Katakana Analysis (final)

     Looking for katakana words, I found "ピカーピカー" that means sparkling, online, on a Japanese blog that was selling sparkling mickey mouse glasses. This word is onomatopoeia. Another word I found was "カッコイイ", which means good-looking. I found this word online from a picture of advertisement and Katakana is used for an emphasis.

     Katakana is usually used to represent onomatopoeia and loanword, and to put emphasis on the word. The first word I found "ピカーピカー" is onomatopoeia that describes the sparkling state, thus it is written in Katakana. The second word I found "カッコイイ" is used as an emphasis. “かっこいい” is usually written in hiragana, but since it appeared on the advertisement, Katakana was used to emphasize the product being sold. It really tried to emphasize the coolness of the drink they are trying to sell.

     I think there are such effects, because Japanese do not have a space in between the words. Instead, by using the mixture of Hiragana, Kanji, and Katakana, one is able to read a sentence without difficulty. Since Katakana is not used often in a sentence, the use of Katakana can really stand out in a sentence full of Hiragana and Kanji. An appearance of Katakana can give a great impact on the reader. Moreover, the consumer receives a stronger impression to the advertisement, since a word that should be written in Kanji or Hiragana originally is written in Katakana. Thus, it makes sense that Katakana gives the effects of emphasis.

     Each textbook is different in explaining Katakana, because Katakana was used and developed in various ways. Katakana and Hiragana were developed around similar period, but since Hiragana was invented by women, many males rejected using Hiragana and used Katakana instead. The process of Hiragana becoming the prominent character was very gradual, which means the use of Katakana dwindled steadily as well. Some words are still written in Katakana, but some words are written in Hiragana instead. However, since this process happened very gradually and there is no clear reason why Hiragana word replaced Katakana word, people can interpret the history of Katakana is many ways. Since there are various reasons why Hiragana took over Katakana and nobody has a clear explanation of this symptom, each textbook differs from others.