Katakana
Table of Katakana Characters
Table 4: Long Vowels and Double Consonants
 
 
      
| VOWEL LENGTHENING | Examples | 
| To indicate the long aa sound:  
             1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー.  2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words
              usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol ア a is
              added to an a-row syllable (rare).  |  
          パー paa  'par
            (in golf)" etc. アア aa  |  
        
| To indicate the long ii sound:  
             1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー. 2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol イ i is added to a syllable ending in i.  |  
          スピード supiido 'speed' etc. イイ ii etc.  |  
        
| To indicate the long uu sound: 
             1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー. 2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol ウ u is added to a syllable ending in u.  |  
          キュー kyuu 'cue
            (in billiards)'
             キュウ kyuu (e.g., 急 'urgent')   |  
        
|   To indicate the long ee sound: 1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー. However, it is also very common to see the symbol イ i added to a syllable ending in e (as shown in no. 2). 2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually
              written in characters or hiragana), the symbol イ i is
              added to a syllable ending in e.  
  |  
            テーマ teema 'theme' アプリケーション apurikeeshon 'application' But テイクアウト teiku-auto 'take-out, takeaway' セイ  sei  |  
        
| To indicate the long oo sound:  1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker ー. 2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually
              written in characters or hiragana), the symbol ウ u is
              added to a syllable ending in o.  There
              are a few exceptional words where the long ō sound
              is indicated with an オ o rather
              than an ウ u.   |  
            ショー shoo 'show' Note: ジョーズ Joozu 'Jaws' but ジョウズ (上手) jōzu 'skilful' コウ kō  |  
        
| CONSONANT DOUBLING | |
| Doubling of stop consonants is indicated with a small tsu ッ. In Japanese words, normally only t, k, p, and s are doubled in this way. In foreign words, d b, g, j, h, f, and even v or r can also be doubled. | バッタリ battari 'with
            a thud, suddenly, unexpectedly'  バッグ baggu 'bag' バッド baddo 'bad' バッハ bahha 'Bach'  |  
        
| Doubling of nasal consonants is indicated
            with an ン n. |  
          ハンマー hanmaa 'hammer'. | 
See also....