katakana accent

Know more about accent in katakana and the stroke order in your writing!

katakana accent

in the same way as the Japanese alphabet in hiragana, katakana also has graphic accents. These accents modify the sounds of the syllables of the Japanese alphabet and have the same classification that we studied in hiragana: consonant and vowel.

consonant accent

Consonant accent is characterized by the use of two lines at the top of katakana symbols. In addition, when using the consonant accent, the sound of the symbols becomes more “fans”. For example:

K's family (Kaカ, Kiキ, Kuク, Keケ, Koコ) transforms into G(Gaガ,Giギ,Guグ,Geゲ,Goゴ); the family of the S (Sa サ, Shi シ, Su ス, Se セ, So ソ ) turns into the family of the Z ( Za ザ, Ji ジ, Zu ズ, Ze ゼ, Zo ゾ ); T's family (Ta タ, Tchi チ, Tsu ツ, Te テ, To ト ) turns into D's family ( Da ダ, Ji ヂ, Zu ヅ, De デ, Do ド ) and H's family ( Ha ハ, Hiヒ, Fuフ, Heヘ, Hoホ) turns into B's family (Baバ, Biビ, Buブ, Beベ, Boボ). These are the only families that can use the consonant accent.

Note that in both the S family and the T family, the syllables SHI and TCHI become JI, and the syllables SU and TSU become ZU. As in hiragana, it is only with time to be familiar with the Japanese language that we will be able to distinguish the most appropriate usage for these two syllables.

vowel accent

The vowel accent is characterized by the use of a circle at the top of the katakana symbol. It is also known as the explosive accent because it transforms the H family (Haハ, Hiヒ, Fuフ, Heヘ, Hoホ) into the P family (Paパ, Piピ, Puプ, Peペ, Poポ). And this is the only case in which the vowel accent is used.

Conclusion

The alphabet accents in katakana is very easy to learn. If you remember the accents in hiragana, you may have noticed that in katakana, everything works the same way. So, if you know how accentuation works in hiragana, you also know how it works in katakana.

It would be nice if you also took a look at the tables in the hiragana and katakana japanese alphabet placed in introductory articles on Japanese writing to see all the symbols.

The stroke order for the accented katakana symbols remains the same. You write the symbol following the same order and, lastly, you write the accent (with two strokes or the circle).

Japanese calligraphy exercise

Select the Japanese alphabet symbols and click the Generate button in the Worksheet for Kana and Kanji Practice . Then a new window will open with the file for printing. Then just print it out, cover the gray katakana symbols and then try to write it yourself. Just print and practice!