Search
a component in the Japanese writing system, consisting of 46 characters that represent syllables and are primarily used for borrowed words, foreign names, onomatopoeia, and emphasis
What is "katakana"?
Katakana is a syllabary used in the Japanese writing system primarily for writing foreign words, names, loanwords, and onomatopoeia. Like hiragana, each katakana character represents a specific syllable, but katakana characters tend to have more angular, sharp shapes compared to the rounded forms of hiragana. Katakana is also used for technical and scientific terms, the names of animals and plants, and for emphasis in certain texts, similar to italics in English. Together with kanji and hiragana, katakana is one of the three main scripts in Japanese, playing a key role in adapting foreign words and ideas into the language.
