Katakana Literary Work Final

Edits completed! Thanks for the comments, all. Anu and I appreciate it.

Final Katakana Analysis

For my katakana analysis, I chose two words with very different meanings and applications to explore the range of katakana usage. The first is a medical term, ガン, which means cancer. The second is ネタ, the meaning of which can be roughly translated as "information", "joke", "source", or "topic", but is distinctly colloquial. These words were found in a Japanese medical directory and a list of unusual katakana words compiled on the internet, respectively. (See http://www.proz.com/?sp=mt&eid_s=46676&float=y&glossary=6270 or http://gakuu.com/curious-katakana-words-3/ for additional vocabulary.)

ガン

As it is unfortunately a common disease, the usage of ガン is not solely restricted to medical literature, and can be found in all three forms (hiragana, katakana, and kanji.) It is very common to find words with difficult kanji written in katakana, and usually the difficult-to-read kanji character will be translated into katakana or hirigana, and combined with its contextual kanji. It's less of a transliteration than it is a method of simplification in this case. 

This also often applies to other medical terms besides cancer (癌), and there are exceptions to this observation. For example, “hormone” is ホルモン in katakana, but it is clearly a loan word. Same with “lymph”, which is リンパ　and “allergy”, which is アレルギー。Other forms of exceptions include words that appear very difficult to read but do not seem to have a katakana equivalent, like “keiren”, or “spasm” (痙攣), (although it does have hiragana.) Another interesting exception is for the acronym “SARS”, which is simply “SARS”. 

These examples are only a small sample set of the vast range of Japanese medical terminology, but they do help infer other possibilities regarding the use of katakana in particular. From a practical standpoint, katakana can help expedite transcription, which is important for efficient and accurate medical practice. However, I've found that katakana can also project or elicit different emotional responses depending on the word and the context. In the case of cancer, it's possible that its katakana form can mitigate the intimidating appearance of its kanji form, and thereby reduce the incredible gravity of the word itself (though, of course, it does not detract from the seriousness of the illness.) By looking at the katakana, a reader simply takes in the word as a word, and does not immediately absorb all the implications tied to its meaning. Conversely, by looking at the kanji of many Japanese medical terms, a reader may be impacted by the "threatening" or "scary" appearance of the word because it elicits a reaction to all of the words' dimensions.

ネタ

This word is another example of katakana's use to elicit specific mental cues, but is very different from ガン in use, context, and implication. ネタ is interesting because it is more of a conceptual noun, derived from the Japanese word for seed (たね、種 in kanji). Tied to the idea of a seed, it's slang meaning is "a juicy or popular story ripe for gossip." ネタ basically describes some information that can be easily developed into gossip.

In many different words, it appears relative to hiragana or kanji characters, often both. Some of these words are clearly loan words, but some seem more for emphasis within casual conversation. ネタ on its own, however, is not a loan word. It is possible its meaning (and original spelling) was warped for colloquial application, and put into katakana to make this quality distinct. 

Another example of this case includes バージョンアップ, which reads "Version Up". This term can be used to refer to upgraded software, but also more abstract things, like jokingly saying someone has acquired a new skill. カンニング, a word that means cheating, apparently comes from the English "cunning", but the meaning was warped and changed to its current Japanese form.

Generally, katakana can be used to denote slang words which would indicate a different emphasis and more casual style of speech. This can be seen frequently in manga, as many phrases or words typically seen in hiragana are written in katakana to emphasize the colloquialism, attitude, or behavior of a character. Writing ネタ in katakana also keeps it modern and stylish, promoting a foreign connotation. This writing style removes the archaic or super-formal feel of a word derived from Japanese by making it nonsensically trendy. Katakana also injects a feeling of rapidity or quickness, surpassing the old and pushing the language forward to a hip and foreign future.

For both words, despite their differences, katakana makes them easier to write and thus easier to impress their meaning. This leads to expediency in terms of translation, absorption, and transcription.

Composition 3 Final

二十年後の私はいそがしいです。そして成切した女の人です。私は投資銀行家です。しごとはとてもむずかしいです。そしてたくさんようじとやくそくがありますから、ぜんぜんひまな時間がありません。でも、あもしろいしごとがほしいです。卒業後、私のかれとけっこんします。私たちはとてもきれいなアパートをかいます。私はこどもがしほしくないですが、私のしゅじんはたぶんふたりこどもがほしいです。私たちのアパートにたくさんものがあります：たかい家具やおおきいベッドがあります。

サンクスギビングデー!

せんしゅうまつわたしはかれとかれのうちにいます。はじめてわたしはかれのかぞくといしょによっかうちにいます。サンクスギビングのパーチーをしました。サンクスギビングがとてもすきですから、サンクスギビングのせんしゅうまつはたのしいでした。わたしたちはしちめんちょうやクランベリーソースをてべました。そして、ケーキやパイをたべました。たくさんとてもおいしいたべものがありました！おなかがいっぱいでした。

ここはパーチーの写真です：

Katakana literary work

My lazy dog Anu and I created this work to contextualize our katakana lessons with visuals. Here we utilize katakana for loan words and names, but particularly focus on its use for onomatopoeia. Its usage in this regard seems especially appropriate when employed with a corresponding visual, and adds a dimension to what the reader views that is not misconstrued with regular text.

Composition II Final Draft

やまださへ

はじめまして。おげんきですか。わたしはジャムナモートンです。はたちです。コロンビアだいがくのがくせいです。さんねんせいです。にほんごとちゅうごくごをベンきょうします。アラスカからきました。わたしはホラーのえいががすきです。わたしはイタリアりょうりとロックのおんがくがすきです。
コロンビアだいがくはたかいです。そしてコロンビアはとてもゆうめいなだいがくです。だいがくのせいかつはむずかしいですが、おもしろいです。わたしのりょうはちいさいですが、とてもきれいです。
ニューヨークはよくにぎやかなまちです。ごぜんろくじからごごじゅういちじまでこのまちはしずかじゃありまえんから、わたしはぜんぜんねません。ですからわたしはぜんぜんしゅくだいをしません。
6月12日にひこうきでにほんへいきます。どうぞよろしくおねがいします！

モートンより

Katakana Analysis Draft

Katakana words/expressions:

ガン

-source: http://gakuranman.com/unusual-katakana-words/

ネタ　

-source: http://gakuu.com/curious-katakana-words-3/

Why are they written in katakana?

ガン (Gan) Cancer

-Very common to write words in katakana that have difficult kanji, which often applies to medical terminology. Usually the difficult-to-read kanji character will be translated into katakana or hiragana, and combined with its contextual kanji. It’s less of a transliteration than it is a method of simplification in this case.

-Possible exceptions to the rule: “Hormone” is ホルモン in katakana, but is clearly a loan word. Same with “lymph”, which is リンパ　and “allergy”, which is アレルギー。

-Other forms of exceptions include words that appear very difficult to read but do not seem to have a katakana equivalent, like “keiren”, or “spasm” (痙攣), (although it does have hiragana.)

-Another interesting exception is for the acronym “SARS”, which is simply “SARS”.

-This is probably indicative of katakana’s primary purpose as a means of transcribing foreign and action words.

ネタ (Neta)

-This word is interesting because it is derived from the Japanese word for seed (たね、種 in kanji) which conceptually ties to its slang meaning： a juicy or popular story ripe for gossip. Its various applications and nuances in meaning indicate it can be generalized as “information”, “joke”, “source”, or “topic.”

-In many different words, it appears relative to hiragana or kanji characters, often both. Some of these words are clearly loan words, but some seem more for emphasis within casual conversation. ネタ on its own, however is not a loan word. It is possible its meaning (and original spelling) was warped for colloquial application, and put into katakana to make distinct this quality.

Sources:

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana

-http://www.tanaka-clinic.net/eng/medical_terms.htm

-http://localsensei.com/word_search