Katakana カタカナ Guidelines on how to create katakana words accurately

When is Katakana used? Katakana represents O borrowed words from foreign languages (mostly English but also Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, and some Chinese) O onomatopoeic words eg. meiow, twinkle, knock knock, トントン

Why is ‘Japanese English’ so different? Japanese has a much simpler sound system than English. Borrowed words need to be adjusted to suit the Japanese sound system. The result is ‘Japanese English’. Many words sound completely different to the original borrowed English word. Example: table = テーブル （ teeburu ）

Consonants In English words can have up to 3 consonants in a row. ie. stream. But, in Japanese all consonants are followed by a vowel (except for ‘n’). Change English words into Katakana by adding a vowel after consonants: O Consonants ‘t’ or ‘d’ add ‘o’ = to, do O Consonant ‘k’ add ‘u’ or ‘i’ = ki, ku O All other single consonants add ‘u’.= ru, su, bu,mu etc. Example: class = クラス (kurasu)

Practice - Consonants How would you say/write these words in katakana? O club O home O cake O steak Can you read these: ジム ガス

ANSWER - Consonants How would you say/write these words in katakana? O club クラブ (kurabu) O home ホーム (hoomu) O cake ケーキ (keeki) O steak ステーキ (suteeki) Can you read these: ジム jimu (gym) ガス gasu (gass)

Long vowel sounds Some English vowels sound longer. ie. live vs leave Long vowel sounds are changed into Katakana by adding the symbol “ ー ”. Example: cheese = チーズ (chiizu)

Practice – Long vowel sounds How would you say/write these words in katakana? O sneaker O ski O icecream O tenis O piano Can you read these: ゲーム コーヒー

ANSWERS – Long vowel sounds How would you say/write these words in katakana? O sneaker スニーカー (suniikaa) O ski スキー (sukii) O icecream アイスクリーム (aisukuriimu) O tenis テニス (tenisu) O piano ピアノ (piano) Can you read these: ゲーム geemu (game) コーヒー koohii (coffee)

Vowel + R A vowel followed by ‘r’ is written as a long vowel sound in Katakana. The vowel before the ‘r’ is lengthened by adding the symbol “ ー ”. Example: girlfriend = ガールフレンド (gaarufurendo)

Practice – Vowel + R How would you say/write these words in katakana? O course O circus O girl Can you read this: アパート

ANSWERS – Vowel + R How would you say/write these words in katakana? O course コース (koosu) O circus サーカス (saakisu) O girl ガール (gaaru) Can you read this: アパート apaato (apartment)

Hard consonant sounds When an English syllable ends with a hard sounding consonant (p, b, t, d, k, g, s, sh) these are changed into Katakana by adding a small ‘ ッ (tsu) before the hard consonant. Example: truck = トラック (torakku) (Remember the small tsu creates a pause before the next sound.)

Practice – Hard consonant sounds How would you say/write these words in katakana? O egg O bed O high tech O bag O bread Can you read these: グッドラック ロボット

ANSWERS – Hard consonant sounds How would you say/write these words in katakana? O egg エッグ (eggu) O bed ベッド (beddo) O high tech ハイテック (haitekku) O bag バッグ (baggu) O bread ブレッド (bureddo) Can you read these: グッドラック guddorakku (good luck) ロボット robotto (robot)

J in Katakana The ‘j’ sound, when it doesn’t have a vowel sound after it, changes to ‘ シ ji’. Example: orange = オレンジ (orenji)

Practice – J in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O challenge O George Can you read this: オレンジジュース

ANSWERS – J in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O challenge チャレンジ (charenji) O George ジヨージ (jooji) Can you read this: オレンジジュース orenjijuusu (orange juice)

F in Katakana F by itself or followed by a ‘u’ sound is represented by ‘ フ fu’. F followed by other vowels are written with ‘ フ fu’ and small ァ a ィ i ェ e ォ o ie. fa ファ fi フィ fe フェ fo フォ Example: family = ファミリー (famirii)

Practice – F in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O France O football O dolphin O ferry Can you read these: フィルム カリフォルニア

ANSWERS – F in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O France フランス (furansu) O football フットボール (futtobooru) O dolphin ドルフィン (dorufin) O ferry フェリー (ferii) Can you read these: フィルム firumu (film) カリフォルニア kariforunia (California)

W in Katakana The ‘w’ sound in Japanese can occur with ‘a’ and written in katakana as ‘ ワ wa’. For all other vowels after the ‘w’ sound changes the ‘w’ to ‘ ウ u’ followed by and small ィ i ェ e ォ o ie. wi ウィ we ウェ wo ウォ Example: water = ウォーター (uootaa)

Practice – W in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O week O west O square O whisky Can you read these: ウエーター ホワイト

ANSWERS – W in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O week ウィーク (uiiku) O west ウェスト (uesuto) O square スクウェア (sukuuea) O whisky ウィスキー (uisukii) Can you read these: ウエーター ueetaa (waiter) ホワイト howaito (white)

L and R in Katakana L and R are written as ‘r’ in Katakana. Example: milk = ミルク (miruku)

Practice – L and R in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O cola O ballpen O stereo O trumpet Can you read these: ベルト ルール

ANSWERS – L and R in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O cola コーラ (cora) O ballpen ボールペン (boorupen) O stereo ステレオ (sutereo) O trumpet トランペット (toranpetto) Can you read these: ベルト beruto (belt) ルール ruuru (rules)

Ti, Di, Tu in Katakana The ‘ti’ sound changes to ‘ ティ ’ (typed texi) (or traditionally ‘ チ chi’) The ‘di’ sound changes to ‘ ディ ’ (typed dexi) (or traditionally ‘ ジ ji’) The ‘tu’ sound changes to ‘ ツ tsu’ or ‘ チュ chu’ Example: party = パーティー (paatii) radio = ラジオ (rajio)

Practice – Ti, Di and Tu in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O ticket O music O candy O tea O tulip Can you read these: ティシュ ティアラ

ANSWERS – Ti, Di and Tu in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O ticket チケット (chiketto) O music ミュージック (myuujikku) O candy キャンディー (kyandii) O tea ティー (tii) O tulip チューリップ (chuurippu) Can you read these: ティシュ tishu (tissue) ティアラ tiara (tiara)

Th in Katakana The ‘th’ sound usually changes to ‘s’ (soft ‘th’) or ‘z’ (hard ‘th’) sound (sometimes it changes to just a ‘t’ sound) Example: theater = シアター (shiataa)

Practice – Th in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O mother O thank you O aromatherapy O leather Can you read these: ザ・ビートルズ ウェサー

ANSWERS – Th in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O mother マザー (mazaa) O thank you サンキュー (sankyuu) O aromatherapy アロマテラピー (aromaterapii) O leather レザー (rezaa) Can you read these: ザ・ビートルズ za biitoruzu (the beatles) ウェザー uezaa (weather)

V in Katakana The ‘v’ sound usually changes to ‘b’. (recently katakana ‘u’ with a tenten ‘ ヴ vu’ is used) Example: valentine’s day = バレンタインデー (barentaindee)

Practice – V in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O ivy O vegetable O violin Can you read these: ベジャテリアン ビデオゲーム

ANSWERS – V in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O ivy アイビー (aibii) O vegetable ベジタブル (bejitaburu) O violin バイオリン (baiorin) Can you read these: ベジャテリアン bejiterian (vegetarian) ビデオゲーム bideogeemu (video game)

Ye in Katakana The ‘y’ sound in Japanese only occurs with ‘a, u, o’. There is no ‘ye’ sound so this is changed into katakana by writing it as ‘ イエ ie’. Example: yellow = イェロー (ieroo)

Practice – Ye in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O yes O Yale O year Can you read this: イエティー

ANSWERS – Ye in Katakana How would you say/write these words in katakana? O yes イエス (iesu) O Yale イエル (ieru) O year イヤー (iyaa) Can you read these: イエティー ietii (Yeti- abominable snow man)