Katakana: Diacritics, Combinations, and Long Vowels

Part 1: Katakana with Diacritics (Dakuten & Handakuten)

The first modification system is one you are already familiar with from hiragana. By adding two small tick marks called dakuten (゛) or a small circle called handakuten (゜), we can change the sound of a character. The rules are identical to hiragana:

• K-sounds become G-sounds (e.g., カ ka → ガ ga).
• S-sounds become Z-sounds (e.g., サ sa → ザ za).
• T-sounds become D-sounds (e.g., タ ta → ダ da).
• H-sounds become B-sounds (with ゛) or P-sounds (with ゜) (e.g., ハ ha → バ ba / パ pa).

Let's review this with the Tofugu guide you used in the last lesson.

Here are some examples you might see in Japan:

• ガス (gasu) - Gas
• ドア (doa) - Door
• パン (pan) - Bread (from Portuguese)
• ベッド (beddo) - Bed

To practice your pronunciation of these new sounds, you can listen to this audio file.

Part 2: Combined Katakana (Yōon)

Next, we have combined katakana, known as yōon. This also works just like in hiragana: you combine a character from the 'i' column (like キ, シ, チ) with a small version of ヤ, ユ, or ヨ (ャ, ュ, ョ) to create blended sounds like kya, shu, or cho.

However, because katakana is used to represent foreign sounds, it has an expanded set of combinations that don't exist in hiragana. These use small vowels ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ, ォ to approximate sounds like 'V', 'W', 'F', and 'T'. This is a crucial difference and the key to reading many loanwords.

The Tofugu guide breaks this down very well.

Here are some examples that use these combined forms:

• チェック (chekku) - Check, as in "check-in" or "the bill"
• シャワー (shawā) - Shower
• メニュー (menyū) - Menu
• Wi-Fi (waifai) - Wi-Fi
• フォーク (fōku) - Fork

As you can see, these are incredibly useful for travel!

Part 3: The Long Vowel Mark

Our final piece of the puzzle is the simplest. In katakana, to indicate that a vowel sound is held longer, you don't repeat the vowel character as in hiragana. Instead, you use a simple dash called a chōonpu (長音符), which looks like this: ー.

When you see this mark, simply extend the sound of the vowel that came before it.

• ア (a) becomes アー (aa)
• キ (ki) becomes キー (kii)
• ス (su) becomes スー (suu)
• テ (te) becomes テー (tee)
• ロ (ro) becomes ロー (roo)

Let's see how the Tofugu guide explains it.

Could you read ベーコンチーズバーガー? That's bēkon chīzu bāgā — a bacon cheeseburger! You can see how practical this is. Here are a few more vital words using the long vowel mark:

• コーヒー (kōhī) - Coffee
• ビール (bīru) - Beer
• カード (kādo) - Card (like a credit card)
• タクシー (takushī) - Taxi

Putting It All Together: Practice

You now have all the tools to read katakana. The key is to practice recognizing these forms together. Below is a comprehensive chart showing all the forms we've discussed today. I recommend downloading and printing a full chart for easy reference.

You can download a clean, printable PDF version from the MLC Japanese Language School website.

Optional: Practice with Your Interests

To make practice more engaging, you can use materials that align with your interests. Since you have a background in IT, you'll find that a massive amount of technical vocabulary in Japanese is simply English words written in katakana. The following videos are reading challenges that focus on IT and programming terms. They are a great way to practice reading at speed while seeing words you already know in a new script.

Conclusion

Excellent work today. You've now covered all the components of the katakana writing system. This is a huge step forward in preparing for your trip.

Key Takeaways:

• Katakana uses diacritics (゛/゜) to modify consonants, following the same rules as hiragana.
• Combined forms (yōon) use small characters (ャ, ュ, ョ, ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ, ォ) to create blended sounds, including many to represent foreign pronunciations.
• A long dash (ー) is used to indicate a long vowel, which is very common in loanwords.
• With these rules, you can now sound out a vast majority of words you will encounter on menus, signs, and in stores.

Preview of the next lesson:
Now that you know both full writing systems, hiragana and katakana, the next step is to get comfortable seeing them used together. In our next lesson, we will focus on distinguishing between hiragana and katakana in mixed text and start reading common loanwords you are guaranteed to see while traveling in Japan.