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TYJ Katakana shapes

This article is in the series Teach Yourself Japanese

4.5. Katakana shapes

4.5.1. Comparison between hiragana and katakana

Some katakana look like the corresponding hiragana, but many of them are different. Hiragana often have round curves, and katakana often have straight lines.

Romanizationaiueo
Hiragana
Katakana

Romanizationkakikukekokyakyukyo
Hiraganaきゃきゅきょ
Katakanaキャキュキョ

Romanizationgagigugegogyagyugyo
Hiraganaぎゃぎゅぎょ
Katakanaギャギュギョ

Romanizationsasisusesosyasyusyo
Hiraganaしゃしゅしょ
Katakanaシャシュショ

Romanizationzazizuzezozyazyuzyo
Hiraganaじゃじゅじょ
Katakanaジャジュジョ

Romanizationtatitutetotyatyutyo
Hiraganaちゃちゅちょ
Katakanaチャチュチョ

Romanizationdazizudedozyazyuzyo
Hiraganaぢゃぢゅぢょ
Katakanaヂャヂュヂョ

Romanizationnaninunenonyanyunyo
Hiraganaにゃにゅにょ
Katakanaニャニュニョ

Romanizationhahihuhehohyahyuhyo
Hiraganaひゃひゅひょ
Katakanaヒャヒュヒョ

Romanizationbabibubebobyabyubyo
Hiraganaびゃびゅびょ
Katakanaビャビュビョ

Romanizationpapibupepopyapyupyo
Hiraganaぴゃぴゅぴょ
Katakanaピャピュピョ

Romanizationmamimumemomyamyumyo
Hiraganaみゃみゅみょ
Katakanaミャミュミョ

Romanizationyaiyueyo
Hiragana
Katakana

Romanizationrarirureroryaryuryo
Hiraganaりゃりゅりょ
Katakanaリャリュリョ

Romanizationwaiueo
Hiragana
Katakana

Romanizationn-
Hiragana
Katakana

4.5.2. Confusing katakana

The following katakana resemble one another.

Romanizationama
Katakana

Romanizationukuketehurawao
Katakana

Romanizationsisoturin
Katakana

These katakana are indeed confusing. Written from left to right, the lines of シ have the beginning points at the left side of the katakana. Written from top to bottom, those in ツ have the beginning points on the upper side.

The lines of ン are similar to those in シ, and the lines of ソ are similar to ツ.

The lines of リ are parallel in the upper half of it.

Romanizationsunu
Katakana

Romanizationtiname
Katakana

Romanizationnimi
Katakana

Romanizationnorure
Katakana
Next article in the series 'Teach Yourself Japanese': Punctuation in Japanese
Previous article in the series 'Teach Yourself Japanese': Katakana table
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Takasugi
My name is TAKASUGI Shinji. TAKASUGI is my family name, and Shinji is my given name; a family name is placed before a given name in Japan, as in other Asian nations. My family name is capitalized to avoid misunderstanding.

I have been living in Yokohama since I was born. Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan, which is just 30 kilometers away from the biggest city Tôkyô. It takes 30 minutes to go by train from home to Shibuya, which is the hottest town now in Tôkyô.

I work as a display engineer.

One of my hobbies is creating things with computers; creating programs, computer graphics and web pages is the thing I spent a lot of time doing. I am also interested in a wide range of sciences, and linguistics is my favorite. I like English and I like using it, but my focus is mainly on Japanese, which is my native language. I'm proud of knowing the language, and the difference between English and Japanese has been fascinating me. I have been thinking whether I can introduce it to people outside of Japan. My attempt of introducing Japanese with some Java applets has had more than 1 million visitors.

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