1. ケーキカット (The ceremony of cutting a cake at a wedding) - Loan Word/Slant Meaning - Essay about Japanese Customs
2. マックフライポタト (Mac Fry Potato = McDonald's French Fries) - Loanword - Food
I actually find it really interesting that ケーキカット is in Katakana and not in Hiragana especially since it's in an essay about Japanese customs. But then again it could be in Katakana because the ceremony of cutting a cake at a wedding comes from Western culture. I don't think people cut cakes at weddings in Japanese traditional weddings. This also applies to マックフライポタト since it also comes from the Western culture. Before McDonald's, Japanese culture/diet didn't consist of french fries.
I think it's useful that the Japanese use Katakana for foreign words because it's based off a pronounciation/sounding it out way of turning foreign words into Japanese words. In a way, I also feel it makes it easier for foreigners to learn the Japanese language because they can just put together foreign words by using the Katakana alphabet. I also feel like the use of Katakana is to incorporate Western culture with Japanese culture.
I too find katakana とてもたのしい (although it certainly doesn't have as much "culture" in its meaning as hiragana or kanji would have). But it's like a puzzle to be solved and sometimes katakana pronunciation is quite amusing.
ReplyDeleteI think what is even more interesting about Katakana are the words that have been borrowed and have lost their original meanings. For example, マンション in Japanese doesn't refer to a mansion like here in the states but instead a large apartment. Also the verb チャレンジする means to try something more-so than to actually challenge someone. Though its probably quite easy to see how they sort of morphed into these new meanings.
ReplyDeleteYour ideas about cake cutting and why this phrase must be written in Katakana are quite interesting. I wonder when this phrase started being used in Japan - it might be related to the trend in having lavish Western-style weddings during the bubble years...
ReplyDeleteKeeeeki KATTO! That actually made me laugh out loud. I think Katakana is most interesting when it is used for English words that don't need to be in English. Why Katto when they already have Kirimasu?
ReplyDeleteI think your example of マックフライポタト is very interesting. The name MacDonald's is shortened. Fry potato is not really French Fries, although they are made from potatoes. This shows that the basis of conversion from foreign terms into katakana is more complicated than just directly converting the sound of the foreign term into katakana.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Katakana now helps the Japanese and the Western people to easierly understand each other, both linguistically and culturally. In fact, I'm also interested in the powerful use of katakana in the history of Japanese language, because in the pre-modern period, katakana is also used to pronounce the kanji-which is also a foreign language for Japanese. In this sense, katakana is extremely convenient.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there's some difference anyway in different areas of Japan to use the katakana. It's surprising to find that how many stores in Tokyo use katakana instead of kanji or hiragana, even for the Japanese native things or names, while in Kyoto, though katakana is widely used, it is much less popular than in Tokyo. Something significant is going on in Japanese language, and the use of katakana is one of the key factors accounting for that.