We have seen the four rules that allow us to use katakana. Now let’s move on to a few particulars that only concern kana : the rules of katakanisation.
Katakanization : transforming a word of foreign origin into katakana.
You should know that there are many English words which have entered the Japanese language and which have therefore been adapted to this language in the form of kana.
In this course, you are not just going to learn English words in kana, you are also going to learn how to transform foreign words into katakana while learning to follow the rules, of course.
This course is very important because we will later see many English katakanized words and also proper western foreign names in the following courses. Especially when we’ll talk about particles, I will give you a lot of example sentences with, occasionally, western names, so katakanized.
There are a lot of rules so let’s get started right away.
English speakers are quite lucky. As I explained to you in the course on the presentation of kanji, Japanese mainly rely on English to katakanize foreign words. In addition, the Japanese always try to respect the original pronunciation of each word they adapt, which has also led them to create new combinations. But this, we’ll see in a future lesson.
For today, let’s focus on the rules of katakanization.
1. Transcribe with similar syllables
You recover the word phonetically and try to transcribe it as faithfully as possible with the katakana.
For example, a camera is said in English :
Camera → カメラ
In the above case, no problem. We have perfectly katakanized the word.
Another example, a door is said in English :
Door → ドア
The word above sees the sound [r] disappear, for lack of syllable for this sound.
2. Lengthening
Sometimes, we will put a lengthening in the words. This is particularly the case for English words ending with an « r », the « r » being almost never perceptible by ear, we lengthen the last syllable.
For example, the word « power » :
Power → パワー
The sound [r] not being perceptible, we lengthen the sound [wa].
Others examples :
Coffee → コーヒー
Designer → デザイナー
Shower → シャワー
Copy → コピー
3. Closed syllable
When we have a closed syllable that ends in a single consonant, we have no choice but to find the closest equivalent. Because consonants alone do not exist in Japanese outside of ん.
So, if we take the previous example, « cake », we have the choice between カ, キ, ク, ケ, コ. We don’t have the [k] sound alone.
If we say the word « cake » in English, the sound closest to the [k] final is the kana キ.
Cake → ケーキ
This case is an exception to the rule because in almost all cases where we will have a closed syllable, a word ending on a consonant, we will take the version in ウ of the line of the corresponding version.
Take the word « dance » for example. The word katakanized ends with a ス :
Dance → ダンス
Another example, the word « hotel » :
Hotel → ホテル
Here, we have taken the ル which is very close phonetically to the [l].
Another example, the word « beer » :
Beer → ビール
Here, we have taken the ル which is very close phonetically to the [r]. Not to be confused with « ビル » which means « building ».
Another example, the word « jazz » :
Jazz → ジャズ
Here, we have taken the ズ which is very close phonetically to the [z].
Yet another, the word « France », the word « mango juice », the word « rice », the word « cheese » :
France → フランス
Mango Juice → マンゴジュース
Rice → ライス
Cheese → チーズ
Again, we took the ス and ズ which is very close phonetically to the sound [s].
Now let’s take three more slightly more complicated words, « Single room », « double room » and « twin room » :
Single room → シングルルーム
Double room → ダブルルーム
Twin room → ツインルーム
Here, we have taken the ム which is very close phonetically to the sound [m].
4. Pause
We may have a pause from time to time. This is often done at the end of the word. Always try to stay as close as possible to the original pronunciation.
Another example, the word « sonic » :
Sonic → ソニック
You see ! It’s not ソニク. You can see the pause indicated by the small ッ.
Another example :
Big → ビッグ
Again, this is not ビグ. You can see the pause indicated by the little ッ.
5. Decompose the consonants that are linked
When we have several consonants that follow each other in a Western word, what can we do ? Because we always have a vowel after a consonant in Japanese, so we will never have multiple consonants in a row. This is why we are going to have to decompose the consonants which are linked (except the last consonant) using the form in ウ.
For example, if we take the word « Crystal » :
Crystal → クリスタル
We can see that the « cry » has been decompose into クリ.
Another example with the word « Brassiere » :
Brassiere → ブラジャー
We can see that the « bra » has been decompose into ブラ.
6. Syllable closed in [t] or in [d]
When the foreign word ends with a closed syllable in [t] or [d], the form in ウ would be ツ and ズ.
As you can see, it’s not very similar. In these two cases, we will use the form in "オ".
For example the word « Test » and the word « Light » :
Test → テスト
Light → ライト
Bed → ベッド
Hit → ヒット
Rock band → ロックバンド
Dragon → ドラゴン → Here, the word does not end with a closed syllable, but the same rule applies. We have the consonants « d » and « r » that follow each other.
Badminton → バドミントン → Here, the word does not end with a closed syllable, but the same rule applies. We have the consonants « d » and « m » that follow each other.
Strike → ストライク → Here, the word does not end with a closed syllable, but the same rule applies. We have the consonants « t » and « r » that follow each other.
We don’t have the [t] sound alone in Japanese and the ツ is absolutely not suitable. So, we use kana ト and the kana ド.
Note that for the words « dragon », « badminton » and « strike », we decompose the consonants which are linked.
7. Nasal vowels
The nasal vowels are very present in French but in Japanese, this is not frankly the case. To give you an idea of how the Japanese transcription is going, I give you as examples of the French words that entered Japanese.
I know that you are English-speaking, it does not matter if you cannot pronounce the words below as a French would do but it is a rule to know.
These are most often food names or big brand names :
The sound « an » [ã] アン : Croissant → クロワッサン
The sound « in » [ɛ̃] アン : Tintin → タンタン
The sound « on » [ɔ̃] オン : Macaron → マカロン
8. Changed sounds
Sometimes there are certain sounds that we cannot faithfully transcribe into kana. Therefore, we will change the pronunciation of these words while trying, again, to stay as close as possible to the original pronunciation.
[si]
シ Taxi → タクシー
シ Galaxy → ギャラクシー
Since the sound [if] does not exist in Japanese, then we replace it with the sound シ. Note that for the words « Taxi » and « Galaxy », we decompose the consonant « x » in クシ.
[zi]
ジ Casino → カジノ
Since the sound [zi] does not exist in Japanese, then we replace it with the sound ジ.
[ti]
チ Ticket → チケット
Since the sound [ti] does not exist in Japanese, then we replace it with the sound チ.
[di]
ビ Vitamine → ビタミン o encara Viva → ビバ
The sound [vi] does not exist in Japanese either, and it is the sound with which they have the most trouble, and yet, because it was necessary, they decided to replace the sound [di] by all the sounds of the line of B.
There is still a whole range of sounds that we haven’t seen yet : the sounds in F. There is only one sound of this type in Japanese, the フ. So if we want to translate words like « Freelance », « Freeman », « Freezer », « Freak »… it’s fine.
Freelance . フリーランス
Freeman . フリーマン
Freezer . フリーザー
Freedom . フリーダム
Freak . フリーク
No problem then. But if we want to transcribe the sounds « fa », « fi », « fe », « fo », how are we going to do that ? We’ll see in a future lesson that there are many other alternatives thanks to new kana combinations (also valid for hiragana), but for now, we’ll stop there.
However, before we get to the conclusion, we need to address one last point…
Japanese is a language that is phonetically very poor. There is nothing derogatory about it. The language has only about a hundred syllables in total - which, for a language, is extremely little - taking into account the new combinations that we will see very soon. Compared to English, which is phonetically very rich, it is quite complicated for Japanese to transcribe all the syllables of Western languages. These, almost all descended from Latin, Greek... have undergone enormous influences over the centuries whether Arab, Nordic influences..., influences that have made these languages the richest in the world phonetically. To take example of English, we have twenty vowel sounds (seven short vowels, five long vowels and eight diphthongs).
Japanese people have a very simple language, to speak at least. It must be understood that the Japanese, apart from the Chinese ideograms, have not been as much influenced by the outside world as we, Westerners, and therefore their language has remained extremely simple. In Japanese, words are made up entirely of syllables and are pronounced as they are written. For example, to say « OTOKO », we have three syllables, three beats. Quite simply. So, when it comes to transcribing foreign syllables, Japanese people have a hard time because they are not used to these sounds, their language does not include these phonetics. That said, we will see later that the Japanese have found a way to somewhat compensate for this concern when we study the new combinations.
A final example, the very pronounced French [r] sound is also very difficult for the Japanese. To pronounce this sound [r], you have to stick the tongue to the back of the throat where the tonsils are, but the tongue is a muscle, and like all muscles, it must be trained to take certain positions at the inside the mouth to pronounce certain precise sounds, which you can’t do in a day. This is why, for Japanese people, all these sounds can be very difficult to pronounce. This is also the reason why certain transcriptions of foreign words in katakana so often seem approximate.
Conversely, writing is much more complex. If, in our Western languages, writing can be done in detached or attached, and comes down to an average of 26 letters – some Western languages having more or less letters than others –, Japanese language, meanwhile , have three writing systems (katakana, hiragana and kanji), the first two being syllabaries and the last a series of several thousand ideograms. Besides, if the Japanese have kept the kanji, it is because this writing system allows them to better differentiate between the different words which are pronounced exactly, or more or less in the same way. Clearly, the kanji make up for the phonetic poverty of Japanese, at least in writing. Orally, it is mostly the context of the sentence that will allow us to understand what the interlocutor is trying to say.
This explanation was rather long but important. This being done, we can finally move on to the conclusion.
Do not hesitate to read the lesson over and over and practice the pronunciation of words. Practice switching from English to its equivalent in katakana but also the reverse, from words in katakana to English. I did my best to explain everything there is to know about the subject in writing. I know the audio files are not yet available. I hope to be able to provide some on the site one day.
I can finally leave you with your exercises. In the first, I give you English words and you must write them in katakana next to it, not forgetting if one of the four rules for using kana applies. In the second exercise, it is exactly the opposite, I give you words in katakana and you have to write the corresponding English word. And I mean the English word, not the word in rōmaji.
Don’t worry if you don’t pass these exercises the first time. This is normal, the first time, most people make mistakes. In this case, repeat as much as necessary until you succeed.
With that, I can finally wish you good revisions to all of you. Take your time to understand all of this before moving on to the next course.
I wish you to revise your course well and see you next time.
Introduction