Kana 1-6 Katakana Part 2

1-6 Katakana Part 2

Great job learning the 46 katakana characters!

Just like in Lesson 1-4, we’ll now cover modified syllables and extended consonant syllables for katakana. You’re used to the drill by now, right?

Assuming you’ve memorized the 46 katakana characters, let’s jump into how to combine consonants and extend the usage of existing katakana characters.

Extended consonant syllables / Voiced consonants

By adding two dots or a circle to the top right hand side of certain characters, you can change how they sound:

• カ –> ガ　
• ハ –> バ　
• ハ –> パ

The two dots and circle are known as diacritics. Japanese has two diacritics and they are the same for hiragana and katakana.

You can refer to 0:00-1:55 of this video for an explanation.

 

Here’s a katakana chart of voiced consonants:

 

Modified syllables / Contracted sounds

By placing a small ヤ, ユ or ヨ next to certain katakana characters, you can also form new sounds:

• キ + ャ = キャ
• ミ + ュ = ミュ
• ピ + ョ = ピョ

Here’s a katakana chart of contracted sounds:

 

Because katakana is mainly used for foreign loan words, you’d sometimes see special combinations which you won’t see in hiragana:    

• カリフォリニア(California)
• ファッション(Fashion)
• ミネラルウォーター(Mineral Water)

You can refer to 3:35-4:47 of this video for an explanation.

1-6-1 Katakana ガ Row

Please learn the characters ‘ga’ to ‘go’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

ガ ga

ギ gi

グ gu

ゲ ge

ゴ go

1-6-2 Katakana ザ Row

Please learn the characters ‘za’ to ‘zo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

ザ za

ジ ji

ズ zu

ゼ ze

ゾ zo

1-6-3 Katakana ダ Row

Please learn the characters ‘da’ to ‘do’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

ダ da

ヂ di

ヅ du

デ de

ド do

1-6-4 Katakana バ and パ Rows

Please learn the characters ‘ba’ to ‘bo’ and ‘pa’ to ‘po’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

バ ba

ビ bi

ブ bu

ベ be

ボ bo

パ pa

ピ pi

プ pu

ペ pe

ポ po

1-6-5 Katakana キャ and ギャ Rows

Please learn the characters ‘kya’ to ‘kyo’ and ‘gya’ to ‘gyo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

キャ kya

キュ kyu

キョ kyo

ギャ gya

ギュ gyu

ギョ gyo

1-6-6 Katakana シャ and ジャ Rows

Please learn the characters ‘sha’ to ‘sho’ and ‘ja’ to ‘jo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

シャ sha

シュ shu

ショ sho

ジャ ja

ジュ ju

ジョ jo

1-6-7 Katakana ニャ Row

Please learn the characters ‘nya’ to ‘nyo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

ニャ nya

ニュ nyu

ニョ nyo

1-6-8 Katakana ヒャ, ビャ and ピャ Rows

Please learn the characters ‘hya’ to ‘hyo’, ‘bya’ to ‘byo’ and ‘pya’ to ‘pyo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

ヒャ hya

ヒュ hyu

ヒョ hyo

ビャ bya

ビュ byu

ビョ byo

ピャ pya

ピュ pyu

ピョ pyo

1-6-9 Katakana ミャ Row

Please learn the characters ‘mya’ to ‘myo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

ミャ mya

ミュ myu

ミョ myo

1-6-10 Katakana リャ Row

Please learn the characters ‘rya’ to ‘ryo’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

リャ rya

リュ ryu

リョ ryo

 

1-6-11 Katakana チャ Row

Please learn the characters ‘cha’ to ‘cho’.

Take a piece of paper and pen, write out everything yourself to master the stroke order and memorize the katakana characters.

チャ cha

チュ chu

チョ cho