These two words were written in katakana just as they sound in English, so they are loanwords. There seems to exist two purposes of using katakana in this case. First, by pronouncing them in the same way as in their original language, it has the effect of conveying the exact meanings. Also, by writing them in katakana, instead of hiragana and kanji, it has the effect of making these words easily noticeable as loanwords.
These effects are produced, because katakana are not used as frequently as hiragana or kanji in daily life, so it is easily noticeable. Also, employing the similar pronunciation, these words can be easily understandable to both Japanese and foreigners.
Japanese textbooks have been different in explaining katakana, because exact usage of katakana also seems difficult to define even for Japanese academics.
5 comments:
こんにちは。
ＴＡののぐちです。
ここのポイントがおもしろかったです。
>by pronouncing them in the same way as in their original language, it has the effect of conveying the exact meanings.
It is true, but, I would like to add one thing: most of the time when we adopt foreign words, only a PART of the original meaning gets imported.
e.g. デザイン in general (not in a specialized field) only refers to the design in fashion or at least in an artistic sense. Other than that, there are so many words that can be translated as "design" in Eng. Check these words if you have time: せっけい、こうぞう、おんがくのようしき、りょこうのきかく etc
I knew that katakana is easily noticeable, but I never really thought why it is until I read your analysis.
こんにちは, KCJSのジェームズ・ウォンだ^^
While the majority of katakana are easily understandable to foreigners, there are some words that are not inherently comprehensible from a foreigner's perspective. For instance, ライブ in Japanese refers to a "Live Concert." I was pretty confused the first time I heard ライブ being used, and had to think about the context before I finally figured it out :P
Another example is ドンマイ. This is a slang term based off of "don't mind." Think of it as "nvm" in internet-speak :P
So while katakana can be very helpful for foreigners, it can also serve to confuse if we aren't careful enough ;P
Hi!
I'm a Japnese student.
I think katakana give us a strong impression.So we use loanwords,when we want emphasize an important word.
にほんにきたときは、たのしんでください。
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