Kanjimon - Gotta Catch 'em All!

和田洋一さん

私は２月２１日このエベントへいきました。

ここです。

サラリマンとナイトはへんなえですね。

和田洋一さんはコルンビア大学校へ来ました。「わだよういち」さんはスクウェア・エニックスのしゃちょうです。スクウェアはすごいビデオゲームを使っています。ほんとにとてもすごいです。日本語と英語でビデオゲムを売っているビジネスを話しました。たくさんパイラシがありますから、新しい回答はいります。ゲームが好きな人はたのしいになりません。

おもしろかったですが、エベントの食べ物はあまりよくなかったです。

みんなさん、ビデオゲームのビジネスをわかりますか。私はお金もわかりませんから、ちょっとかなしいです。

About Communication

私は英語や日本語や人語やでコミュニケーションがあまり上手じゃありません。

BUT -- I can theorize how it works generally. I form theories regarding a lot of things I can't do. I will bracket the philosophy for later though.

Communication takes...

• Cleerness, conformity to speling conventoins and grammaring
• Focus, the speaker is not talking about other things like Keroppi, or lunch, or mosquitoes, or -- hey, did I tell you about that one time I lost a pinkie toe?
• Using la lengua correcto
• Minding style lol
• Visual cues <(~.  ~)>

I hope our group can do all of these and more. Not only does communication make class group projects more enjoyable, it is vital to accomplishing any endeavor we as humans take on collectively.

みなさんの好きな物は何ですか？

もうここでパタリロと虫（むし）とてつがくとえんかをかきました。何もしりませんよ。えええと。。。

異議あり！

(いぎあり＝Objection!)  

"逆転裁判"（ぎゃくてんさいばん）も大好きです。

プレヤはたぼしべんごしです。ゲムはイデアがちょっとたのしくないですが、the actual gameplay is engrossing. 何時間　“逆転裁判”　をあそびましたか。　ぜんぶでしりません。にんてんどDSとけっこんしていました。ゲムの中にミステリーとデバテとスュレールコメヂイがあります。

ことし（二月？）三池 崇史 (みいけ　たけし）のえいがはにほんでげきじょうへ来ます。私は今もっています。三池さんの　"殺しや一"　（ころしやいち）と　"オーディション”　を見ました。そのえいがはすごいです。でも　"逆転裁判"　ははげしくないです。私はちょっとナーバスです。ここはえいがのサイト：http://www.gyakutensaiban-movie.com/

もう宝塚（たからずか　-　大好き！）"逆転裁判”　のミュージカルをつくりました。すみませんが、３０分だけききました。

 

みんなさん, "いぎあり"といいましょう！

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!

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!