(片仮名)
Katakana is one of the three writing systems in modern Japanese. ‘Kata’ means incomplete or immature and ‘kana’ means a basic written script. It derives from ‘Man’yo-gana’ and compromised of 48 syllables in all. It is believed that katakana was invented at the beginning of Heian period by Buddhist monks who wanted to jot down readings and annotations in the limited space of the margins of kanji texts, or between lines in the Buddhist text when they listened to lectures. For rapid writing, it was necessary to invent a small syllabary and the fewest possible number of strokes. Katakana characters are originally derived from a very small set of Chinese kanji that were borrowed by Japanese for their sounds; katakana is the masculine complement to hiragana.
Katakana is typically used to write foreign words that are not of Chinese origin, such as those from English and other European languages. Katakana is also used in the following instances:
· To express animal or human emotional sounds
· As heading markers in alphabetical lists
· Place special emphasis on Japanese words within a context
· Slang and ‘dajare’
· Names of fauna and flora
· Some academic and technical terms such as computer-related language and brand names; and
· Emphasis in advertisements
· Foreign place names and personal names
Since katakana is normally used for foreign words, odd combination may be required to recreate many foreign sounds that do not naturally occur in Japanese words. For same cases, a small vowel is paired after another character to create the needed consonant- vowel combination.
· To express animal or human emotional sounds
· As heading markers in alphabetical lists
· Place special emphasis on Japanese words within a context
· Slang and ‘dajare’
· Names of fauna and flora
· Some academic and technical terms such as computer-related language and brand names; and
· Emphasis in advertisements
· Foreign place names and personal names
Since katakana is normally used for foreign words, odd combination may be required to recreate many foreign sounds that do not naturally occur in Japanese words. For same cases, a small vowel is paired after another character to create the needed consonant- vowel combination.
Katakana characters are called furigana when they are used for pronunciation of word or character. It is often used for:
· Words written in a foreign language script
· The Onyomi pronunciation of kanji in kanji characters
· Proper nouns like people’s names and name of places. This is because many of kanji characters used in proper nouns are no longer taught in public schools. Besides, proper name that are written in kanji characters may have two or three different pronunciations because most character have multiple pronunciation.
· Words written in a foreign language script
· The Onyomi pronunciation of kanji in kanji characters
· Proper nouns like people’s names and name of places. This is because many of kanji characters used in proper nouns are no longer taught in public schools. Besides, proper name that are written in kanji characters may have two or three different pronunciations because most character have multiple pronunciation.
REFERENCES
1. Takezaki, K. (n.d.). An Introduction to japanese Caligraphy. Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.
2. Bucley, S. (2002). Encyclopedia of contemporary Japanese culture . Routledge.
2. Bucley, S. (2002). Encyclopedia of contemporary Japanese culture . Routledge.