いぶんかコミュニケーション - Now in Color!

わらいはせかいきょうつうですよ！

(For an indepth-ish explanation, please see my original post!)

Final Composition 3

大学の先生です。そして，てつ学をおしえます。 てつ学の時かんのほうがすきです。“形而上学”（けいじじょうがく = metaphysics）をべんきょうします。会ぎでせかいの学者に会います。週まつちいさいアパートのつくえで何時も本をかきます。もう、けいじ上学の本を四さつかきました。その本はわるいです。私はざせつです。みんなの本がきらいです。さっかの生かつはたいへんですよ。


ニューヨークにすんでいます。愛があります。でも、けっこんしません。そして、こどもがいません。でも、さびしくないです。虫（むし = bugs）がすきですから、日本のカブトがいます。私のカブトはアパートのゴキブリのともだちです。九ひきいます、ラッキーですから。

この生かつはちょっとくらいですね。。。

Katakana Analysis - Revised

[A hardy "どうもありがとうございます！” to all the people who took the time to read and comment on my initial post.]

My first katakana sample is from the Meguro Parasitological Museum (目黒寄生虫館, めぐろきせいちゅうかん）. Yup, you read that correctly. Meguro is an area of Tokyo vaguely associated with the healthcare industry and medicine. There you will find a museum devoted to cataloging parasites and the lucky hosts they inhabit. My brochure from this museum features a framed tapeworm on it. The description beneath the picture uses サナダムシ to describe the parasite. “Sanadamushi” is neither a loanword nor an onomatopoeia. This use of katakana is also not in our catch-all category of emphasis, because other crawly things in the brochure were referred to using Kanji. Tapeworm was given katakana treatment exclusively, so it wasn't for the benefit of children because otherwise all of the specimens would be in easier to read script.  むし means bug and is normally written with the kanji 虫 -- just as it sounds, it is a word native to Japan. さなだ means braid and is written using the kanji 真田. So why isn't it 真田虫? My first instinct was that perhaps they thought the subject matter isn't dignified enough to be given kanji status, but that seems incorrect. This museum wasn't built
from revulsion, but instead LOVE. 

I have been doggedly researching the Japanese etymology of サナダムシ and other bug names. Not all, but a whole class of bug names are written in katakana almost exclusively even though kanji for them exists. It turns out that (according to the Japanese Wikipedia entry on Tapeworm) サナダムシ is a relatively new word. In ancient Japan they used to call tapeworms "寸白" . The second ideogram means white (しろ）, but the first one even though it looks simple has been difficult to translate. It wasn't even in my dictionary! It is used in measurements (e.g. 寸法記入,すんぽうきにゅう) and the verb “to rip apart” (寸断, すんだん). It is also used in the adjective eloquent (三寸, さんずん) and a word for the phenomenology of being (胸三寸, むねさんずん). So now my hypothesis is that katakana is used because "サナダムシ" replaced an older phrase, “すんしろ” -- and even more evolution took place. The kanji used in braid became more esoteric and as a result dropped out of public consciousness. This is the hypothesis used to justify the use of katakana instead of kanji for a lot of different types of insects -- not all, however: 

• Japanese beetle - 兜虫 - カブトムシ
• Spider - 蜘蛛 - クモ 
• Locust - 蝗 - イナゴ
• Fly - 蝿 -ハエ
• Butterfly (and moth)- 鱗翅目-リンシモク
  

These characters just faded out. Something else might be at play, however. There is a folklore-belief system derived from the significance of the number the in Taoism called こうしん (庚申) with some strong views regarding regarding worms as demons who corrupt the innards of people. Particularly, there are three worms-deaths (三尸 -さんし) who people need to be communally absolved of every 60 days. 上尸、中尸、下尸 are the names of these worms and this indicates their directional affinities. Perhaps the kanji of bugs are willfully phased out because of their unpleasant connotations stemming from folklore like this.

My second sample comes from the November 2009 issue of Vogue Nippon. Tao Okamoto is a Japanese model from Chiba. The featured article chooses to spell her name as タオ　オカモト (or just TAO) and not 多緒 岡本. This katakana rendering of Japanese names in fashion isn't uncommon. Maybe the angular script is more hip and minimalist.

This brochure isn't a telegraph. The tapeworm isn't talking. And no author wants to stress any one phrase -- all parasites are created equal. サナダムシ is distinctly Japanese. Textbooks really can only go so far. I think the truism "rules are meant to be broken" is applicable here. The samples we were shown give us a good start on where and how to use カタカナ (except, of course, none of them mentioned telegraphs). Just mentioning loanwords and onomatopoeia won't capture the full purview of カタカナ, but I still think it was helpful, especially the third sample which went into general history of Japanese script (hiragana was once おんなで -- おもしろいですね). We would be hard pressed to find a concise rule for all the quirks in English... and who would want one anyway? 

Language is a living thing that evolves and feeds off of us!

えんかとパタリロ

（For some context and to read my initial spiel on the magic of Patariro, please see two posts ago.)

えんかは日本のおんがくです。このかたは　＜はるおみなみさん＞（三波春夫）です。えんかのシンガーです。

げんきですね？

それ、それ、それ、それ！

パタリロさまのうたとダーンスはまんがに　"Who Killed Cock Robin?"　です。どんなうたですか？　これもえんかです！　いまこれをならいました!　Reading a song is different than finally getting to listen to it! There are more lyrics for one thing, the style comes across and I get to see the full dance. Googleーさま, どうもありがとうございました！

The humble beginnings of a translation:
Opening: さ、みんなさんおて〜〜〜
      Alright everyone... hand... (Everyone clap your hands?)
Chorus: だれがくろした、
     Who Killed,
Chorus: コックロビン？
    Cock Robin?
Verse: はなは〜〜〜〜 (さきみだれ？さけみどり？）
    Flowers are....
Verse:　〜〜〜どこはるの？
    ... Where spring's?
Verse:　マリネラいちのびしょうねん！
    Marinera's first handsome kid!
Verse:　それがパタリロ〜〜〜さい〜〜〜
    That Patariro... age (?) ...
Verse:　〜〜〜うさぎ（うなぎ？）〜〜〜 ん
    ... bunny (or eel) ...
Verse:　あのかおすがたどうみても
    That face...　(any way you look at it?)
Verse:　つむらあんま（これはなんですか？！？)
    [I must've misheard this.]
Verse:　ましらけ！！！
    Very paralyzing! <-- This is a neat phrase!

Chorus

Verse:　ゆめいが〜〜〜さき（さけ）こぼれ！
   Famous... sake spilling?
Verse:　〜〜〜マリネラじゃ！
   .... Marinera!
Verse:　しょうきん（ほうきん？）だい　〜〜〜　こう
  ... metal big... child
Verse:　スパーキャットがたまねきぶた〜〜〜
  Super cat, ... Onion pig....
Verse:　〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
   [Can't understand.]
Verse:　チョウチョウはし〜〜〜ひし
   Cho-Cho bridge/chopstick...
Verse:　こころはればれ！
   The heart is....!
Verse:　ましらけ！！！

Chorus

フウ！それはこどものうたですがやさしくないです。それは私のあたらしプロジェクットですよ。

Literary Work

I decided to do a type of manga called 4カマ for my project. The koma are the number of scenes in the work and they follow a strict structure called "きしょうてんけつ".

起 (き）: Set up a scene
承（しょう）: Develop the story (or an expectation)
転（てん）: Twist it!
結（けつ）: Conclude...

There is something very lovely about this set up that drew me to yonkoma -- as my drawing demonstrates, however, I am not too fond of the convention of using squares to frame each scene!

In case it is difficult to read~

Title: いぶんかコミュニケーション (異文化 - Across Cultures, komyunikeshon is a loanword)
Aside: わらいごえはぜんぱんてきですよ！(Laughter is universal)

Ki:
Bird 1: ピチュピチュ (Pichu-pichu, Sound a bird makes in Japanese)
Bird 2: ツイート(Tweet, Sound a bird makes in English)

Sho:
Cat 1: ニャーニャー (Nya-nya)
Cat 2: ミャーウ (Meow)

Ten:
Humans: ハハハハハハハハ (Hahahahaha - Our special, universal onomatopoeia!)

Ketsu:
Dog 1: ワンワン* (Wan-wan)
Dog 2: バウワウ** (Bow-wow)
*ひとびとはへんですね。(Humans are strange, aren't they?)
**そうです。(Yeah.)

Languages don't just feature different phonemes - they even have different concretized onomatopoeia for animals. It is as if two animals of the same species but from different cultures got together they would be unable to communicate. Since the 'dialogue' is all onomatopoeia, it is written in Katakana -- with the added factor that in the case of all English animal sounds they are also loanwords.

The onomatopoeia for laughter, however, is the same in both languages -- and laughing is a distinctly human ability (if Medieval monks commenting on Aristotle are any authority on the matter). I think the fact that I was able to come back to America alive after going to Japan alone without a lick of Japanese is in no small part due to the fact that laughter and a smile are universally understood.

にほんのかぞくにてがみをかきましょう！

 山田さんへ、

はじめまして！コアです。コロンビアだいがくのさんねんせいです。てつがくをべんきょうします。８がつはつかにひこうきでニューヨークからにほんへいきます。よろしくおねがいします。すみません。。。わたしのダイエットはちょっとへんですよ。コシャーです。ぶたのにくをたべません。おさけをのみません。でもにほんのたべめのがすきです。うなぎとそうめんはとてもおいしいです。月曜日から金曜日まで６じほんにおきます。１１じほんごろにねます。

山田さんのまちはどんなところですか。なつはとてもあついですか。アメリカのおみやげはすきですか。

おせわになります。

『私のなまえ』

Katakana Analysis

My first katakana sample is from the Meguro Parasitological Museum (目黒寄生虫館, めぐろきせいちゅうかん）. Yup, you read that correctly. Meguro is an area of Tokyo vaguely associated with the healthcare industry and medicine. There you will find a museum devoted to cataloging parasites and  the lucky hosts they inhabit. (Picture intestines preserved in formaldehyde bursting with bright red worms. Happy Halloween.) 

My brochure from there features a framed tapeworm on it. The description beneath the picture uses サナダムシ to describe the parasite. “Sanadamushi” is neither a loanword nor an onomatopoeia. This use of katakana is also not in our catch-all category of emphasis, because other crawly things in the brochure were referred to using Kanji. むし means bug and is normally written with the kanji 虫 -- just as it sounds, it is a word native to Japan. さなだ means braid and is written using the kanji 真田. So why isn't it 真田虫? My first instinct was that perhaps they thought the subject matter isn't dignified enough to be given kanji status, but that seems incorrect. This museum wasn't built from revulsion, but instead LOVE. 

I am not sure if I have a satisfying answer yet, but I have been doggedly researching the Japanese etymology of サナダムシ. It turns out that (according to the Japanese Wikipedia entry on Tapeworm) サナダムシ is a relatively new word. In ancient Japan they used to call tapeworms "寸白" . The second ideogram means white (しろ）, but the first one even though it looks simple has been difficult to translate. It wasn't even in my dictionary! It is used in measurements (e.g. 寸法記入,すんぽうきにゅう) and the verb “to rip apart” (寸断, すんだん). It is also used in the adjective eloquent (三寸, さんずん) and a word for the phenomenology of being (胸三寸, むねさんずん). 寸 is an interesting character even if I can't pinpoint what it expresses. So now my hypothesis is that katakana is used because "サナダムシ" replaced an older phrase, “すんしろ”, and is thus more 'foreign'.

(My second sample wasn't as fascinating to me. It comes from the November 2009 issue of Vogue Nippon. Tao Okamoto is a Japanese model from Chiba. The featured article chooses to spell her name as タオ　オカモト　(or just TAO) and not 多緒 岡本. This katakana rendering of Japanese names in fashion isn't uncommon. Maybe the angular script is more hip and minimalist.)

This brochure isn't a telegraph. The tapeworm isn't talking. And no author wants to stress any one phrase because all parasites are created equal. サナダムシ is distinctly Japanese. Textbooks really can only go so far. I think the truism "rules are meant to be broken" is applicable here. The samples we were shown give us a good start on where and how to use カタカナ (except, of course, none of them mentioned telegraphs). Just mentioning loanwords and onomatopoeia won't capture the full purview of カタカナ, but I still think it was helpful, especially the third sample which went into general history of Japanese script (hiragana was once おんなで -- おもしろいですね...). We would be hard pressed to find a concise rule for all the quirks in English... and who would want one anyway? 

Language is a living thing that evolves and feeds off of us!

パタリロ！

私の日本のママはパタリロをよみました。わたしはそのママにあだなの　"パタちゃん"　をもらいました。（私のなまえは英語と日本語でちょっとむずかしです。）かこにこのなまえをあまりわかりませんでした。

ここはパタリロさまです：

Mechariro?

ここもパタリロです：

I don't hate cockroaches either!

このあだなはコンプリメントじゃありません！！！

パタリロさまはまんがのキャラクターです。このひとはマリネラのおおじさまです。（このくにはどこへもじゃありません。）この男の子はしんせつじゃありません！このおおじさまはボーンドのゴルドフィンガーのちびです.（I mean to say he is like a tiny version of your typical campy Bond villain!)

I will admit that we might -- MIGHT -- have some physical similarities. パタリロさまと私はちいさいですね。私のかみのけもしろいです。私もすきなみょうふくです。私たちはじょうずな目のメイクアップです。 ねこのひとです。私たちはとてもへんです。へん、へん、へん〜。

へんはいいですよ！

Why can't I be more like バンコラン？

ほんとにクールですね。。。

 バンコラン is like シャーンコンナリ（Sean Connery）mixed with なかむら

うたえもん（かばきアクター）です。

このまんがのゲンダーノルムはとてもおもしろいです。このトピックis worthy of a ろんぶん。私はパタリロに日本の 　culture　をならいました。

アニメをみません。でも、ときどきふるいまんがをよみます。英語でコンピューターでパタリロをよみました。It was first published in the 70s and is still coming out! おわりません！すごいです。 日本語のまんがはきのくにやにかいました。むずかしですよ。。。でも、みねおまやさん（魔夜 峰央）はふりがと漢字をかきました。I will study hard so that one day I can decipher it! I also want to read "エロイカよりあいをこめて" in Japanese.

せかいじん、何をよみましたか？どんなまんがですか？あなたたちのあだなは何ですか？

Linguistics and Japanese

私はてつがくのがくせいです。げんごのてつがくはとてもおもしろいです。火ようびと木ようびにげんごがくのクラスへいきます。このクラスのせんせいは日本語がわかります！Professor McWhorter uses 日本語 to illustrate linguistic phenomena often. クールですね. He happens to think that it is one of the most straight-forward languages being spoken today. We shall agree to disagree. がくせいはせんせいにきょう　"いただきます"　のれきしをならいました。このワードのおばあさんとおじいさんは　"いただく"　と　"まりあます"　です。 "Particles" はげんごがくで postpositions です。ちょっとへんです。


てつがく＝philosophy
げんご＝ language
がく＝ study of (as in an academic discipline)

せかいじん、何をならいますか？　おもしろいですか？

コンピューターゲム

"Gamer"は日本語で "ゲム人"ですか？

Let's pretend that it is. I got introduced to Japanese culture through the intravenous drip of gameboy I had all throughout my youth. I am going to attempt to name some favorite ゲム here. Don't laugh. I can't describe things with any finesse yet -- and be prepared for excessive use of すごい。

 

すきなゲームは高橋哲哉（たかはしてつや）のゼノギアス（Xenogears) です。このゲムはちょっとふるいです。でも、このゲームのものがたりはおもしろいとかなしいですよ. ゼノサガも stupendiferousです.  

メタルギアソリッド! In the year 2200, Columbia University will have Metal Gear Solid 2 on the syllabus for their mandatory Gaming Humanities course. ひでおこじま (秀夫小島) のなまえ will be digitally etched onto our library's virtual mantle.*

 

 スダ５１のKiller 7はみやびやかです。A plain ol' masterpiece. And for a ニンテンド system no less.

しんめがみてんせい：ノクターン(Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne)もほんとにすばらしいです。九がつにソニのPSPのしんめがみてんせい: ペルソナ 2をかりました。 このゲムもすごいです。。。

*これは日本語で何（なん）ですか? Anyone want to help me translate that into Japanese?


えと, blogger-たち, 何をしますか?

きゃりのぱみゅぱみゅ

Q: わかりません！これはなんですか？

A:これはとてもすごいです。

How do you say enlightening, trippy, and Jungian in 日本語？I am not sure how to fully express how this video makes me feel in my native 英語（えいご）。

でも、here are some words I recognize:

-みんな
-わるい
-ぜんぜん
-Happy?
-あなた

このうたは早い（はやい）ですね。

Progress!

When I was in Japan I was perpetually lost. I think I personally met every police box officer over there. 東京 （とうきょう）isn't neatly gridded like ニューヨーク. I swear it is planned out like a spiral. As a result I had countless conversations with けいかん that went something like this:

THEN!

Me: すみ-mey-そん. おだいば／はらじゅく／よこはま／うえのはどこで-SUE-か。

Police Box Officer: %^&*$#$@&*か?

Me: Wh-な...なに？

Police Box Officer: あの@)(&%$@$#$#%*. Do you speak English?

Me:　え。はい？

Police Box Officer: Once you are here, you have to go here, there and then take this line.

Me: Thank you. え。。。と。。。ごめんなさい。ぼくはどこですか？

Yes. I used ぼく -- That is all I ever heard in にほんのえいが。At least it wasn't おれ。やくざじゃありません。


いま (ideally)！
Me:　あの、すみません。ぎんざはどこですか？
けいかん：あ〜あなたのにほんごはいいです。（：。ちゅうおのぎんざは＊＊＊＊＊＊です。
Me: あ〜そうですか。ごめんなさい。わたしはどこですか？
けいかん：だいじょうぶですか？ここはふじ山（やま）です。。。


Now I just need a class on navigation. 

にほんごはむずかしいですね。。。

ごめんなさい！ There is one more thing to be done: kvetch.

This last week of class has been tough – I like writing the angular characters found in カタカナ (is Katakana supposed to be written in Katakana?) more than the complicated (but stylish) twists of ひらがな. I also don't have an ear yet for the varying degrees of formality, nor do I have a grasp of when something is a long vowel. Most of the time I can hear a long "oh" for example (as in どうぞ　or がっこう）but not a long "i" (as in むずかしい）.

How are long vowels treating you?

Why Japanese?

... Because I was a precocious youth?


When I was 15, I essentially ran away to Japan armed only with the phrases "Koh-knee-Chee-Wah" and "Domo Arigatou, Mr. Roboto". I was taken in for a month by an elementary school teacher in Saitama who lived next to the Keihin-Touhoku Line's Yono Station (JR's 与野駅! I'll never forget it!) . I spent the days shuttling around Tokyo and getting completely and utterly lost. It was a terrifying, stupid and wonderful thing. 


I think I wanted to live out a cyberpunk sci-fi fantasy. And truthfully, at night, Tokyo wasn't that far off the mark. Maybe Japan will be all the more Blade Runner-y now that some years have gone by. I am continually saving up and studying up for the time when that second wave of escapist impulses will hit me. While there I actually didn't get much speaking practice -- too many people knew English and I knew too little Japanese! -- but I did pick up Katakana and the occasional Kanji symbol.

 Edited to include some visual reference:

As for other reasons, I might study linguistics on top of my first academic love, philosophy. Picking up another romance language (while interesting) wouldn't equip me with a lot of breadth. I also love Japanese fashion. Interning at Vogue Nippon would be a dream come true.


So what about you, world? What are you working towards?

はじめまして, せかい！

コロンビア大学校 (Columbia University) の３年生（さんねんせい）です。日本語（にほんご）をべきょうします。ニューヨーク（New York) からきました。私（わたし）もFITのがくせいです。

どうぞよろしく！

。。。みんなさんはだれですか？