Hiragana and Katakana

The Japanese alphabet is called kana (仮名かな). There are two scripts for kana, one called hiragana (平仮名ひらがな) and one called katakana (片仮名かたかな). Hiragana is formed by borrowing the cursive form of kanji and is used for writing and printing. Katakana is formed by borrowing the kanji's kanji kanji, and is used to record foreign languages and certain special words. In addition, there is a romanized kana called "romaji pinyin". Romanized pinyin is used to send telegrams, to write trademarks and business cards, and to abbreviate foreign words, and the scope of its use is gradually expanding.

First of all, hiragana is used to pronounce the kanji in Japanese. Hiragana is, to a certain extent, the equivalent of pinyin in Chinese. But our Chinese language is completely using kanji. Since the Japanese language was developed from a part of the Chinese language, i.e., an incomplete reference, many of the Japanese words we see today are composed of Japanese kanji and hiragana together. For example, the word "問い合わせる（といあわせる）: inquire, ask" is a combination of Japanese kanji and hiragana. There are also many words in Japanese that are expressed entirely in kanji, such as "products (せいひん)：products，products", the word is evolved from our Chinese "products".

Katakana is mainly used to write foreign words, onomatopoeia, personal names, geographical names and technical terms, or to express emphasis. A foreign language is simply a word that does not exist in Japan, but has been imported from the West, Europe and America, and its pronunciation has evolved from the pronunciation of the language of the other country. Most of the foreign words are expressed in katakana. For example, "アイスクリーム: ice cream" and "アメリカ: America".

Hiragana is the main common language tool in Japanese life, but in recent years there is a tendency to use katakana instead of hiragana among young Japanese people, and katakana has become a key focus in both Japanese language learning.