That form of the Japanese kana syllabary which is not cursive and is most commonly used for (but not restricted to) writing words borrowed from other languages.
14
votes
4answers
2k views
Why “dame” is written as katakana (ダメ) in manga?
"Dame" which means "not good" or "don't do that" is sometimes written in manga as katakana.
Is it because katakana is used to express a strong feeling ?
27
votes
9answers
1k views
When is the katakana form of wo (ヲ) used?
I'm pretty new to Japanese, and I've been trying to learn hiragana and katakana. I know that in hiragana, wo (を) is used only for as an object particle, and it is always pronounced like o (お).
This ...
10
votes
4answers
353 views
What determines whether a word gets a kanji compound or katakana?
I read electronics/computing articles, and I find an incredible amount of terms are written either in kanji (almost similar to Chinese) or katakana. There are times when it's confusing as to know why. ...
6
votes
3answers
295 views
What are the rules determining the use of the dash in katakana?
As explained in this question, a dash character is used in katakana as an extension of a sound.
First, what exactly is this character called? A "nobasu mark"?
Anyway, I saw this sign in Shibuya the ...
8
votes
6answers
776 views
Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?
Why are there kanji, hiragana and katakana? Is there a logical reason behind this or just tradition?
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Can I write Japanese name “Midori” this way - 緑?
There is female Japanese name "Midori," and I want to know the ways I can write it. I know it means "green," but maybe the name and "green" are different words sometimes.
I used google-translator to ...
3
votes
1answer
217 views
Does the ー represent a double vowel or a long vowel sound?
For words like パーティー (party), I know ー is doubling the ア and イ. But for a word like センセイ (and let's assume for the sake of argument that it is regularly spelled in katakana), would it be センセイ or センセー ...
11
votes
5answers
135 views
ユーザ or ユーザー, which is more in use or is there no difference?
ユーザ or ユーザー, which is more in use or is there no difference?
I see both of them in use, but is there one that is more correct than the other or is at least the prevailing standard?
a similar word is ...
8
votes
1answer
356 views
Are foreign personal names usually written in katakana rather than Romaji?
Are foreign personal names usually written in katakana, or is this dependent on the type or writing, and the target audience? For example, this Japanese Wikipedia entry on Steven Bradbury uses ...
5
votes
1answer
195 views
Why does furigana occasionally appear as katakana?
I've seen some kanji whose furigana is actually katakana. For example, see the following manga cover for 桜蘭高校ホスト部. When would a kanji character ever be pronounced as a loan word?
