Katakana · カタカナ
The same 46 sounds as hiragana, in angular shapes taken from PIECES of Chinese characters (伊 → イ). Same sound, different job: katakana marks a word as foreign (コーヒー kōhī, コンピューター konpyūtā), or as a sound effect, a scientific name, or emphasis — the way italics work in English. It is also the script that stretches: small vowels bolted onto syllables (ティ ti, ファ fa, ウィ wi) let it write sounds Japanese does not natively have, which hiragana never attempts. If you see it, the word probably came from somewhere else.
Japanese syllabary (from fragments of Chinese characters) · written left to right · used here by Japanese
71 signs
| Sign | Hiragana | Name | Roman | IPA | Group | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ア | あ | a | a | a | Base (五十音) | |
| イ | い | i | i | i | Base (五十音) | |
| ウ | う | u | u | ɯ | Base (五十音) | Unrounded — lips relaxed, not English 'oo'. |
| エ | え | e | e | e | Base (五十音) | |
| オ | お | o | o | o | Base (五十音) | |
| カ | か | ka | ka | Base (五十音) | ||
| キ | き | ki | ki | Base (五十音) | ||
| ク | く | ku | ku | Base (五十音) | ||
| ケ | け | ke | ke | Base (五十音) | ||
| コ | こ | ko | ko | Base (五十音) | ||
| サ | さ | sa | sa | Base (五十音) | ||
| シ | し | shi | shi | Base (五十音) | NOT si — the grid breaks here. | |
| ス | す | su | su | Base (五十音) | ||
| セ | せ | se | se | Base (五十音) | ||
| ソ | そ | so | so | Base (五十音) | ||
| タ | た | ta | ta | Base (五十音) | ||
| チ | ち | chi | chi | Base (五十音) | NOT ti. | |
| ツ | つ | tsu | tsu | Base (五十音) | NOT tu — the hardest mora for English speakers. | |
| テ | て | te | te | Base (五十音) | ||
| ト | と | to | to | Base (五十音) | ||
| ナ | な | na | na | Base (五十音) | ||
| ニ | に | ni | ni | Base (五十音) | ||
| ヌ | ぬ | nu | nu | Base (五十音) | ||
| ネ | ね | ne | ne | Base (五十音) | ||
| ノ | の | no | no | Base (五十音) | ||
| ハ | は | ha | ha | Base (五十音) | Said 'wa' when it is the topic particle — the one exception you meet on day one. | |
| ヒ | ひ | hi | hi | Base (五十音) | h + i turns palatal, like German ich. | |
| フ | ふ | fu | fu | Base (五十音) | NOT hu, and not English f — blown between the lips. | |
| ヘ | へ | he | he | Base (五十音) | Said 'e' as the direction particle. | |
| ホ | ほ | ho | ho | Base (五十音) | ||
| マ | ま | ma | ma | Base (五十音) | ||
| ミ | み | mi | mi | Base (五十音) | ||
| ム | む | mu | mu | Base (五十音) | ||
| メ | め | me | me | Base (五十音) | ||
| モ | も | mo | mo | Base (五十音) | ||
| ヤ | や | ya | ya | Base (五十音) | ||
| ユ | ゆ | yu | yu | Base (五十音) | ||
| ヨ | よ | yo | yo | Base (五十音) | ||
| ラ | ら | ra | ra | Base (五十音) | A tap — halfway between r, l and d. Never an English r. | |
| リ | り | ri | ri | Base (五十音) | ||
| ル | る | ru | ru | Base (五十音) | ||
| レ | れ | re | re | Base (五十音) | ||
| ロ | ろ | ro | ro | Base (五十音) | ||
| ワ | わ | wa | wa | Base (五十音) | ||
| ヲ | を | wo | wo | o | Base (五十音) | Said 'o'. Survives only as the object particle. |
| ン | ん | n | n | ɴ | Base (五十音) | The only mora that is not a syllable — a full beat of nasal on its own. |
| ガ | が | ga | ga | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ギ | ぎ | gi | gi | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| グ | ぐ | gu | gu | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ゲ | げ | ge | ge | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ゴ | ご | go | go | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ザ | ざ | za | za | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ジ | じ | ji | ji | With ゛/ ゜ | し + ゛ — spelled zi in some systems, always said ji. | |
| ズ | ず | zu | zu | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ゼ | ぜ | ze | ze | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ゾ | ぞ | zo | zo | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ダ | だ | da | da | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ヂ | ぢ | ji | ji | With ゛/ ゜ | Same sound as じ; rare, kept for etymology (はなぢ). | |
| ヅ | づ | zu | zu | With ゛/ ゜ | Same sound as ず; rare. | |
| デ | で | de | de | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ド | ど | do | do | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| バ | ば | ba | ba | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ビ | び | bi | bi | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ブ | ぶ | bu | bu | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ベ | べ | be | be | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ボ | ぼ | bo | bo | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| パ | ぱ | pa | pa | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ピ | ぴ | pi | pi | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| プ | ぷ | pu | pu | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ペ | ぺ | pe | pe | With ゛/ ゜ | ||
| ポ | ぽ | po | po | With ゛/ ゜ |
Groups: Base (五十音) (the 46 you learn first) · With ゛/ ゜ (same shapes, voiced or plosive)
Most used combinations
The sequences you'll meet constantly — learn them as units.
| Sequence | Sound | What's going on | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| きゃ きゅ きょ | A small ゃゅょ fuses with the i-row into ONE mora — きょ is one beat, not two. Full-size きよ would be two. | とうきょう Tōkyō = to-o-kyo-o, four beats | |
| しゃ しゅ しょ | Same trick on the し row. | しゃしん shashin — photograph | |
| ちゃ ちゅ ちょ | And the ち row. | おちゃ ocha — tea |
Rules of the system
How the signs behave together.
| Sequence | Sound | What's going on | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| っ | The small つ doubles the next consonant and takes a beat of its own — a moment of silence you must actually hold. | きっぷ kippu 'ticket' (3 beats) vs きぷ kipu (2) | |
| ー | The katakana long mark. Length is meaning, so this is not decoration. | ビール bīru 'beer' vs ビル biru 'building' | |
| ゛ dakuten | — | Two strokes voice a consonant: か ka → が ga, さ sa → ざ za, た ta → だ da, は ha → ば ba. One mark, twenty new sounds — you never learn them as separate letters. | て te → で de |
| ゜ handakuten | — | The little circle turns the は row into p: は ha → ぱ pa. It appears on that row and nowhere else. | ほ ho → ぽ po |
| ティ ディ ファ ウィ | KATAKANA ONLY: small vowels are bolted on to write sounds Japanese does not have, for foreign words. パーティー pātī 'party', ディスク disuku 'disc'. Hiragana never does this. |
Incompatible combinations
What this writing system does not allow — knowing the impossible prunes the search space.
| Sequence | Sound | What's going on | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| yi · ye · wi · wu · we | — | These slots are empty. The や row has only ya/yu/yo and the わ row only wa (and vestigial を) — which is why Japanese renders foreign 'yes' as イエス iesu, spelling the gap around it. | |
| ん at the start | — | No native word begins with ん. It is why the word game しりとり shiritori ends when someone says a word ending in ん — nothing can follow. |