The first word I found is アフリカ (Africa). It was part of the title of an academic journal I saw in the Library. It is a loan word. Since all the textbooks tell us that one of the primary functions of Katakana is to write foreign names and loan words, I thought this was a nice example--the name of a foreign place coming into the Japanese language based on an English pronunciation. It made me wonder what the process (historic, linguistic, political) is for a loanword to become standardized in Japanese. For example, why isn't the katakana for "Africa" based on a German, French, Chinese or some other pronunciation? As for the question of why Hiragana or Kanji is not used here, it seems that just the use of Katakana signals to the reader that the word or concept is not native to Japanese in a way that the other scripts do not do. The name of a foreign country is a good example of that idea.
The next word I found is also a loan word, but in a slightly different way than the first. "メジヤーリーグベースーボール" means Major League Baseball. There is no question as to where this word comes from, it is a proper noun, a brand name and a loan word all at once. What I found interesting about this however, is that in lesson 9 we learn a way to write baseball using hiragana, and yet that word is not used in "Major League Baseball." In this case, the use of katakana seems to be a deliberate choice to emphasize or reinforce the foreign, and specifically American, origin of the word and brand name--there hasn't been an attempt to localize the word or the brand. Katakana in this instance allows the Japanese language to absorb foreign words, brands and ideas without fully assimilating them. By using Katakana instead of Kanji or Hiragana, it is immediately clear to the audience that the word is representing a foreign brand, and in particular a brand from the West.
I never thought about that. I wonder what the katakana standardization process is, too. That is odd that so many words seem to be derived from English words. I know Germany has the German pronounciation (ドイツ), but it seems like English words dominate. Then again, I haven't read many katakana words yet. :)
ReplyDeleteI think you noticed a very interesting point. I really enjoyed reading your comment. My opinion about the question you put in your comment, why the word "baseball" was adopted from English not from German, is that whichever the language introduces a new concept will be taken in. A new concept=no word for it in Japanese. So we will use the language which came with that concept and pronounce it in a Japanese way, カタカナ. For example, the word for bread in Japanese "パン" was adopted from Portuguese because they introduced breads to Japan first in 15th sentries. I think how English words dominate in カタカナ is the proof of strong influence of American culture to Japanese people.
ReplyDelete>アフリカ
ReplyDeleteとても いい ぎもん(=question) ですね! Origins of katakana words are based on several foreign languages and they developed in several ways. Although katakana for foreign countries is basically based on an English pronunciation, there is some exception. For example, “ドイツ” is a katakana word for “Germany” based on German language “Deutscheland (means “Germany” in English)”. Finding out the origin and the standardization process of katakana words is not easy, but I hope you would keep your interest in katakana and get to the bottom of the question :)
>メジャーリーグベースボール
I often listen or read this katakana word in Japan. As you analyzed, the use of “メジャーリーグベースボール” is a deliberate choice to emphasize that it is not a Japanese language or a Japanese style baseball. In fact, Japanese people were using a katakana word “ベースボール” originally right after baseball came from the United States at Meiji era (1868-1912). But someone made a Japanese word for baseball “野球(やきゅう)” and people came to use it widely in Japan. After that, “野球” became popular sport among Japanese people and it developed independently as the years go on. Now, “野球” is used for the Japanese league or Japanese style of baseball and “メジャーリーグベースボール” or “メジャーリーグ” is used for the Major League Baseball of the United States. It is interesting that people use “野球” and ”ベースボール” for different purposes now, although they had same meaning in the old days!
I love how you analyzed those 2 words you picked. As a first year student, I think I learned a lot from your blog! =)
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a deep analysis as to how katakana is used myself. But I do like to share something else I learned today about how interesting Japanese people choose to use katakana for emphasis deliberately.
One of my classmates shared a youtube post showing Harry Potter cast speaking Japanese. In the end, they said "ありがどう ございます". But the subtitle translated it into "アリガトウ ゴザイマス". He pointed out that the deliberate translation using katakana is because the cast had such a strong accent.
I just think this is another interesting example as to how Japanese is really flexible and the usage of the alphabets itself carries meanings. =)
In the examples you have discussed you only use loan words, but what if the word is originally Japanese and has kanji writing, but the author chose to write it in katakana. What does this situation tell you about the significance of the word, different meaning or connotations? Maybe you also want to look-up these words too.
ReplyDeleteAs per the historical processes regarding the development of the three different kinds of writing systems, I think it would be interesting to look more at the modernizing project and nation building project in Japan.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking a lot about the political implications of writing systems and how they fit into the idea of "nation" and "culture." I am reminded of a NYTimes article about how language affects how we think. What do you think about this?
I think you have raised very interesting questions of the origin of katagana, why not other language sources? Here I guess will be something relevant to historical happening. With the intrusion and fight with the U.S. and China, it is this moment that communication and cultural exchange also going on. That's one of the reasons I figured out so far that Japanese language system has katagana and kanji(of course the latter has a longer history between Japan and China). What do you think?
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point about what language the loan word is taken from. It seems that there are many loan words from English, although I might just notice them more because those are the only ones I can easily recognize.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's interesting when they use foreign words (like "ベースーボール") in a phrase, when there are Japanese words (like "やくゅう") that could be used instead. I never thought about why this may be, but you provide a good explanation.