Gojūon – Katakana characters with nucleus

a i u e o

∅ ア イ ウ エ オ

k カ キ ク ケ コ

s サ シ ス セ ソ

t タ チ ツ テ ト

n ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ

h ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ

m マ ミ ム メ モ

y ヤ ユ ヨ

r ラ リ ル レ ロ

w ワ ヰ ヱ ヲ

ン (n)

The complete katakana script consists of 48 characters, not counting functional and diacritic marks:

5 nucleus vowels

42 core or body (onset-nucleus) syllabograms, consisting of nine consonants in combination with each of
the five vowels, of which three possible combinations (yi, ye, wu) are not canonical

1 coda consonant

These are conceived as a 5×10 grid (gojūon, 五十音, literally "fifty sounds"), as shown in the adjacent
table, read ア (a), イ (i), ウ (u), エ (e), オ (o), カ (ka), キ (ki), ク (ku), ケ (ke), コ (ko) and so on.
The gojūon inherits its vowel and consonant order from Sanskrit practice. In vertical text contexts, which
used to be the default case, the grid is usually presented as 10 columns by 5 rows, with vowels on the
right hand side and ア (a) on top. Katakana glyphs in the same row or column do not share common
graphic characteristics. Three of the syllabograms to be expected, yi, ye and wu, may have been used
idiosyncratically with varying glyphs, but never became conventional in any language and are not
present at all in modern Japanese.

The 50-sound table is often amended with an extra character, the nasal stop ン (n). This can appear in
several positions, most often next to the N signs or, because it developed from one of many mu
hentaigana, below the u column. It may also be appended to the vowel row or the a column. Here, it is
shown in a table of its own.
The script includes two diacritic marks placed at the upper right of the base character that change the
initial sound of a syllabogram. A double dot, called dakuten, indicates a primary alteration; most often it
voices the consonant: k→g, s→z, t→d and h→b; for example, カ (ka) becomes ガ (ga). Secondary
alteration, where possible, is shown by a circular handakuten: h→p; For example; ハ (ha) becomes パ
(pa). Diacritics, though used for over a thousand years, only became mandatory in the Japanese writing
system in the second half of the 20th century. Their application is strictly limited in proper writing
systems,[clarification needed] but may be more extensive in academic transcriptions.

Furthermore, some characters may have special semantics when used in smaller size after a normal one
(see below), but this does not make the script truly bicameral.