Katakana is as interesting as it is varied, and its use has varied over time. While hiragana was originally reserved as women's script, katakana and chinese script were commonly used by males. Eventually katakana, chinese characters (kanji), and hiragana were all used to by men and women, and while hiragana became the most commonly used form a script, katakana was reserved for special purposes. Some of these special uses include onomatopeia, foreign words, names of animals/plants, company names, etc. The following are two examples of how katakana stands out in the written Japanese language.
キレイ is the first word I want to look at more closely because it was one of the few words we found that used katakana for emphasis purposes. It was found on the bottle of a Japanese Pantene Pro-V product. Unlike most of the words written in katakana, this word is clearly Japanese and is probably written like this to emphasize the effects of this products's purpose. For a person familiar with Japanese, katakana is probably an easy way to catch the attention of the reader because they probably encounter hiragana and kanji more frequently.
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| http://pantene.jp/ |
ルルルルルル is the second word I want to discuss because of the place I found this, my Nausicaa manga. The use of katanana here is also visually/artistically important, because it is fully integrated in the art. Unlike the text found in the dialogue bubbles, this katakana is easy to notice, usually because of the magnitude at which it appears on the page. At the same time, the use of katakana gives the sound effect a more unique feel because of katakana's scarce use. While katakana gives sound effects this additional significance, it creates its own space so that it is not part of the dialogue found in the captions. This creates an additional reason for the use of katakana, where it creates boundaries between spoken words and sound effects. Katakana is also known for use in the categorization of words, such as animal names. While this is not the first reason for its use here, it does segregate sound effects from the dialogue of the story and gives them importance in their respective locations.
This brief analysis of katakana has helped me understand that katakana has a variety of uses; many of which are not limited to foreign words. By using katakana, the written Japanese language is able to create boundaries, categories, and provide a visual impact to written world of Japanese. Katakana's use in the future may differ from its use now, but already it has shown us that it has a key role in making the written Japanese language a dynamic and interesting form.
