カタカナ Analysis

カタカナ is an important and widespread feature of Japanese communication. Various Japanese media employ katakana in order to communicate an idea in a creative, fashionable, or trendy way. Because of its linear quality and stylish look, it is frequently used in conjunction with digital media to communicate ideas more effectively. Examples of such media include, advertisements, LED or neon signs, テレビ (terebi - T.V.), electronic displays, etc.

The reason why katakana is so useful apart from the artistic is because it serves to establish a liaison between the traditional written and spoken language and words or sounds that originate outside of Japan. When read properly, katakana that mimic words from the English language will often sound like their foreign host word. A good example is the word コーヒー or koーhiー; coffee. The same is true for words that do not derive from English words, such as the word ドイツ or Doitsu; Deutsch(land)/Germany. With a script designed to communicate foreign words, a cultural "bridge" is formed allowing exchange of ideas and concepts that reside outside of Japan while maintaining the traditional foundations of Japanese culture through hiragana and kanji. The script allows for a clearer distinction as to the origin of the word used thereby preventing unnecessary confusion.

Onomatopoeia
Other uses for katakana rather than the communication of artistic ideas is its function for technical or scientific terms, particularly for ecological species. For example, homo sapien is ホモサピエん. Onomatopoeia, another large function of katakana serves to emulate sounds in アニメ (anime) and sounds of animals. Some examples:

Common Manga Sounds:
ビク "biku", or the sound of a "shock"

トントン "ton ton", the sound of a "slow movement"
ヒュ"hyu", or "swoosh"

Common Animal Sounds:

ワンワン "wan wan", or "woof woof" (dog)

ニャニャ "nyaa nyaa", or "meow meow" (cat)

ケロケロ "kero kero", or "ribbit ribbit" (frog)

These sounds can be found in マンガ (manga) or Japanese Comics. An example of a マンガ is One Piece, ワンピース (Wan Pīsu). A sample page can be seen here: 


http://www.shonenjump.com/e/mangaonline/onepiece  - Note the katakana "effects" :)


The Extended Katakana
Another unique function of the katakana script is the creation of an "extended katakana" to more accurately represent the sounds of words to languages outside of Japan. Below is a link to the Hepburn Romanization for extended katakana.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization#For_extended_katakana


This enables the creation of words with sounds not traditionally pronounced in Japanese. An example would be the "fa" sound. The sound "fu" is the closest thing to "fa" in Japanese. However, the combination of a katakana フ(fu) and ア(a) creates "fu+a", or ファ (fa). Now it is possible for words like "fax" to be converted to katakana; ファクス(fakusu). This enables the katakana script a much greater range of sounds to create words for.


Movie Titles
Often times, movies outside of Japan are given a title in that country which is "different" than the original. Often times these titles are shorter in length the their host country counterparts' and written in Katakana. An example of such an alteration is the title of the movie "Karate Kid". In Japan, this movie was renamed "Best Kid", ベストキッド or "besuto kiddo". But sometimes, when a popular movie comes from Japan to a foreign country, the opposite happens; such as in the movie ゴジラ, or "Gojira". The title of this movie was changed in the U.S. to "Godzilla".


To summarize, Katakana may be one of the best examples of a language that can adapt to foreign words without altering cultural tradition. It seems flexible enough to create meanings with relative ease whilst being designed simple enough to be written quickly; moreso than hiragana and kanji. It is an artistic language that almost always is used to emphasize an idea within the context of an artistic medium.