Literary Work

This is my rather rough draft of a Manga. I primarily used Katakana for onomatopoeia and for foreign loan words. I also employed Katakana as a means of emphasis when the students are overcome with emotion.
おねがいします！

Composition 2

山田さんへ、

ハじめまして。わたしはオータムボードナーだす。アメリカじんです。ニューヨークのコロンビアだいがくのいちねんせいです。マリーランドからきました。わたしのせんこうはSustainable Developmentです。そして、わたしはにほんごのがくせいです。

コロンビアだいがくはちいさいだいがくですがとてもきれいなだいがくです。ニューヨークはとてもにぎやかなまちです。そしてたのしいまちです。でも、とてももはたかいです。

がくせいのせいかつはいそがしいですが、たのしいです。わたしのクラスはとてもいすがしいですがとてもおもしろいです。まいにち、わたしはべんきょうします。クラスがすきです。にほんごのクラスがとてもすきです。にほんごのせんせいはとてもしんせつです。そしてきれいです。

わたしのりょうはしずかです。そしてきれいです。わたしはりょうがすきです。でも。。。わたしのへやはあまりきれいじゃありません。。。

だいがくのたべものはあまりおいしくないですがとてもべんりです。ニューヨークのたべものはおいしいですがとてもたかいです。そしてあまりべんりじゃありません。わたしはにほんのたべものがとてもすきです。

ろく月四日にわたしはいるかでひとりでにほんへいきます！

よろしくおねがいします。

ボードナー

十一月十日　オータムボードナー

Katakana Analysis Draft

Throughout my study of Kanji, it has become clear to me that the Katakana script has a myriad of uses. Indeed, contrary to my former misconception that Katakana was used only for foreign loan words, the script has many additional functions including emphasis, onomatopoeic words, and even to write Japanese words whose kanji is too difficult to write and/or too uncommon to remember.

I was initially surprised to find that the script I had always associated with “foreign words” was in fact used to write certain words of the native Japanese language. However, this usage is perhaps not surprising when one considers the history of Katakana. Katakana was originally developed by Japanese students of Buddhism who were having difficulty remembering the pronunciations and meanings of unfamiliar kanji. In order to keep pace with the teachings, a phonetic shorthand had to be developed. This was Katakana. “the method of deriving the characters was the use of only part of the Chinese character for simplification” (Matthew White), thus it seems fitting that today those words that are too difficult or abstract to remember the Kanji of should be written in Katakana. What is more, Kanji technically are Chinese, so the lens of Katakana for foreign loan words still technically could be applied to this usage.

In the book “Lets Learn Katakana” by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura, I found several examples of this usage, all of which were derived from authentic Japanese print sources. One of the examples I found interesting was 餌 “esa” which is a word for food and in context was written as エサ.　The more typical word for food is tabemono or 食べ物、thus it is not surprising that this less well known Kanji was written in Katakana, it merely aids in understanding. With so many Kanji to remember it is much simpler to write the less common characters in Katakana.

Of course, Katakana certainly is also used to transcribe foreign “loan” words. One of which that I found was “soda” or ソーダ. Reviewing the history of soda, it is clear this fizzy beverage is a Western phenomenon. The first soda to be invented was Ginger ale in Ireland circa 1851, followed by Root Beer in 1876, Dr. Pepper in Texas in 1885, and coca-cola in Georgia in 1886. It was the mass production of coco-cola and the subsequent formation of massive soda corporations that lead to the export of soda to the eastern world, including Japan. Today, Japan has many unique flavors of soda, but the word itself still remains in Katakana.

Sources: "Lets Learn Hiragana" Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura; "The Japanese Writing System" Matthew White; "The History of Soft Drinks" Mary Bellis; My bag of soda candy; Japanvisitor.com