Appendix:Katakana script

This appendix explains characters written in the Katakana script.

Collation edit

The gojūon table edit

The table below shows the gojūon table with all katakana characters, except alternative versions such as small characters or with diacritics, as they are most commonly organized.

Katakana gojūon table
Row A
(ア段)
Row I
(イ段)
Row U
(ウ段)
Row E
(エ段)
Row O
(オ段)
Section A (ア行)
Section KA (カ行)
Section SA (サ行)
Section TA (タ行)
Section NA (ナ行)
Section HA (ハ行)
Section MA (マ行)
Section YA (ヤ行)
Section RA (ラ行)
Section WA (ワ行)

Iroha ordering system edit

Another ordering system is the iroha, based on a Japanese poem that, if written in katakana, each character appears exactly once, similarly to a pangram:

イロハニホヘトチリヌルヲワカヨタレソツネナラムウヰノオクヤマケフコエテアサキユメミシヱヒモセス

Orthographic variations edit

Katakana characters with diacritics edit

Additional characters with diacritics edit

Section WA
Dakuten ("VA")

Additional characters with diacritics (Part 2) edit

Section RA
Handakuten ("LA") ラ゚ リ゚ ル゚ レ゚ ロ゚

Small forms edit

These are katakana characters written in small size. They often serve functions different from those of their normal-size counterparts.

Additional symbols edit

Origins of the characters edit

See Appendix:Japanese script.

Unicode edit

Katakana script
Unicode.org chart: Katakana (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+30Ax
U+30Bx
U+30Cx
U+30Dx
U+30Ex
U+30Fx
Katakana script
Unicode.org chart: Katakana Phonetic Extensions (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+31Fx
Katakana script (halfwidth)
Unicode.org chart: Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+FF6x
U+FF7x ソ
U+FF8x
U+FF9x
Katakana script (enclosed)
Unicode.org chart: Enclosed CJK Letters and Months (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+32Dx
U+32Ex
U+32Fx  
Katakana script (words written in katakana)
Unicode.org chart: CJK Compatibility (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+330x
U+331x
U+332x
U+333x
U+334x
U+335x