Katakana

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/katakana

1. What is the script classification?
2. What is the character construction?
3. What is Katakana and why is it called "fragmentary kana"?
4. How did Katakana start during the Heian period and what did Buddhist monks do with it?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the script classification?A syllabary, one of the primary components of the Japanese writing system
2. What is the character construction?Predominantly features straight lines and sharp, angular strokes
3. What is Katakana and why is it called "fragmentary kana"?Katakana is a Japanese writing system made of simple, angular shapes that came from parts of Chinese characters. It is called "fragmentary kana" because it uses small pieces of those characters.
4. How did Katakana start during the Heian period and what did Buddhist monks do with it?In the Heian period, Buddhist monks needed a quick way to read Chinese Buddhist texts. They made short, easier marks from Kanji to help them pronounce the words, and these marks became Katakana.

Gairaigo: Foreign loanwords adopted into Japanese, typically written using Katakana.
Logographic Characters: Writing systems where symbols represent whole words or morphemes, such as Kanji.
Phonetic Annotation: Using symbols to indicate the pronunciation of words or characters.