East Asian Writing Systems

Japanese Writing: Home > Hiragana and Katakana >
envelope

Katakana


Table of Katakana Characters


Table 4: Long Vowels and Double Consonants


VOWEL LENGTHENING Examples
To indicate the long aa sound:

1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー.

2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol ア a is added to an a-row syllable (rare).

パー paa 'par (in golf)"
etc.

アア aa

To indicate the long ii sound:

1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー.

2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol イ i is added to a syllable ending in i.

スピード supiido 'speed'
etc.

イイ ii
etc.
To indicate the long uu sound:

1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー.

2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol ウ u is added to a syllable ending in u.

キュー kyuu 'cue (in billiards)'

キュウ kyuu (e.g., 急 'urgent')
etc.

To indicate the long ee sound:

1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー. However, it is also very common to see the symbol イ i  added to a syllable ending in e (as shown in no. 2).

2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol イ i is added to a syllable ending in e
(Note: Although indicated with an イ i, ei is actually pronounced as a lengthened e sound.)

 


テーマ teema 'theme'
アプリケーション apurikeeshon 'application'
But テイクアウト teiku-auto 'take-out, takeaway'

セイ sei
テイ tei
ヘイ hei
ゲイ gei
etc.

To indicate the long oo sound:


1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー.

2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol ウ u is added to a syllable ending in o.  There are a few exceptional words where the long ō sound is indicated with an オ o rather than an ウ u.

(Note: This site romanises long o as ō. This runs counter to the recent trend to use ou. The reason for using ō is: (1) there is a distinction between long ō and the true ou sound that needs to be preserved and (2) there is no distinction in pronunciation between the long ō sound indicated with ウ and that indicated with オ.)


ショー shoo 'show'
Note:
ジョーズ Joozu 'Jaws'
but ジョウズ (上手) jōzu 'skilful'

コウ
ソウ sō
ゴウ gō
ジョウ jō
ビョウ byō
etc.
Long ō using オ :
トオイ tooi
'far'
トオリ toori
'road'
オオキイ ookii
'big, large'
コオリ koori
'ice'
etc.

CONSONANT DOUBLING  
Doubling of stop consonants is indicated with a small tsu ッ. In Japanese words, normally only t, k, p, and s are doubled in this way. In foreign words, d b, g, j, h, f, and even v or r can also be doubled. バッタリ battari 'with a thud, suddenly, unexpectedly'
バッグ baggu 'bag'
バッド baddo 'bad'
バッハ bahha 'Bach'
Doubling of nasal consonants is indicated with an ン n.
ハンマー hanmaa 'hammer'.

See also....

Table 5: Representation of Foreign Sounds

Back to Top