kana characters; Japanese syllabary symbols
Refers to the set of hiragana and katakana characters collectively, as opposed to kanji.
Japanese kana characters consist of hiragana and katakana.
Children learn kana characters first.
Standard kanji spelling for 'kana characters'.
Katakana spelling sometimes used in linguistic contexts or for emphasis.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling; common in informal writing.
Compound of 仮名 (kana, 'borrowed name', referring to characters derived from kanji) and 文字 (moji, 'character'). The term distinguishes the syllabic kana from logographic kanji.