Kana syllabaries from "summary" of A History of the Japanese Language by Bjarke Frellesvig
Kana syllabaries are writing systems used in Japan that consist of symbols that represent syllables. This system of writing has been used since the 8th century and has been an important part of Japanese culture and literature ever since.- Kana syllabaries are writing systems used to transcribe the Japanese language. They consist of two separate syllabaries, hiragana and katakana.
- While the traditional method remains popular, computer-assisted methods have been developed to help students learn the kana syllabary easier.
- Kana syllabary has evolved overtime, with changes in pronunciation guiding certain written characteristics of the graphemes.
- In modern times, kana syllabaries are still heavily used and have become an integral part of the Japanese language.
- Hiragana is used mainly for grammatical constructions and native Japanese words while katakana is used mainly for foreign loan words.
- Hiragana and katakana were developed in the Heian period by Buddhist monks and aristocrats who adapted the parts Chinese characters that could not be expressed using kanji.
- Hiragana is divided into four major groups based on their historical origins from different stages of Japanese.
- Katakana forms a complete set of 48 syllables ending in vowels or n (the exception being wi and we..
- Students learning the Japanese language begin by learning how to write the hiragana and katakana as a first step to becoming literate in Japan.
