For example : the word â coffeeâ is written ã ã 1\/4 ã ' ã 1\/4 ( koo-hii ) . To signify long vowels , the chÅ onpu ( long vowel mark ) ( ã 1\/4 ) used . For example , ã ã 1\/4 ã `` mÄ `` ru is the gairaigo for e-mail taken from the English word `` mail '' ; the ã 1\/4 lengthens the e. Small versions of the five vowel kana are sometimes used to represent trailing off sounds ( ã ã haa , ã ã nee ) , but in Katakana they are more often used in yÅ on-like digraphs which allow for phonemes not present in Japanese ; examples include ã ã ã ã chenji ( `` change '' ) and ã ã # ã ã ã ã # ã cents Wikipedia .