Katakana Analysis [Final]

In Japanese, Katakana is generally used phonetically either as loan (foreign) words or sound words. Katakana as loan words are pronounced similarly to the foreign words themselves in the native language. Often, many English words, such as spoon, knife, and tennis, are translated in Japanese as Katakana words because they are conceptually foreign to the traditional Japanese culture.


For my Katakana analysis, I observed four Japanese anti-smoking signs, which are quite hilarious. Here are some of the Katakana words that I have found:

My first example is the word ランナー which means runner. ランナー is a foreign loan word from the English word "runner".There is such a word in non-Katakana format for "to run" in Japanese. There is actually two words for "runner" in Japanese, depending on the context of usage. When one participates in the act of running in Western sports, such as baseball, the runner is called ランナー. However, when one participates in more traditionally recognized forms of running, such as marathons, the runner is called そうしゃ. So the usage of ランナー may actually depend on the nature of the sporting event in which the act of running is occurring.

My second example is the word ポイ捨てwhich means to carelessly flick or toss away. ポイ捨て is a mixed word composed of Katakana and traditional non-Katakana Japanese. The non-Katakana part of ポイ捨て is 捨て which means to discard. The Katakana part of ポイ捨て is ポイwhich can denote the sound that is made by the act of flicking away litter. In this instance, ポイ serves the purpose of a onomatopoeic Katakana. In generally, ポイ捨てdiffers from 捨て in that ポイ捨て is a word that has a negative connotation because of its association with litter and cigarette butts. In Japan, the act of ポイ捨て is becoming a serious problem. Most likely, it is used in this ad because it perfectly captures the act of carelessly flicking cigarette butts into the street. In this ad, the sound of ポイ is very consistent with the theme of Western movies because it combines the literal meaning of discard with an onomatopoeia which enhances the word's conversational effect.


Overall, Katakana phrases are used selectively in Japanese natural dialect to convey the context and background of the usage. In addition, they can also be used to enhance its literary effects to effectively convey the overall meaning of the entire message.