Extended Sounds II

Katakana 2

Chapter 10 Β· Extended Sounds II

🌸 Extended Sounds II β€” ティ ディ γ‚·γ‚§ γ‚Έγ‚§ チェ ヴ

The same small-vowel trick, applied to more characters: the T and D families (ティ ディ γƒˆγ‚₯ ドγ‚₯), the SH, J, CH families (γ‚·γ‚§ γ‚Έγ‚§ チェ) and ヴ, the V sound. After this chapter you know every piece of katakana writing. Romaji is shown for everything.

🌍 More Extended Sounds β€” ε€–ζ₯音

Last chapter you met the F and W families. Today the same trick (a small vowel changes the vowel of the character before it) gives you the T and D families (ティ ディ γƒˆγ‚₯ ドγ‚₯), the SH, J and CH families (γ‚·γ‚§ γ‚Έγ‚§ チェ) and ヴ, the V sound. All are one beat. Click any character for its stroke order.

CharacterPiecesRomaji / soundExample
ti
"ti" as in tea
テ + small γ‚£ti party
di
"di" as in dip
デ + small γ‚£di dinner
tu
"tu" as in to
γƒˆ + small γ‚₯tu (rare) two
du
"du" as in do
ド + small γ‚₯du (rare) do
she
"she" as in shell
γ‚· + small γ‚§she share
je
"je" as in jet
γ‚Έ + small γ‚§je jet
che
"che" as in check
チ + small γ‚§che check
vu
"v", a voiced ウ
ウ + γ‚›vu violin
Why ティ Exists The plain Japanese テ is te, not ti. Since English has the "ti" of tea and party, katakana made a new character, ティ, by attaching a small γ‚£. The same thing happened for ディ (di), γ‚·γ‚§ (she), γ‚Έγ‚§ (je) and チェ (che). Before these existed, party was written パーテー (pātΔ“); you may still see older spellings like that.
ヴ: The V Sound ヴ is ウ with the dakuten, and it stands for the English v: ヴゑむγ‚ͺγƒͺン (violin). In practice most Japanese writers use バ ビ γƒ– ベ γƒœ instead (バむγ‚ͺγƒͺン, ビデγ‚ͺ), so ヴ is mainly seen in names, brand names and some game and anime titles. Learn to recognise it; you rarely need to write it.

πŸ“– Read It β€” New Words

Read the Japanese first, then check the romaji and the English word it comes from.

#WordRomajiEnglishNote
1pātΔ«partypa-a-ti-i: テ + small γ‚£ + γƒΌ
2tΔ«tea (as in tea bag)ti-i
3tisshutissueti-s-shu: pocket tissues are given away on the street
4dinādinnerdi-na-a
5disukudisc; diskdi-su-ku
6chekkucheck; checkingche-k-ku
7chenjichangeche-n-ji
8sheashareshe-a: used for sharing food or an apartment
9jettojetje-t-to
10vaiorinviolinva-i-o-ri-n: often バむγ‚ͺγƒͺン instead
Real Japanese Tip β€” γƒγ‚±γƒƒγƒˆγƒ†γ‚£γƒƒγ‚·γƒ₯ On Japanese streets, people hand out free pocket packs of ティッシγƒ₯ (tissues) with adverts inside, a long-standing form of advertising: γƒγ‚±γƒƒγƒˆγƒ†γ‚£γƒƒγ‚·γƒ₯. And a γƒ‡γ‚£γƒŠγƒΌ is dinner on a menu, as ランチ is lunch: γƒ‡γ‚£γƒŠγƒΌγ‚»γƒƒγƒˆ is a set dinner.
Review: Words from the Last Chapter (fan) Β· (file) Β· (family) Β· (fork) Β· (web) Β· (whisky).

✍️ Try It Yourself β€” γ‚Œγ‚“γ—γ‚…γ†

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. What does the small γ‚£ in do?

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It changes the vowel of テ: テ (te) + γ‚£ = ティ (ti), one beat.

2. Read aloud and translate: Β· Β·

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pātī (party) · tī (tea) · tisshu (tissue)

3. Read aloud and translate: Β· Β·

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dinā (dinner) · disuku (disc) · chekku (check)

4. Read aloud and translate: Β· Β·

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chenji (change) Β· shea (share) Β· jetto (jet)

5. What sound does stand for, and how is it usually written instead?

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The V sound. It is usually replaced by バ ビ γƒ– ベ γƒœ (e.g. バむγ‚ͺγƒͺン).

6. Write in katakana: pātī · dinā · chekku (check the small characters).

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Β· Β·

Coming Up in Chapter 11 Katakana in real life: menus, brand names, shop signs and, the fun part, writing your own name (フィγƒͺップ) and places that matter to you (エジンバラ, Edinburgh, and ハンガγƒͺγƒΌ, Hungary).