katakana analysis 2

Thanks to TA Miyamotoさん, I have thought about on what kind of occasions Katakana is preferred over Hirakana (or perhaps, Kanji). As we can see in the case of “ベーカリー”, sometimes using loan words with Katakana seems more appealing to general public because a certain sense of authenticity and even sophistication is conveyed along with the words. “パン屋” is another way of indicating a bakery. However it consists of a loan word, “bread” and an original Japanese word for a shop,“や.”Since パン屋 sounds less authentic and less foreign, it becomes less palatable to those consumers who are looking not only for a load of bread but also a drop of foreign culture and a hint of foreign charm by using foreign words. The word, “カフェー” functions same way. Even though there is a word, “きっ-さてん” for a coffee house, for some people, the Katakana version is more favorably used.

Through several Japanese fashion magazines, I found the fact that when refrring to colors, loan words with Katakana such as ネービー, レッド, ブルー seem far more likely to be used than ぐんじょういろ, あおい、あかい. I assume that the magazines intend to use such loan words becuse those terms are somewhat associated with more trendy, youth-oriented, fashionable, stylish tastes which are the exact qualities what fashion-conscious people are looking for.

Interestingly enough, this kind of propensity to use borrowed words is also found in Korea. Even though there is a Korean word that can be a linguistically correct substitute for a new concept imported from a foreign culture, some people stubbornly insist upon using borrowed words. Such tendency is sometimes criticized for being an indication of underlying cultural inferiority or being tricked into a snob appeal. Whatever the hidden sociological and/or psychological cause for the linguistic inclination is, I believe that there cannot be a normative way when it comes to use of language. Language is intrinsically flexible and remarkably adoptable according to its users’ trend. If majority of people prefer using certain words over others, those words become the standardized language.