The use of Katakana is wide and varied. The 46 characters are not only used for the writing of foreign words in order to make them loaned words, they are also used to express emphasis. Katakana is also utilize to create onomatopoeic words, which the Japanese language is filled with. This set of characters has another function and that is to lend sophistication to a given publication. In most of the fashion magazines the entire thing is filled with katakana words even when there is a Japanese word for it they will tend to simply use the English equivalent. The increasing used of katakana within modern Japan is rather interesting and it sheds some light to the complex history of the language.
ズonomatopoeia
ペリウム loan word
ヘヤ sophistication.
The reason why there are several uses for katakana is to allow greater flexibility within the language. This allows Japanese to adapt to changing situations. Different books explain katakana differently because the uses of it are so varied that multiple explanations are possible.
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4 comments:
Very interesting! I like the part about adapting to different situations, i hadn't thought about it like that.
From what Sensei has said, it seems like hirangan and kanji are also subject to change. It would be interesting to see how each set of characters confers flexibility in a different way.
Hi Jose,
This is Ai a TA from your lab.
It is interesting that you mention the complex history of the language, and the flexibility of the language. Many Japanese words are from other languages, and we have adopted them in some ways. Also, like other languages, Japanese has been changing along the changes of the world.
thanks for your comments. LIke for any language, it tends to evolve in fact it must evolve otherwise it would die.
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