Having lived in Japan before I have always found the Japanese use of Katakana useful at certain points and providing me with a simple way to understanding Japanese pronunciation and way Japanese pronunciation is formed. My general understanding in the beginning was that Katakana was used exclusively for borrowed words of western origin but as I have continued to visit the country and learn the Japanese language I have found that Katakana serves many uses that I overlooked in the past. Though there have been confusing moments when encountering what the Japanese call “wasei eigo” which is English words used by Japanese to make entirely different or related ideas. A more interesting use of Katakana is using it for the spelling of modern Chinese words rather than using the Kanji that the Chinese use for these words. Examples include:
| Katakana | Kanji | Meaning | |
| マージャン | 麻雀 | Mahjong | |
| ウーロン | 烏龍茶 | oolong tea | |
| チャーハン | 炒飯 | fried rice | |
| チャーシュー | 叉焼 | roast pork | |
| シューマイ | 焼売 | a kind of dim sum | |
| ラーメン | 拉麺 | Chinese-style noodles |
More intriguing is the use of Katakana to represent a foreign accent or robotic speech in Manga comics. Related to this many onomatopoeia, words that represent sounds, are written in Katakana. The reason for this is that it makes the words stand out, which is very useful for effect in Manga comics or in advertising. In advertising Japanese origin words may be written in Katakana to attract a readers or passerby’s attention. Used in text the use of Katakana may be used in similarity to quotations to give the word special emphasis. The scientific community in Japan has taken to this use of Katakana is naming new plants and species or choosing titles of new projects as using Kanji may lead to confusion do to the complications in translating a meaning of a word or idea into Kanji. In addition Katakana maybe used in an ironic sense when adding a title such as sensei or san to provide a condescending feeling to the title. [i] In addition to being used to express borrowed words in Japanese, Katakana is also used by the Ainu of Japan to officially write their language[ii], the use of Katakana for this purpose creates some pronunciation problems for Ainu words as Katakana are syllabic blocks. Romanji is also used to overcome this limitation of Katakana.
While katakana is originally used for imported words, the transformation of everyday Japanese words normally written in kanji or hiragana into katakana is extremely interesting. As you have mentioned, this is often seen in advertisements and used to attract the the public's attention. I noticed that this phenomenon can also be observed often in song titles, product names, drama names, and even stage names. Changing ordinary words into katakana may be a way to exercise one's creativity. However, this observed change in written Japanese to express variation and creativity is not unique to this era. The Japanese have already been converting words normally written in kanji into hiragana in names, commercials, products, etc.
ReplyDelete"In addition Katakana maybe used in an ironic sense when adding a title such as sensei or san to provide a condescending feeling to the title."
ReplyDeleteおもしろいです。わかりませんでした。It's interesting that katakana is also used ironically to show derision.
You mentioned the Ainu, but I'm not sure who they are. Can you give a bit more detail?
Other than that, good post! You had a lot of examples and covered many of the functions of katakana.
面白い発見ですね！Like Rosaline-San said earlier, Japanese has several variations in its writing system, including katakana, hiragana, kanji and romaji. I remember from a cultural linguistic class I have taken that among these four notation systems, hiragana is considered most "uchi(うち)" for Japanese people, followed by katakana, kanji and romaji. Therefore, changing the kanji into katakana could be viewed as a form of internalization(うちか) of these words.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the Japanese culture is a visual culture. Therefore, the frequent switching among writing systems we observe today could also be an expression for affinity towards visual variations.
Finally, I am also curious to learn more about the use of katakana among Ainus! たのしみ＾＾
Wow, your analysis is so comprehensive...I'm very impressed.
ReplyDeleteI particularly found it really interesting to read this line:
The reason for this is that it makes the words stand out, which is very useful for effect in Manga comics or in advertising.
This explains why katakana is preferred over hiragana for advertisements or the name of products.