Introduction:

Kana (仮名) were invented by japanese people to adapt chinese writing to their language. These
are called "phonetics signs".

 

 

Hiragana (平仮名）:

Hiragana (or "easy to use kana") are based on kanji cursive writing for their sound (it means
that they aren't linked to the meaning of the kanji).

At the beginning (10th century), hiragana were used by "noble women" (women of the court)
to write diary or novels. That's why hiragana are sometimes called 女文字 (onna moji), which
means "women's characters".

 

Katakana (片仮名):
These characters were invented by buddhist monks to facilitate the reading of sutra. To do that,
they took a part of kanji and simplified it. 片 (kata) means "a fragment" ^_^.

 

 

Difference?
There is a difference between hiragana and katakana. Hiragana are rounded whereas
katakana characters aren't.

To see the difference between these two differents sorts of kana, you can see:
-The hiragana table,
-The katakana table.

 

 

Conclusion:

This was really a basic history about kana. It doesn't have for goal to say you all the secret of
it, so don't take it like that.
I hope you learned a few things here at least ^_^.
If you rate this article, leave a comment to say why ;)

 

Bye!

 

***alyussium - 2004-07-01