kana
/ˈkɑːnə/
"kana" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kana” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,210 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,210
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The hiragana and katakana syllabaries. These are made up of characters that represent individual syllables, which are used to write Japanese words and particles. Kana are derived from kanji.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kana |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɑːnə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #36,210 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kana” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for kana is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɑːnə/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,210 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for kana, with forms such as "akna", "kaan", and "kanna". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ken", "kay", "kin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 仮名(かな) (kana, “phonetic character”, literally “borrowed character”, from the way that kana were originally Chinese characters "borrowed" for their phonetic values). The correct English form is kana, spelled K-A-N-A.
Definition
- 1The hiragana and katakana syllabaries. These are made up of characters that represent individual syllables, which are used to write Japanese words and particles. Kana are derived from kanji.
- 2A hiragana or katakana character.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 仮名(かな) (kana, “phonetic character”, literally “borrowed character”, from the way that kana were originally Chinese characters "borrowed" for their phonetic values).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: akna,kaan,kanna,kkana,knaa
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kana - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “kana”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-A-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɑːnə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ken” - see the side-by-side comparison. kana vs ken
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.