Transcript Katakana Rules - Inge's Japanese Class Website

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,
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 read these words?
ジム
ガス
Can you write this word in katakana?
cake (keeki)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
ジム
ガス
jimu (gym) gasu (gas)
Can you write this word in katakana?
ケーキ
cake (keeki)
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 read these words?
ゲーム
アイスクリーム
Can you write this word in katakana?
coffee (koohii)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
ゲーム
アイスクリーム
geemu (game)
aisukuriimu (icecream)
Can you write this word in katakana?
コーヒー
coffee (koohii)
Vowel + R
A vowel followed by ‘r’ (ie. er, ir, or) 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 read these words?
アパート
サーカス
Can you write this word in katakana?
course (koosu)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
アパート
サーカス
apaato (apartment)
saakasu (circus)
Can you write this word in katakana?
コース
course (koosu)
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.
(Remember the
small tsu creates
a pause before
the next sound.)
Example:
truck = トラック (torakku)
Practice – Hard consonant sounds
How would you read these words?
エッグ
ベッド
Can you write this word in katakana?
bag (baggu)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
エッグ
ベッド
eggu (egg)
beddo (bed)
Can you write this word in katakana?
バッグ
bag (baggu)
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 read these words?
チャレンジ
ジョージ
Can you write this word in katakana?
orangejuice (orenjijuusu)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
チャレンジ
ジョージ
charenji (challenge)
jooji (George)
Can you write this word in katakana?
オレンジジュース
orangejuice
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 read these words?
フィルム
フェリー
Can you write this word in katakana?
France (furansu)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
フィルム
firumu (film)
フェリー
ferii (ferry)
Can you write this word in katakana?
フランス
France (furansu)
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 read these words?
ウエーター
ウィーク
Can you write this word in katakana?
whiskey (uisukii)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
ウエーター
ueetaa (waiter)
ウィーク
uiiku (week)
Can you write this word in katakana?
ウィスキー
whiskey (uisukii)
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 read these words?
ベルト
コーラ
Can you write this word in katakana?
rule (ruuru)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
ベルト
beruto
コーラ
koora
Can you write this word in katakana?
ルール
rule (ruuru)
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
How would you read these words?
ティシュ
ティー
Can you write this word in katakana?
candy (kyandii)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
ティシュ
ティー
tishu (tissue)
tii (tea)
Can you write this word in katakana?
キャンディー
candy (kyandii)
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:
leather レザー (rezaa)
Practice – Th in Katakana
How would you read this word?
マザー
シアター
Can you write this word in katakana?
The beatles (za biitoruzu)
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
マザー
シアター
mazaa (mother) shiataa (theatre)
Can you write this word in katakana?
ザ・ビートルズ
The beatles (za biitoruzu)
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 read this word?
ビデオゲーム
Can you write this word in katakana?
ANSWERS
How would you read these words?
ビデオゲーム
bideogeemu (video game)
Can you write this word in katakana?
ベジャテリアン
vegetarian (bejaterian)
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 read this word?
イヤー
Can you write this word in katakana?
Yale (ieru)
ANSWERS
How would you read this word?
イヤー
iyaa (year)
Can you write this word in katakana?
イエル
Yale (ieru)