Japanese English: Language and Culture Contact

4. The Japanese writing system and English

4฀ The Japanese writing system and English Introduction In thi s chapter 1 I will discus s th e Japanese writin g system , an d sho w ho w i t has bee n influence d b y English. I will discus s th e structur e o f th e specia l katakana syllabar y used, amon g othe r things , as a way to write foreign word s or name s phoneticall y i n Japanese. I will not giv e a complete accoun t o f it s development a t this point, however , as much o f this story is connected t o th e role of the woman's 'voice ' in Japanese literar y history. This will be discusse d in mor e detai l in Chapter 6 . Here I will argue that due to the influence o f foreign loanword s — mostly from Englis h — the traditiona l katakana syllabar y ha s develope d a t least 4 2 new 'innovative ' symbols . Thes e change s hav e occurre d no t onl y t o accommodate change s i n phonology , bu t als o fo r variou s othe r socia l an d cognitive reasons . I will show that eve n loanword s ofte n hav e an 'older ' an d 'newer' wa y of bein g written, demonstratin g agai n som e o f th e interestin g creativity of Japanese peopl e usin g loanwords. Finally, this chapte r prepare s the way for th e discussio n t o follow in th e nex t chapters, where thi s creativity is found t o be exploite d i n eve n more graphi c areas . However, thi s chapte r doe s mor e tha n just sho w ho w phonologica l innovation due t o English influences th e Japanese language. It also shows how the specia l katakana scrip t act s a s mediato r betwee n thing s foreig n an d domestic. Katakana word s ar e reall y representation s o f blendings , no t indicators o f boundaries . Katakana word s ar e marker s o f dail y emotiona l content o f variou s kinds , foreig n item s bein g just on e instance . S o usin g katakana to write Japanese Englis h i s a special case of how katakana is used i n the whole Japanese-language social and linguistic schema. And knowing when, and how , to use katakana — includin g th e 'innovative ' katakana — goe s dee p into th e hear t o f Japanese cognition . 84 Japanes e English : Language an d cultur e contac t History Before th e fift h centur yA D the Japanese languag e ha d n o rea l writin g syste m to spea k of , bu t b y th e mid-sixt h century , whe n th e Chines e bega n t o brin g Buddhism t o th e islands , Chines e ideographi c character s mad e thei r firs t appearance. The y soo n becam e applie d t o thing s beside s religiou s texts . Thus , a Chines e characte r coul d b e use d fo r thre e things : (1 ) t o write an d represen t some objec t o r ide a tha t wa s ne w an d brough t i n fro m th e Asia n mainland , using th e Chinese pronunciation of the new item as a basi s fo r th e readin g o f th e character i n Japanese; (2 ) t o write an d represen t som e objec t o r ide a tha t wa s indigenous t o Japan, usin g th e Japanese pronunciation of the object as a basi s fo r the readin g o f th e characte r i n Japanese; an d (3 ) t o write an d represen t som e object o r ide a tha t wa s indigenou s t o Japan, bu t usin g a Chinese pronunciation of the characters a basi s fo r readin g th e characte r i n Japanese.2 Today, remnant s o f all thes e usag e ar e stil l extant, thoug h initiall y makin g such a comple x syste m wor...