The most obvious use for Katakana would be for the writing of foreign words and this was also my only understanding of the use of Katakana before embarking on this project. After some research, here are some of the other functions of Katakana in the Japanese language:
1. For emphasis
The use of Katakana is similar to the use of italics in English, it essentially has the effect of emphasis. I am not sure how this works actually buy my guess is that since most of the words in the Japanese language uses Hiragana and Kanji, Katakana would stand out amongst the Hiraganas and Kanjis? Furthermore, some say that it also because Katakana is easier to understand. Personally I would definitely agree to this statement when I compare Katakana with Kanji but I am not so sure for Hiragana. Hiragana looks more complicated than Katakana perhaps but I always felt that Hiragana was easier for me because we were taught Hiragana first and spend most of our time reading them (and so we are more likely to memorise them better?)2. Onomatopoeia
I guess why Katakana is used here is probably because of wanting to achieve the effect of emphasis.
Examples include (and I chose these because you can't really identify what sounds these words actually represent!) :パクパク (chomp-chomp) and プンプン (to represent anger) but I supposed different languages have their own ways to interpret how things sound!
3. Amalgamation
Interestingly, perhaps for the purpose of convenience (especially since I feel that the Japanese language uses more words to bring across the same meaning as compared to English), the Japanese language contains words that are essentially a combination of 2 borrowed (foreign) words and these words are expressed in Katakana.
Examples include: オーエル (OL, female office lady), サラリーマン (salaryman, white-collared worker) and ヘルスメーター (health meter, weighing scale)
In fact, some of these amalgamation have the words combined and shortened in ways that it becomes quite difficult to know the meaning!
Examples include: ドンマイ(I don't mind!), パチスロ (pachinko and slot machines) and マイカー (my car)
These English constructions not used in by native English speakers but that appears in Japanese are know as (わさいえいご) wasei-ego. Was looking through some of them on the Internet and I must say that the Japanese are really quite creative!
Good observations!
ReplyDeleteCan you think of some examples of katakana used for emphasis? What message do you think the person using the katakana wants to convey by using katakana?
Also, how do different textbooks explain katakana? Do they explain it in the same way or not, and why?
Michelleさん、こんにちは！
ReplyDeleteYou have a good point. Those made-in-Japan English terms (わせいえいご) are pretty interesting to analyze.
In order to make your analysis deep in content, you can do more background research and describe in what context, by whom, with what purpose and motives they are used in the present Japanese society.
Also, can you think of any other words that do not quite match with the use of Katakana described in the textbook?
If you find it difficult to analyze your words any deeper, try to find examples that you can do more research and go beyond the explanations given in the textbook:)
Good luck!
TA Miyamoto