Kana Sheet Info

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the explanation of kana?

  The Explanation of Kana outlines the function and origin of Kana, the difference between the two Kana systems, the various sounds, the combinations, and the conventions of usage. It attempts to be detailed and thorough so that it can be used for reference at any stage.

• Does the pronunciation of a kana symbol vary according to context?

  This practice is by no means universally followed (and is not followed in this book), but its existence does indicate one of the exceptional cases where the pronunciation of a Kana symbol could be said to vary slightly according to context.

• Why are there two kana symbols for'F'sounds?

  That is, they combine two Kana symbols, the fIrst one lending only its consonant sound and this fact being indicated by the small size of the second symbol. For example, "f' sounds can be approximated by followingfu (7) with a small vowel.

• What is Kana Communications?

  Mark Gainey founded Kana, named after a rescued Shepherd-Husky mix, in 1996. The purpose was to market a software package designed to help businesses manage email and Web-based communications. It grew around this core offering. In 1999, Kana Communications (as it was then known) acquired Connectify followed by Business Evolution and NetDialog.

• Should I learn hiragana or katakana?

  To all intents and purposes the two Kana systems are not interchangeable, and are rarely mixed within a given word. The rule is: kataKana for non-Chinese loan words, hiragana and kanji for the rest. The student of Japanese should ideally aim to learn all the two thousand kanji in common use.

• How is the hiragana workbook structured?

  Part I of the workbook sec- tion then systematically introduces each hiragana symbol, voiced form, and combination, and provides ample practice and review. Part II does the same for kataKana, while Part III provides an overall review.

• What are the kana characters in Japanese?

  That is, they are written representations of pronuncia- tion. They can express the entire Japanese language in writing, though in practice the writ- ten language uses a mixture of Kana and kanji (characters taken from Chinese). There are two Kana systems: kataKana and hiragana.

• Can kana replace kanji?

  If you don't know the kanji for a particular word, but know the pronunciation, you can just express that entire word in Kana (hiragana, that is; remember that kataKana is for non-Chinese foreign words). In other words, while not ideal, Kana (hiragana) can substitute for kanji.