Learn

巧lllil
Second Book of
Basic Japanese
Writing

Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura

$14.00
Let's Learn Katakana
Let's
Learn
Katakana

Yasuko Kosaka Mit过miira

KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL
Tokyo •New York • London
Distributed in the United States by Kodansha America, LLC, and in the
United Kingdom and continental Europe by Kodansha Europe Uid.

Published by Kodansha International Ltd., 17-14 Otowa I'chome,

Bunkyoku, Tokyo 112-8652.

Copyright © 1985 by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura.

All rights reserved. Printed in Japan.
ISBN 978-0-87011-719-0
ISBN 978-4-7700-1219-7 (in Japan)
LCC 85-40059

First edition, 1985

2019181716151413121110 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23

www.kodansha-inU.com
Contents

Preface 7

1. How to Write Syllables 9

Basic Katakana and Modifications 16
First Group 16
Second Group 20
Third Group 24

2. How to Write Words 27

[o] + [o] in Japanese Words 27
Other Double Vowels 28
Double Consonants 30
Component Words 31
Other Modifications 32
Y5on 32
The Expanded Syllabary 35

3. Words of Japanese Origin 38

Names of Plants and Animals 38
Onomatopoeia 41
Domestic Telegrams 44
New Uses 44
To Replace Kanji 44
For Emphasis 45
Other Uses 47

4. Words of Foreign Origin 49

Guidelines for Transcription 50
 Loanwords 60
Unabbreviated Words 60
Abbreviated Words 70

Proper Nouns 71
Geographic Names 71
Personal Names 74

5 - Review Exercises 76

Appendix A: Exercise Answers 82

Appendix B: The Derivation of Katakana 87

PREFACE

Up until now, the significance of Katakana in written Japanese has been

neglected in teaching Japanese as a foreign language. Even students who

become familiar with the symbols often do not have a clear understanding of

the entire Katakana syllabary and its many applications.

For the most part, the conventional method of introducing Katakana in

Japanese language instruction has been limited to words of foreign origin. A

shortcoming of this method is that it emphasized reading Katakana and did

not provide sufficient practice in writing. In fact, only basic everyday words

such as those for chocolate, handkerchief, ice cream, milk, necktie and the

like were used as examples.

Actually, Katakana is not confined to foreign words; the ways it is used are

extremely varied, and it is often the appropriate way to write many Japanese

words, such as the names of plants and animals, onomatopoeic expressions,

domestic telegrams and so on. The most conspicuous use of Katakana is seen

in the recent trend to give words a special nuance, usually by stressing certain

words to make them stand out. This new use is found in all the latest mag¬

azines and advertisements and seems to be on the increase.

Due to the varied and expanding use of Katakana, teaching needs to be up¬

dated. Students should be able to read and write Katakana, as well as know

when to use it. Continual practice and exposure to Katakana, as provided by

diligent use of this workbook, will lead to eventual mastery of this form of

writing.

This workbook has been designed, like its companion volume Let's Leam

Hiragana, with sufficient explanation and examples to allow students of Jap-

7
anese to learn Katakana on their own, without the aid of an instructor.

Special note should be made of the fact that the words in the examples and ex¬

ercises are not words ordinarily written in Hiragana and here transcribed into

Katakana for the sake of instruction. They are words carefully selected be¬

cause they are always or in certain circumstances written in Katakana.

There are five chapters in this book. Chapter 1 introduces the forty-six

basic Katakana and twenty-three modified symbols. The contracted syllables,

and the twenty-five additional syllables found only in Katakana, are given in

chapter 2, which first explains the general guidelines for writing words in

Katakana. Chapter 3 shows various words of Japanese origin that are written

in Katakana. Chapter 4 gives guidelines and exercises for transcribing foreign

words into Katakana. In chapter 5 there are review exercises. Answers to the

exercises are given in Appendix A, and the derivation of Katakana is outlined

in Appendix B.

For convenience, the format of this workbook has been kept the same as

the companion Hiragana book. As in the previous volume, the Modified Hep¬

burn System is used throughout for 民omanization of Japanese words.

I would like to give special thanks to Mr. Minoru Yasunaga, senior spe¬

cialist, Japanese Language Division of the Ministry of Education, for taking

precious time to provide me with much invaluable information.

I would also like to thank the following people for their contributions to

this workbook: my dear mend Virginia Newton, for editing various drafts of

the manuscript; my niece Akiko Kosaka, who helped in the time-consuming

process of selecting the vocabulary for the examples and exercises; and my

daughter Joyce, for her assistance in every phase of the work from the first to
the final draft.
 山
HOW TO WRITE SYLLABLES

As you know, there are two types of writing in Japanese: Kanji and Kana.

Kanji are Chinese ideographs which have been used in Japan for about fifteen

hundred years, whereas Kana are phonetic symbols representing pronuncia¬

tion. There are two Kana syllabaries: Hiragana and Katakana. Both of them

are derived from Kanji.

Hiragana and Katakana developed almost simultaneously, but inde¬

pendently and for different reasons. Tnis took place a little over a thousand

years ago. (A note on the nistory of Katakana is given in Appendix B.)

To better understand the relationship between the three ways of writing

Japanese, one might think of Hiragana as being a sort of guide wheel, for it

underlies the writing system as a whole. Kanji, on the other hand, has played

an important role historically in expressing the many words and concepts

whose original source is the Chinese language. In modern usage, Katakana

bears the burden of representing words whose origins are foreign languages

other than Chinese. All three are indispensable to read and write Japanese.

As noted, the relationship between Kanji and vocabulary of Cmnese origin

is very close, so in the present context foreign words refers to words from other

languages. The majority of these vocabulary items are words from Western

languages, especially English. (It is not unknown for Chinese words to be writ¬

ten in Katakana, but the total number is quite small.)

Words borrowed from "other" foreign languages are customarily felt to

belong to one of two categories: loanwords (gairaigo) or, simply, foreign words

(gaikokugo). Words in the first group, either because of the frequency with

which they are used or the length of time since they began to be used, have
been assimilated. These foreign words are used for a variety of reasons, rang¬

ing from the need for precise definition, as in scientific work, through an in¬

terest in preserving the particular nuance or affect a word can have, to an

urge to be "with it," as with items of pop culture. Of course, in certain cases it

is not easy, even for the specialist, to say whether a particular word has or has

not been fully assimilated.

Because Katakana symbols are not a cursive style like Hiragana, they have

sharp angles, more straight lines and fewer curves, making them perhaps a lit¬

tle easier to master. However, in terms of basic communication, Hiragana is

by far the more frequently encountered and should be learned first.

One point which Hiragana and Katakana have in common is that in both

systems one Kana represents one syllable. And there are five types of syllables

in Katakana, just as there are in Hiragana:

し Five basic vowels: [a], [i], [u], [e], [o]

2. Consonant or semivowel + vowel: [na], [ki], [yu], etc.

3. Syllabic consonant: [n]/[m]

4. Any consonant other than [n]/[m] when followed by another iden¬

tical consonant, e.g., koppu,ブ〇なo, etc.

5. A contracted syllable: [ki] + [ya]二[kya], [chi] + [ya]二[cha], etc.

In preparation for the introduction of the Katakana symbols, it is impor¬

tant to first mention the general rules for writing them. These rules are exact¬

ly the same in Katakana as in Hiragana. Stroke order must be memorized for

each symbol. The general rule for stroke order is left to right —> and top to

bottom ふ.Ending a stroke correctly is equally important. As you will

remember, there are three different ways to do this: tome, hane and harai.

Tome means "stop," so you bring the pen or pencil to a complete stop and lift

it off the paper. The tome ending is indicated by a dot placed at the end of the

stroke in the following examples:

王’.

10
The second ending, hane, means "jump." Therefore you end the stroke by

abruptly lifting the pen or pencil off the paper. This is indicated by a check

mark ゾ in the following examples:

す 々 ホ
1 he final ending, harai, means "sweep." You execute this by lifting the pen or

pencil up gradually at the end of the stroke while your hand is still in motion.

1 ms is indicated by a dotted line in the following examples:

T シ 7'
On pages 12 and 13 is the complete Katakana syllabary. It is presented in

two parts. In table I, the first section contains the forty-six basic symbols. The

second and third sections contain the three forms of modification, dakuon (in¬

dicating voicing of consonant), hanctakuon (for semivoicing) and yoon (con¬

tracted syllables). Up to this point the Katakana syllabary is quite the same as

the Hiragana syllabary. Both the pronunciation and the romaji are exactly the

same. In table II, you will find the expanded syllabary consisting of twenty-

five additional syllables used only when writing foreign words.

The reason for the expanded syllabary is to signal the pronunciation of

sounds that are not found in Japanese. In Let's Learn Hiragana, we observed

that about thirty-eight sounds are necessary to speak English. If English and

Japanese are compared, it will be seen that the number of sounds required for

Japanese is approximately ten to twelve less than the minimum necessary for

English. Hence, the existence of the expanded syllabary to account for pro¬

nunciation that occurs in English—or other languages—but not in Japanese.

After familiarizing yourself with both parts of the syllabary, turn to page

14, where you can begin learning the basic Katakana, one group at a time, by

studying the text and doing the exercises. Each successive group of exercises

includes Katakana from previous exercises.

11
TABLE I： BASIC KATAKANA SYLLABARY 。了 tィ"ウ

が力が^がクがグがn

gサ如、ン
がザパジ wk:びどwがソスwセwソ
ムダ
M ^ ぃノ化一て 空てS
んド

w二wスw禾w ノ

六hピ^ブろ
心；^:Hヒみフへ^ホ^ボ

六がピ导たへ朵
麵マg/、/ -ム-メ圃モ

Wヤ 互 W3
ra\フロ：：TN™ルだレTO 0
ろ 。ヲ

Iン
芋 my。 hya nya cha sha kya
coな
m^ITPU口 ゴ巧：一巧
urt王的 pu巧 con 心口〇
>j ulsrtg ^寸 g|
だ〇 ミ
ソャ ヤ ず
ジ myu hyu nyu chu
% %
ryu shu kyu
名巧
ミム ム ふ シ
の ソュ を
1—«
myo hyo nyo cho sho
：
N ryo ho
ミ J Z^
今
〇C ソョ 3 -t 、若
ジ
の
の
パ 〇だ pya bya 批 拟な
と。ヒ、、 ♦八
1
C r ヤ 夕
至 pyu byu 知 gyu
ヒ。
ムム
ピ え ザ
〇C
S pyo byo jo
な と。ピ 、、、、
gyo
Q ザ
ON 3 ョ

12
TABLE II： ADDITIONAL SYLLABLES FOR FOREIGN WORDS

fa tsa cha sha kwa kya

ツァ み
ti wi
16 Additional Syllables

え
fu chu shu kyu

/e tse che she we ye

义 え シェ 文 イェ
fo iso cho sho kivo kyo iVO

み な

va 知 gwa gツな

rマ

vi di

了ィ
9 Additional Syllables

vu みu ju
—•、

お
- 一/

VO Jo

13
THE FIRST GROUP OF 15

a
T な了 -11)11,

i
4 レグイ

へク
1 11 1 1 1 ■ ■

u
ク
ど
王 で王.
’^
1 ] 1 1 1 1

才 ず才 1 1 1 1 1 1

ka
力 クみ
シ 寺
111111

ネ
• /
hi
•そ. ^

ku
ク 句な
he
グ 夕戶■•夕
ko つ 勺^三? ■
•

1 1 1 1 1

sa
サ ^巧
—*

1 1 i 1 1 ,

shi
'ン ン
'"ミ、、
1 1 1 I 1

su
ス 芳ス ' 1--
’

セ ^を.
1 1 1 1

se
11111.

so
ソ
14
 Ill'll II
.一..;•••こ，

a
r /
*
••バ

••
i

ク
で ■••つ
u *
*

ど エ 一*

一.•：-
>•••

1 1 1 1 1 1 II
•
11^ ...V • • •
• •
0 • ♦

••••ミ
111111 1 1

力
t
••••
ka «
»
•
•
'ソ
i 1 1 1 1 1 II
1 1 1 1 1 . 1-II
«
•ぃ
hi
'111111 11

ク
い■ >
• ••

ku ■
«

パ
I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

he
ブ • •

111111
1-1-1-1 i-It
1 1
1-

ko つ
‘ 1 1 1 i 1 t 1

サ
:こ
:••
S幻

-1-> — ' 1 1 1 1-1 1 i

••• •
•-、
shi
V 一,•
-1-1 1-1 t ' • 1 ♦ 1-

su
ス '•••
ん
*•••

1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1

se
セ •
’•••一•• ;
4 ；

\1 •' 11 1
1
ill
f 1-1
II
* ' 1

ソ
■ •
• ■
•
so

15
Basic Katakana and Modifications

First Group

As shown on the previous pages, the first group of fifteen basic Katakana

consists of the five basic vowels [a], [i], [u], [e], [o] and the ten syllables com¬

bining k or s/sh with these vowels.

These fifteen Katakana have ten dakuon: [ga], [gi], [gu], [ge], [go] and [za],

[ji], [zu], [ze], [zo]. The symbolic representation of the voicing of the con¬

sonants in Katakana is the same as in Hiragana: two abbreviated strokes are

added at the upper right corner of the symbol. For example, [ka] is 方 and

[ga]、ろか'、 [ki] is 央 and [gi] is and so on.

Exercises

A. Fill in each space with the appropriate Katakana to make words.

イス（ice) 9.
サ he
(salmon)

2. 方(squid) 10. ア(cocoa)

ko ko

3. _ザ"*^、、（rabt)it) 11.
sa
车、 (heron)

4. ァ(air) 12.
shi
力 (deer)

k
弓. 了シ又(oasis) 13. 力、’ (gas)
su

6.スイ _(watermelon) 14.ー コイア (sequoia)

ka se

ス（kiss) 15. (shiso)

ki so

16
 8. 3^ _(chrysanthemum)
ku

B. Write the following words in Katakana.

し lesu (yes) 5. kuizu (quiz) 9. aji (horse mackerel)

し ushi (cow) 6. koke (moss) 10. sekaseka (restless)

3. ka、mosquito) 7. koi (carp) 11.Ajia (Asia)

4. kishikishi (squeak) 8. 50わw (size) 12. ekisu (extract)

C. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

\■.可、ノゎ(sea lion) 6. クスクス (giggle)

2. ククソス (nightingale) 7. ケシ (poppy)

3. スエズ (Suez) 8. アサカ''ホ (morning glory)

4. Tカシて (acacia) 9. カサ方ザ (rustle)

5 .ス年' (Japanese cedar) 10.スコ了 (score)

17
THE SECOND GROUP OF 15
' 、 ， 1 1 1 1
ta
ダ み巧夕 1 1 1 t 1 1

chi
个 たン .ホ 1, 11 [
II1 I 1
1-1-
ぃ
tsu
ブ V\

1
\\

1 1 1 1 1 ■
今 ——

テ 广了
一一

te
一 .
1 • 1-1-1-1

to
卜 1ド.
' ' ' '-
na
ナ 一す 1-1-1-1-1-1-
—— :t -.一

ni -1 •

nu
ヌ クス 1111 1■ ' 1 —1

riど

夕 ^タホホ.
no
ノ ん 11111 1
'

ha ハ ムゾ ノぐ ♦
1 1 1 1 1 -1-

hi ヒ 仁 心

1 • } 1 f - 1' 1

fu
フ 'III ."—1-■ 1

he へ ベ♦
- 11 . 11 >1 11 t1 •1

ho
ホ •すホホ
— --1_1-1-1-1_1_
18
 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1
.•う>
一•

ta
グ
• •'•ミ-一•
个
♦
♦

chi t•

tsu
ブ ♦

■■ぃ* 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1
•••ミ--
テ
te

to ご.、
-- 1 1 r 1 1 ' 1 1 1
•.4….
ナ
na

■ 1-1 1-1 1 1 t 1-
—
__ ■ ■
—

ni

nu *•/
ヌ .•ぃ‘....
巧ど
ホ パ•ミ
%

ノ
♦
no *

1 < 十—.卜" 1 1 卜1 1
ha ノ \
1
hi
b

• ••••• • •
fu
フ
11111111
he へ ••- •••
1 I i 1 1 1 1 1
ホ / •4 ....
■ ■♦い**

ho i
• • •

19
Second Group

The second group consists of the three subgroups made by combining

t/ch/ts or n or h/f with the basic vowels to form the syllables [ta], [chi], [tsu],

[te], [to]; [na], [ni], [nu], [ne], [no]; and [ha], [hi], [fu], [he], [ho].

Along with the above fifteen basic Katakana, there are three dakuon

counterparts of [ta], [te], [to]; these are [da], [de], [do]. The [ha], [hi], [fu], [he],

[ho] subgroup also has the two sets of modification: [ba], [bi], [bu], [be], [bo];

and [pa], [pi], [pu], [pe], [po].

It is important to note that the voiced counterparts of シ[shi] and ず

[chi], which are ノ [ji] and つ[ji], are pronounced the same, as are the

voiced counterparts of ス[su] and '"J [tsu], which have the same pronun¬

ciation [zu] and are written ス’ and 、ソ，‘ respectively. However, in

Katakana, unlike in Hiragana,す[ji] and ツ[zu] are no longer needed or

used, and therefore do not appear in the syllabary.

Exercises

D. Fill in each space with the appropriate Katakana to make words.

し _ イ(sea bream) んークダイ (necktie)

ta ne

クダク (ticktock) 9.ヒ。て _(piano)

3.バグ___ (bucket) 10. _ ィ（pie)

ん-ス _(test) 11. —TL (shrimp)
hi

5. _ イフ（knife) 12. _づ (しrucian carp)

fu

ら.了 _ ス(tennis) 13. V-'' (snake)

ni he

20
 アイ (Ainu) 14.ー ス (boss)
nu bo

E. Write the following words in Katakana.

1.itachi (weasel) 5. kitsune (fox) 9. fuji (wisteria)

2. tsutsuji (azalea) 6. inoshishi (boar) 10. hechima (snake gourd)

3. kani (crab) 7. basu (bus) 11.hosutesu (hostess)

4. tanuki (raccoon dog) 8. hinoki (cypress) 12. paionia (pioneer)

F. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

しカクダス (cactus) —/ —(smUingly)

2.ツノぐキ (camellia) イス（dog)

テ令サス (Texas) 8. えコ (cat)

4•トア(door) 9.イセ王ビ (lobster)

5.クナ丰(eel) 10. (exhausted)

21
THE THIRD GROUP OF 16
1 ^1 1 ' 1 1 1

ma
マつマ 0
-1-1-.1 1 1 1 1
1 — 1 1 1 1 *-1-

mi
ミ 、づ三.
.■!_
1
1
1
ふ 1
1
1
1
i
f
.1
1 -- - 1

mu
ム寡が
> . 1 1 1 1 1 1

me
夫It
レ. 夕.
■ 1 、 1
1
1
i
1
1
1
11
1-!-

mo
モ ., 1
ーみ
1
ホ. 1 1 1 ( 1

ブな
ヤ气夕 ,.1
1
1
1
1
'
1 1 1 ,
1-1-1-1-

yu 王*^心ユ.
-1-1 1 1 1 1 ,

ブ〇
3 うム勺ィ H .
1 1 1 1 1 1 ,
1 - 1 1 1-1-1-1-
^ ■一 • —

ra
，ィス，，，，,

い，、ふ
ri
-
1
:1
1111111
1 1 1 1 1-1-
’
ル瓜
ru

1 1 < 1 1 1 1 1
f 1 1 1 1-1-1-

re
レ心
-1-
' I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 -- - t
f H
1

TO
口ん\ 口ん口.
--
, '^ ' ' 1 1 1 1
'
1
'-'- 1

1\~ 、可
wa
-('-1' 1
1
1
1 •-- -
1 1 1
1

0
ラーに. 3.
n/m
ン、^ ンづ —
 1 1 1 1 ' 1111

ma
マ '.マ
-1-1-1 -1-1-1-•-1-1-

mi
\ ••••
11111 1111

mu
ム•み
me
夫/ 1 1 lit 1111

'XL- 一
mo -f— づ….
•、••一
>1 1 1 1 1111
•

ya
T \

yu つ…?
•••••も••一

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

—つ ••••*?
ブ〇
^ 一-•ミ

— 一 •
ra
フブ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

ri
•M . .

ru
J
_II
レ)1.... 1 1 1_1_1_1 1 ■

re
レ t
L..'
t-1-1-1 ' 1 1 '

ro
口口
ワヴ
1 < 1 t-1-1 '1~ 1 1

wa

— 1 ••パ；

ヲブ
0

n/m
ンン <1 II 11111
Third Group

In the third group of sixteen basic Katakana, the first five combine m with

the vowels to form [ma], [mi], [mu], [me], [mo]. The next three combine y with

three of the basic vowels to form [ya], [yu] and [yo]. The next five Katakana

combine r with the vowels to give [ra], [ri], [ru], [re],卜0].

The next symbol, [wa], represents the semivowel[w] + [a]. Just as in

Hiragana, the syllables [wi], [wu] and [we] do not exist in the basic Katakana

syllabary. (However, [wi], [wej and [wo] are among the additional syllables in

the expanded syllabary.)

In Hiragana, as you know, the syllable in this column represented by

the symbol 么[o], has an important grammatical function. The fifteenth

symbol in this group フ[0] also exists, but it is rarely encountered. General¬

ly speaking, particles are omitted in domestic telegrams. However, if it were

necessary to specify the particle 0 for the sake of clarity, this is the symbol that

would be employed.フ might also be found in historical documents.

The final symbol in this group represents the syllable [n]/[m]. Remember,

this IS a syllable in itself and it differs from the syllables formed by n or m plus

a vowel.

Exercises

G. Fill in each space with the appropriate Katakana to make words.

(tomato) 、ク _ ス(class)
ma m

2. _ J しク(milk) 10. ストルSt)

mi ri

3. / \ _(ham) 1し夕づ* _(towel)

mu

4. 力 _ フ(camera) 12.了 _ ヒ、' (television)

me re

24
 5•メ (memo) 13. _ シ了 (Russia)
mo TO

ら.ダイ ブ幻
(tire) 14.
wa
(eagle)

(lily) パ.レモ (lemon)

ブw 打

8.
ブ〇
を りosemite) 16.レ
打
(lens)

h. Write the rollowing words in katakana.

1. omuretsu (omelet) 6. mainasu (minus)

2. kumo (spider) 7. mineraru (mineral)

3.ブ雌i (goat) 8. romansu (romance)

4. yunion (union) 9. waifu (wife)

5. raten (Latin) 10. hankachi (handkerchief)

I. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

1•ゾフソン^ (marathon) 7•レ (lei)

2•スダミナ (stamina) 8•ソノ、 (squirrel)

3.アルバム (album) フロク (program)

んユえスつ(UNESCO) 10.ス'、ボ' (trousers)

25
5. モナコ (Monaco) 11. ミラクル (miracle)

6. アヤメ (iris) 12. クソスマス (Christmas)

*From rrench. lubon

26
 凹
HOW TO WRITE WORDS

Now you have learned the forty-six basic Katakana and their dakuon and han-

dakuon. The next symbols shown in the syllabary are the yoon. Before learning

how to use contracted syllables in making words, it is important to know some

symbols and the general rules for writing words in Katakana.

[o] + [o] in Japanese Words

As you may recall, in Hiragana the writing of double o，s (oo, o) received

special attention. When double o，s occur, the second [o] was in most cases

written as ノ [u], and only in a few cases as も[o]. This same rule applies
in Katakana writing, but only for words of Japanese origin. (Other cases are

taken up in the next section of this chapter.) When o occurs, the second [o] is

most often written with ソ[u]. There are some exceptions using [0].

ク[u] for the second [0]:

bu do 0 (grape) to 0 mo ro ko shi (corn)

フ''ドク トウモロコシ
sa ku ra m bo 0 (cherry) zo 0 (elephant)
ヴクランボウ グク
ho 0 re n so 0 (spinach) 0 0 mu (parrot)

ホウレンソウ イクA
go bo 0 (burdock) ko 0 mo ri (bat)

ゴボウ コウモソ
sa to 0 ki bi (sugar cane) ko 0 no to ri (stork)

サトウキビ コウ/トソ

27
 ホ[o] for the second [ 0]:

ho 0 ]i ro (meadow bunting) 0 0 mu gi (barley)

ホオジロ ホォA幸' ソ ス I

0 ka mi (wolf) ho zu ki (ground-cherry)
ース
0

オオ 力 ホオズ^ 5
u

0
0
s
Other Double Vowels

In writing foreign words in Katakana, when any vowel is lengthened a

ス气1
short straight line is used instead of writing the symbol for that vowel. This

long-vowel mark occupies the same space as one Katakana symbol:—for

horizontal writing, | for vertical writing. The same rule applies, too, when

writing onomatopoeia. Examples of this are given in chapter 3.

he e hi (cake) su ki i (ski)

グ-今叮 スネー

み
Exercises

A. Write the following words in katakana, using — for the long vowel.

1.aisukurimu (ice cream) 6. gemu (game)

な
2. k do (card) 7. chizu (cheese)

3. koto (coat) 8. no to (notebook)

4. kohi (coffee) 9. biru (beer)

5. supu (soup) 10. boto (boat)

28
B. Write the following words in Katakana, paying special attention to the

long vowel.

1.apdto (apartment) 6. tdki (turkey)

2. erebetd (elevator) 7.巧bum (table)

3. ki (key) 8. boru (ball)

4. shitsu (sheet) 9. me torn (meter)

さ
5. SOS ji (sausage) 10. resu (race)

C. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

1.エネ7レ丰 一* (energy) 6.スク~ ー ト(skate)

2.方レーフイス(curried rice) 7.てノ \ ー ト（department store)

3•コーフス(chorus) 8.ノ \ ー モニク(harmonica)

4.ソー人 / (season) 9•ベースホ' ー ノレ（baseball)

弓.人7 —ノ (spoon) 10.レコード(record)

*From ぃerman, Energie

29
Double Consonants

The method of writing double consonants in Katakana is exactly the same

as in Hiragana. With the exception of [n]/[m], the first of any pair of double

consonants is always written with a half-size ゾ(tsu). Look at the following

examples.

m幻 t chi (match) ko p pu (cup)

マ、ソ个 コッフe

As explained in Let’s Learn Hiragana, the half size 'ソ is not pronounced but

indicates a time beat of one syllable in duration.

What looks like double [n] or [m] in romaji does not follow the example

above. As in Hiragana, the first [n] or [m] is the syllabic [n]/[m], and the se¬

cond [n] or [m] belongs to the following syllable, as in these examples.

to n ne ru (tunnel) m幻 m mo su (mammoth)
トンホ/レ 了ン モス

Exercises

D. Write the following words in Katakana, paying special attention to the

underlined consonant.

し ku k hi (cookie) 5. to ra k ku (truck)

2. ra he t to (racquet) 6. na t tsu (nut)

3. sa k kな(soccer) 7. no k ku (knock)

4. so k kw SM (socks) 8. pe t to (pet)

E. First count the number of syllables, then write the following words in
Katakana.

1.appuru (aople) 6. netto (net)

30
 2. kurejitto (credit) baud (batter)

3. kokku* (cook) 8. hitto (hit)

4. sukippu (skip) 9. poketto (pocket)

5. setto (set) 10. roketto (rocket)

*From Dutch, kok

F. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

1. ■inブ"グ、ソト（etiquette) 5.バスグットホ、-ル (basketball)

2. クラリネット (clarinet) 6.ヒクーツク (picnic)

3•プ > ドイッチ (sandwich) 7.ス、ツト ド、、/ク、、(hot dog)

4. 7~ラックス(deluxe) 8.スソッパ (slipper)

しomponent Words

Another symbol seen in Katakana writing is the solid dot placed in the mid¬

dle of the line • to show the components of an expression. This dot separates

words in a compound expression consisting of three or more words, for exam¬

ple, エス•ホー•エス（SOS). It is sometimes used in two-word expressions

for clarity, as in アフ、、ストラルア—卜 (abstract art). It is also used when

one or more of the words is a proper noun, for example:

ク巧-.ライブラリー ヤンネ ー•スタシアA

(Kennedy Library) (Yankee Stadium)

31
There is no spelling rule that specifies the solid dot as the only symbol used

for this purpose. There have been other proposals for a suitable symbol, such

as:

7メリカンニ7、ソト水、づレ 7メリ々ンーフットボイレ
(American football)

Among these possibilities, the separation ot words by a solid dot is the most

prevalent, so it is used in this workbook. Some other examples are:

ステゾフ0•バイ•ステッァ (step by step)

ネ''フ''‘アンド.テーク (give and take)

ケース•バイ•ケース 、case by case)

シンクロナイズド•スイミンク'‘ (synchronized swimming)

Other Modincations

Yoon

i'here are two groups or yoon in Katakana writing. The rirst group ot

thirty-three contracted syllables duplicates those found in the Hiragana

syllabary. The second group of twenty-five syllables was created to expand the

range of options in writing loanwords and other foreign words in Katakana.

Making the first group of yoon in Katakana is done exactly the same way as

in Hiragana. All the symbols that represent a consonant + the vowel[i]

become contracted syllables when combined with a small [ya】，[yu] or [yo].

All of the first group of contracted syllables are presented in the basic

Katakana syllabary (section 3 of table I on p.12). Remember that yoon are

written with a full-size Katakana plus a half-size [ya], [yu] or [yo]. The follow¬

ing is a summary of which syllables are formed in which way.

32
 1. For example: KI ( 寺 )+ YA ( V ) = KYA (ネャ )，as in the kya
of kyande (candy).

The syllables that belong to this group, besides [ki] and [gi], are [ni], [hi],

[bi], [pi], [mi] and [ri], and, of course, all combine with [yu] and [yo] as well as

[ya].

2. For example: CHI ("^ ) + YA (ヤ）=CHA (チヤ),as in the cha

of chansu (chance).

The other syllables formed in this way are [chu], [cho], [sha], [shu], and

恤0].
3. For example; JI (ジ‘）+ YU (三-)二 JU (ジュ），as in the [ju] of

jusu (juice). Also, [ja] as in jazu (jazz) and [jo] as in Jon (John) are formed in

this way.

Exercises

G. Fill in each space with the proper contracted syllable to form a word.

1. ンフ0 (camp) 9. ワ(butterfly)

kya cho

2. ロット (culotte) 10. 17 ツク（cognac)

kyu nya

3. ゥソュク (dinosaur) 11. ース (news)

kyo nyu

4. 、、/ (shirt) 12. 年-(one after

sha nyo nyo another)

5. リフレッ メント(refresh- 13. 一又'' (fuse)

shu ment) hyu

6.レセフ" ン(reception) 14. ウ(leopard)

sho わ0

7. ンピホン' (champion) 15. —シ方 Jレ(musical)

cha rnyu
33
 8.アマ _ 了 (amateur) 16. _ ウ（dragon)

H. Write the following words in Katakana, paying special attention to the

contracted syllable.

1.kyabetsu (cabbage) 8. suchwwadesu (stewardess)

2. kyuri (cucumber) 9. chokoreto (chocolate)

各ブ〇が—（a small dumpling) 10. Nyuton (Newton)

4. jamu (jam) 11.intabyH (interview)

5. junia (junior) 12. hyotan (bottle gourd)

6. jokd (joker) 13. komyunisuto (communist)

し kechappu (ketchup) 14. ryumachi** (rheumatism)

♦From Chinese, chiao tzu ——from Dutch, rheumatisch

I. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

1.クフ/卜羊ャニオン(Grand 8•コンヒ。ふーグ(一）(computer)

2.マニ牛ユア(manicure) 9.ヒューヒ>3- —■ (with a whistle)

3.ンャンン(champagne) 10.ヒヨ ロ ヒ3 口 (staggering)

、ンVンパン

4.づ■寺レンジ （challenge) 11.;ムンヘン* (Munich)

34
 5.千ふ-インカ、、A (chewing 12. ソ王ツクサック** (rucksack)
gum)

6.け3ク (ginkso tree) 13. う■ャラソー (gallery)

7.メニ (menu) 14.ジムピクー Gupiter)

*From ぃerman, Vlunchen **From oerman, RucKsack

The Expanded Syllabary

As noted previously, besides the basic yoon, there are twenty-five more

syllables that have been created expressly to write foreign words. All but one

of these (vu) are yoon. These additional syllables are a device used to suggest

the closest pronunciation of the foreign word.

There is a difference of opinion witnin the Kokugo Shingikai (Japanese

Language Council) concerning how certain words should be written. For

example, there is the question of whether to write ゴ了 つス，ノノ or the

simpler ノべ、ィオリン for "violinり； 刀ルム or the sim¬

pler 7 ^ 瓜ム tor "film," and so on. In this workbook, both variations

are given because one provides the closest link to the original pronunciation

and allows the student to see the correlation between the Japanese and the

source word, while the other version may be just as common and equally ac¬

ceptable.

Exercises

Fill in each space with the proper contracted syllable to form a word.

1. —卜 (quart) 12. —ク（fork)

kivo 下

2. _ フ（chef) 13. _イオソン （violin)

35
 3. エー _ント (agent) 14.
VI
. ブト、J’了 (Victoria)
je

4. ノ
***** 〜 —•

\ — _一 (party) 15. 7ンて —(rendezvous)

ti vu

5. _ すーノレ(Dior) 16. —ノレ (veil)

di ve

6•ノ ロ _ —サ ー{producer} 17.

ソュー ム (volume)
VO

7.ース (chess) 18. —^ ノレソン（Wilson)

che

8•乃レン * (Florence) 19. __ 1"レス(waitress)

tse we

9. _ン びan) 20. _ツづ-(watch)

わ

10. _ル A (film) 21. _ータ ー (water)

wo

1し_ンシンク'、（fencing)
た
*Prom Italian, Firenze

K. Write the following words in Kataicana, paying special attention to the

underlined contracted syllable.

1. jetto (jet) 5. chero (cello) 9. fomaru (formal)

2. だ(tea) 6. famirl (family) 10. Vachikan (Vatican)

36
 3. biru^ngu (building) 7. ofisu (office) 11.Win* (Vienna)

4. duetto (duet) 8. feminisuto (feminist) 12. wotdsuki (water ski)

♦From German, Wien

L. Read the following words and write them in Romanized Japanese.

しシ全•ー ホ’(shaker) 8. / ンスt -一 一' (symphony)

2. フ0 ロジ卫7卜 (project) 9 •ワアーゾニア(Virginia)

ノ <—ジニア
3. テ^ズ'ニーランド (Disney-10•ク王ニス(Venice)
land) ベニス

4. ずェック(check) 11•巧^ルガ(Volga)

ホJレカ''
5. つ了、、/ ンョン(fashion) 12•ス("スコン"、ン"ン(Wisconsin)

6. 7a ク、ン3ン{fiction) じ•巧;•フ•'スダー（Webster)

7. ニュ■ー フ正ース(new face)14.ソオ—で 一(walker)

37
 凹
WORDS OF JAPANESE ORIGIN

Students of Japanese may be aware that Katakana is used for writing

onomatopoeic expressions, but they may not know the many other uses of

this syllabary. Conventional uses range from domestic telegrams to the names

of plants and animals. Then there is the recent trend for words in Katakana

to be used in newspapers, magazines and advertisements instead of Kanji or

Hiragana. There are many reasons for this. One is that many Kanji have drop¬

ped out of daily use, or it may just be simpler to write the intended meaning

in Katakana due to the complexity of the Kanji. Another reason is that

Katakana adds emphasis to words that would appear ordinary if written in

Hiragana.

Currently there are no explicit standards for using Katakana for emphasis,

and in many cases usage may depend on how an author chooses to express
himself.

The following exercises present a variety of words that are always or

sometimes written in Katakana. They have been arranged in a number of

categories to better give the idea of the variety of uses.

Names of Plants and Animals

The common names of plants and animals may be written in either

Hiragana or Katakana. Guidelines generally suggest that Katakana be used.

Of course, the long 6 is treated as two separate syllables and written with

the vowelク, or sometimes ィ,but not with the long-vowel mark —

or I .

38
Exercises
A. Write the following names of plants in Katakana.

1.momo (peach) 5. barn (rose)

2. kashi (oak) 6. himawari (sunflower)

3. matsu (pine) 7. ninjin (carrot)

4. sakura (cherry blossom) 8. tamanegi (onion)

B. Write the following names of animals in Katakana.

1.kaeru (frog) 6. karasu (crow) 11.fuka (shark)

2. saru (monkey) 7. hibari (lark) 12. maguro (tuna)

3. uma (horse) 8. kakko (cuckoo) 13. tako (octopus)

4. hatsukanezumi (mouse) 9. tsubame (swallow) 14. buri (yellowtail)

5. suzume (sparrow) 10. tsuru (crane) 15. aivabi (abalone)

C. Read the following names of plants and write them in Romanized

Japanese.

1•ノ \ ス（lotus) 7.ダク"(bamboo)

2.クス(camphor tree) ろ.ナン 了ン(nandina)

39
 3.ソ / ノ (sago palm) 9•ゾV \ レ(violet)

4•クメ （apricot) 10 •リンつ（apple)

5 .スイセン（narcissus) 11.シイダク"(mushroom)

6•そ；ゾ"(maple) 12. ノ ス/ク (luakame seaweed)

D. Read the following names of animals and write them in Romanized

Japanese.

1•クァ(bear) 10 .イン^一^ (parakeet)

2.-ー ワトソ（chicken) 11. 7y ン(wild goose)

3•キリン(giraffe) 12 •ノ \ マクソ（clam)

4 .クミ^ (wild duck) 13 •二-、/ / (herring)

5 •ヤソソス(grasshopper) 14 .イワ'■ノ (sardine)

6•方モ'■ン方(serow) 15 .クジ^ フ(whale)

7 •ノ]、ダ ノレ(firefly) I6 •ヒフク（flatfish)

8. J-(crocodile) 17 •カメ (turtle)

9. ^、ノノ \ ブ~ (honeybee) 18. ス(trout)

40
Onomatopoeia

By onomatopoeia we mean a term that expresses its own definition by im¬

itating the sound associated with it or by naming such a sound. Examples in¬

clude the characteristic sounds of animals or birds, inanimate sounds of

nature—such as wind, rain and flowing water—and all kinds of other sounds

heard in daily life. Other words describe movement or the state of things

graphically or suggestively. Expressions of this sort are known as mimesis, and

they are more commonly, though not exclusively, written in Hiragana.

Onomatopoeia does, of course, exist in English as well, e.g. bow-wow, cuckoo,

がなerホ幻Iter and so on. However, in Japanese, these types of expression occur

with much greater frequency, to the point that the foreign student of the

language is sometimes nearly overwhelmed. At the same time such study

reveals one of the more fascinating aspects of the language.

In the following exercises, remember that a long vowel when it occurs is ex¬

pressed by either — or | .

Exercises

E. The following are sounds made by animals. Write the onomatopoeic

words in Katakana.

1.wanwan (bow-wow) 6. konkon (yelp of fox)

2. nydnyd (meow-meow) 7. bubu、〇ink-oink)

3. kokekokko (cock-a-doodle-do) 8. gdgd (quack-quack)

4. chuchu (squeak-squeak) 9. kdkな(caw-caw)

5. momo (moo-moo) 10. hohokekyo (cry of bush warbler)

41
F. The following are other sounds, some made by inanimate objects. Write

the onomatopoeic words in Katakana.

1.potopoto (dripping) 6. gorogoro (thundering)

2.がが(pouring rain) 7. karakoro (clop-clop of geta)

3. shitoshito (drizzling rain) 8. pishan (slapping)

4. sarasara (gurgling [stream]) 9. patan (slamming)

5.らブなら；yな(whistling [wind]) 10. tonton (rapping)

G. The following refer to movement or condition. Write the mimetic words

in Katakana.

1.kirakira (glittering) 6. pechapecha (chattering)

2. pikapルa (smny) 7. meramera (burst into flames)

3. dokidoki (throbbing) 8. ukiuki (cheerful)

4. harahara (thrilling) 9. punpun (strong smelling)

5. kutakuta (worn to a frazzle) 10. hirahira (fluttering)

H. Read the following onomatopoeic and mimetic words and write them in

Romanized Japanese.

1.ピ3ビ3 (peep-peep)15.千、）ン十リン(ting-a-ling)
42
 2.リーンリー ノ (chirping of I6•ゲラゲラ (cackle)
bush cricket)

3.じ。一手 ■クノ —乎ク(sound n. 7 7 ィ ィ (clamoring

of lark) voices)

4. 方。午方'"V (buzzing voices) 18.ザブザブ ^splashing)

5.年*^ン年"V ン(yelping [dog]) の •个7が (prickly)

6 •ジー、> — (chirping cicada) 20.、ソノレゾノレ ^slippery)

7.牛ン千口 ソン(chirping 21•、ソンツン (hausnty；

cricket)

8.ヒーン (neighing) 22. ノくラバ' ラ (scattered)

9. 方'夕力''グ (rattling) 23•ボロボロ (crumbling)

10•方ずン (clinking) 24. ノ <ク/ぐダ (flapping)

1し 方、、ソ方、、ソ (scratching) 25.フ、'ッブ、ツ (muttering)

12.ヒ"*王一— (whistling [wind]) 26. ず方ずク (smarting

eyes)

13.コ‘'ツン (bumping [head]) 27. ギラ年、'ラ (dazzling)

M•ド' ンド'ン (banging [drum]) 28.ソ 7ソ7 (restless)

43
Domestic Telegrams

A long-established use of Katakana is in domestic telegrams. Study the

following examples.

厂了シタ イク 么か： ダノ么_1

Ashita iku mukae tanomu (Coming tomorrow. Please

meet [me].)

两ネ オクレ」
Kane okure (Send money.)

巳ュウ々'クホメデ'トウ」
Nyugaku omedeto (Congratulations on getting into the school [of

your choice].)

As shown here, particles and punctuation are generally omitted and the

plain forms of verbs are used rather than the more polite -masu/desu forms.

New Uses

In this section we will take note of words as they appear in newspapers,

magazines and advertisements when they are written in Katakana, either to

replace disused or complicated Kanji or to give them uniqueness or emphasis.

The following are examples taken from current magazines and newspapers.

As noted previously, there is little standardization in tnis application of

Katakana. Why Katakana is used as it is here may be difficult to understand

at this point. For the time being, it is enough to simply read the words in ques¬

tion. When a more advanced level is reached, they can be studied again along

with additional examples.

To Replace Kanji

し力xjレはどんなエサをたべi寸か。
Kaeru <wa donna esa o tabemasu ka. (What kind of rooa do frogs eat?)
44
 2. 支；こうりむ、、のなかIこイ又が\ \た。
Muko noブならw 打0 naka m mu ga iru. (There is a dog in the grove over there.)

3. ノバをずった。
Hamaki o sutta. ([1] smoked a cigar.)

4•よくきょうどぃケ''ン方まする。
Yoku /cブ各ど打/ca 0 sum. (Those brothers and sisters otten fight amon口

themselves*)

5.方キをお么した。
Kagi 0 otoshita. ([1] dropped the kev.)

ら‘ メカ''えク、、、みえない。
Megane ga mienai. ([1] can’t find my glasses.)

7. イトコか'、きた。
Itoko ga kita. ([My] cousin came.)

8. フンイ丰が、ぶかるV、。
tun iKi ga akarui. (It has a friendly atmosphere.)

9. ツエをついてを)らく。
Tsue 0 tsuite aruku. ([1] walk with a cane.)

の.系）しか'' した。
Ashi ga mahi shita. ([My] leg Decame paralyzed.)

For Emphasis

In the following examples, the underlined words are written in Katakana

for emphasis. Note that some of the sentences contain idioms or idiomatic ex-
45
pressions, so a literal translation would be misleading. The English sentences

give the meaning as a whole, and some of the underlined words are glossed

with their usual meaning.

し*^っ7は凶こなまさした。
‘‘む化 wa dame," to kugi o sashita. ([1] warned him not to go. [Dame, "no

good"; kugi, "nail."])

2. 、:JJZがまわってきた。
Tsuke ga mawatte la.【幻.([1] must pay for my sins. [Tsuke, "bill."])

3. ±2L iっえれば‘なじなる。
Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru. (If particles of dust are piled up, they can

grow into a mountain.)

4. 夕んな、こじはかダンて'、ずよ。
Sonna koto iva Kantan desu yo. (ouch a tning is simple.)

5•そじはブ、ソクラだ。

Soto wa makkura aa. (It is pitch-blacK outsiae.)

6. バクサ7ザをしている。
Bakasawagi 〇 shite iru. ([They，re] acting wild.)

7. フ、ソクのブツフ。をつかう。
Futsu no koppu 0 tsuKau. ([1] use an ordinary cup.)

8. 夺モノずが、た。
Kimono sugata. (Dressed in a kimono.、

9. ちの於は方ンジが’いい。

A打0 hito wa kanji ga n. (That person makes a favorable impression.)

46
10. まいば'んハンコ''さ''ホを寸る。
Maiban hashigozake 〇 sum. ([He] goes barhopping every night. [Hashigo,

"ladder."])

11. フクをあけてみる。
Futa 0 akete miru. ([1 can] see the final results. [Futa, "lid."])

じ•あそこのダ、、シじダレはお、いしレ、。
Asoko no das hi to tare wa oishii. (Their soup stock and [savory] sauce are

good.)

13.かれなシロ々、マロか。

Kare <wa shim ka kuro ka. (Is he innocent or guiltv?)

14•アジメな々、ん、马かくはイイろゲ、ンた‘、じ吏、三る。

Majime na kankyaku wa iikagen da to okoru. (A serious audience gets anの*y

if it is an unconvincing performance.)

15. ヴイロをうけとる。
Wairo 0 uketoru. ([He] accepts bribes.)

16. 主互をむかえた.
Yama 〇 mukaeta. (口t] has reached the peak.)

Other Uses

In addition to the foregoing examples, there are a few others, both conven¬

tional and newly created. For example, in the classic No play, such terms as V 7"

(leading role),ワす(supporting role), and、ソレ(companion role) are writ¬

ten in Katakana.

Another example of conventional usage is the writing of Kanji pronuncia¬

tion, in dictionaries, for example, but in other places, too. The kun (Japanese)

47
reading is normally given in Hiragana, while the on (Chinese) reading is gener¬

ally in Katakana.

Until the early 1980s, Katakana only was the common form of writing for

all computer work. The latest advances in hard- and software have offered the

possibility of inputting and printing Hiragana and even Kanji, but Katakana

continues to play the major role, probably because of its simplicity and legibil¬

ity. Another place it is frequently found is on the many forms we are forever

filling out, along with or in place of other writing.

Another new trend is for companies to propagate their corporate, brand

and/or trade names in Katakana, for example, 卜3夕 (the auto maker),

七イコー (watches) and キゾツ ーマン (soy sauce).

i'erms for rurniture, utensils or tools are occasionally seen in Katakana,

e•吕•，クン入 (chest of drawers),ナベ (pan), クマ(rice cooker),

方ン ナ (carpenter’s plane) and ホノ (axe).

Sometimes colloquial expressions are written in Katakana: ノツ ホ。

(tall person),チビ(short person), 了 つ'、(fat person), and so on.

rinally, an exclamation or a tag question may be in Katakana, although

the rest of the sentence is in Hiragana. This is probably done for emphasis.

Note the following examples.

おついず了.. (Oh, how hot it is!)

アー了、• • . • (Oh, my!)

48
 4
WORDS OF FOREIGN ORIGIN

As experts have pointed out and students will sooner or later discover,

Japanese has a rich and varied vocabulary. We indicated on page 9 that im¬

ported words are generally categorized as being from Chinese (and associated

with Kanji), or as coming from other—generally Western—languages. If the

latter have been assimilated, they are called gairaigo (loanwords). The earliest

borrowings of this sort were from Portuguese in the 16th century and, a few

decades later, from the Dutch.

Currently, the greatest number of new words come into Japanese from

English, which surely occupies first place as a source language for loanwords,

as well as of the constant flow of temporary vocabulary that does not become

assimilated. Another sizable category of words written in Katakana includes

proper nouns such as geographic and personal names. Here, transcription

often follows the spelling/pronunciation pattern of the original language.

The number of items in all categories is quite large; in fact, there are a

number of gairaigo dictionaries. One reason for these borrowings is that it is

simpler to make use of words, especially scientific and technical terms, as they

are by transcribing them into Katakana than it is to find or create suitable

Kanji. Also, the freshness of foreign words written in either Katakana or the

Roman alphabet appeals to the Japanese penchant for borrowing ideas. Ex¬

amples are notably conspicuous in the many foreign words seen in shop

names, brand names, designers’ names, recipes and commercials. Moreover,

it is structurally easy to use such imports in a Japanese sentence. Sum added

after words makes verbs, e.g., drive + sum,ドライウ。寸る.Adding na

after words makes them function as adjectives, e.g., smooth + 打a,ス厶一

49
でな.Words followed by ni are like adverbs of a certain type, e.g., smooth

+ ni,スA —スに.

Guidelines for Transcription

Reading and writing gairaigo and other foreign words involves close atten¬

tion and care in the study of Katakana. Moreover, pronunciation should be

taken into consideration whenever possible.

This chapter examines the methods for transcribing foreign words based

on the guidelines established by the Ministry of Education, the Textbook

Research Center and the Japanese Language Council. There are slight dif¬

ferences in the way the three bodies have chosen to transcribe certain words,

and alternatives have been pointed out in the guidelines. As you will see, the

system is logical and functional, even though consistency does not reach 100

percent.

On page 11,we noted that the reason for the expanded Katakana syllabary

was to indicate pronunciation not found in Japanese (table- II, p.い). On the

one hand, quite a number of words can be transcribed more or less directly

into their Japanese pronunciation, e.g., hi (key). At other times, there are

sounds or combinations of sounds that have no exact counterpart in Japa¬

nese, so a certain amount of adaptation is necessary, often depending for its

effectiveness on the expanded syllabary.

It may happen that a speaker of English, for example, will come across a bor¬

rowed word and not recognize either the origin or the original pronunciation.

This can be rather confusing if the source word and the English word are

similar, e.g., ryumachi, rheumatism, from Dutch, rheumatisch. Fortunately, the

number of such cases is not so great, but it is a point worth remembering.

The following compilation of patterns does not cover every situation.

However, they are valuable for establishing a firm but flexible foundation. Us¬

ing them, a student should be able to learn quickly how to read and write

words of foreign origin.

50
 し English words having the voiceless th sound: this th is replaced by サ
5幻,シ shi,ス su,セ se or ソ so, as in the following examples.

third サ-ド、 three 又リー

thinner シンナー birthday ノ く'-スデ'_

Smith スミス theory セオリー

bath towel ノ くスダオJレ authority 才—ソソみ_

了ース{tema, tneme) seems to巳e an exception, but actually it is based on

the German Thema.

2. English words having / + vowel and not transcribed by フ fu:

these become /了 fa， 乃 fi,フエ /e,フタ fo but are sometimes

represented by the more traditional ノ\ ha，し hi, he,水 ho. Note

that some words are correctly written using either alternative.

fantasy フマンダシ_ coffee ごーヒ

ュニフえーム^
film スJレム uniform
ユニホ-A

fence フエンス platform

フeテット乃一A
フ°ラ‘/卜水ーム

マイクロ乃
formal フオーマ7レ microphone
マイクロホ

3. Similarly, English v + vowel become ク‘ア va,ソイ vi,ン"ソエ

がもみ VO, but sometimes are represented by the more traditional ノく ba,

ヒ、、bi,フ‘、btt,ベ be，ホ"らo. Note that some words almost always ap¬

pear using the latter syllables, while others are acceptable in either form.

51
violin クVイオリン casting vote 今ャス了Yング.•がf* -卜
ノぐイオリン 与が^ティング‘•ボ-卜

. のクトリ— overcoat ホーノぐ一

victory
ヒ’、クトソー

ち、/テ“み"_
rendezvous 'ー ノ vitamin ピ'ダミン
うンデづ—

veilウーレ curve ホー'!、、

ペー？レ

vocabularyウ身キヤフラリ¬ elevator エレべーダー

ノ十、" 今ャフ •ラリー

In words like those in the following examples, the underlined syllables are

written with the traditional syllables ヒュ hyu and ヒ’ュ byu.

fuse ヒュース、 viewpoint ビエーノナ、-イント

review レ f ’、，_ 一 revue レヒ•’ユー

4. In transcribing the English sounds represented by t + vowel as in tea

and tick，アイ ti is used in some cases, as indicated in the examples below on

the left, and in other cases the more traditional チ chi IS commonly used,
as in the words on the right.

variety ケ了うX•ティ— ticketフスケ‘ント

ハ'、ラエみ一 牛ケット

teacher 了べ—卜、-— tip 手、ソフ。

ティーム
T-shirt 了ペーシャ、ン team んーム
Similarly,アイ di is replaced in certain cases by the customarily used、ジ ji.

Note the following examples.

building ビ;レデレグ radio フジづ

□inner 了ィナー dilemma レンマ

dictation がクテーション Edison ェシソン

5. In words like the examples, t + vowel becomes 手ユ[chuj in all

cases.

stewardessスチユワ—デ'ス tube チェーフ* tulip チユ—リッフ。

Similarly, when the English is d vowel as in due, the Katakana is 了ユ

dyu or, in some cases, the more traditional ンム ju.

Dupont テ'_L7K ン producer フ。口 了王ーサー

duplicator ずんフ。ソケークー schedule スケジ"ュー)レ

6. In the case ot words like those listed below, the English [t] sound is

replaced by the syllable 卜[to], but occasionally by、ン[tsu].

gentleman 、ジェントJレマン (Christmas) tree クリスマス‘ッソー

53
hot ホ、、ゾト two-piece 、ソ—ヒ。ース

cut カット

In the same manner, the English [a] sound is replaced by the syllable 卜
[do]. The following are some examples.

handbag ノ \ンド'/ く、ック。 drama ドラマ drive ドライウ、‘

7. The syilaole ア[a] is used to transcribe a when the letter a happens

to follow the letter i, as in the examples on the left below. When the a is pro¬

nounced like the vowel in nut or is silent, words are customarily written with 个
[ya], as in the three examples on the right.

piano b。T ノ diamond クVヤモンド

Niagara 十ィァゲラ diagram グイ"Vグラム

Viiami マイアミ dialダ' イヤJレ

In writing gairaigo (just as in spelling English) logical explanations for the way

certain words are written are by no means self-eviaent, so the words should

simply be memorized when they are first encountered.

8. For English sh + vowel as in shake or shed the syllable セ se is

sometimes used instead of シエ she. The following are some examples of

both ways.

、ンェノ \。—ド
shade シエード
七ノ、。ード
shepherd

54
sherry シl リー milk shake ミ7レク七一今

In the same manner, for English je or が，ジェ je may be replaced by 扛、、び

as seen in the words on the right.

jet ンェツト Argentina アノレセ"ンチン

Nigeria ずイジェソア angel エンセ:、、；レ

9. According to the guidelines laid aown by the Japanese Language

Council and the Textbook Research Center, in ordinary words (excepting

those transcribed by the basic iva) English w/wh + vowel is transcribed by

the two syllable [u] + [i]クイ，[u] + [e]ウエor [u] + [o]ウイ.

However, when the word is a proper noun, iv/ivh + vowel is represented by

the contracted syllables ウ奸[wi], た [we] or クオ[wo] instead of the

vowel combinations.

Proper nouns Words

Wilson みjレソン whiskey クィスキー

Wilcox え；レツツクス wave クエ ー 了、

Midway
ミ、'/ドウエー wedding ウェティンク'、

Kuwait クウ王ート watch クオ'ソチ

Milwaukee ミ/レみ-キ_ water クオーダー

This rule can be bent if the contracted syllables seem closer to the original

word. Thus クィスキ- and ウイ、ソナ may become みスキーand

55
 乃'ソチ if the writer believes that this creates a more accurate sound.

10. The English qu in words such as Quaker is generally written with the

two symbols [ku] + [e]; グ丄.An exception is seen in words using the

contracted syllable クオ[kwo], like クオーター (quarter), み-夕

(quota), etc.

square スクェア Quaker クェーカー

Similarly, the gua in words like Guam, Paraguay and Guatemala is

represented by the two symbols [gu] + [a]ブ广.

Paraguay ノ 'Cうク、、アイ Guatemala ク、、アテマラ Guam ク、、アA

11. Usually, for English words ending in mm, or sometimes just um, the

transcription is クム umu. However, JS-ユーム nyumu is also seen in

some dictionaries and other places. Study the following examples.

aluminum アレ；-—ウ么 radium ラジクム

子jレミニュー么
A few such words end with amu as in スタジ T么(stadium).

iZ. When English r comes after a vowel in the same syllable, the transcrip¬

tion is usually done by representing the vowel sound ana lengthening it with

— or I . Examples of this include the following.

car
々一 skirt ス々-1

scarf ス々一7 curb ホーフ"

mixer
ミ车サー course コ—ス

letter レ ター color クラー

56
maker メーカー 邓orts スホ:—ソ

lighter ライ ダー corn ~~1 —ン

girl ホ、ーノレ professor フ6ロフ王、、/サー

There are also words tra打scriDed without — or | , such as:

career 夺ャリァ chair わア gear ギア

In a few cases, this "r" is kept by using the syllable ル[ru]. ノレ

(beer) and Jレモツト(vermouth) are examples of this, as are メ ー

卜 Jレ(meter) and some other metric units.

13. In most cases the English syllable -ture is transcribed by —

after チヤ cha. Examples are:

lecture レブナャ— picture

と7牛夕一

culture ホル-わr一 nature ネーチ

adventure アドベンチャー mixture ミックスず夕一

Another way of representing this syllable is チュアc/mな，as in the following ex¬

amples.

caricature 力、け午ふ了 mature

マ千主了

14. English words spelled with two consecutive vowel letters are often

transcribed with — or j . Note that there are a number of different vowels

in the examples below, and that the point here is only the vowel length in

transcription. The original vowel sounds may be long or short. Study the ex-

57
amples carefully.

chain チェ_ン speed スピ-ド boom フ‘、-ム

sauce ソース beef ビ-フ moon 么-ン

automatic オートマチック chief 手ーフ boot マ、-、ソ

beach ヒ、、-チ soap ソーフ。 group

ク')しーフ°

pearl パー;レ coach

コ-チ fruit フノレ-ソ

speech スヒ。-チ wool ウレ suit ス-プ

In some words, generally when the syllable ends with ん Ic,り，or ch, — or |

is not used but a half-sized ッ[tsu] is inserted. Examples of this are:

bread フ、'レッド look Jレ、ソク

head ヘッド、 goodbye ク、'ッド、ノぐイ

cook コック touch

ダッチ

book フ''ック couple カッフVレ

There are some words that do not fall into either category. Such words must

simply be learned one by one. The following are examples.

door ド 了 bearing ベてソンク" fair フェア

15. When there is a silent e at the end of a word or syllable and the vowel

letter is not i, — or | often comes after the vowel in that syllable.

58
skate スグ—卜 lane レーン pole 一/レ

case ケ—ス rebate リベ—卜

flute フルート

Tイスキ王ーフ‘、
cane
ヶ—ン tape
テ-グ ice cube

sale セ-ノレ hope ホーフ。 crepe クレーフ°

16. Usually, words ending with a w or ブ have the vowel lengthened with

— or I , The following are examples.

show ソ3— window ケィンドー copy コヒ。

stew ■'パト L — ability アビソテf 一 noney / \ j

17. As seen in the following examples, the vowel-lengthening — or |

comes in the middle of words where the syllable ィion is immediately preceded

by a vowel, except when the vowel letter is i.

inflation インフレーシ3ン motion そ* —ン3 、ノ

intonation イントネ—、ンョン lotion 口ーシq ン

sensation センセー、ン，V carnation ホーす一、、/。'/

frustration フラストレ-シヨン decoration -1-7 レー、ンゴ、/

18. The symbol indicating a double consonant, the half-sized ツ[tsu],

is also inserted in a word when the English spelling is c/c, x, tch and dge. These

spellings typically occur at the end of syllables.

luck ラック telex テレックス judge シたツジ

59
rock ご，ソク box がツクス badge ノ C、ンジ

deck テ:ソ今 switch スイッチ

lock ロック catch キVッナ

Loanwords

There are many sources of loanwords in Japanese. Some date so far back

that native speakers who are not specialists may be unaware of their foreign

origin. These words from Portuguese are examples: 方/レタ karuta {carta,

card),カッ / \。kappa (cappa, raincoat),ヒ"ロード birodo (veludoy velvet),

カステラ kasutera (castella^ sponge cake) and many more.しertain other

assimilated words are still recognized as being of foreign origin:ホ ーノ ぐ一

日bな(overcoat), ノ\ン々チ hankachi (handkerchief),ラジオ r幻脚

(radio), ana so on. Then there are a lot more words taken directly from

Englisn in more recent times and given a Japanese pronunciation, for example

了A 7s力、、/シぇン disukasshon (discussion),ジェネレ-シ3ン jenereshon (gen¬

eration), etc.

There are among these words some that have been shortened. Obd is one

such word, as are バ、J ユン pasokon (personal computer), 了 モ

demo (demonstration),マスコミ masukomi (mass communication) and so

on. The tendency to abbreviate is somewhat more conspicuous now than

formerly.

Unabbreviated Words

The following exercises will give practice in reading and writing foreign

words in Katakana.

Exercises

Write the following words in Katakana, applying the guidelines studied

60
previously. (The number in parentheses indicates the number of syllables.)

A. Words starting with [a]〜[o] or [we], [wo].

1.iron (4) 11. whiskey (5)

2. alphabet (6) 12. wedding (4)

3. idea (4) 13. Walkman (5)

4. asphalt (5) 14. engine (4)

5. ink (3) 15. escalator (7)

6. information (7) 16. expert (6)

7. instant (6) 17. orange (4)

8. image (4) 18. Olympic (6)

9. wood (3) 19. olive (4)

10. wink (4) 20. oatmeal(6)

B. Words starting with [ka] [ko], etc.

1. calcium (5) 11. gate (3)

2. cover (3) 12. comedy (4)

3. gasoline (4) 13. concert (5)

4. key (2) 14. golf (3)

61
 5. king (3) 15. cabin (3)

6. gift (3) 16. cabinet (5)

7. cleaning (6) 17. gap (3)

8. club (3) 18. gamble (4)

9. gray (3) 19. cue (2)

10. cable car (6) 20. quality (4)

C. Words starting with [sa]〜[so], etc.

1.service (4) 11.zero (2)

2. salad (3) 12. soda (3)

3. seat (3) 13. shampoo (4)

4. scene (3) 14. jazz (2)

5. jeans (4) 15. shoes (3)

6. steak (4) 16. juice (3)

7. stereo (4) 17. show (2)

8. zoom lens (6) 18. joke (3)

9. center (4) 19. shepherd (4)

10. sense (3) 20. generation (6)

62
D. Words starting with [ta]〜[to], etc.

1.taxi (4) 11.top (3)

2. typewriter (7) 12. dressing (6)

3. dance (3) 13. channel(4)

4. diamond (6) 14. tulip (5)

5. tip (3) 15. chalk (3)

6. two-piece (5) 16. teapot (5)

7. text (4) 17. disk (3)

8. technique (5) 18. display (5)

9. dessert (4) 19. duty (4)

10. decoration (6) 20. cherry (3)

E. Words starting with [na]〜[no], etc.

1. nylon (4) 5. nude (3)

2. napkin (4) 6. negative (4)

3. needle (4) 7. normal (4)

4. nuance (4) 8. novel(4)

63
F. Words starting with [ha] [ho], etc.

1. hamburger (6) 16. helper (4)

2. hiking (5) 17. bed (3)

3. banana (3) 18. belt (3)

4. pilot (5) 19. page (3)

5. puzzle (3) 20. pen (2)

6. heater (4) 21. hotel(3)

7. business (4) 22. bonus (4)

8. pilaf (3) 23. poster (4)

9. pizza (2) 24. human (4)

10. flight (4) 25. beautiful(5)

11. free (3) 26. fight (3)

12. brand (4) 27. finance (5)

13. blond (4) 28. field (4)

14. present (5) 29. ferry (3)

15. plastic (6) 30. focus (4)

64
G. Words starting with [ma]〜[mo], [ya]〜[yo], etc.

1. mask (3) 10. memory (4)

2. market (5) 11. medal(3)

3. mat (3) 12. motorboat (7)

4. magic (4) 13. model(3)

5. mint (3) 14. Yankee (4)

6. mystery (5) 15. unit (4)

7. mink (3) 16. unique (4)

8. mood (3) 17. yolk (3)

9. melon (3) 18. musician (5)

H. Words starting with [ra] [ro] or [wa].

1.line (3) 10. rule (3)

2. rival (4) 11. rate (3)

3.life (3) 12. reception (5)

4.license (5) 13.level(3)

5. risk (3) 14. raincoat (6)

6. recital(5) 15. robot (4)

65
 7. ring (3) 16. romantic (6)

8.leader (4) 17. wine (3)

9. ruby (3) 18. wax (4)

1. Words starting with [va] 〜[VO] ([ba], [bi], [be], [bo]).

1.vanilla (3) 6. viola (3)

2. vitality (6) 7. veteran (4)

3. violet (6) 8. velvet (5)

4. variation (6) 9. volt (3)

5. video (3) 10. vogue (3)

In exercises J through 民,read the Katakana and write the original English

word. If a word is not from English, as indicated by the asterisk, simply read

the word and write it as Romanized Japanese.

J. Words starting with [a]' [o], [wi], [we] or [wo].

1•アクセ:サリー 8•インテ、)了 15.ホ;レ；ゲン

2.ァナウンサー 9 .インスヒ•レーシ3ン 16.才—ケストフ

3.アドレス 10.クラン* 17.オリジナル

4•ァ々デミ— 1しエキソ‘'チック 化•クィッナ

5.アノレバイト* 12.エレゲント 19.みット

66
 6•イヤリンク、、 13•エレクトロニクス 20•クムイジ

7.イテホロ韦一* 14.王ヒ。ソード 21.みールストリート

k. Words starting with [ka]〜[ko], etc.

1•力たット 8.ク—ノがン 15•コミュニケーション

2.力ーデべ力、、ン9•クラシック 1んゴ、么*

3. 方レンダ''— 10.ク‘'レーフ。ジ" ュース17•ブ‘シッフ。

4. 々クテル 11•ケンフ、'ソッジ 18.キヤッシュ

5•ゲイド I2.グ'スト 19•ギV うンティ-

6.すッ手ン じ.コンダクト•しンダ20.キムーヒ。一

7•ザダー 14.コンサノレダント 21•クオーテーシ3ン•

マーク

し Words starting with [sa]〜[so], etc.

1.サイクソンク 8.ス'—ム 15.、ジャーナリスト

2•サンブクロ-ス 9.をールスマン 16.シクソーA *

3. > ンフ。ル 10.セーダー 17.ン3 - クインドー

4.ジング';レべ瓜 11•セ、、ロックス 18•ショック

5.スナック 12.ソファー 19 .ジ3丰•"ンク''

6•ストレス 13.シャブー 20. Vx ~ 7**

67
 7•スモック‘、 14•ジタケット 21•ジエホレーダー

M. "Words starting with [ta]〜[to], etc.

しグ/ くコ 8.デ、ート 15.ドライヤー

2•ダレント 9.7■モクラシー 16.ホヤーダー

3.グイ巧ンク" 10.テ'サ’'イナー 17.チヤンネル

ク‘イビンク"
11•トーナメント 18.ずエックアクト
4•ずう:ンライス

12.トピック 19. 7■イーンエージヤー

5•ずアリーグー

6.プーソスト 13•卜うンジスブ(一） 20. レクダー

7•テント 14•ドーナッツ 21•テ^フ。レックス

Words starting with [na]〜[no], etc.

1.十イター 5.ヌゲー* 9. ノスダ;レジア

2.ナレーション 6.ネックレス 10•ノ イローセ‘'*

3.ニコ千ン* 7.ネ-フ‘'ル 11.ニュークリア

4•ニーソックス 8.ネ—厶/ぐリュー 12.ニュートラJレ

O. Words starting with [ha]〜[ho], etc.

1•ノ、イヒーJレ 9.フ。ライべート 17•ヒューマニス‘'ム

2.ノ く、一ぺ丰ュ—10•ヘリコフ。ダ— 18.ビューティーサロン

68
 3. / \スノ十、° —卜 1しペストセラー 19.ヒ。ムーリタン

4•ヒーロー 12.ペイデー 20.ファイナ/レ

5.ビニー）レ 13•ホ—ムシック 21.スアンセ

6.ヒ**—ナッツ 14.水'ダン 22. 7エア尸レ—

7.フットノホ—ノレ 15.ボイコット 23.たスティバノレ

8.フ''ラクス I6•ポヒ。ュラー 24•スf —手ュン

P. Words starting with [ma]〜[mo], [ya]〜[yo], etc.

1.マス-ジャ- 7•メ齐ア 13.ヤンク''•レデ；f-

2•マ—々、、リン 8•メッおージ 14.王-モア

3.マッサ—シ 9. /ロテト け.ュ-トピア

4.ミシン 10.モノレーレ 16. B —ク勺レト

5.ミサイJレ 11.モ、ン1— 17. 3、ソト

6•んーフ；一 12•モニク— 18•ミュージアム

么ービー

Q. Words starting with [ra]〜[ro] or [wa]

1•ラブレター 7.ル■—レット 13•ロヒ•一

2•ラッシュア7 - 8•ノレームメーK 14•ワイシャツ

ノレームメイト
3.ラク。と’、一 9. Jレート 15.ワノレツ

69
 4•リノ、ーサル 10. レストラン* 16.ヴンヒ。-ス

5•ソーク'' 11. レダス

6.リムジン 12. 口-スト•ビ—7

民，Words starting with [va]〜[vo] ([ba], [bi], [be], [bo])*

1ブアンパイir一 4ブ；一于ス 7かャフ‘、ラリー

バンノくィャー •ビー六ス ボ年げ、ラリー
2ぷザ、/ビザ’' 5.がL二作/ベニ户 8•ク’备一カソスト
ボー々リスト
3.クfジ3ン 6•クiスト/ペスト
ビジ3ン
Abbreviated Words
Because ot the abbreviation in this type of word, it may be difficult to

recognize the original word. Study the following examples carefully.

1.ァニ/ (animation) 16.テ)く —卜 (department store)

2.イラスト (illustration) 17.ハンスト (hunger striKe)

3.インテソ けntellieentsm) IS•ハイテク (high technology)

4.インフレ inflation) 19.パトカ— (patrol car)

5.てンスト 、engine stall)* 20. ノくソつン (personal compu-

ter)

6•エレす (electric guitar) 21.ノ\"—卜 (part-timer)

70
 7•エアコン (air conditioner) 22.ビ Jレ（building)

8•ギVラ (guarantee) 23•ベア 喧se up)**

9•っホ (connection) 24.マスコミ (mass

commun に atio打)

10.ス-パ-- (supermarket) 25.ズサ''コン 、mother complex)

11•スト (strike) 26.ブンネ•ゾ ^mannerism)

12.セコノ \ ン(secondhand) 27.ミニコン (minicomputer)

13. 了レと' (television) 28.ラジカセ (radio-cassette

tape recorder)

14.デモ (demonstration) 29.リモコン (remote control)

15.デフレ (deflation) 30.ワープロ (word processor)

engine stop

♦From besuappUy a made-in-Japan expression meaning a raise in the basic wage.

Sometimes a word is formed by combining an abbreviated foreign word

with a Japanese word, for example,々ラオケ：kora (empty) + oke {okesu-

toreshon, orchestration). This is a stereo system with taped accompaniment,

mike and mixer for sing-along.

Proper Nouns

Geographic Names

Read the Katakana for the following sample of geographic names. Identify

71
the words in English, keeping in mind that some are derived from languages

other than English.

アジアAsia

1•了フダ、ニスダン 7ソか卜 13•スリピン

ソビエト
2.イスラエJレ 8•ダイ 14.もトナム
ベトナん
3•イラン 9•ニューデ、リ- 15.ホ\ンコン

4 .イント' 10. /f /N — Jレ 16.マニラ

5.カンポ'ジア 11.パ、ンコ7 17.マレ—シア

6•サクジアラビア 12.ヒマラ"V 18•レバ' ノン

アフリカAfrica

しァJしジたリア 3.キソマンジ口 5.サハラ

2.ェジr卜 4.グーフ0ダウン 6.十ィ)レ

す-ストラリア/二 ムージーフント Australia/New Zealand

1.ヴムリントン 2.シドニ- メクレホルン

サクス•ァメリカ i)Outh America

1.アマグン 5.エクてドル 9.フ''ラジ心

2. 了ルピン十ン 6.コロンビ’ア 10.ぺJレー

3. 丫ンデス 7•チソ 11.ソオデ、>ャえイロ

4. ク^ネス’'五ラ8.フ‘'エノスてイレス じ•ソマ
ベネズ王ラ
ノース•ア/リカ Nortn America

しアラスカ 6. 二■ェ ー3 —グ 11.；tごストン

2.王;しサんバドん 7. ノ、ワイ 12•マツ睾ンリー

3•ク十T 8•ハ。ナブ 13. メキシブ

4.睾ュ•ーノぐ 。ク> ンクーク> 14 ロスアンた'';レス

ノく ンクー ノ く、一 ロサンゼjレス
5•サンフランシスコ 10•フロリク、' 15.フシントン

ゴーい'ソノ \ Europe

1•アテ岸 8•スウ王ーデン 15. ベ j レ

2. アjしフ°ス 9•セ:-ス 16. ホV。ーランド

3. ィ睾'リス 10.デンマ—フ 17. マドソード

4. 寺ーストソア 11•ドィツ 18. モスクア

5•みシァ 12. ノノレクエ•一 巧•ユ—ゴスラクィア

ユーコ、'スラビア
6. ク‘'ソーンランド' 13. パソ 20. ご一 7

7. スイス 14. フランス 21. ロンドン

73
Personal Names

The following list presents in random order surnames and given names,

names that are famous and names that are not. Study them carefully and see

how many you can identify.

1. ダ'—クィン 24•王リザ'ぺス

2. トム 25•メンデ、ルスソ、、ーン

,レホナルド•ダ••巧ン手 26•アイゼ'ンハフ-
•レオナノレド•グビンチ
4•ジ3イス 27. レ-ニン

5. へツフ。ノ く、ーン 28. フ''ラクン

6. スグーゾン 29•モ—ゾァルト

7. ナンシ— 30.争^レン

8. ソクラテス 31•つロンフ''ス

9. プルケ''—ホフ 32. ジムソー

10.リチi^ —ド、 33. ロック7ェフ-

11•王ドブード 34. ジョン

12. パスカル 35. ケネデf (―)

13. ナノがレオン 36•マッカ—サ—

14. ノ \、ソノ \ 37.マ心クス

74
け.メソー 38.づ■ャッフ。ソン/

16. ソン々—ン 39. ミッチェ；レ

17. スrソッフ。 40. セサ''ンス

18. ずヤイコフス寺一 41•マリリン.モンロー

19. インク''ソッドソく-す、マン 42. キャサリン

20. パ'イロン 43. ハイドン

21. ヒ。カソ 44•カント

22•ミグランジエロ 45.ピーダー

23.シエ-クスピア 46•アインシュタイン

75
 凹
REVIEW EXERCISES

On the following pages are exercises 幻esigned to give oractice in using the
Katakana you have now mastered.

Part A of the exercises shows symbols that must be clearly distinguished so

as not to make mistakes when reading and writing Katakana. The two exer¬

cises B and C deal with the recognition of Katakana. Part D is an exercise in

recognizing correct usage. Exercise E emphasizes the writing of Katakana in

sentences. Do these exercises as rapidly as possible.

A. Common Mistakes

1.Katakana that look alike or that are often confused with each other.

a .ァ マ e•コ ユ
i •ナメ
b •ゥ フ ぃン、ソ j•ャセ
c•ク ク g•スス k•ュ 3

ん叮 ク h•ソ ン 1 •フク

2. Katakana that look like Hiragana.

a .力 か d .二に
b•年 e*

c •セせ f .モ苦
 B. Recognition Exercise

Find the Katakana symbol that matches each Romanized syllable written to

the left of the vertical line. Try to go as fast as you can, avoiding mistakes.

o
テ ケ ホ 午 ホ ホ
nu
ス ホ ヌ メ ン フ ノ
i
レ メ イ ノ ソ 卜 す
su
ゾ ス フ ム マ T ヌ
a
マ ダ ヤ 了 ブ グ ナ
ka か ブ へ 力 ク ラ サ
yu
3 ユ モ コ 口 ヒ
ma
ク 厶 ナ ス ヤ マ
re
ん フ レ へ レ ソ 卜
n ン ノ シ ツ ノ、 ナ ソ
ネ、、
gya
、中 ち そで も も ち
ho ノ \ モ ホ ヒ 才 セ
、、 へ、、
bu
プ ビ フ、、 ヴ フ
ri ノし も) エ ソ レ ノ 卜
ki 一< さ モ チ 丰 テ
—-
wa
ブ ク ク ゲ ナ み
pyo
ヒ3 ピュ tv ビ3 ピョ ピャ ビェ
se
サ せ ス エ セ ヤ ソ
—、、
ク、‘ グ グ' ゲ ガ
—
ge
け、、 T
u
ブ グ ク ク フ T
e
キ エ コ
•一
ヒ ユ
、み
jo も 么 ジョ ショ み シr
chi
4 モ ナ テ サ 个 フ
77
 C. Hidden Word Puzzle

At the bottom of the page are thirty-two words written in Roman letters. Try

to find them in the Katakana maze. The words may be written from left to

right, top to bottom or diagonally (left to right only). No words are written

backwards. Circle them as you find them. There may be other hidden words

besides those listed. See how many you can find.

ク 力 y コ 一
;し ヴ ネ キョ 7~ フ 3 口 ブ ノ —
0

ン マ
—-

ぺ ダ 卜 レ ス ダ ア 才 ブ ィ 、ン キ
r ——

王 Vy 力 セ ノ、 、ン た T イ ス ク ソ 么 ブ ノ
——
——
一■■

グ ン サ ナ ス ン へ 卜 ソ サ ソ ヒ3 ネ ム レ ヤ / \
♦

1 ぺ V エ ノ グ 力 ，レ フ ミャ ス r ヒャ T ン ブ ソ 一

T ン マ レ a マ ン チ ブ ク 才 ブ レ ネ ス フ
〇 ス 口 ベ モ ノく 王 ヒ。 プ ネ ス ゾ レ キャ ゾ ル シ
、
フ。 ヒェ 3 1 千マ ウ'、 ス サ ク ゴた マ ン ヴ キ ン
>、、 ♦か 、 —•
XJ 1 / イ ン ゲ ク 个 ブ ダ … ビ
一
イ 么
一、、
グ‘ Tふ ィ 1 •—•ユ 又 、ソ シ3 ソ 又、 斗 ハ レ 1 ホ お ン
ラ ノ ス リョ ブ ピ 卜 ノ 一 卜 ン キュ フ % ソ コ マ
一、、
ム ウォ r
ク ン ム ボ ニャ ル ク ソ ブ サ ン レ 了ィ
> 一 ——
•1—
ス ン 3 ソ ブ 么 1 つ — ヒ ナ とャ 个 ピ3 才 ス 一 1

>
T た 才 ス ン ス 心 么 テ ブ ブ ■Y ブ イ 卜 巧
ノ ,、' 、夕
y ツ ケ ん ぺ ホ す ン •
サ イ ろ 么 ソ ス 卜
三Y ティ な ソ な コ ン ピェ — グ と1 ソ み
一 —
一
、Y
—

aisukurimu Orimpikku kyande terebi basukettoboru my my る る Washinton

Ajia kamera shampen naifu matchi Yoroppa wanwan
inku Kurisumasu sokkusu neon sain puroguramu risuto
erebeta kompyuta chokoreto nekutai firumu resutoran
omuretsu kyabetsu tenisu hankachi miruku romanchikku

78
D. Usage Exercise

In the following 幻 & ら pairs, choose the correct one on the basis of the

guidelines you have learned.

1. a. ニュー3 —ク んa.て;レでンホン 15. a つ—ヒ_

b. ニュウヨウク b.てノレシ^ン手ン b ゴ-スー

2. a* 9. a.ステエワーデ’ス 16. パ-ナ-

ゾ'イヤモンド a
b. ク’'イ7モンド b.又ずェヮ-テ'ス b ノく-ティ-

3. a.
チョ- 10. a.ク禾ム 17. ブ。ロ テ1 - サ-
b. チョウ b.グアム b プロジムー サ-
4. a， ポケット 11. a.サンドイッチ 18. クソスマス - トソ—
b. ボッケト b.サンドウイッナ b クソスマス .、'ノリー

5. a. ベイスボ -ノレ じa.なノレソン 19. ミル^クシエー 今

b* ベ-スボ•-ノレ b.クイJレソン b ミ J レク セー 式
6. a. ピ> ヤノ 13. a.ドで_ 20. ジムツト
b. ピアノ b•ド了 b セ.’ツト

7. a， フンオ
——、>• 1叶• a.ニマアニyア

b‘ ラ巧才 b.二^夕-ニャ-

E. Writing ：5entences
Write the roilowing sentences in Japanese in the space provided. Pay par¬

ticular attention to which words should be written in Hiragana and which in

Katakana.

1.Sumisu-san wa 民osuanzerusu no kompyuta no kaisha de hataraite imasu.

(Mr. Smith works at a computer company in Los Angeles.)

79
2. Depato de burausu to seta to sukato o kaimashita. (I bought a blouse, a

sweater and a skirt at the department store.)

3. Jon to Men wa resutoran de wain to sarada to suteki o tanomimashita.

(John and Mary ordered wine, salad and steak at the restaurant.)

4. Teburu no ue ni wa foku to naifu to supun ga arimashita. Kirei na napukin

to koppu mo arimashita. (There were forks, knives and spoons on the table.

There were also pretty napkins and cups.)

5. Dezato ni aisukurlmu to appuru pai o tabemashita. (They had ice cream

and apple pie for dessert.)

6. Kino wa ame ga zaza futta node, uchi de terebi o mimashita. (Because it

rained hard yesterday, I stayed home and watched TV.)

7. Koen ni wa kirei na bara to tsutsuji ga takusan sake imashita. (Many-

beautiful roses and azaleas were blooming in the park.)

8. Naiagara no taki wa Kanada kara mo Amerika kara mo miemasu. (Ni¬

agara Falls can be seen from both Canada and the United States.)

9. Joji to Kyasarin wa Yoroppa ni ikimashita. Pari de atarashii fasshon o

takusan mimashita. (George and Katherine went to Europe. In Paris they

saw many new fashions.)

80
10. Wiruson-san wa itsumo山kuendo ni haikingu ni ikimasu. Tokidoki basu-

kettoboru mo shimasu. (Mr. Wilson always goes hiking on weekends.

He sometimes plays basketball, too.)

11.Sutereo de yoku kurashikku no rekodo o kikimasu. (I often listen to cla卜

sical records on [my] stereo.)

12. Tonari no pるけ de otona wa biru ya uisukio nonde imasu ga, kodomo wa

jusu ya kokakora o nonde imasu. (At the party next door, the adults are

drinking beer and whiskey, but the children are drinking juice and Coca-

cola.)

13. "民anchi 打i hambaga o tabemasu ka, hottodoggu o tabemasu ka."

"lie, watashi wa kareraisu o tabemasu." (‘‘Are you going to have a ham¬

burger or a hot dog for lunch?" .. . ‘‘No, I’m having curried rice.’’）

14. Kare wa komedi ga suki desu ga, watashi wa romanchikku na eiga ga suki

desu. (He likes comedies, but I like romantic movies.)

15. Ano shoppingu senは no naka ni bekari ga arimasu. Soko no chizukeki to

shukurimu wa totemo oishii desu. (There’s a bakery in that shopping

center. Their cheesecake and cream puffs are very good.)

81
APPENDIX A： Exercise Answers

Chapter 4

Exercise A
1.アイロン 2.アルファベット3.アイディア 4.アスファルト5.インク 6.イン

フナメーション7.インスタント8.イメージ9.ウッド10.ウインク11.ウイス

キー12.ウェディング13.ウォークマン14.エンジン15.エスカレーター

16. エキスパート17.オレンジ18.オリンピック19.オリーブ20.オートミール

Exercise B
1.カルシウム 2.カバー3.ガソリン4.キー 5.キング6.ギフト7.クリーニ

ング8.クラブ9.グレー10.ケーブルカー11.ゲート12.コメディー13.コ

ンサート14.ゴルフ15.キャビン16.キャビネット17.ギャップ18.ギャンブル

19.キュー 20.クォリティー

Lxercise C
1.サービス 2•サラダ3.シート4.シーン5.ジーンズ6.ステーキ 7.ステレ

才8.ズームレンズ9.センター10.センス11.ゼロ12.ソーダ13.シャンプー

14.ジャズ15.シューズ16.ジュース17.ショー18.ジョーク19.シェパー

ド20.ジュネレーション

txercise D
1.タクシー2.タイプライター 3.ダンス4.ダイヤモンド5•チップ6.ツーピ

ース 7.テキスト8.テクニック 9.デザート10.デコレーション11.トップ

12.ドレッシング13.チャンネル14.チューリップ15.チョーク16.ティーポット

17. ディスク18.ディスプレー19.デューティー 20.チェリー

txercise E
1.ナイロン2•ナプキン3.ニードル4.ニュアンス5.ヌード6.ネガティブ

7.ノーマル8. ノベル/ノヴェル

82
 Exercise F
1.ハンバーガー 2.ハイキング3.バナナ 4.パイロッ，卜5.パズル6.ヒーター

7.ビジネス8.ピラフ9.ピザ10.フライト11.フリー12.ブランドじ.ブロ

ンド14.プレゼント15.プラスチック16.ヘルパー17.ベッド18.ベルト

19.ページ20.ペン21.ホテル22•ボーナス23.ポスター24.ヒューマン

25.ビューティフル26.ファイト27.ファイナンス28.フィールド29.フェリー
30.フォーカス

Exercise ぃ
1.マスク2.マーケット3.マット4.マジック5.ミント6.ミステリー7.ミ

ンク8.ムード9.メロン10•メモリー11.メダル12.モーターボート13.モ

デル14.ヤンキー15.ユニット16.ユニーク17.ヨーク18.ミュージシャン

txercise H
1.ライン2.ライバル3•ライフ4.ライセンス5.リスク6.リサイタル7.リ

ング 8.リーダー 9.ルビー10.ルール11.レート12.レセプション13.レべ

ル14.レインコート15. ロボット16. ロマンチック17.ワイン18.ワックス

exercise I
1.ヴァニラ/バニラ2.ヴァイタリティー/バイタリティー 3.ヴァイオレット/バイ

オレット4.ヴァリエーション/バリエーション5.ヴィデオ/ビデオ6.ヴィオラ/ビ

オラ7.ヴェテラン/ベテラン8.ヴェルベット/ベルベット义ヴォルト/ボルト
10.ヴォーグ/ボーグ

Exercise j
1.accessory 2. announcer 3. address 4. academy 5. arubaito (from German,

Arbeit) part-time or temporary job 6. earring 7. ideorogi (from German, Ideologic)

ideology 8.interior 9. inspiration 10. uran (from German, Uran) uranium 11.ex¬

otic 12. elegant 13. electronics 14. episode 15. organ 16. orchestra 17.

original18. witch 19. wit 20. wage 21.Wall Street

Exercise K
し cassette 2. cardigan 3. calendar 4. cocktail 5. guide 6. kitchen 7. guitar 8.

coupon 9. classic 10. grape juice 11.Cambridge 12. guest 13. contact lens 14.

consultant 15. communication 16. gomu (from Dutch, gom) rubber 17. gossip 18.

cash 19. guarantee 20. Kewpie 21.quotation mark

83
Exercise L
1.cycling 2. Santa Claus 3. simple 4. jingle bells 5. snack 6. stress 7. smog

8. zoom 9. salesman 10. sweater 11.Xerox 12. sofa 13. shower 14. jacket

15. journalist 16. shukurimu (from French, chou a la creme) cream puff 17. show win¬

dow 18. shock 19. jogging 20. shape 21.generator

Exercise M
1.tobacco 2. talent 3. diving 4. chicken rice 5. cheerleader 6. tourist 7.

tent 8. date 9. democracy 10. designer 11.tournament 12. topic 13. tran¬

sistor 14. doughnut 15. dryer 16. charter 17. channel 18. check out 19. teen¬

ager 20. director 21.duplex

Exercise N
1.nighter (night game) 2. narration 3. nicotine (from German, Nikotin) 4. knee

sock 5. nugd (from French, nougat) nougat 6. necklace 7. navel 8. name value 9.

nostalgia 10. noiroze (from German, Neurose) neurosis 11.nuclear 12. neutral

Exercise O
し high heels 2, barbecue 3. passport 4. hero 5. vinyl6. peanut 7. football8.

blouse 9. private 10. helicopter 11.best seller 12. payday 13. homesick 14.

button 15. boycott 16. popular 17. humanism 18. beauty salon 19. Puritan

20. final 21.fiance 22. fair play 23. festival24. fortune

Exercise P
1.manager 2. margarine 3. massage 4. (sewing) macnme 5. missile 6, movie 7.

media 8. message 9. melody 10. monorail 11* motto 12. monitor 13. young

lady 14. humor 15. Utopia 16. yogurt 17. yacht 18, museum

Exercise Q
1.love letter 2, rush hour 3. rugby 4. rehearsal5.league 6.limousine 7. rou¬

lette 8. roommate 9. route 10. restaurant (from French, restaurant)11.lettuce

12. roast beef 13.lobby 14. (dress) shirt 15. waltz 16. one-piece

Exercise 民
1.vampire 2. visa 3. vision 4. Venus 5. veneer 6. vest 7. vocabulary 8. vo¬

calist

84
Geographic Names
Asia:1.Afghanistan 2. Israel 3. Iran 斗.India 5, Kampuchea (Cambodia)

6. Saudi Arabia 7. Soviet (Union) 8. Thailand 9. New Delhi 10, Nepal 11.

Bangkok 12. Himalayas 13, (The) Philippines 14. Vietnam 15. Hong Kong 16.

Manila 17. Malaysia 18. Lebanon

Africa:1.Algeria 2, Egypt 3. Kilimanjaro 4. Cape Town 5. Sahara 6. Nile

Australia/New Zealand: L Wellington 2. Sydney 3. Melbourne

South America:1.Amazon 2. Argentina 3. (The) Andes 4. Venezuela 5.

Ecuador 6. Columbia 7. Chile 8. Buenos Aires 9. Brazil 10. Peru 11.Rio de

Janeiro 12. Lima

North America:1.Alaska 2. El Salvador 3. Canada 4. Cuba 5, San

Francisco 6. New York 7. Hawaii 8. Panama 9. Vancouver 10. Florida

11.Boston 12, (Mt.) McKinley 13. Mexico14. Los Angeles 15. Washington

Europe:1.Athens 2. Alps 3. England 4. Austria 5. Greece 6. Greenland 7.

Switzerland 8. Sweden 9. Seine 10. Denmark 11.Germany 12. Norway 13,

Paris 14. France 15. Belgium 16. Poland 17- Madrid 18. Moscow 19.

Yugoslavia 20. Rome 21.London

Personal Names
1.Darwin 2. Tom 3. Leonardo da Vinci 4. Joyce 5, Hepburn 6. Stalin 7.

Nancy 8. Socrates 9. Turgenev 10. Richard IL Edward 12. Pascal13. Na¬

poleon 14. Bach 15. Mary 16. Lincoln 17. Phillip 18. Tchaikovsky 19. In¬

grid Bergman 20. Byron 21.Picasso 22. Michelangelo 23. Shakespeare 24. Eli¬

zabeth 25. Mendelssohn 26. Eisenhower 27. Lenin 28. Brown 29. Mozart

-30. Karen 31.Columbus 32. Julie 33. Rockefeller 34. John 35. Kennedy 36.

Mac Arthur 37. Marx 38. Chaplin 39. Mitchell40. Cezanne 41.Marilyn

Monroe 42. Katherine 43. Haydn 44. Kant 45. Peter 46. Einstein

Chapter 5

Exercise D
し a 2. a 3. b 4. a 5. b 6. b 7. a 8. a 9. b 10. b IL a 12. a 13. b 14. b

15. a 16. b 17. a 18. b 19. b 20. a

85
Exercise E
1. スミスさんは ロスアンゼルスのコンピューターのかいしやではたらいてい
ます。

2. デパートでブラウスとセーターとスカートをかいました。

3. ジョンと メリーはレストランでワインとサラダとステーキをたのみま
した。

4. テーブルのうえにはフオークとナイフとスプーンがありました。きれい
なナプキンとコップもありました。

5. デザートにアイスクリームとアップルパイをたべました。

6. きのうはあめがザーザーふったので、うちでテレビをみました。

7. こうえんにはきれいなバラとツツジがたくさんさいていました。

8. ナイアガラのたきはカナダからもアメリカからもみえます。

9. ジョージとキヤサリンはヨーロッパにいきました。パリであたらしいファッ
ションをたくさんみました。

10. ウィルソンさんはいつもウイークエンドにハイキングにいきます。ときど
きバスケットボールもします。

11. ステレオでよく クラシックのレコードをききます。

12. となりのパ…ティーでおとなはビールやウイスキーをのんでいますが、
こどもはジュースやコカコーラをのんでいます。

13. 「ランチにハンバーガーをたべますか、ホットドッグをたべますか。」
「いいえ、わたしはカレーライスをたべます。」
14. かれはコメディーがすきですが、わたしは ロマンチックなえいががすき
です。

15. あのショッピング•センターのなかにベーカリーがあります。そこのチ
—ズケーキとシュークリームはとてもおいしいです。

施
APPENDIX B： The Derivation of Katakana

The Hiragana syllabary was used at the time of its invention in the 9th century primari¬
ly by women. As a rule, only men wrote in Kanji. Prime users were monks who copied
Buddhist scripture and other writings. They had to indicate the pronunciation of often
very complicated Chinese characters, and they needed a mnemonic device of fairly sim¬
ple form. It was for this purpose that Katakana was created, at about the same time as
Hiragana. Both syllabaries were standardized by the Ministry of Education in the late
19th century.

Rather than reproduce the whole character in a cursive style, the method adopted
for Katakana was to select a particular element in one of several ways.

1.Complete borrowing of simple strokes:

十づ手 二づニ ノ 'Vー ノ \

2. TaKing the left side (tirst) strokes:

クローカ ィ尹*ー イ -^ネ

3.I'aking the top (tirst) strokes:

ぞーク 牟_>A

4. Taking the right side (last) strokes:

ジ1づエ イ义ース しーレ

The Torty-six basに Katakana are listed on the next page in their usual order, in ver-

tical rows beginning at the upper right. This is the same as the Katakana Syllabary on

page 12. To the right of each symbol is the Kanji from which it was derived.

*Note that Hiragana and Katakana [ka] are derived from the same Kanji, as are [ne], [u], [nu],
[re] ana a number of others.

87
 ナ奈 ダ多 サ散 力か 了巧
一—一-
ナ千 'ン之 キ幾 イイ尹

スお ブ）1! ス須 ク义 ウを
寺拂 テ天 お世 ブか 王ホ

ノ乃 卜止 ソ曾 コこ 才が

7知 ラ良 ヤ化 マ末 ノ \氏

リネ'1 ヒ比
、——

Jレ流 ュ由 厶牟 フす
レオし メホ へが

ヲ乎 口る ョ备 モ毛 ホイ呆

ンホ
カタカナ Let's しearn Katakana
1985年10月第1刷発行 — 印刷-製本所大日本印刷株式会社
2010年6月第23測発行 -
落T本•乱T本は«入■店ちを明B日のうえ、か社業お部巧にお送りください。送料小な負ち
著者 ヤスコ•コサカ-Sタムラ にてお巧替えします。なお、この本についてのお巧い合わせは.巧集が巧にお巧いいたしま
す。本》のが巧巧写（コピー）.お載はま作巧をの例Wをおき，巧じ6れています。
発行者 廣田浩二
発行所 講談社インターナショナル株式会社 定価はカノ 'C一に表巧してあ0ます。
干112-86日2東京都で京区音羽1-17-14
亀話03-3944-6493 (編集部） ◎トスコ-〕サカ-ミタムラ198己
03-3944-6492 (マーケティング部.業務部) Printed in Japan
ホームぺーン www.kodansha-intl.com にBN 978-4-7700-1219-7
KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL
DICTIONARIES

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Japanese-English / English-Japanese
ふりがな和英-巧和辞典

Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English

Dictionaryふりがな巧巧辞巧

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The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary

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Kodansha's Essential Kanji Dictionary

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Kodansha's Effective Japanese Usage

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A Dictionary of Japanese Particles

てにをは辞巧

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence

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The Handbook of Japanese Verbs

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Phrases
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カタカナ Printed tn Japan

LETS LEARN HIRAGANA ひらがな
Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura
A wd卜tested, step-by-step program for individual study of the hiragana syllabary.
Paperback, 72 pages, ISBN 978-0-87011-709-1

LET S LEARN KATAKANA カタカナ

Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura
The companion volume for learning the katakana syllabary used for foreign words and new terms.
Paperback, 88 pages, ISBN 978-0-87011-719-0

LET S LEARN KANJI漢字を勉強しましょう

Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura and Joyce Mitamura
An innovative approach to learning the the basic components of kanji，demonstrating simply how a
finite number of parts combine into a wide variety of characters.
Paperback, 272 pages, ISBN 978-4-7700-2068-0