Writing rules for katakana

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The writing rules for the katakana are a bit different than those of the hiragana. Since katakana are used to write down foreign words, we will need to establish how those words can be classified in the Japanese syllable sounds. To do this, we will need to choose the sound that corresponds to the five Japanese vowel sounds. At first, this might not be so obvious for non-native speakers. But you can always come back to this page if ever you are not sure of how a word is supposed to be written!

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Vowels

 

When an English word is borrowed, all English vowels must be categorized in one of the five Japanese vowels. Even though there are six vowels in English (a, e, i, o, u, y), there are more vowels sounds. Some English vowels are longer than the others. Compare 'live' and 'leave'; they have different qualities, but both sound like 'i' for Japanese speakers. Because Japanese make a distinction between short and long vowels, native speakers are particularly sensitive to length differences.

 

( i ) in 'heal' is perceived by Japanese as a long ( i )

 

アイスクリーム (aisu kuriimu) - Ice cream

スキー (sukii) - Ski 

スニーカー (suniikaa) - Sneaker 

チーズ (chiizu) - Cheese

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Long vowels are represented by ー, instead of a double vowel like in hiragana.

 

( i ) as in 'hill' is perceived as a short ( i )

 

テレビ (terebi) - Television 

テニス (tenisu) - Tennis

ミルク (miruku) - Milk

ピアノ (piano) - Piano 

 

( ei ) as in 'hail' is perceived as a long ( e )

 

 ケーキ (keeki) - Cake

テーブル (teeburu) - Table

エアメール (eameeru) - Airmail

レインコート (reincooto) - Raincoat

 

( e ) as in 'bell' is perceived as a short ( e )

 

 ブレッド (bureddo) - Bread

ペン (pen) - Pen

テスト (tesuto) - Test

デスク (desuku) - Desk

 

( ae ) as in 'hat' is perceived as a short ( a )

 

 アップル (appuru) - Apple

カメラ (kamera) - Camera

バッグ (Baggu) - Bag 

プラン (puran) - Plan

 

( o ) as in 'not' is perceived as a short ( o ), or less frequently as a long ( o )

 

コーヒー (koohii) - Coffee

ポット (potto) - Pot

ロボット (robotto) - Robot

ゴルフ  (gorufu) - Golf

 

( o ) as in 'old' is perceived as a long ( o )

 

ノート (notto) - Note

トースト (toosuto) - Toast

ボート (booto) - Boat

ローン (roon) - Loan

 

( u ) as in 'good' is perceived as a short ( u )

 

インプット (inputto) - Input

クッキー (kukkii) - Cookie

ブック (bukku) - Book

ブッシュ (busshu) - Bush

 

( u ) is in 'moon' is perceived as a long ( u )

 

 プール  (puuru) - Pool

フード (fuudo) - Food

ルーム (ruumu) - Room

ルール (ruuru) - Rule

 

( a ) as in 'hut' is perceived as a short ( a )

 

アメリカ (amerika) - America

カップ (kappu) - Cup

トラック (torakku) - Truck

 

( ai ) as in 'ice' is perceived as a combination of ( a ) and ( i )

 

アイスコーヒー (aisukoohii) - Ice coffee

アイデア (aidea) - Idea

ナイフ (naifu) - Knife

 パイ (pai) - Pie

 

( ao ) as in 'how' is perceived as a combination of ( a ) and ( u )

 

 タウン (taun) - Town

ダウ (dau) - Dow (Jones)

ハウス (hausu) - House

マウス (mausu) - Mouse

 

The sequence of vowel and an ( r ) is perceived as the corresponding long vowel. The sounds in English 'bird' and 'bard' are represented by the same symbols in katakana; both would be written and pronounced バード (ba-do).

 

ガールフレンド (gaarufurendo) - Girlfriend

アパート (apaato) - Apartment

コース (koosu) - Course

サーカス (saakasu) - Circus

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Consonants

 

F sounds

 

( f ) by itself or with a ( ou, u ) is perceived as 'hu' and represented as フ, because this has the most f-like sound of the syllables in the series. ( f ) with other vowels is written as フ plus the following vowel in a small letter.

 

フランス  (furansu) - France

フットボール (futtobooru) - Football

ファミリー (famirii) - Family

ドルフィン (dorufin) - Dolphin

フィルム (firumu) - Film

フェリー (ferii) - Ferry

カリフォルニア (kariforunia) - California

 

L and R

 

( l ) and ( r ) are perceived as ( r ).

 

ボールペン (boorupen) - Ballpen

コーラ (koora) - Cola coke

ステレオ (sutereo) - Stereo

トランペット (toranpetto) - Trumpet

 

T and D 

 

In the authentic Japanese sound system, (t + i) becomes チ (chi), (d + i) becomes ジ (ji) and (t + u) becomes ツ (tsu).

 

 チケット (chiketto) - Ticket

ミュージック (myuujikku) - Music

ラジオ (rajio) - Radio

ツー (tsuu) - Two

 

However, an increasing number of Japanese speakers pronounce ( ti ) and ( di ) the same way as English speakers do. This new pronunciation can be represented in katakana like ティ and ディ. Some Japanese write ( tu ) as トゥ, but this is not widely used.

 

ティー (tii) - Tea

パーティー (paatii) - Party

キャンディー (kyandii) - Candy

タトゥー (tatuu) - Tattoo

 

TH sound

 

The initial consonants in 'thank' and 'this' are perceived as ( s ) and ( z ), although in a small number of words the voiceless ( th ) is represented as ( t ).

 

シアター (shiataa) - Theatre

スリー (surii) - Three

マザー (mazaa) - Mother

サンキュー (sankyuu) - Thank you

アロマテラピー (aromaterapii) - Aromatherapy

エステティック (esutetikku) - Aesthetic

 

She, je, che sounds

 

The (she, je, che) sounds do not occur in authentic Japanese words, but can be represented in katakana as シェ、ジェ and チェ respectively.

 

シェフ (shefu) - Chef

ジェット (jetto) - Jet

チェック (chekku) - Check

チェリー (cherii) - Cherry

 

ゃ, ゅ, ょ 

 

Some English words are like those represented in hiragana with a small ゃ, ゅ, ょ and are represented the same in katakana.

 

キャッシュ (kyasshu) - Cash

シャワー (shawaa) - Shower

チューリップ (chuurippu) - Tulip

チャーチ (chaachi) - Church

 

V sound

 

( v ) does not exist in Japanese, but it is pronounced and written as a ( b ). 

 

アイビー (aibii) - Ivy

ベジタブル (bejitaburu) - Vegetable

バイオリン (baiorin) - Violin

 

YE sound

 

Both in hiragana and katakana, ( y ) occurs only with (a, u, o). The syllable ( ye ) can be written イェ.

 

 イェーツ (ieetsu) - Yates

イェール (ieeru) - Yale

イェルサレム (ierusaremu) - Jerusalem

イェロー (ieroo) - Yellow

 

W sound

 

In hiragana, ( w ) can only occur with ( a ), but in katakana, other combinations are possible; ( w ) is represented as ウ and the following vowel in a small letter. 

 

ウィーク (uiiku) - Week

ウェスト (uesuto) - West

スクウェア (sukuuea) - Square

ウォーター (uootaa) - Water

 

Consonant break

 

Like in hiragana, long consonants (or double consonants) are represented with a small ッ in katakana.

 

 エッグ  (eggu) - Egg

キャッシュ (kyasshu) - Cash

フロッピー (furoppi) - Floppy

ベッド (beddo) - Bed

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It might be difficult at first to determine the sounds a foreign word is supposed to make and how to translate it in Japanese sounds, but keep in mind that most words in the examples are normally not written like this, because there are Japanese words for them. It was only for the purpose to show you how a sound in English is supposed to be in Japanese.