What does Katakana mean?
Definitions for Katakana
ˌkɑ təˈkɑ nəkatakana
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Katakana.
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Wiktionary
katakananoun
A Japanese syllabary used when writing words borrowed from foreign languages other than Chinese, specific names of plants and animals and other jargon, or to emphasize a word or phrase.
katakananoun
A letter thereof
Etymology: From 片仮名.
Wikipedia
Katakana
Katakana (片仮名、カタカナ, Japanese pronunciation: [katakaꜜna]) is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived from components or fragments of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are both kana systems. With one or two minor exceptions, each syllable (strictly mora) in the Japanese language is represented by one character or kana in each system. Each kana represents either a vowel such as "a" (katakana ア); a consonant followed by a vowel such as "ka" (katakana カ); or "n" (katakana ン), a nasal sonorant which, depending on the context, sounds either like English m, n or ng ([ŋ]) or like the nasal vowels of Portuguese or Galician. In contrast to the hiragana syllabary, which is used for Japanese words not covered by kanji and for grammatical inflections, the katakana syllabary usage is comparable to italics in English; specifically, it is used for transcription of foreign-language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words (collectively gairaigo); for emphasis; to represent onomatopoeia; for technical and scientific terms; and for names of plants, animals, minerals and often Japanese companies. Katakana evolved from Japanese Buddhist monks transliterating Chinese texts into Japanese.
Wikidata
Katakana
Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin script. The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived from components of more complex kanji. Katakana and hiragana are both kana systems; they have corresponding character sets in which each kana, or character, represents one mora. Each kana is either a vowel such as "a"; a consonant followed by a vowel such as "ka"; or "n", a nasal sonorant which, depending on the context, sounds either like English m, n, or ng, or like the nasal vowels of Portuguese or French. In contrast to the hiragana syllabary, which is used for those Japanese language words and grammatical inflections which kanji does not cover, the katakana syllabary is primarily used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words. It is also used for emphasis, to represent onomatopoeia, and to write certain Japanese language words, such as technical and scientific terms, and the names of plants, animals, and minerals. Names of Japanese companies are also often written in katakana rather than the other systems.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Katakana
kat-a-kä′na, n. one of the two styles of writing the syllabary of 48 letters in use among the Japanese (the other being Hiragana), used chiefly for proper names and foreign words.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of Katakana in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of Katakana in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
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Translations for Katakana
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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