Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of logographic kanji, which are adopted Chinese characters, and syllabic kana.Kana itself consists of a pair of syllabaries: hiragana, used primarily for native or naturalized Japanese words and grammatical elements; and katakana, used primarily for foreign words and names, loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific names, and sometimes for emphasis.
The difference in usage between hiragana and katakana is stylistic. Usually, hiragana is the default syllabary, and katakana is used in certain special cases. Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words with no kanji representation (or whose kanji is thought obscure or difficult), as well as grammatical elements such as particles and ...
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word hiragana means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", as contrasted with kanji). [1] [2] [3] Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems. With few exceptions, each mora in the Japanese language is represented by one character (or one digraph) in each system.
The hiragana is written in three strokes, while the katakana in two. Both represent /ni/ although for phonological reasons , the actual pronunciation is [ɲi] . Notably, the katakana (ニ) is functionally identical to the kanji for two (二), pronounced the same way, and written similarly.
Alternatively, on some keyboards, pressing the muhenkan (無変換, "no conversion") button switches between katakana and hiragana. Operation of a typical IME Sophisticated kana to kanji converters (known collectively as input method editors , or IMEs), allow conversion of multiple kana words into kanji at once, freeing the user from having to ...
Sa (hiragana: さ, katakana: サ) is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent [sa]. The shapes of these kana originate from 左 and 散, respectively. Like き, the hiragana character may be written with or without linking the lower line to the rest of the character.
The sound is the only sound that is written identically in hiragana and katakana and therefore confusable according to the Unicode Standard. In the Sakhalin dialect of the Ainu language , ヘ can be written as small ㇸ to represent a final [h] after an [e] sound (エㇸ [eh] ).
The hiragana ゑ is made with one stroke. It resembles a hiragana る that continues with a double-humped ん shape underneath. The katakana ヱ is made with three strokes: A horizontal line that hooks down and to the left. A vertical line, just grazing the end of the first stroke. A long horizontal line across the bottom.