kana

ka·na  (kän)

n. pl. kana or ka·nas

1. Japanese syllabic writing. The characters are simplified kanji and are usually used with kanji primarily to write inflections, particles, and function words and to show the pronunciations of some kanji and of all foreign words.

2. Any of the characters used in this system.

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[Japanese, pseudo-characters, kana : ka, false (from Middle Chinese ka, kja·) + na, name.]

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kana [ˈkɑːnə]

n

(Linguistics / Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) the Japanese syllabary, which consists of two written varieties See hiragana, katakana

[from Japanese, literally: borrowed or provisional letters; compare kanji, which are regarded as real letters]