#faガ��ル

[unrestedjade]

What did I do with my Friday night, you may ask?

Half-assed a Ferengi katakana font, is what. Yeah, I'm what you'd call...pretty cool.

Deets below:

So it turns out the phonemes for the Ferengi character set (ganked from LCARS47.com) map fairly well onto katakana? With some notable exceptions. A lot of phonemes map 1:1 very nicely, but there are spots where Ferengi sounds mush together (ta/da, for example) where the kana make them distinct タダ (ta and da respectively).

There are also sounds that aren't present in Japanese that are distinct in the Ferengi that necessitated some counterintuitive mapping. All the Ferengi l- sounds map onto the z- dakuon, for instance. Ferengi z-sounds already lump into the s-/z-/sh- group, which left the z- dakuon free.

So, Leeta would be リタ ri ta in actual katakana. But to type her name in Ferengi, you have to spell it ジタ (ji ta) to give you "li ta".

For another example, to spell Garak: ガラク ga ra ku. But k- and g- sounds are grouped in Ferengi, so instead it's spelled ka ra ku.

And that left the g- dakuon free to use for the q- sounds that don't exist in katakana, so Quark, in katakana, would need to be クワルク ku wa ru ku. But in this Ferengi font it's spelled ga ru ku, which looks a lot closer to English Garak, doesn't it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ferengi doesn't appear to have terminal consonants going by the chart, so sounding out words feels eerily familiar to spelling in katakana. Maybe they clip off the vowel at the end, ~desu~ style.

Still, it's pretty fun to play with as an English cipher or for names and decorative nonsense. Here's a screenshot of my mucking around. From left to right: original word - Ferengi phonemes - what to type while in full-width katakana input mode - final result.

And here's the full mapping of phonemes to kana. You can see where I had to make some allowances. It's possible there's a different writing system that fits better, or a better way to map onto katakana, but this is as well as I can do with my "occasionally fucks around on duolingo" level of expertise, lol.

assigned phonemes: mapped kana:

a/ha a ア

i/hi i イ

u/hu u ウ

e/he e エ

o/ho o オ

ka/ga ka カ

ki/gi ki キ

ku/gu ku ク gu グ

ke/ge ke ケ

ko/go ko コ

sa/za/sha sa サ

si/zi/shi shi シ

su/zu/shu su ス

se/ze/she se セ

so/zo/sho so ソ

ta/da/tha ta タ da ダ

ti/di/thi hi ヒ

te/de/the te テ

tu/du/thu tsu ツ

to/do/tho to ト

na na ナ

ni ni ニ

ne ne ネ

nu nu ヌ

no no ノ n ｎ

ma ma マ

mi mi ミ

me me メ

mu mu ム

mo mo モ

ya ya ヤ

ye yu ユ

yo yo ヨ

ra ra ラ

ri ri リ

re re レ

ru ru ル

ro ro ロ

wa wa ワ

wi do ド

we de デ

wo wo ヲ

pa/ba pa パ

pi/bi pi ピ

pe/be pe ペ

pu/bu pu プ

po/bo po ポ

fa/va ba バ

fi/vi bi ビ

fe/ve be ベ

fu/vu bu ブ

fo/vo bo ボ

cha/ja ha ハ

chi/ji chi チ

che/je he ヘ

chu/ju fu/hu フ

cho/jo ho ホ

la za ザ

li ji ジ

le ze ゼ

lu zu ズ

lo zo ゾ

qua/gwa ga ガ

qui/gwi gi ギ

que/gwe ge ゲ

quo/gwo go ゴ

[kitsunenonihongo]

Writing System

This is super important, before we begin with learning words and sentences.

Japanese has 3 writing systems so to speak. Two of them are syllabaries, you may refer to them as "Alphabets", and the third writing system is sort of symbol based, like Chinese.

There's also ROMAJI. Which we'll be using to help you learn sounds and to speak. But please, work on learning the syllabaries as soon as possible. Romaji is terrible for many reasons, including the fact that everyone and their mother writes Romaji in a different way. You may notice that my Romaji is different than some others you've come across. So again. Try to get away from it as soon as possible. Don't be afraid. I know you can do it!

We'll start with Kana, namely Hiragana as you'll be seeing it the most.

HIRAGANA

Hiragana is used mainly for native Japanese words. You will see Hiragana everywhere. So you'll be wanting to learn that first.

A:あ　I:い　U:う　E:え　O:お

Ka:か　Ki:き　Ku:く　Ke:け　Ko:こ

Sa:さ　Shi:し　Su:す　Se:せ　So:そ

Ta:た　Chi:ち　Tsu:つ　Te:て　To:と

Na:な　Ni:に　Nu:ぬ　Ne:ね　No:の

Ha:は　Hi:ひ　Fu:ふ　He:へ　Ho:ほ

Ma:ま　Mi:み　Mu:む　Me:め　Mo:も

Ya:や　Yu:ゆ　Yo:よ　*yes there are only 3 of these

Ra:ら　Ri:り　Ru:る　Re:れ　Ro:ろ

Wa:わ　Wo:を　*yes there's only 2 of these

N:ん

Okay, now some of these characters get whats called a "Dakuten" that's a little " or ゜that's next to the Hiragana that changes it's sound. those are as follows:

Ga:が　Gi:ぎ　Gu:ぐ　Ge:げ　Go:ご

Za:ざ　Ji：じ　Zu:ず　Ze:ぜ　Zo:ぞ

Da：だ　Zi:ぢ　Dzu:づ　De:で Do:ど

Ba:ば　Bi:び　Bu:ぶ　Be:��　Bo:ぼ

Pa:ぱ　Pi:ぴ　Pu:ぷ　Pe:ぺ　Po:ぽ

ぱ　ぴ　ぷ　ぺ　ぽ are the only ones that use the ゜dakuten.

You'll notice that 「ぢ」sounds like "zi" ... or "dzi"... and not "di" and that 「づ」sounds like "dzu" and not "du" ... that's.... that's a pain in the butt but it is what it is. In order to get the "di" sound it's written 「でぃ」"de" and a little "i" makes "di" ... and actually you'll probably only ever see that written in Katakana 「ディ」

Which brings me to the next part. Little vowels and Little Y sounds.

We covered some of the little y sounds last lesson. You'll see more little Ys than little vowels. The biggest thing you need to remember about little Ys is that they're always stuck to an "-i" character.

Kya:きゃ　Kyu:きゅ　Kyo:きょ　Gya:ぎゃ　Gyu:ぎゅ　Gyo:ぎょ

Sha:しゃ　Shu:しゅ　Sho:しょ　Ja:じゃ　Ju:じゅ　Jo:じょ

Cha:ちゃ　Chu:ちゅ　Cho:ちょ

Nya:にゃ　Nyu:にゅ　Nyo:にょ

Hya:ひゃ　Hyu:ひゅ　Hyo:ひょ　Bya:びゃ　Byu:びゅ　Byo:びょ

Pya:ぴゃ　Pyu:ぴゅ　Pyo:ぴょ

Rya:りゃ　Ryu:りゅ　Ryo:りょ

You'll notice some of these don't have "y"s in the romaji reading. Don't freak. That's just how it works. And is part of the reason I don't like Romaji.

Like I said you'll also see little vowels: ぁ ぃ　ぅ　ぇ　ぉ but like with 「ディ」"di" you'll probably only ever see them in Katakana. Here's a few anyway:

Fa:ふぁ　Fi:ふぃ　Fe:ふぇ　Fo:ふぉ

She:しぇ Je:じぇ　Che:ちぇ　Ti:てぃ　Di:でぃ

Finally there's little "tsu" っ this little symbol DOUBLES the next consonant!

っか = kka っさ = ssa

etc. a っ can be near any other kana it doesn't really have a restriction besides not coming before あ, い, う, え, お, or ANY of the "N"s

If you come across a double n it will be written with the lone N first 「ん」 followed by one of the Ns with a vowel next to it.

Ex: Konnichiwa = こんにちは

Like English the double consonant doesn't change the sound, it just lengthens it by a fraction (if even that).

っき = "kki" pronounced the same as "ki" って= "tte" pronounced the same as "te"

Does that make sense? :)

KATAKANA (less explanation here because it's the same rules and sounds)

Katakana is used mainly for loan words. Words borrowed from other languages. It's also used in some names.

A:ア　I:イ　U:ウ　E:エ　O:オ

Ka:カ　Ki:キ　Ku:ク　Ke:ケ　Ko:コ

Sa:サ　Shi:シ　Su:ス　Se:セ　So:ソ

Ta:タ　Chi:チ　Tsu:ツ　Te:テ　To:ト

Na:ナ　Ni:ニ　Nu:ヌ　Ne:ネ　No:ノ

Ha:ハ　Hi:ヒ　Fu:フ　He:ヘ　Ho:ホ

Ma:マ　Mi:ミ　Mu:ム　Me:メ　Mo:モ

Ya:ヤ　Yu:ユ　Yo:ヨ

Ra:ラ　Ri:リ　Ru:ル　Re:レ　Ro:ロ

Wa:ワ　Wo:ヲ

N:ン

Ga:ガ　Gi:ギ　Gu:グ　Ge:ゲ　Go:ゴ

Za:ザ　Ji:ジ　Zu:ズ　Ze:ゼ　Zo:ゾ

Da:ダ　Dzi:ヂ　Dzu:ヅ　De:デ　Do:ド

Ba:バ　Bi:ビ　Bu:ブ　Be:ベ　Bo:ボ

Pa:パ　Pi:ピ　Pu:プ　Pe:ペ　Po:���

Kya:キャ　Kyu:キュ　Kyo:キョ　Gya:ギャ　Gyu:ギュ　Gyo:ギョ

Sha:シャ　Shu:シュ　Sho:ショ　Ja:ジャ　Ju:ジュ　Jo:ジョ

Cha:チャ　Chu:チュ　Cho:チョ

Nya:ニャ　Nyu:ニュ　Nyo:ニョ

Hya:ヒャ　Hyu:ヒュ　Hyo:ヒョ　Bya:ビャ　Byu:ビュ　Byo:ビョ

Pya:ピャ　Pyu:ピュ　Pyo:ピョ

Mya:ミャ　Myu:ミュ　Myo:ミョ

Rya:リャ　Ryu:リュ　Ryo:リョ

Ti:ティ　Di:ディ　She:シェ　Je:ジェ　Che:チェ

Va:ヴァ　Vi:ヴィ　Vu:ヴ　Ve:ヴェ　Vo:ヴォ

ッコ= kko ッソ= sso ッタ=tta ッシ=sshi

... there are probably other possibilities I've left out, but these are all the common ones you should see. and even if that's not true I trust that you can see and understand the pattern here. :)

KANJI There's thousands of Kanji, so I'm not going to list. I will have Kanji in with the lessons, but learn them at your own pace. No worries. :) I've found that once I got to the point where I could start learning Kanji it's made reading a lot easier for me.

Sorry if this is a HELLISH ammount. Just write the syllabaries down and come back to them now and then as reference. You don't have to learn them all today, or this week, or even this month. I just want you to be familiar with them. :)

[kitsunenonihongo]

DUOLINGO Japanese Lesson 2: Writing Systems

This is super important, before we begin with learning words and sentences.

Japanese has 3 writing systems so to speak. Two of them are syllabaries, you may refer to them as "Alphabets", and the third writing system is sort of symbol based, like Chinese.

There's also ROMAJI. Which we'll be using to help you learn sounds and to speak. But please, work on learning the syllabaries as soon as possible. Romaji is terrible for many reasons, including the fact that everyone and their mother writes Romaji in a different way. You may notice that my Romaji is different than some others you've come across. So again. Try to get away from it as soon as possible. Don't be afraid. I know you can do it!

We'll start with Kana, namely Hiragana as you'll be seeing it the most.

HIRAGANA

Hiragana is used mainly for native Japanese words. You will see Hiragana everywhere. So you'll be wanting to learn that first.

A:あ　I:い　U:う　E:え　O:お

Ka:か　Ki:き　Ku:く　Ke:け　Ko:こ

Sa:さ　Shi:し　Su:す　Se:せ　So:そ

Ta:た　Chi:ち　Tsu:つ　Te:て　To:と

Na:な　Ni:に　Nu:ぬ　Ne:ね　No:の

Ha:は　Hi:ひ　Fu:ふ　He:へ　Ho:ほ

Ma:ま　Mi:み　Mu:む　Me:め　Mo:も

Ya:や　Yu:ゆ　Yo:よ　*yes there are only 3 of these

Ra:ら　Ri:り　Ru:る　Re:れ　Ro:ろ

Wa:わ　Wo:を　*yes there's only 2 of these

N:ん

Okay, now some of these characters get whats called a "Dakuten" that's a little " or ゜that's next to the Hiragana that changes it's sound. those are as follows:

Ga:が　Gi:ぎ　Gu:ぐ　Ge:げ　Go:ご

Za:ざ　Ji：じ　Zu:ず　Ze:ぜ　Zo:ぞ

Da：だ　Zi:ぢ　Dzu:づ　De:で Do:ど

Ba:ば　Bi:び　Bu:ぶ　Be:べ　Bo:ぼ

Pa:ぱ　Pi:ぴ　Pu:ぷ　Pe:ぺ　Po:ぽ

ぱ　ぴ　ぷ　ぺ　ぽ are the only ones that use the ゜dakuten.

You'll notice that 「ぢ」sounds like "zi" ... or "dzi"... and not "di" and that 「づ」sounds like "dzu" and not "du" ... that's.... that's a pain in the butt but it is what it is. In order to get the "di" sound it's written 「でぃ」"de" and a little "i" makes "di" ... and actually you'll probably only ever see that written in Katakana 「ディ」

Which brings me to the next part. Little vowels and Little Y sounds.

We covered some of the little y sounds last lesson. You'll see more little Ys than little vowels. The biggest thing you need to remember about little Ys is that they're always stuck to an "-i" character.

Kya:きゃ　Kyu:きゅ　Kyo:きょ　Gya:ぎゃ　Gyu:ぎゅ　Gyo:ぎょ

Sha:しゃ　Shu:しゅ　Sho:しょ　Ja:じゃ　Ju:じゅ　Jo:じょ

Cha:ちゃ　Chu:ちゅ　Cho:ちょ

Nya:にゃ　Nyu:にゅ　Nyo:にょ

Hya:ひゃ　Hyu:ひゅ　Hyo:ひょ　Bya:びゃ　Byu:びゅ　Byo:びょ　

Pya:ぴゃ　Pyu:ぴゅ　Pyo:ぴょ

Rya:りゃ　Ryu:りゅ　Ryo:りょ

You'll notice some of these don't have "y"s in the romaji reading. Don't freak. That's just how it works. And is part of the reason I don't like Romaji.

Like I said you'll also see little vowels: ぁ ぃ　ぅ　ぇ　ぉ but like with 「ディ」"di" you'll probably only ever see them in Katakana. Here's a few anyway:

Fa:ふぁ　Fi:ふぃ　Fe:ふぇ　Fo:ふぉ

She:しぇ Je:じぇ　Che:ちぇ　Ti:てぃ　Di:でぃ

Finally there's little "tsu" っ this little symbol DOUBLES the next consonant!

っか = kka っさ = ssa

etc. a っ can be near any other kana it doesn't really have a restriction besides not coming before あ, い, う, え, お, or ANY of the "N"s

If you come across a double n it will be written with the lone N first 「ん」 followed by one of the Ns with a vowel next to it.

Ex: Konnichiwa = こんにちは

Like English the double consonant doesn't change the sound, it just lengthens it by a fraction (if even that).

っき = "kki" pronounced the same as "ki" って= "tte" pronounced the same as "te"

Does that make sense? :)

KATAKANA (less explanation here because it's the same rules and sounds)

Katakana is used mainly for loan words. Words borrowed from other languages. It's also used in some names.

A:ア　I:イ　U:ウ　E:エ　O:オ

Ka:カ　Ki:キ　Ku:ク　Ke:ケ　Ko:コ

Sa:サ　Shi:シ　Su:ス　Se:セ　So:ソ

Ta:タ　Chi:チ　Tsu:ツ　Te:テ　To:ト

Na:ナ　Ni:ニ　Nu:ヌ　Ne:ネ　No:ノ

Ha:ハ　Hi:ヒ　Fu:フ　He:ヘ　Ho:ホ

Ma:マ　Mi:ミ　Mu:ム　Me:メ　Mo:モ

Ya:ヤ　Yu:ユ　Yo:ヨ

Ra:ラ　Ri:リ　Ru:ル　Re:レ　Ro:ロ

Wa:ワ　Wo:ヲ

N:ン

Ga:ガ　Gi:ギ　Gu:グ　Ge:ゲ　Go:ゴ

Za:ザ　Ji:ジ　Zu:ズ　Ze:ゼ　Zo:ゾ

Da:ダ　Dzi:ヂ　Dzu:ヅ　De:デ　Do:ド

Ba:バ　Bi:ビ　Bu:ブ　Be:ベ　Bo:ボ

Pa:パ　Pi:ピ　Pu:プ　Pe:ペ　Po:ポ

Kya:キャ　Kyu:キュ　Kyo:キョ　Gya:ギャ　Gyu:ギュ　Gyo:ギョ

Sha:シャ　Shu:シュ　Sho:ショ　Ja:ジャ　Ju:ジュ　Jo:ジョ

Cha:チャ　Chu:チュ　Cho:チョ　

Nya:ニャ　Nyu:ニュ　Nyo:ニョ

Hya:ヒャ　Hyu:ヒュ　Hyo:ヒョ　Bya:ビャ　Byu:ビュ　Byo:ビョ

Pya:ピャ　Pyu:ピュ　Pyo:ピョ

Mya:ミャ　Myu:ミュ　Myo:ミョ

Rya:リャ　Ryu:リュ　Ryo:リョ

Ti:ティ　Di:ディ　She:シェ　Je:ジェ　Che:チェ　

Va:ヴァ　Vi:ヴィ　Vu:ヴ　Ve:ヴェ　Vo:ヴォ

ッコ= kko ッソ= sso ッタ=tta ッシ=sshi

... there are probably other possibilities I've left out, but these are all the common ones you should see. and even if that's not true I trust that you can see and understand the pattern here. :)

KANJI There's thousands of Kanji, so I'm not going to list. I will have Kanji in with the lessons, but learn them at your own pace. No worries. :) I've found that once I got to the point where I could start learning Kanji it's made reading a lot easier for me.

Sorry if this is a HELLISH ammount. Just write the syllabaries down and come back to them now and then as reference. You don't have to learn them all today, or this week, or even this month. I just want you to be familiar with them. :)

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