Japanese writing systems for French readers

The idea

French normally writes words with an alphabet; letters and groups of letters represent sounds, though spelling and pronunciation do not always match. Japanese hiragana and katakana mainly represent sound units, while kanji often express a word or meaningful part. In 本を読みます, 本 and 読 are kanji, while を and みます are hiragana. Katakana often writes loanwords, as in パン. Furigana gives the reading of kanji: 本ほん is read ほん here.

Examples

• わたしは学生がくせいです。I am a student.
• 本ほんを読よみます。I read a book.
• コーヒーを飲のみます。I drink coffee.
• 猫ねこがいます。There is a cat.
• パンを食たべます。I eat bread.
• 日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうします。I study Japanese.

Watch out

A script does not guarantee a word’s origin: not every katakana word is French or English, and kanji can have different readings in different words. Japanese normally does not put spaces between words.

Try it yourself

1. Is を hiragana or katakana?

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   ひらがな

   ひらがな: を is a hiragana particle marking the object.

2. Is パン hiragana or katakana?

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   カタカナ

   カタカナ: パン is written in katakana, commonly used for loanwords.

3. Write the reading of 本 in hiragana.

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   ほん

   ほん: the furigana over 本 in this sentence gives its reading.

Use it today

In the examples, find a kanji, a hiragana particle and a katakana word. Then read 本を読みます using its furigana.