オ
Japanese
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Etymology
Simplified in the Heian period from the man'yōgana kanji 於, taken from the left part of the character.
Pronunciation
- IPA: [o]
Syllable
オ (Hepburn romanization o)
- The katakana syllable オ (o), whose equivalent in hiragana is お (o). It is the fifth syllable of the gojūon order, and its position in gojūon tables is ア行オ段 (A-gyō, O-dan; “row A, section O”).
Usage notes
Unlike the hiragana system, used for Japanese language words that kanji does not cover, the katakana syllabary is used primarily for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words (collectively gairaigo), as well as to represent onomatopoeia, technical and scientific terms, and the names of plants, animals, and minerals. Names of Japanese companies, as well as certain Japanese language words, are also written in katakana rather than the other systems.[edit]
Related terms
- For a list of words starting with オ (o) see: Special:Allpages/オ