Katakana

b.       KATAKANA : Formerly only used by men, so it has a very rigid shape and looks similar each other. The function is to write loan words that have been adjusted to Japanese rules. In addition, most syllables can be slightly changed by adding two small strokes or a small circle in the top right corner next to the character. For example, ha changes to ba with the addition of two small strokes, or to pa with the addition of a small circle, just like Hiragana. Talking about loan words, it's often heavily Japanized in various ways (see below), which is a complicating factor not only for students of the Japanese language but also for Japanese students of foreign languages: The pronunciation of loan words is Japanized, and sometimes quite different from the original pronunciation: e.g. curtain=kaaten, elevator=elebeetaa, girl=gaaru. Many loan words get abbreviated in ways they do not get abbreviated in the original language: e.g. suupaa=supermarket, kilo=kilometer (and kilogram), depaato=department store, waapuro=word processor. The meanings of some loan words do not correspond with the words' original meanings: e.g. "manshon" from the English "mansion" means "condominium". And finally, some "loan words" are actually Japanese creations rather than loan words. For example, "salaryman" is a Japanese word for a typical Japanese company worker, while the "walkman" even found its way back into English dictionaries. I'll give you some examples of loan words written in Katakana: o    ﾚｽﾄﾗﾝ  = resutoran (restoran) o    ﾊﾝﾊﾞｶﾞ = hanbaga (hamburger) o    ｽﾊﾟｹﾞｯﾁ = supaghetti (spaghetti) o    ｶﾞｰﾙ = gaaru (girl) Little "tsu" in katakana has the same function in hiragana, it's used to write double consonant.