can be spotted in Manga, mostly to indicate the sound of a motorbike.
VOCAB-
かたかな Katakana - Other Japanese Character Set.
八 - Hachi - #8.
かんじ - Kanji. Japanese Character set.
ア A For Alfred the Butler. (Standing up straight like a Butler waiting to serve.
イ I For it's only half the letter - Looks like an I (with the bottom chopped off)
ウ U Ooh, look down there! (Looks like an arrow pointing down)
エ E - You need to work out a way to remember that the E sound looks like an I. Personally I think of it as a 'Kiwi Letter' as the New Zealand accent swaps Es and Is.
オ O - Standing on one leg - looks like a figure standing on one leg.
ハ Ha Hachi - Hachi (八 ) is the Japanese かんじ for 8.
フ Fu - Want food! Looks like a huge mouth.
ヘ He - Where is Heaven? Looks like an arrow pointing up.
ホ Ho - Hopping between rocks. - Looks like a dude on one leg, hopping between rocks on either side.
カ Ka for Katakana. The Character is bent over, holding the line, a katakana.
キ Ki for Keyhole (looks like a key in a keyhole.)
ク Ku. For cook - looks like a Chef with his mouth wide open.
ケ Ke for Keg - Similar to it's Hiragana Counterpart, the Ke resembles a Keg of beer.
コ Ko for Covern. Resembles a cave, or covern.
ラ Ra - (probably not 100% politically correct) - Beat the rapist with a stick! - Looks like a man bent over being hit with a stick.
リ Ri - Really long line - one line is a lot longer than the other.
ル Ru - Kangaroo - Looks like the legs of a jumping Kangaroo.
レ Re - Remon Wedge! In Japanese, we replace Ls with Rs. So this slice of Lemon is Remon.
ロ Ro - A Rock.
サ Sa - Another Sunset - this one emphasizing the Sa sound.
シ Shi - She is smiling.
ス Su - Soon this sculpture will be complete - At the moment, the sculpture (big line) has to be supported by the second line.
セ Se - This one again relates to the hiragana for se - now one lover has left, leaving the other alone in the sunset.
ソ So - Sowing a button - the little line is a button, big line is the needle.
タ Ta for Tammohawk. If you can get over the gross mispronounciation and not mix it up with 'to', then it's easy to remember that Ta looks like a Tommohawk.
チ Chi for Chickenhouse - it looks like the bit the Chickens stand on.
ツ Tsu for smile for the Tsunami.
テ Te for T (or more accurately, T for Te). Helps to remind you it's a T with a line. The more familiar of you with Japan should just remember it's a lot like the symbol for Japan Post.
ト To for Tommy taking a tinkle as it looks like a figure having a wee. Or the more refined and mature of you can remember it as totem pole (yawn).
ヤ Ya for Yak. Again.
ユ Yu for 'You can go left.
ヨ Yo for, Yo man, this E is backwards.
ワ Wa for Waa! a long way down! (looks like an arrow pointing down)
ヲ Wo This is rarely used. Except, according to Phillip Sharp,
...in, say, children's video games or books -- which are often written in ONLY katakana. In these cases, that character is the direct object marker
ン N. This looks like so, but it is more in the shape of a capital N.
ヴ Vu. Almost never used.Can be spotted in Manga, mostly to indicate the sound of a motorbike.
VOCAB-
かたかな Katakana - Other Japanese Character Set.
八 - Hachi - #8.
かんじ - Kanji. Japanese Character set.
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