Wabun Code
Encyclopedia
The is a form of Morse code
used to send Japanese
text. Unlike International Morse Code
, which represents letters of the Roman alphabet, in Wabun each symbol represents a Japanese kana. For this reason, Wabun code is also sometimes called Kana
code.
When Wabun Code is intermixed with International Morse code
, the prosign
DO (-..---) is used to announce the beginning of Wabun, and the prosign SN (...-.) is used to return to International Code.
Wabun Code was famously used to transmit the message "NIITAKA-YAMA NOBORE 12 08" on December 2, 1941, signalling the go-ahead of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
.
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
used to send Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
text. Unlike International Morse Code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, which represents letters of the Roman alphabet, in Wabun each symbol represents a Japanese kana. For this reason, Wabun code is also sometimes called Kana
Kana
Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...
code.
When Wabun Code is intermixed with International Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, the prosign
Prosigns for Morse Code
In Morse code, prosigns or procedural signals are dot/dash sequences that have a special meaning in a transmission: they are a form of control character...
DO (-..---) is used to announce the beginning of Wabun, and the prosign SN (...-.) is used to return to International Code.
Wabun Code was famously used to transmit the message "NIITAKA-YAMA NOBORE 12 08" on December 2, 1941, signalling the go-ahead of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
.
Chart
| Mora Mora (linguistics) Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D... | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Mora | Code | Punctuation | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a ア | --•-- | ka カ | •-•• | sa サ | -•-•- | ta タ | -• | na ナ | •-• | ha ハ | -••• | ma マ | -••- | ya ヤ | •-- | ra ラ | ••• | wa ワ | -•- | Dakuten Dakuten , colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should... ◌゛ |
•• |
| i イ | •- | ki キ | -•-•• | shiシ | --•-• | chiチ | ••-• | ni ニ | -•-• | hi ヒ | --••- | mi ミ | ••-•- | ri リ | --• | (wi ヰ) | •-••- | Handakuten ◌゜ | ••--• | ||
| u ウ | ••- | ku ク | •••- | su ス | ---•- | tsuツ | •--• | nu ヌ | •••• | fu フ | --•• | mu ム | - | yu ユ | -••-- | ru ル | -•--• | n ン | •-•-• | Long vowel ◌̄ | •--•- |
| e エ | -•--- | ke ケ | -•-- | se セ | •---• | te テ | •-•-- | ne ネ | --•- | he ヘ | • | me メ | -•••- | re レ | --- | (we ヱ) | •--•• | Comma 、 | •-•-•- | ||
| o オ | •-••• | ko コ | ---- | so ソ | ---• | to ト | ••-•• | no ノ | ••-- | ho ホ | -•• | mo モ | -••-• | yo ヨ | -- | ro ロ | •-•- | wo ヲ | •--- | Full stop 。 | •-•-•• |
Expanded Katakana Wabun Chart
| Monographs (gojūon Gojuon The is a Japanese ordering of kana.It is named for the 5×10 grid in which the characters are displayed, but the grid is not completely filled, and, further, there is an extra character added outside the grid at the end: with 5 gaps and 1 extra character, the current number of distinct kana in a... ) |
Digraphs (yōon Yoon is a feature of the Japanese language in which a mora is formed with an added sound.Yōon are represented in hiragana using a kana ending in i, such as き , plus a smaller-than-usual version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo. For example kyō, "today", is written きょう, using a small version of... ) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | i | u | e | o | ya | yu | yo | |
| ∅ | ア A (kana) あ in hiragana or ア in katakana is one of the Japanese kana that each represent one mora. あ is based on the sōsho style of kanji 安, and ア is from the radical of kanji 阿. In the modern Japanese system of alphabetical order, it occupies the first position of the alphabet, before い. Additionally, it... a --•-- |
イ I (kana) い in hiragana or イ in katakana is one of the Japanese kana each of which represents one mora. い is based on the sōsho style of the kanji character 以, and イ is from the radical of the kanji character 伊. In the modern Japanese system of alphabetical order, it occupies the second position of the... i •- |
ウ U (kana) う in hiragana or ウ in katakana is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. In the modern Japanese system of alphabetical order, they occupy the third place in the modern Gojūon system of collating kana. In the Iroha, they occupied the 24th position, between む and ゐ... u ••- |
エ E (kana) In Japanese writing, the kana え and エ occupy the fourth place, between う and お, in the modern Gojūon system of collating kana. In the Iroha, they occupy the 34th, between こ and て. In the table at right , え lies in the first column and the fourth row... e -•--- |
オ O (kana) In Japanese writing, the kana お and オ occupy the fifth place, between え and か, in the modern Gojūon system of collating kana. In the Iroha, they occupy the 27th, between の and く. In the table at right , お lies in the first column and the fifth row... o •-••• |
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| K | カ Ka (kana) か, in hiragana, or カ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent . The shapes of these kana both originate from 加.... ka •-•• |
キ Ki (kana) き, in hiragana, キ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent and are derived from a simplification of the 幾 kanji... ki -•-•• |
ク Ku (kana) く, in hiragana, or ク in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent , and their shapes come from the kanji 久.... ku •••- |
ケ Ke (kana) け, in hiragana, or ケ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both represent . The shape of these kana come from the kanji 計 and 介, respectively.... ke -•-- |
コ Ko (kana) こ, in hiragana, or コ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both represent . The shape of these kana comes from the kanji 己.... ko ---- |
キャ kya -•-•• •-- |
キュ kyu -•-•• -••-- |
キョ kyo -•-•• -- |
| S | サ sa -•-•- |
シ Shi (kana) し, in hiragana, or シ in katakana, and the variant form ㋛, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent the phoneme although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is . The shapes of these kana have origins in the character 之... shi --•-• |
ス su ---•- |
セ se •---• |
ソ so ---• |
シャ sha --•-• •-- |
シュ shu --•-• -••-- |
ショ sho --•-• -- |
| T | タ ta -• |
チ Chi (kana) ち, in hiragana, or チ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both are phonemically although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is .... chi ••-• |
ツ Tsu (kana) つ, in hiragana, or ツ in katakana, and the variant form ㋡, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both are phonemically although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is... tsu •--• |
テ te •-•-- |
ト to ••-•• |
チャ cha ••-• •-- |
チュ chu ••-• -••-- |
チョ cho ••-• -- |
| N | ナ Na (kana) な, in hiragana, or ナ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. The hiragana な is made in four strokes, the katakana ナ two. Both represent . な and ナ originate from the man'yōgana 奈. な is used as part of the okurigana for the plain negative forms of Japanese verbs, and... na •-• |
ニ Ni (kana) に, in hiragana, or ニ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. The hiragana is written in three strokes, while the katakana in two... ni -•-• |
ヌ Nu (kana) Nu, ぬ in hiragana, or ヌ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana each representing one mora. Both hiragana and katakana are made in two strokes and represent . They are both derived from the Chinese character 奴... nu •••• |
ネ Ne (kana) ね, in hiragana, or ネ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is made in two strokes, while the katakana is made in four... ne --•- |
ノ No (kana) の, in hiragana, or ノ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. In the gojūon system of ordering of Japanese syllables, it occupies the 25th position, between ね and は . It occupies the 26th position in the iroha ordering... no ••-- |
ニャ nya -•-• •-- |
ニュ nyu -•-• -••-- |
ニョ nyo -•-• -- |
| H | ハ Ha (kana) は, in hiragana, or ハ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. Both represent ). They are also used as a grammatical particle and serve as the topic marker of the sentence... ha -••• |
ヒ Hi (kana) ひ, in hiragana, or ヒ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both can be written in two strokes, sometimes one for hiragana, and both are phonemically although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is... hi --••- |
フ Fu (kana) ふ, in hiragana, or フ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is made in four strokes, while the katakana in one. It represents the phoneme , although for phonological reasons, the actual pronunciation is , which is why it is romanized fu in Hepburn... fu --•• |
ヘ He (kana) へ, in hiragana, or ヘ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which represents one mora. The two ways of writing this mora are almost identical. Each is written in one stroke and represents . In the Sakhalin dialect of the Ainu language, ヘ can be written as small ㇸ to represent a final h after an... he • |
ホ Ho (kana) ほ, in hiragana, or ホ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both are made in four strokes and both represent . In the Sakhalin dialect of the Ainu language, ホ can be written as small ㇹ to represent a final h sound after an o sound .-Stroke order:... ho -•• |
ヒャ hya --••- •-- |
ヒュ hyu --••- -••-- |
ヒョ hyo --••- -- |
| M | マ Ma (kana) ま, in hiragana, or マ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. The hiragana is made in three strokes, while the katakana in two... ma -••- |
ミ Mi (kana) み, in hiragana, or ミ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is written in two strokes, while the katakana is made in three. Both represent .-Stroke order:... mi ••-•- |
ム Mu (kana) む, in hiragana, or ム in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both hiragana and katakana are made with three strokes, they represent . The kanji 無, read "mu", represents "none", nothingness, or the state of oblivion upon death, if written alone.In the Ainu language,... mu - |
メ Me (kana) め, in hiragana, or メ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both versions are written in two strokes and represent .-Stroke order:... me -•••- |
モ Mo (kana) も, in hiragana, or モ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Both are made in three strokes and both represent .モー is sometimes used as the onomatopœia for cows.-Stroke order:... mo -••-• |
ミャ mya ••-•- •-- |
ミュ myu ••-•- -••-- |
ミョ myo ••-•- -- |
| Y | ヤ Ya (kana) や, in hiragana, or ヤ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. Hiragana is written in three strokes, while the katakana is written in two. Both represent... ya •-- |
 (yi) |
ユ Yu (kana) ゆ, in hiragana, or ユ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both are written in two strokes and represent .... yu -••-- |
 (ye) |
ヨ Yo (kana) よ, in hiragana, or ヨ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is made in two strokes, while the katakana in three. Both represent .... yo -- |
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| R | ラ Ra (kana) ら, in hiragana, or ラ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both versions are written with two strokes and have origins in the character 良; both characters represent In the Ainu language, Japanese linguists developed a small katakana ㇻ that is used to represent... ra ••• |
リ Ri (kana) り, in hiragana, or リ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. Both are written with two strokes and both represent the sound . Both originate from the character 利... ri --• |
ル Ru (kana) る, in hiragana, or ル in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. The hiragana is written in one stroke; the katakana in two. Both represent the sound... ru -•--• |
レ Re (kana) れ, in hiragana, or レ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is written in two strokes, while katakana in one. Both represent the sound... re --- |
ロ Ro (kana) ろ, in hiragana, or ロ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represents one mora. The hiragana is written in one stroke, katakana in three. Both represent the sound and both have origins from the Chinese character 呂... ro •-•- |
リャ rya --• •-- |
リュ ryu --• -••-- |
リョ ryo --• -- |
| W | ワ Wa (kana) わ, in hiragana, or ワ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. It represents and has origins in the character 和. There is also a small ゎ/ヮ, that is used to write the morae /kwa/ and /gwa/ , which are obsolete in contemporary standard Japanese but still exist in the... wa -•- |
[Wi (kana)|ヰ]] (wi) •-••- |
 (wu) |
[We (kana)|ヱ]] (we) •--•• |
ヲ Wo (kana) を, in hiragana, or ヲ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora.-Modern usage:In Japanese, this kana is used almost exclusively for a particle; therefore, the katakana form is fairly uncommon in everyday language — mostly used as a stand-in for its hiragana... wo •--- |
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| * | ン N (kana) ん, in hiragana, or ン in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. ん is the only kana that does not end in a vowel sound . The kana for mu, む/ム, was originally used for the n sound as well, while ん was originally a hentaigana used for both n and mu... n •-•-• |
、 Comma •-•-•- |
。 Full stop •-•-•• |
Dakuten Dakuten , colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should... ◌゛ Diacritic Diacritic A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents... •• |
Handakuten ◌゜ Diacritic Diacritic A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents... ••--• |
Chōonpu Chōonpu The , also known as ', ', or Katakana-Hiragana Prolonged Sound Mark by the Unicode Consortium, is a Japanese symbol which indicates a chōon, or a long vowel of two morae in length. Its form is a horizontal or vertical line in the center of the text with the width of one kanji or kana character... ー Long Vowel •--•- |
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| Diacritics (gojūon Gojuon The is a Japanese ordering of kana.It is named for the 5×10 grid in which the characters are displayed, but the grid is not completely filled, and, further, there is an extra character added outside the grid at the end: with 5 gaps and 1 extra character, the current number of distinct kana in a... with dakuten Dakuten , colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should... ) |
Digraphs with diacritics (yōon Yoon is a feature of the Japanese language in which a mora is formed with an added sound.Yōon are represented in hiragana using a kana ending in i, such as き , plus a smaller-than-usual version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo. For example kyō, "today", is written きょう, using a small version of... with dakuten Dakuten , colloquially ten-ten , is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced. Handakuten , colloquially maru , is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should... ) |
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| a | i | u | e | o | ya | yu | yo | |
| G (K) |
ガ ga •-•• •• |
ギ gi -•-•• •• |
グ gu •••- •• |
ゲ ge -•-- •• |
ゴ go ---- •• |
ギャ gya -•-•• •• •-- |
ギュ gyu -•-•• •• -••-- |
ギョ gyo -•-•• •• -- |
| Z (S) |
ザ za -•-•- •• |
ジ ji --•-• •• |
ズ zu ---•- •• |
ゼ ze •---• •• |
ゾ zo ---• •• |
ジャ ja --•-• •• •-- |
ジュ ju --•-• •• -••-- |
ジョ jo --•-• •• -- |
| D (T) |
ダ da -• •• |
ヂ ji ••-• •• |
ヅ zu •--• •• |
デ de •-•-- •• |
ド do ••-•• •• |
ヂャ ja ••-• •• •-- |
ヂュ ju ••-• •• -••-- |
ヂョ jo ••-• •• -- |
| B (H) |
バ ba -••• •• |
ビ bi --••- •• |
ブ bu --•• •• |
ベ be • •• |
ボ bo -•• •• |
ビャ bya --••- •• •-- |
ビュ byu --••- •• -••-- |
ビョ byo --••- •• -- |
| Diacritics (gojūon Gojuon The is a Japanese ordering of kana.It is named for the 5×10 grid in which the characters are displayed, but the grid is not completely filled, and, further, there is an extra character added outside the grid at the end: with 5 gaps and 1 extra character, the current number of distinct kana in a... with handakuten) |
Digraphs with diacritics (yōon Yoon is a feature of the Japanese language in which a mora is formed with an added sound.Yōon are represented in hiragana using a kana ending in i, such as き , plus a smaller-than-usual version of one of the three y kana, ya, yu or yo. For example kyō, "today", is written きょう, using a small version of... with handakuten) |
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| a | i | u | e | o | ya | yu | yo | |
| P (H) |
パ pa -••• ••--• |
ピ pi --•• ••--•- |
プ pu --•• ••--• |
ペ pe • ••--• |
ポ po -•• ••--• |
ピャ pya --••- ••--• •-- |
ピュ pyu --••- ••--• -••-- |
ピョ pyo --••- ••--• -- |