1: Diacritic Marks

Diacritic marks for katakana work in the same way as those in hiragana.

Diacritic marks (g/z/d/b sounds) Two short strokes attached to the right shoulder of the symbols can change the voiceless -k-, -s-, -t- and -h- sounds to the respective voiced sounds of -g-, -z-, -d- and -b- (e.g., カ to ガ).
Animation of katakana ka changing to katakana ga
Diacritic marks (p sound) A small circle attached to the right shoulder of the -h- column symbols changes the -h- sound to the -p- sound (e.g., ハ to パ).
Animation of katakana ha changing to katakana pa

Click on each box and hear how the diacritics change the sound of each katakana. Note that characters ジ and ヂ have the same sound -ji-. Also, characters ズ and ヅ have the same sound -zu-. When writing foreign words that involve -ji- and -zu- sounds, ジ and ズ are used respectively, and ヂ and ヅ are not used.

papipupepo babibubebo hahihuheho   dadidudedo tatituteto   zazizuzezo sasisuseso   gagigugego kakikukeko

2: Exercises

A. Read the katakana words below and confirm your pronunciation by clicking on the audio icons.
1. アニメ Anime
2. バンク bank
3. モデル model
4. ブラジル Brazil
5. ビジネス business
6. ペンパル pen pal
7. ポテトサラダ potato salad
8. フライドチキン fried chicken
9. マクドナルド McDoanld
10. コンタクトレンズ contact lens
Page 19 of 26