Hiragana & Katakana - Basic of Japanese Language
Hiragana and katakana, collectively referred to by the generic term kanamoji, are both syllabic alphabets of 47 characters, each of which represents a sound. Some of the characters between the two alphabets even represent the exact same sounds and look quite similar to one another. The major difference between hiragana and katakana is the fact that hiragana is primarily used to represent Japanese words, while katakana represents foreign words. Japanese is a language with many borrowed words, and katakana immediately alerts the reader to the fact that the word is an imported one.