Katakana Analysis Draft Final

Japanese loanwords from the Chinese language are usually written in kanji, but there are also cases where these words in written in katakana. Or sometimes, both katakana and kanji version of the same word exist, and one of these two versions is more often used.
Here are my two examples:

1. チャーハン (cha-han)
This word in Japanese means fried rice, a food which is originally from China. The peculiar thing about this word is that it is not written in kanji 炒饭, but in katakana. Since more ancient loanwords from Chinese in Japanese are written in kanji, my suspicion is that cha-han was only borrowed recently, maybe in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. But a commenter of my draft disagrees with this and insists that it was borrowed from China in ancient times. My another suspicion in the drafts is that the reason it is not written in kanji might be because it was not borrowed from Mandarin Chinese but Cantonese. But the same commenter points out that fried rice in Cantonese is read as chew-van, which is very different from cha-han. It is also interesting to know that Japan actually has its know fried rice, called やきそば, but it was more simple to make than Chinese fried rice. In the end, I still insist my belief that the reason cha-han is written in katakana not kanji today is that it was loanword borrowed from Mandarin Chinese in modern times.


2. コーヒー(ko-hi)
The word coffee can be written in Japanese in both katakana and kanji. However, it is more often written in katakana. The kanji for coffee is 珈琲. I suggested in my draft that this word might be an import from Taiwan because it was also written this way whereas in China, it is slightly different (咖啡). However, the commenter of my draft points out that it was Japan that actually coined 珈琲 first as atrji (words made into kanji based on their sounds), using phonetic method of translation The Chinese and Taiwanese versions are actually imported from Japanese. But it still remains a mystery that why the Chinese chose to alter the word a bit from  珈琲 to 咖啡. The katakana version of this word is often used in Japanese but the kanji version is used sometimes for the sake of novelty.


Function of katakana:
Although Different textbooks discuss differently on the function of katakana, most of them note that katakana is used for foreign loanwords and onomatopoeia. However, as my examples indicate, the use of katakana is actually more flexible than the textbooks tell. For example, as one of our handouts point out, the use of foreign words in the form of katakana can give a sense of novelty and sophistication. Therefore, sometimes even when native Japanese words fit the situations perfectly, these katakana words are still used. 

ko-hi-

cha-han

Katakana Literary Work Final

Here are my four senryus (I don't think they should be called haikus). It takes years for me to write them, but I am still not entirely sure whether they fit the standard.

しゅくだいを
テレビをみます
かきません

コロンビア
たいへんですね
いそがしい

あさごはん
をたべんません
げんきです


ニューヨーク
たのしがほしい
たかいです

サンクスギビングの休み

Thanksgivingに　ともたちと Californiaで　りょこうをしました。りょこうわ　とても　いそがしいですが、おもしろいです。

水曜日は　りょうしんと　中国のりょうりを　たべました。それから　りょうしん　中国へ　かえりました。それから　ともたちのうちへ　いきました。このうちは　ちいさいですが、いいです。それから　ふたりともたちと　バスケットボールを　にじかん　しました。

木曜日は　San Diegoへ　ともだちのくるまで　いきました。２じかん　かかぃました。それかぁ　San DiegoのSea World　いきました。わたしは　ともたちと　Sea Worldで　おもしろいひとに　あいました。この二人も中国人です。1993に　アメリカへ　いきました。その時に　えいごが　わかりませんでした。そして　お金が　ぜんぜん　ありませんでした。べんきょうのじかんがありません、はたらきましたから。（Although they were enrolled in a university, they had no time to study because they had to work to make a living.) たいへんですね。わたしのせいかつはいいですね。


金曜日は　San Diego Zoo　いきました。


To be continued.

This is me at a beach in California.

Katakana Liberary Work Draft

しゅくだいを
テレビをみます
かきません

コロンビア
いそかしいです
ちちとうち

あさごはん
おたべんません
げんきです

せいかつは たいへんですね。

がっこのさんがつは　たいへんですね。わたしは　しゅくだいが　たくさん　あぃます。わたしのじかんが　ありません。１２月２３日　うち　かえります。Beijingと Shanghai　やすみに　いきます。Thanksgivingに　LAへ　いきます。ともだちにあいますから。Looking forward to everything fun during Thanksgiving and winter break!

さくぶん２

やまださんへ：

わたしは　ジャン　ジェン　ユアン　です。コロンビアだいがくのがくせいです。わたしは中国人です。はたちです。。コロンビアだいがくは　いいだいがくですが、たかいです。わたしは　歴史と日本語　をべんきょうします。歴史は　おもしろいですが、むずかしいです。わたしのえいごは　あまぃ　よくありません。日本語は　あまり　むずかしく　ありません。わたしは８月２日に　日本へきます。日本は　あついですか。

よろしくおねがいします。

Katakana Analysis Draft

Japanese loanwords from the Chinese language are usually written in kanji, but there are also peculiar cases where these loanwords are written in katakana. Or sometimes, both katakana and kanji version of the same word exist, though one of these two versions is more often used.
Here are a couple of examples:
1. チャーハン(cha-han)in Japanese means fried rice, a food which is originally from China. The reason that this word is not written in kanji might have something to do with the time that it was introduced into the Japanese language, because while kanji is used for more ancient loanwords from China. チャーハンis quite recent (early 20th century maybe) and therefore it is written in katakana. Another possible reason is that チャーハン  was borrowed from Cantonese, but Mandarin Chinese. 






2. コーヒー（ko-hi-) in Japanese means coffee. And it is quite easy to tell that コーヒー is a loanword from English (coffee). However strangely, we also see kanji version of コーヒー , though not very often. I tend to believe that this kanji version comes after the katakana version. It might be a import from Taiwan because in Taiwan, the same Chinese characters (珈琲) are used for coffee (in mainland China it is slightly different for some reason: it is written as 咖啡). Online source tells that some stores in Japan adopts 珈琲 rather than コーヒー for the sake of novelty.


Thank God I finally changed my blog to English.