1Katakana, one of the two Japanese kana syllabaries. Used mainly for loanwords, foreign names, onomatopoeia, scientific names of plants and animals, and for emphasis. Characterized by its angular, straight-lined shapes, it pairs with hiragana as the two kana scripts.
外来語は普通カタカナで書かれる。
Loanwords are usually written in katakana.
メニューには「コーヒー」や「ジュース」がカタカナで書かれていた。
On the menu, items like 'coffee' and 'juice' were written in katakana.
動植物の和名は、カタカナで表記されることが多い。
Japanese names for plants and animals are often written in katakana.
強調したい言葉を、あえてカタカナで書くこともある。
Sometimes a word is deliberately written in katakana for emphasis.