What does kana mean?
Kana is the collective name for the Japanese syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Each script represents the same basic set of sounds, but hiragana is the script generally used in ordinary prose, while katakana is used especially for foreign words, names, technical terminology, and emphatic lettering. The term also refers to an individual syllabic character, although the characters are more precisely associated with Japanese morae, which can differ from syllables in languages such as English. Kana is therefore distinct from kanji, whose characters primarily represent words and ideas, and from romaji, which writes Japanese with the Latin alphabet. Learning kana is an important early stage in reading Japanese because it enables learners to recognize sounds and sound out unfamiliar text before dealing extensively with kanji. Despite the visual differences between the two kana systems, their shared sound values make them complementary rather than competing scripts.
nounThe collective term for the two Japanese syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. A single kana character represents a Japanese mora, or a syllabic unit used in pronunciation.
- The Japanese syllabic writing system, comprising hiragana and katakana collectively.
- A single Japanese syllabic character.
"Children begin learning Japanese kana before they study kanji."
"The book introduces the basic kana before presenting vocabulary in context."
"She wrote the name in katakana because it formed part of a larger sign."
Kana is normally used as an unchanged collective noun. In contexts where individual characters are emphasized, plural kana refers to several such characters.
"The lesson teaches the basic kana used in everyday Japanese."
Japanese has two phonetic scripts: curvy hiragana and angular katakana, both built from the same sounds.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does kana come from?
The word comes from Japanese 仮名, formed from characters meaning “provisional” and “name” or “word,” reflecting the early use of Chinese characters phonetically. Japanese writing developed from man’yōgana, a system that used Chinese characters to represent Japanese sounds, and the later hiragana and katakana scripts emerged from this tradition. The term entered English usage in the 19th century and now denotes the Japanese syllabic scripts collectively.
How kana is actually used
In standard usage, kana normally refers to the writing system collectively or to its characters. It is common to speak of learning, reading, or writing kana.
Easily confused with kana
Kana are syllabic characters used chiefly for sounds, whereas kanji are Chinese-derived characters used chiefly for meanings.
Kana are Japanese syllabic characters, while romaji is a system for writing Japanese with the Latin alphabet.