Knowra Kana Kana Kana are Japanese syllabic scripts: hiragana and katakana. Each character generally represents a mora, while kanji represent lexical roots and meanings.
Mora : A mora is a rhythmic unit of sound that contributes to a language’s timing. Kana characters generally correspond to morae, not simply to syllables.
Hiragana : Hiragana is a Japanese kana script with rounded characters used for native words, grammatical endings, and readings. It is one of the two scripts that together constitute kana.
Man'yōgana : Man'yōgana is an ancient Japanese writing practice that used Chinese characters for their sounds. Its phonetic use of characters supplied the source forms for kana.
Japanese writing system : The Japanese writing system combines kanji, kana, and Latin letters in modern use. Kana function alongside kanji rather than as a complete replacement for it.
Japanese phonology : Japanese phonology is the study of the sound system and sound patterns of Japanese. Its sound inventory explains which distinctions kana must represent.
Katakana : Katakana is a Japanese kana script with angular characters commonly used for loanwords, emphasis, and transcription. Its distinct shapes and conventions complement hiragana within kana.
Kūkai : Kūkai was a Japanese Buddhist monk, scholar, and founder of the Shingon school. Tradition associates him with katakana’s creation, though the historical attribution is uncertain.
Okurigana : Okurigana are kana endings attached to kanji to mark grammatical inflection or complete a word. Hiragana supplies the inflectional endings that kanji usually leave unwritten.
Japanese syllabary : A syllabary is a writing system whose characters represent syllables or morae. Kana belong to this broader class of sound-based writing systems.
Gojūon : Gojūon is the conventional chart arranging basic Japanese kana by consonant and vowel sounds. Its grid displays the regular sound pattern behind the basic kana inventory.
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