Not many people use ステッキ any more, but can you work out what it is from the sound Katakana letters provide?
I looked ステッキ up in all the Japanese-English dictionaries I can get hold of and all of them say it is “a walking stick” (or a cane). Yes, the katakana word ステッキ comes from the English word “stick.” Although these days, the orphan consonant sound at the end of a word is usually written with a “-u” sounding letter and in fact, if you are talking about a carrot “stick”, modern Japanese people will write it as スティック, this word ステッキ ends in キ. It is one of the earliest Katakana words that joined the Japanese language.
Some clever people may be wondering why I said ステッキ is not used by many people, if ステッキ is a walking stick, when Japan is full of old people. That is because walking sticks used by old people as a support are usually called 杖（つえ）, not ステッキ. ステッキ is like the one in the picture carried around by gentlemen in the high society.
The picture is of the four sons of Emperor Taisho. The prince with the ステッキ in the photo later became Emperor Showa, the grandfather of the current emperor.
Now earlier I mentioned one of the general rules about Katakana spelling that “the orphan consonant sound at the end of a word is usually written with a “-u” sounding letter.” I have compiled these rules and made up an interactive online “Katakana Learning Modules.” If you are finding it hard to learn Katakana, please check it out here! For a limited time only, this is offered at AUD 5.00 and you can access it on any device connected to the Internet for 6 months.
