Look up: katakana

1. 
   Katakana
   A more angular form of the hiragana syllabary, generally used to write foreign words.
   Found on http://www.ryouko.demon.co.uk/ANIGLOSS.H
   
   
2. 
   Katakana
   One of the three common Japanese alphabets (see also Kanji and Hiragana). Katakana is made up of 48 symbols that represent syllables, and is mostly used for phonetically spelling words and names imported from foreign languages, such as Takushi (Taxi). Again, Katakana is not that hard to learn and can be pretty useful. Pronounced ‘kah-tah-kah-nah`.
   Found on http://www.animetion.co.uk/glossary.htm
   
   
3. 
   katakana
   (Japanese) The square-formed Japanese kana syllabary. Katakana is mostly used to write foreign names, foreign words, and loan words as well as many onomatopeia, plant and animal names. (2001-03-18)
   Found on http://foldoc.org/
   
   
4. 
   Katakana
   is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet. The word `katakana` means `fragmentary kana,` as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Katakana are characterized by short, straight strokes and angular corners, and are the simplest of the Japanese scripts. There are two main systems of ordering katakana: the old-fashioned ir...
   Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana
   
   
5. 
   katakana
   (from the article `arts, East Asian`) ...versions of Chinese characters, known as man`ygana, were employed to represent Japanese phonetic sounds, and two even more abbreviated phonetic ... Two kinds of kana, or syllabic writing, developed from man`y-gana. Katakana, which is angular in appearance, developed from the abbreviation of ... ...
   Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/k/15
   
   
6. 
   Katakana
   A Japanese phonetic syllabary used primarily for foreign names and place names and words of foreign origin. The symbols are angular, while those of Hiragana are cursive. Katakana is written left to right, or top to bottom. See Kanji.
   Found on http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/librar