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Katakana Extended Sounds: How to Read ファ, ティ, ウィ and ヴ

Extended katakana such as ファ, ティ, ウィ and ヴ write loanword sounds the basic chart lacks. Learn the one reading rule, the two official tables, why many words have two spellings, and where the long vowel mark ー fits.

Inku editorial team · · 5 min read

Katakana extended sounds are combinations that write loanword sounds the basic 46 cannot. Most pair a full-size katakana with a small vowel: フ + small ァ is ファ (fa), テ + ィ is ティ (ti), and ウ + ィ is ウィ (wi). ヴ is ウ with dakuten, used for a v sound. Read each pair as one beat: keep the consonant of the first kana and replace its vowel with the small one. With ウ, the first kana acts as a w sound: ウィ is wi. The bar ー is not an extended sound. It holds the vowel before it for one more beat.

The reading rule

Take the first kana's consonant, then say the small vowel instead of its own vowel:

  • フ (fu) + ァ → ファ (fa), as in ファイル (fairu, “file”)
  • テ (te) + ィ → ティ (ti), as in ボランティア (borantia, “volunteer”)
  • チ (chi) + ェ → チェ (che), as in チェス (chesu, “chess”)
  • デ (de) + ュ → デュ (dyu), as in デュエット (dyuetto, “duet”)

The government's loanword rules, 外来語の表記 (Agency for Cultural Affairs), state that the vowel in pairs such as ヴァ and トゥ is written small. A full-size vowel is a separate beat, so check the size before you read.

The official list comes in two tables

Japan's loanword rules sort these kana into two tables. The first lists kana in general use for loanwords and foreign names. The second lists kana for writing a word closer to its original sound or spelling.

Table 1: the ones you will meet most

The notes on Table 1 cover these kana, with example words:

  • シェ, ジェ (she, je): シェーカー (sheekaa, “shaker”), ジェットエンジン (jetto enjin, “jet engine”)
  • チェ (che): チェーン (cheen, “chain”)
  • ツァ, ツェ, ツォ (tsa, tse, tso): モーツァルト (Mootsaruto, “Mozart”)
  • ティ, ディ (ti, di): ティーパーティー (tii paatii, “tea party”), ディズニー (Dizunii, “Disney”)
  • ファ, フィ, フェ, フォ (fa, fi, fe, fo): フェンシング (fenshingu, “fencing”), フォークダンス (fooku dansu, “folk dance”)
  • デュ (dyu): プロデューサー (purodyuusaa, “producer”)

Table 2: closer to the original sound

The notes on Table 2 cover kana such as ウィ, ウェ, ウォ, クァ, トゥ, ドゥ, ヴァ, ヴィ, ヴ, ヴェ, ヴォ, フュ and ヴュ. For each of them, the notes give an everyday spelling with Table 1 kana:

  • ウィスキー or ウイスキー (wisukii / uisukii, “whisky”)
  • ヴァイオリン or バイオリン (vaiorin / baiorin, “violin”)
  • インタヴュー or インタビュー (intavyuu / intabyuu, “interview”)

So if you know バ, ビ, ブ, ベ and ボ, you can already read most everyday v words. A ヴ spelling usually means the writer chose to show the original v.

Why the same word has two spellings

The rules do not pick one form for words whose shape varies. Where a usage is settled, it stands. That is why many long-established loanwords never use the extended kana at all. The Table 1 notes list ラジオ (rajio, “radio”), スタジオ (sutajio, “studio”) and エチケット (echiketto, “etiquette”), written with ジ and チ rather than ディ and ティ. They also note that フィルム (firumu, “film”) can appear as フイルム.

Romaji varies for the same reason. Japan's 2025 romaji rules say they do not cover sounds used only in loanwords. Different books may romanize the same extended kana in different ways. Learn the kana, not the romaji.

Where ー fits

The loanword rules write long vowels with ー as a general principle. Their examples include ゲーム (geemu, “game”) and パーティー (paatii, “party”). For English endings such as -er and -or, the rules use ー but allow it to be dropped where that is the custom: both コンピューター and コンピュータ (konpyuutaa / konpyuuta, “computer”) appear in the examples. For these -er and -or endings, the word is the same with or without the bar. Elsewhere, ー can change the word: ビル (biru, “building”) and ビール (biiru, “beer”) are different words. For how ー and small ッ change rhythm, see small tsu and long vowels.

Common misreadings

  1. Reading the pair as two beats. ファ is one beat. フア, with a full-size ア, is two.
  2. Reading ティ as チ. ティ keeps the t of テ. チ is chi.
  3. Expecting ヴ every time. Most everyday v words are written with バ, ビ, ブ, ベ and ボ.
  4. Expecting the English meaning. Some katakana words changed meaning in Japanese. The post on wasei-eigo lists common ones.

Make the base katakana automatic first

Every extended sound starts from a katakana you already know. フ, テ, チ, シ, ツ and ウ do most of the work, and デ and ジ are テ and シ with dakuten. If any base shape still needs a pause, the pairs will too. Run the Katakana deck in Inku's free browser flashcards until those shapes come without hesitation. Then come back to the example words above and read each one aloud, one beat per pair. The deck covers the 46 base katakana only. It needs no account, and progress stays in your browser.

Sources

Prepared by our editorial team with AI assistance. Product details are checked against the sources below.

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