Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [katakana]

カタカナ. That form of the Japanese kana syllabary which is not cursive and is most commonly used for (but not restricted to) writing words borrowed from other languages.

That form of the Japanese syllabary which is not cursive and is most commonly used for (but not restricted to) writing words borrowed from other languages.

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Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?

I noticed that "dame", which means "not good" or "don't do that", is sometimes written in manga as katakana. I was wondering, is it because katakana is used to express a strong feeling? Sometimes, there are also other words written in katakana. In…
Sarawut Positwinyu
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When is the katakana form of wo (ヲ) used?

I'm pretty new to Japanese, and I've been trying to learn hiragana and katakana. I know that in hiragana, wo (を) is used only for as an object particle, and it is always pronounced like o (お). This made me wonder what the katakana form (ヲ) would be…
Alan C
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Why was both katakana and hiragana created?

Nowadays, katakana tends to be used for gairaigo and onomatopoeia, while hiragana tends to be used for native Japanese words. This is a slight simplification - more information is available here. However, English loanwords weren't a major concern…
Andrew Grimm
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Difference between katakana so and n

I am having high confusion between katakana n ン and katakana so ソ. They look very similar even with the different stroke directions, they look very similar. Could anyone suggest how to differentiate between them?
abkds
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Do Japanese people see ツ as a smiling face?

Tsu (ツ) kana is sometimes used on the internet as a smiling face, such as in the emoticon ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'm wondering if Japanese people notice it or is just another character for them? The reason I'm asking is that my native language is Arabic, and it…
imgx64
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What are the differences/characteristics between katakana, kanji and hiragana?

I know that romaji is the conversion from those to the roman alphabet, but what are the differences or characteristics between katakana, kanji, and hiragana? Are they used on a different context? Is one of them more formal than the others? Do they…
Madcowe
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= sign in a katakana name

I was surprised when I came across this Wikipedia page: アーシュラ・K・ル＝グウィン Does someone knows what that = sign is? I can see it works as a separator like 「・」 Is it simply an alternative?
comeauch
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Why did の disappear from 山手, but in 御茶ノ水 it's in katakana?

I realize that very likely the answer to this question is likely to be something along the lines of "that's just the way it is", but I thought it worth asking to see if there were some insights that weren't immediately apparent. In Tokyo, the JR…
Questioner
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Why is カラオケ (karaoke) written in katakana?

I noticed カラオケ (karaoke) is always written in katakana on signs/buildings in Japan, despite it being a Japanese word. Why is it not written in Kanji or Hiragana? As I understand it, the usual reasons for using katakana are things like: words with a…
drfrogsplat
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Who decides what katakana will be used to form English loan words?

I love katakana, mostly because of how the characters look. But I am constantly baffled by why certain loan words from English are constructed using certain katakana sounds. For example, if someone asked me to say "energy" in Japanese, I would have…
user1316
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Why is it 「ロワイアル」?

Always loved the "Battle royale" anime, but am curious about why in the Japanese title it's「ロワイアル」. Shouldn't it be something like「ローヤル」, if you wanted to match the French pronunciation? Why the「ワ」? (I know royal is「ロイヤル」)
Y12K
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How to pronounce the English alphabet? (A, B, C, ...)

I just had to tell a long booking number over the phone, and realized that some characters like V/B can be hard to convey. So, I want to learn exactly how each letter is currently taught in Japanese schools. For every case where there are variants…
Nicolas Raoul
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Why is the word オタク written in katakana?

Why is the word オタク(otaku) written in katakana? I thought only foreign words are written in katakana. Is this word maybe foreign after all? But it is used in Japanese, so I am confused. Please give me an answer.
tenten
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How to translate historical names which don't necessarily have an equivalent in Japanese?

What is the acceptable procedure for writing proper names in Japanese academic papers when you don't know the official Japanese translation or the katakana for it? Is there an expectation that all references to proper names must adhere to the…
seijitsu
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Why doesn't Japanese have a special Katakana form for "hu"?

They have created many new Katakana words such as ファ フィ ヴァ ヴィ ティ テゥ to write foreign sounds. But why didn't they create a new combination for "hu" such as ハゥ or ホゥ? Instead they use the same kana for "hu" and "fu" and make the situation sometimes…
phuclv 劉永福
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