Kana: The Japanese Syllabaries

Kana refers to the phonetic writing systems of Japanese, primarily <a href="/article/hiragana">hiragana</a> and <a href="/article/katakana">katakana</a>. Unlike <a href="/article/kanji">kanji</a>, which represent ideas or words, each kana character represents a single sound unit (a mora), making them essential for writing native Japanese words, grammar, and foreign loanwords.