カタカナ分析 (Katakana Analysis)

First of all, I would like to introduce the two katakana words I choose to analyze.

The first one is a translation line from an interview video of the Harry Potter cast from www.youtube.com.  The line appears at 0:29 second on the top of the screen.  It reads "ドモアリガチ　サヨナラ".

The second katakana word I choose is an onomatopoeia word "ゴロゴロ".  It was introduced to us by Sato sensei in class so I don't have a definite source for this word.

The reason why I choose the first translation katakana is because of its interesting usage in the video.  We all know that there are hiragana words for "Thank You" and "Goodbye".  Those are the very first words we learn in class.  However, the Japanese TV producers deliberately chose to use katakana to translate what is said by the Harry Potter cast instead of using hiragana.  By doing so, it emphasized their foreign accent.  I think maybe in a way, the katakana translation made the video even more appealing to the audiences.  I think this is a perfect example for how flexible katakana can be used in different situations to emphasize different meanings.

The reason why I choose my second katakana word to be an onomatopoeia word is simply because there are just so many such words in Japanese that it is impossible to avoid them.  (According to Sato sensei, Japanese has the second most onomatopoeia words among all languages.)  In class, we were told that ゴロゴロ is often used to describe "laziness" (maybe it sounds like snoring?).  A simple Google Image search of ゴロゴロ will give you images of cats lying around (and beef too?) - very cute and surely gives the meaning of being lazy (not the beef ones of course).  I think that katakana is used for many onomatopoeia words mainly because of its simple stroke shape and therefore creates a direct visual effect.  Even though onomatopoeia can be written in both hiragana and katakana, I think the latter gives a more visual result.  It just simply stands out more!  For onomatopoeia words that need to "transfer" the feelings directly to the readers, katakana seems to be the one to use.  (However, as a side note, I can't help but agree with one of my readers.  ゴロゴロ also sounds like someone drinking a large amount of liquid fast - like chugging a glass of beer.  So in that sense, doesn't onomatopoeia become very confusing sometimes?  Is he drinking beer or is he lying around being lazy?  =P )

There are many different ways to use katakana.  The most common ones are loan words, onomatopoeia and for emphasis (similar to how italic is used in English).  Wikipedia also points out that katakana can sometimes use to write out words that are very difficult in kanji (as often seen in medical terminology).  Many Japanese textbooks (including the handouts that were given to us in class) explain katakana by introducing its history first.  I personally think that it is really important to learn about the history of a language (or anything we learn as a matter of fact) before anything else.  It is especially true for katakana.  For one thing, it was originally developed as a form of shorthand by Buddhist monks to indicate the correct pronunciations of the original Chinese characters.  Therefore, not only its strokes are more simple than hiragana, they are also less "roundish" (as opposed to hiragana, which was originally used only by women).  So you can see, history can tell us how katakana is developed over the years and become how it is today in modern Japanese.  Another interesting point I find is that all katakana explanations include a comparison chart of katakana and their original Chinese characters.  I am not sure how non-Chinese speaking students would see it.  But I personally find that very helpful in the sense that I can see how each katakana "alphabet" is developed (and to my surprise, a lot has changed from the old Chinese characters).  I think many textbooks choose to include this information because there are such strong influences from Chinese that it is impossible to teach Japanese without mentioning its origin.

References:
1. Japanese Katakana (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese_katakana.htm)
2. Katakana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#Usage)

作文II

やまださん、おげんきですか。

わたしはチェリーです。コロビアだいがくの　だいがくいんせいです。よねんせいです。わたしのせんこうは Chemical Engineeringです。

わたしのせいかつは　いそがしいです。月曜日から木曜日まで　日本語のクラスへ　いきます。そして　まいにち　はたらきます。日本語はおもしろいですが、むずかしいです。カタカナは　とても　むずかしいです。でも　わたしの先生は　とても　しんせつです。　そして　おもしろいです。わたしは　日本語が　すきです。それから　日本料理が　すきです。わたしのともだちは　日本のレストランで　はたらきますから、わたしは　いつも　おいしい　料理を　たべます。わたしは　日本のテレビが　すきですね。

もう　十一月です。ニューヨークは　さむいです。わたしは　六月に　ひこうきで　日本へ　いきます。いま　スケジュールが　わかりません。

じゃ、よるしく　おねがいします。

チェリー

ヌーヨーカですか、ニューヨークですか？

I noticed that in the Japanese drama show I've been watching, they called New York ヌーヨーカ (instead of ニューヨーク).  I'm not sure if this was because the show was based in old time Japan in a region with different accent (that's my guess), but it is really interesting to see that the same word could be translated differently in katakana.  I think maybe this is the reason why Sato sensei kept emphasizing on listening to our last names in class before he wrote it out for us.  But at the same time, doesn't that make it more difficult for foreign speakers to learn katakana?  Uhm...


Anyway,　龍馬伝は　とても　おもしろいです！　まいにち　わたしは　みます！　I learned so much about Japanese history.  The most important is that I was amazed by how precisely and accurately the directors are trying to present the history.  Comparing to the limited number of Chinese old time dramas I've seen, I think I like Ryomaden much better.

私の俳句

風ビュウ　ビュウ

十二月です

冬になる

暑いです

ゴロゴロします

休みます

龍馬伝

これは　龍馬伝　です。　おもしろいです。

I learned a lot about Japanese history from this show so far. I understand that as a TV show, they must "dramatize" the story line somewhat to attract viewers...which is perfect for me...I can have something interesting to watch and to learn from at the same time. ;) It is also wonderful to know that I understand some of the words they say in their dialogue. Though I highly suspect that their converations use different grammar rules from what we learn in class.

For those who are interested in the history behind Sakamoto Ryoma　坂本龍馬, you can find out more from here: 坂本龍馬.

カタカナ Analysis Draft

Based on my limited knowledge of Japanese, I would have to say that the majority of Kanakana I've come across are loan words.  They are almost everywhere, especially on food packages and logos (the two major category I'm interested in).  Here are the two examples I picked:

ミルクソフトキャンデー "Milk Soft Candy" & ホームページ "Homepage" - both are found on packages for food.

I'm actually having a hard time to conclude why there are so many loan words in Japanese.  I guess the most obvious reason is simplicity - why go through so much trouble to invent new words while we can just simply "translate" the sound into our own?

I was really amazed when Sato sensei told us in class that there are no set rules when using Hiragana and Katakana in Japanese.  My first reaction was - wouldn't that be too chaotic?  So people can just write however they feel like?  For an outsider, it is a little hard to imagine how it is done.  But I'm sure as time goes on and my Japanese knowledge is expanding, this will become clear to me eventually.  =)

As for now, for the purpose of this homework assignment, my analysis is that loan words are slowly adapted into Japanese vocabularies because it was easier than inventing more words.  Of course, such claim definitely needs an expert to confirm...