Japanese is one of the most difficult languages in the world. The difficulty of studying it lies in Japanese writing. It includes several sections. One of them is the Japanese katakana alphabet. It is used less often than hiragana. But every educated Japanese should know all sections of Japanese writing.
Appearance story
Katakana prescriptions are one of the written forms of the Japanese syllabary. It emerged from early Japanese writing, which was similar to Chinese characters. It is believed that it was created by Buddhist monks.
Initially, katakana was used as cursive writing. Then, Katakana prescriptions became a form of Japanese writing. The hieroglyphs of this form of the Japanese syllable alphabet are distinguished by short straight lines and sharp corners. Due to the fact that some characters are similar, you need to pay attention to the direction and length of the strokes in order to spell the word correctly.
Why use
In modern Japan, Katakana prescriptions are used less often than hiragana. Until 1946, it was used to write suffixes for kanji characters. Today, most often, katakana is used to write words that are of non-Japanese origin.
Recording foreign words and proper names is the main area of use of katakana. In addition, it is used to record the names of animals and plants. Sometimes katakana is used by writers as a stylistic device in fiction.
Also, this form of Japanese writing is used for:
- telegrams;
- Japanese slang records
- children's books as a fixation of the basics of katakana.
Often, katakana characters can be found in the names of restaurants, in commercials, as well as in the names of metro stations and stops. Although katakana is consumed less frequently than hiragana, possession of it is an indicator of Japanese education. A good knowledge of a foreign language allows you to quickly find out in a word written by a katakana its foreign equivalent.
Alphabet Features
Katakana consists of 46 hieroglyphs. You need to read them from top to bottom and from left to right. Some hieroglyphs are very similar to each other, so you need to be especially careful in writing them. Hieroglyphs are organized in a manner that is similar to a gojuon. It is used to arrange words in headings of dictionaries and encyclopedias.
On this basis are words and sentences. These are the so-called additions that are needed for transliteration of words of foreign origin. Also in the katakana there are symbols that are already outdated and hieroglyphics with modern additions (they are needed in order to transmit sounds that are not available in Japanese). Katakana simplifies the use of another language. Foreign words transcribe according to its sound. An interesting feature of the Japanese language is the absence of the sound “l”, so in all words it should be replaced by the sound “p”. Given this feature of Japanese phonetics, you can easily learn Japanese.
Differences from Hiragana
Hiragana together with katakana scripts make up the Japanese syllable alphabet. But there are some differences between them. One of the main is the appointment. Hiragana is needed to write Japanese words. Therefore, it is more common than katakana.
Also, since hiragana is used to write Japanese words, it only contains hieroglyphs representing sounds that are present in Japanese. Unlike katakana, these hieroglyphs are characterized by smoothness and roundness of lines.
The Japanese language seems too complicated due to the peculiarities of writing and some phonetic subtleties. But in order to master it, you need to pay attention first of all to grammar. When learning, it is simply necessary to practice writing hieroglyphs. For it is important not only to know them, but also to write them correctly.