VIII. Katakana

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I noticed a lot of words written in katakana are words sounded out from other languages. We’ve covered a few examples in class, such as cafe, restaurant, and gym. By this logic, it makes sense that sound effects are also written in katakana. However, I was surprised to learn that animals are also written in katakana, and am curious to learn more about why this is the case. I am also wondering what role the kanji characters play in writing animals, and how the two are used differently.



Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 25, 2026 at 3:44 PM

    You make an interesting point! I'm also curious why animals are written using katakana, and wonder how they were used before the creation of katakana. Or perhaps animals were originally written in kanji and later as Japan officially adopted katakana as part of their writing system, people started to use katakana instead of kanji to simplify their spelling??

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  2. kawamuraMarch 28, 2026 at 8:40 AM

    I believe that both katakana and hiragana are created based on kanji (Chinese characters). For example, 「う」「ウ」　were from 「宇」.
    We do use kanji and hiragana for animals too like 「犬・いぬ」（dog), 「猫、ねこ」(cat)... :)

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