- Katakana is mostly used for loan words. The Japanese language has given English about 500 loan-words, whereas many thousands of English words have gone the other way. As foreign words must fit into the Japanese syllabry, they undergo many radical changes sometimes resulting in cases where British people can't understand words that have originated in English. Generally, try to avoid English pronunciations and treat such words as ‘Japanese’.
- Used in country and foreign place names e.g. ロンドン rondon (London) and personal names e.g. マリー marii (Mary), furthermore Japanese company names often use katakana e.g. スズキ (Suzuki)
- Katakana often used for onomatopoeic words (words representing sounds) e.g. コケコッコ kokekokko (cock-a-doodle-doo)
- Technical or scientific terms, and specialized nomenclature such as some animal, plant and mineral names. (e.g. キウイ kiui or kiwi fruit)
- ‘Kun’ kanji readings are normally listed in katakana
- Otherwise occasionally used for emphasis, like italics in English, (although •italic• marks may also be used).
- katakana may sometimes be used to write the ‘Ainu’ language.
Now you know the score, so lets learn the script.
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