NameSection26 Writing Systems: Japanese
The Japanese language can be written in several different ways. One method (kanji)
is based on characters borrowed from the Chinese writing system. Another (mmaji)
uses letters from the roman alphabet; this system is used to write the Japanese in
this workbook. Yet another writing system, the katakana syllabary, uses symbols
that represent consonant-plus-vowel sequences (refer to Linguistics, pp. 563-567, for
information on syllable-based writing systems). The chart below is a partial list of
the symbols that make up the katakana syllabary of Japanese. Study the symbols
and their pronunciations, and answer questions A-E.Questions
A. Consider the following examples:What important role does the diacritic " play?