{"id":7021,"date":"2021-08-27T18:18:43","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T18:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=7021"},"modified":"2021-08-27T18:18:43","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T18:18:43","slug":"variety-makes-life-richer-writing-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/variety-makes-life-richer-writing-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Variety Makes Life Richer &#8211; Writing System"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Like many people in the world, I started playing Animal Crossing New Horizon on a Nintendo Switch that my son had brought back from Kyoto. It was extremely hard to get one in the US or Japan due to the very high demand (\u9700\u8981 jyuyo), so that was great. \u00a0The great thing about the Switch is that you can change the language (\u8a00\u8a9e gengo) setting depending on a player.\u00a0 So I can play Animal Crossing in Japanese, while my son plays it in English, and I can compare the two languages how translation was done.\u00a0 It is extremely interesting to compare, and the translation is very well done except for some cultural parts \u2013 like why Tsunekichi (Rhed) speaks in Kansai dialect (\u95a2\u897f\u5f01 kansai ben. )<\/p>\n<p>Who was the target player of this game?\u00a0 Some may say, it was for kids.\u00a0 However, when you listen to some remarks that characters make, it is obvious that it is not strictly for kids.\u00a0 It is important to point out, however, that the Japanese are more lenient with (\u301c\u306b\u5bdb\u5927\u306a\u00a0 kandaina) remarks with sexual connotations.\u00a0 Look at some children\u2019s manga or anime, for instance. \u00a0So this may target the family.\u00a0 Children enjoy it in their own way, while adults can laugh at subtle jokes.<\/p>\n<p>What interested me most is the use of katakana and hiragana.\u00a0 When teaching Japanese, especially to beginners, it is taught that katakana is used mostly for borrowed words from foreign languages.\u00a0 For instance, \u30c6\u30ec\u30d3 (terebi, television)\u3001\u30b3\u30f3\u30d4\u30e5\u30fc\u30bf\u30fc (computer)\u3001\u30cf\u30f3\u30d0\u30fc\u30ac\u30fc (hamburger), and so forth. However, how many times have you seen these words intentionally written in hiragana\u3066\u308c\u3073 (terebi, television)\u3001\u306e\u30fc\u3068 (no-to, notebook)\u3001 \u307f\u308b\u304f(miruku, milk)?\u00a0 Japanese use katakana, hiragana, and kanji rather freely (\u81ea\u7531\u306b \u00a0jiyuni) to express certain feelings.\u00a0 When we see \u3066\u308c\u3073 instead of \u30c6\u30ec\u30d3, we tend to get a feeling of nostalgia (\u61d0\u304b\u3057\u3055 natsukashisa) even though \u30c6\u30ec\u30d3 has always been \u30c6\u30ec\u30d3 as it is a borrowed word from English.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s see some examples in Animal Crossing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u3010\u3042\u3064\u68ee\u3011\u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044\u306e\u8a70\u3081\u5408\u308f\u305b!\u4f4f\u6c11\u540c\u58eb\u306e\u4f1a\u8a71\u96c6\uff01\uff08\u5bfe\u6c7a\u30fb\u4fee\u9020\u30fb\u866b\u306e\u4e16\u754c\u30fb\u738b\u5b50\u69d8\u306a\u3069\u306a\u3069\uff09\u3010\u3042\u3064\u307e\u308c\u3069\u3046\u3076\u3064\u306e\u68ee\u3011\u3010\u3061\u3083\u3061\u3083\u307e\u308b\u30fb\u30d5\u30e9\u30f3\u30bd\u30ef\u30fb\u30af\u30ea\u30b9\u30c1\u30fc\u30cc\u30fb\u30d6\u30fc\u30b1\u30fb\u30b8\u30e5\u30f3\u306a\u3069\u767b\u5834\u3011\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4G6wqTVvjYQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">\u30ad\u30db\u30f3<\/span><\/strong>\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3082\u3084\u308b\u3051\u3069\u3000\u3044\u307e\u3000<span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>\u30a2\u30c4\u30a4<\/strong><\/span>\u306e\u306f\u3000\u5263\u9053\u3060\u306a \u00a0(I basically do anything, but what is hot right now is kendo.)<\/p>\n<p>\u3044\u307e\u3001\u30a2\u30a4\u30c9\u30eb\u4fee\u884c\u306e<span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>\u30a4\u30c3\u30ab\u30f3<\/strong><\/span>\u3067\u3000\u30c1\u30a2\u30c0\u30f3\u30b9\u7df4\u7fd2\u3057\u3066\u308b\u3093\u3060\u30fc\u00a0(As a part of training to be an idol, I practice cheerdance.)<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">\u30de\u30b8<\/span><\/strong>\u3067\u30fc\uff1f(<span style=\"color: #000000\">Are you kidding?<\/span>)<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">\u30e2\u30a6\u30bd\u30a6<\/span><\/strong>\u3063\u3066\u3044\u3046\u3093\u3058\u3083\u306a\u3044\uff1f \uff08Isn\u2019t it a delusion?\uff09<\/p>\n<p>\u3082\u3046\u3000\u30df\u30b9\u30ba\u3061\u3083\u3093\u305f\u3089\u3000<span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>\u30bb\u30fc\u30ed\u30f3<\/strong><\/span>\u3070\u3063\u304b\u3044\u3063\u3066 \u00a0(Oh, Misizu, you <span style=\"color: #000000\">only<\/span>\u00a0make sound remarks)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>\u30aa\u30a4\u30b7\u30a4<\/strong><\/span>\u6c34\u3000\u304a\u304b\u308f\u308a\u301c (Want another serving of tasty water!)<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">\u30d6\u30ec<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u306a\u3044<\/span><\/span>\u6027\u683c\u3060\u306a\u30fc\u3063\u3066\u3000(unflinching character)<\/p>\n<p>\u308f\u304b\u308a\u3059\u304e\u3066\u3000<strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">\u30e4\u30d0\u30a4<\/span><\/strong>\u30fc\uff01(I get it so much, unbelievable!)<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">\u30db\u30f3\u30c8<\/span><\/strong>\u306b\u3055\u30fc (Really)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>\u30b7\u30c3\u30c8<\/strong><\/span>\u3057\u3066\u304f\u308c\u3066\u308b\u306e\u304b\u3044\uff1f (Are you jealous to please me?)<\/p>\n<p>\u4eca\u3001<span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><strong>\u30b9\u30c6\u30ad<\/strong><\/span>\u306a\u3053\u3068\u3000\u8a00\u308f\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\uff1f (Didn&#8217;t you just say something awesome?)<\/p>\n<p>Highlighted in RED are words NOT normally expressed in katakana.\u00a0 So why is katakana used instead of hiragana or kanji?\u00a0 The remarks above use katakana to show that the speakers are young and hip (\u30d2\u30c3\u30d7\u3001\u30ab\u30c3\u30b3\u3044\u3044hippu, kakkoii).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/raksul.com\/magazine\/column\/characters-impression-difference\/\">Rakusul<\/a>, an online design\/printing company, characterizes the 3 writing styles as follows.<\/p>\n<p><u>Hiragana<\/u>: easy to read for everyone, thus it shortens the distance between a receiver and a sender of information.\u00a0 However, overusing (\u4f7f\u3044\u904e\u304e tsukaisugi) hiragana will make it difficult to read and may make people think you do not know\u00a0kanji.<\/p>\n<p><u>Katakana<\/u>: used to write what hiragana cannot, such as borrowed words from foreign languages.\u00a0 At the same time, you can add vibrancy (\u8e8d\u52d5\u611f\u00a0 yakudoukan) by using katakana instead of kanji or hiragana.<\/p>\n<p><u>Kanji<\/u>: In a formal writing, kanji characters are certainly appreciated, but only to a certain extent.\u00a0 Too many kanji characters will make readers lose interest.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7022\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7022\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7022\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Slide1-350x263.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Slide1-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Slide1.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-7022\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Created by author<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Rakusul further points out that using only one katakana word in a sentence will get readers\u2019 attention, but using katakana for words that are usually not written in katakana requires a high level of cultural understandings.<\/p>\n<p>Having three writing characters is painful for learners of Japanese, but these characters make it possible to express a wide variety of feelings and thus make your writing richer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Slide1-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Slide1-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/Slide1.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Like many people in the world, I started playing Animal Crossing New Horizon on a Nintendo Switch that my son had brought back from Kyoto. It was extremely hard to get one in the US or Japan due to the very high demand (\u9700\u8981 jyuyo), so that was great. \u00a0The great thing about the Switch&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/variety-makes-life-richer-writing-system\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":7022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,548074,8,138],"tags":[550889,2727,2780,2781,550906],"class_list":["post-7021","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-kanji","category-language","category-slang","tag-animal-crossing","tag-hiragana","tag-kanji","tag-katakana","tag-writing-system"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7021"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7026,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions\/7026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}