Hiragana (e.g., あ) is typically used to write native Japanese vocabulary and grammatical words, while katakana (e.g., ア) is used to write words of foreign (but not Chinese) origin, sound words, and sometimes names of animals. Katakana can be used to transcribe Chinese words, but usually only when it reflects a pronunciation different from that of standard Japanese. For example, the word 経済 (economics) is pronounced 'keizai' in Japanese, so if this pronunciation were written out, hiragana would normally be used, けいざい. However, it's pronunciation in Mandarin is 'jingji,' so if this were to be written out, katakana would be used, perhaps ジンジ.
In English, we have regular script, and italics. English uses italics for writing words recently borrowed from other languages, and for emphasis. Katakana works in the same exact way.
Each hiragana symbol has a corresponding katakana symbol with the same pronunciation. However, Katakana is only used when:
(1) writing a word borrowed from another language (English/Roman Characters are not used, Katakana is used to approximate the sound)
(2) putting special emphasis on a word normally written in hiragana
(3) writing Japanese that is pronounced crudely, or rudely, or so poorly as to sound "foreign" (subtitles for Foreigners speaking in Japanese on Japanese television is almost always written as katakana)
To review: katakana is just another *style* or "font" of hiragana. It has a few separate functions, which have been mentioned above. You really must learn both systems, they both occur quite often in Japanese writing.
Hiragana and Katakana are both part of the Japanese alphabet but they used for different purposes. Hiragana forms Japanese origin words, while Katakana forms the sounds of foreign origin words (ex. English).
It has been an exciting field to learn approximately! I have studied Martial Arts my whole existence and am sixty two years historical and feature discovered that the diversities are extra cultural than bodily! Although locally the Chinese within the Northern locations of China appear taller and their eyes are nearer in look to the persons who are living in Mongolia and Tibet! The Southern Chinese appear shorter and their eyes are extra very similar to the Japanese and Taiwanese! This may be very subjective so I wager that's normally the best way the leisure of the sector sees it too! The Germans did a "racial" research earlier than WWII and took facial measurements and a few of that Ido is to be had on the web in case you google it!
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Hiragana (e.g., あ) is typically used to write native Japanese vocabulary and grammatical words, while katakana (e.g., ア) is used to write words of foreign (but not Chinese) origin, sound words, and sometimes names of animals. Katakana can be used to transcribe Chinese words, but usually only when it reflects a pronunciation different from that of standard Japanese. For example, the word 経済 (economics) is pronounced 'keizai' in Japanese, so if this pronunciation were written out, hiragana would normally be used, けいざい. However, it's pronunciation in Mandarin is 'jingji,' so if this were to be written out, katakana would be used, perhaps ジンジ.
In English, we have regular script, and italics. English uses italics for writing words recently borrowed from other languages, and for emphasis. Katakana works in the same exact way.
Each hiragana symbol has a corresponding katakana symbol with the same pronunciation. However, Katakana is only used when:
(1) writing a word borrowed from another language (English/Roman Characters are not used, Katakana is used to approximate the sound)
(2) putting special emphasis on a word normally written in hiragana
(3) writing Japanese that is pronounced crudely, or rudely, or so poorly as to sound "foreign" (subtitles for Foreigners speaking in Japanese on Japanese television is almost always written as katakana)
To review: katakana is just another *style* or "font" of hiragana. It has a few separate functions, which have been mentioned above. You really must learn both systems, they both occur quite often in Japanese writing.
Hiragana and Katakana are both part of the Japanese alphabet but they used for different purposes. Hiragana forms Japanese origin words, while Katakana forms the sounds of foreign origin words (ex. English).
It has been an exciting field to learn approximately! I have studied Martial Arts my whole existence and am sixty two years historical and feature discovered that the diversities are extra cultural than bodily! Although locally the Chinese within the Northern locations of China appear taller and their eyes are nearer in look to the persons who are living in Mongolia and Tibet! The Southern Chinese appear shorter and their eyes are extra very similar to the Japanese and Taiwanese! This may be very subjective so I wager that's normally the best way the leisure of the sector sees it too! The Germans did a "racial" research earlier than WWII and took facial measurements and a few of that Ido is to be had on the web in case you google it!
Katakana are used for foreign words or names and sounds like クリームcream, ジョン John, バン！Bang!
Japanese sentences are written in Kanji and Hiragana like 雨が降ってます。Ame ga futtemasu = It's raining.
See Yahoo Japan.
http://www.yahoo.co.jp/