Editing Katakana (section)

====Usage====
{{main|Japanese writing system}}
[[File:Myoe_Shonin_Kashu.jpg|thumb|Collection of poems by priest [[Myōe]], 1248]]

In modern Japanese, katakana is most often used for transcription of words from foreign languages or loanwords (other than words historically imported from Chinese), called ''gairaigo''.<ref name="Contemporary Japanese' 1993, page 29">"The Japanese Writing System (2) Katakana", p. 29 in ''Yookoso! An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese''. McGraw-Hill, 1993, {{ISBN|0070722935}}</ref> For example, "ice cream" is written {{Nihongo krt||アイスクリーム|aisukurīmu}}. Similarly, katakana is usually used for country names, foreign places, and foreign personal names. For example, the United States is usually referred to as {{Nihongo krt||アメリカ|Amerika}}, rather than in its [[ateji]] kanji spelling of {{Nihongo krt||亜米利加|Amerika}}.

Katakana are also used for onomatopoeia,<ref name="Contemporary Japanese' 1993, page 29"/> words used to represent sounds – for example, {{Nihongo krt||ピンポン|pinpon}}, the "ding-dong" sound of a doorbell.

Technical and scientific terms, such as the names of animal and plant species and minerals, are also commonly written in katakana.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.japanesewordswriting.com/|title=Hiragana, Katakana & Kanji|date=8 September 2010|publisher=Japanese Word Characters|access-date=15 October 2011}}</ref> ''Homo sapiens'', as a species, is written {{Nihongo krt||ヒト|hito}}, rather than its kanji {{nihongo2|人}}.

Katakana are often (but not always) used for transcription of Japanese company names. For example, [[Suzuki]] is written {{lang|ja|スズキ}}, and [[Toyota]] is written {{lang|ja|トヨタ}}. As these are common family names, Suzuki being the second most common in Japan,<ref name="japan2">{{cite press release
 | title = 明治安田生命 全国同姓調査 [''Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company – National same family name investigation'']
 | publisher = [[Meiji Yasuda Life|Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company]]
 | date = 2008-09-24
 | url = http://www.meijiyasuda.co.jp/profile/release/2008/pdf/20080924.pdf
 | access-date = 2018-05-24
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120117124916/http://www.meijiyasuda.co.jp/profile/release/2008/pdf/20080924.pdf
 | archive-date = 17 January 2012
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref> using katakana helps distinguish company names from surnames in writing. Katakana are commonly used on signs, advertisements, and hoardings (i.e., [[billboard (advertising)|billboards]]), for example, {{nihongo krt|"here"|ココ|koko}}, {{nihongo krt|"trash"|ゴミ|gomi}}, or {{nihongo krt|"glasses"|メガネ|megane}}. Words the writer wishes to emphasize in a sentence are also sometimes written in katakana, mirroring the usage of [[italics]] in European languages.<ref name="Contemporary Japanese' 1993, page 29"/>

Pre–World War II official documents mix katakana and kanji in the same way that hiragana and kanji are mixed in modern Japanese texts, that is, katakana were used for ''[[okurigana]]'' and particles such as ''wa'' or ''o''.

Katakana was also used for [[Wabun code|telegrams in Japan]] before 1988, and for computer systems – before the introduction of multibyte characters – in the 1980s. Most computers of that era [[JIS X 0201|used katakana]] instead of kanji or hiragana for output.

Although words borrowed from ancient [[Chinese language|Chinese]] are usually written in kanji, loanwords from modern Chinese varieties that are borrowed directly use katakana instead.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Examples of modern Chinese loanwords in Japanese
! Japanese !!title="Hepburn romanization of Japanese kana"| [[Hepburn romanisation|Hepburn]] !! Meaning !! Chinese !!title="modern Hànyǔ Pīnyīn romanization of Chinese Hanzi"| [[Pinyin]]/[[Yale romanisation of Cantonese|Yale]] !! Source language
|-
|{{Lang|ja|マージャン}}||''mājan''||[[mahjong]]||{{Lang|zh-hant|麻將}}||''májiàng''||rowspan=3|[[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]]
|-
|{{Lang|ja|ウーロン茶}}||''ūroncha''||[[Oolong]] tea||{{Lang|zh-hant|烏龍茶}}||''wūlóngchá''
|-
|{{Lang|ja|チャーハン}}||''chāhan''||[[fried rice]]||{{Lang|zh-hant|炒飯}}||''chǎofàn''
|-
|{{Lang|ja|チャーシュー}}||''chāshū''||barbecued pork||{{Lang|zh-hant|叉燒}}||''[[Char siu|chā sīu]]''||rowspan=2|[[Cantonese]]
|-
|{{Lang|ja|シューマイ}}||''shūmai''||[[shumai]]||{{Lang|zh-hant|燒賣}}||''sīu máai''
|}

The very common Chinese loanword ''[[ramen|rāmen]]'', written in katakana as {{lang|ja|ラーメン}}, is rarely written with its kanji ({{lang|ja|拉麺}}).

There are rare instances where the opposite has occurred, with kanji forms created from words originally written in katakana. An example of this is {{lang|ja|コーヒー}} ''kōhī'', ("[[coffee]]"), which can alternatively be written as {{lang|ja|珈琲}}. This kanji usage is occasionally employed by coffee manufacturers or coffee shops for novelty.

Katakana is used to indicate the ''on'yomi'' (Chinese-derived readings) of a kanji in a [[kanji dictionary]]. For instance, the kanji 人 has a Japanese pronunciation, written in hiragana as {{lang|ja|ひと}} ''hito'' (person), as well as a Chinese derived pronunciation, written in katakana as {{lang|ja|ジン}} ''jin'' (used to denote groups of people). Katakana is sometimes used instead of hiragana as [[furigana]] to give the pronunciation of a word written in Roman characters, or for a foreign word, which is written as kanji for the meaning, but intended to be pronounced as the original.

[[File:キリ走行注意 (19822048951).jpg|thumb|In this travel warning, the kanji for "fog" ({{lang|ja|霧}}) has been written in katakana ({{lang|ja|キリ}}) to make it more immediately readable.]]

Katakana are also sometimes used to indicate words being spoken in a foreign or otherwise unusual accent. For example, in a [[manga]], the speech of a foreign character or a robot may be represented by {{lang|ja|コンニチワ}} ''konnichiwa'' ("hello") instead of the more typical hiragana {{lang|ja|こんにちは}}. Some [[Japanese names|Japanese personal names]] are written in katakana. This was more common in the past, hence elderly women often have katakana names. This was particularly common among women in the [[Meiji Restoration|Meiji]] and [[Taishō period|Taishō]] periods, when many poor, illiterate parents were unwilling to pay a scholar to give their daughters names in kanji.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tackett|first1=Rachel|title=Why old Japanese women have names in katakana|url=http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/09/19/why-old-japanese-women-have-names-in-katakana/|website=RocketNews24|access-date=19 September 2015|archive-date=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910082557/http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/09/19/why-old-japanese-women-have-names-in-katakana/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Katakana is also used to denote the fact that a character is speaking a foreign language, and what is displayed in katakana is only the Japanese "translation" of their words.

Some frequently used words may also be written in katakana in dialogs to convey an informal, conversational tone. Some examples include {{lang|ja|マンガ}} ("manga"), {{lang|ja|アイツ}} ''aitsu'' ("that guy or girl; he/him; she/her"), {{lang|ja|バカ}} ''baka'' ("fool"), etc.

Words with difficult-to-read kanji are sometimes written in katakana (hiragana is also used for this purpose). This phenomenon is often seen with [[medical terminology]]. For example, in the word {{lang|ja|皮膚科}} ''hifuka'' ("[[dermatology]]"), the second kanji, {{lang|ja|膚}}, is considered difficult to read, and thus the word ''hifuka'' is commonly written {{lang|ja|皮フ科}} or {{lang|ja|ヒフ科}}, mixing kanji and katakana. Similarly, difficult-to-read kanji such as {{lang|ja|癌}} ''gan'' ("[[cancer]]") are often written in katakana or hiragana.

Katakana is also used for traditional musical notations, as in the ''Tozan-[[ryu (school)|ryū]]'' of ''[[shakuhachi]]'', and in ''[[sankyoku]]'' ensembles with ''[[koto (musical instrument)|koto]]'', ''[[shamisen]]'' and ''shakuhachi''.

Some instructors teaching Japanese as a foreign language "introduce ''katakana'' after the students have learned to read and write sentences in ''hiragana'' without difficulty and know the rules."<ref>Mutsuko Endo Simon (1984) Section 3.3 "Katakana", p. 36 in  ''A Practical Guide for Teachers of Elementary Japanese'', Center for Japanese Studies, the [[University of Michigan]]. {{ISBN|0939512165}}</ref> Most students who have learned hiragana "do not have great difficulty in memorizing" katakana as well.<ref>Simon, p. 36</ref> Other instructors introduce katakana first, because these are used with loanwords. This gives students a chance to practice reading and writing kana with meaningful words. This was the approach taken by the influential American linguistics scholar [[Eleanor Harz Jorden]] in ''[[Japanese: The Written Language]]'' (parallel to ''[[Japanese: The Spoken Language]]'').<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070318020645/http://www.joyo96.org/96K/Lesson_1.html Reading Japanese, Lesson 1]. joyo96.org</ref>[[File:Meiji_Kenpo01.jpg|thumb|300px|left|A page of the [[Meiji Constitution]] written exclusively with [[kyūjitai]] and katakana]]