Fun with Katakana
Been meaning to do this for a while. I taught myself katakana a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to put out a bit of the fun I've been having in the learning/reading process. Katakana is used with borrowed words and company names and things like that, so a lot of the katakana is used to make English words, making it easier to figure things out, but it's all in Japanese pronunciation and there are no spaces between words so it can be very difficult to figure out sometimes.
Anyway, I just wanted to put up a bunch of words written in the phonetics with roman characters to see who can figure out the words. Some are easier, some are more difficult.
To help things out, here's a key for pronunciation, because it's a lot easier to figure these out if you read them aloud.
First thing to remember is that all vowels in Japanese keep the same sound no matter what, so these sound are universal.
A = ah
I = ee (as in "key")
E = ay (as in "hey")
O = o (as in "go")
U = oo (as in "poo")
Other things to remember is that an "R" sound is somewhere between "L" and "R", like a rolling R without the roll, so it can be either sound. Also, "H" can be an "F" sound sometimes. And, a "Chi" might become some sort of "T" sound. Lastly, if there is a dash (-) that elongates the sound that comes before it.
All right, so here we go. The translations are behind the cut.
1) basuta-minaru
2) shi-chikin
3) fuiru
4) intaneto
5) herupu
6) resusotan
7) tekisutodokiumento
8) resun
9) arumi
10) doa
11) maikuofu
12) manshun
13) roguin/roguouto
14) pabiriun
15) maruchimedeia
16) pasokon
17) biru
18) bi-ru
19) pasari
20) buresukea
21) donarudo makudonarudo
22) sabisu
23) senta
24) kuriniku
25) toku
26) deizunia-to
27) rifureshu
28) roreru
these last 4, I can't figure out, so maybe someone out there can do it.
29) sutanpurari-
30) akuamido
31) irezumiaza
32) tarumi
1) bus terminal
2) sea chicken
3) file
4) internet
5) help
6) restaurant
7) text document
8) lesson
9) aluminum
10) door
11) mic off
12) mansion
13) login/logout
14) pavillion
15) multimedia
16) personal computer
17) building
18) beer
19) parsley
20) breath care
21) Ronald MacDonald
22) service
23) center
24) clinic
25) talk
26) Disney art
27) refresh
28 Laurel
Anyway, I just wanted to put up a bunch of words written in the phonetics with roman characters to see who can figure out the words. Some are easier, some are more difficult.
To help things out, here's a key for pronunciation, because it's a lot easier to figure these out if you read them aloud.
First thing to remember is that all vowels in Japanese keep the same sound no matter what, so these sound are universal.
A = ah
I = ee (as in "key")
E = ay (as in "hey")
O = o (as in "go")
U = oo (as in "poo")
Other things to remember is that an "R" sound is somewhere between "L" and "R", like a rolling R without the roll, so it can be either sound. Also, "H" can be an "F" sound sometimes. And, a "Chi" might become some sort of "T" sound. Lastly, if there is a dash (-) that elongates the sound that comes before it.
All right, so here we go. The translations are behind the cut.
1) basuta-minaru
2) shi-chikin
3) fuiru
4) intaneto
5) herupu
6) resusotan
7) tekisutodokiumento
8) resun
9) arumi
10) doa
11) maikuofu
12) manshun
13) roguin/roguouto
14) pabiriun
15) maruchimedeia
16) pasokon
17) biru
18) bi-ru
19) pasari
20) buresukea
21) donarudo makudonarudo
22) sabisu
23) senta
24) kuriniku
25) toku
26) deizunia-to
27) rifureshu
28) roreru
these last 4, I can't figure out, so maybe someone out there can do it.
29) sutanpurari-
30) akuamido
31) irezumiaza
32) tarumi
1) bus terminal
2) sea chicken
3) file
4) internet
5) help
6) restaurant
7) text document
8) lesson
9) aluminum
10) door
11) mic off
12) mansion
13) login/logout
14) pavillion
15) multimedia
16) personal computer
17) building
18) beer
19) parsley
20) breath care
21) Ronald MacDonald
22) service
23) center
24) clinic
25) talk
26) Disney art
27) refresh
28 Laurel