Table of Contents
What is the purpose of katakana?
Katakana is sometimes used instead of hiragana as furigana to give the pronunciation of a word written in Roman characters, or for a foreign word, which is written as kanji for the meaning, but intended to be pronounced as the original.
Why was katakana made?
Katakana and Hiragana are the first truly Japanese alphabets. They originated in the 9th century when the Japanese people wanted to create their own writing system distinct from Kanji, which was borrowed from the Chinese.
Why is kanji still used?
In Japanese, there are no spaces between words, so kanji helps break words apart, making it easy to read. As I’m sure you can imagine, long sentences would get even more difficult to read, and when you don’t know where one word begins and another one ends, reading errors can occur.
Why does kanji exist?
Because it makes written communication easier for Japanese people. Sure, it’s difficult for foreigners to learn, and Japanese kids also need to make an effort. But as has been mentioned, Japanese has many homonyms, and kanji helps to distinguish meaning clearly and efficiently.
How many Kokuji are there?
It’s hard to know exactly how many kokuji there are out there since most aren’t commonly used, but you can find dictionaries that list them and there are at least around four hundred.
How did katakana and Hiragana originate?
Hiragana emerged around the ninth century, initially as a form of simplified writing used for informal correspondance . The katakana are based on parts of kanji. They developed from kunten (訓点), a way of annotating Chinese texts so that the Japanese could read them.
What is katakana used for?
Katakana is one of four writing systems used in Japanese (the others being hiragana, kanji , and rōmaji). Katakana is used primarily to represent foreign names and loan words that have been incorporated into the language.
When do I use hiragana and katakana?
Hiragana is used for Japanese, while Katakana is used for foreign words and expressions. It has also become a trend in manga to use Katakana for slang. In other words, if it is correct Japanese, use hiragana, if not, katakana.
How to write katakana?
– Go to “Settings” and tap “General.” It’s in the third grouping of menu items for me. – Select “Keyboard.” – Tap “Keyboards.” – Select “Add New Keyboard.” – Tap “Japanese.” – Select “Kana” and tap “Done.” – To Use Your New Keyboard: