Katakana Analysis

    Textbooks tell the generic usages of katakana. Real life, however, tells a a different side of this Japanese phonetic writing system. During class, I was surprised at some of the samples that my classmates shared.
トマ (toma) is a Japanese word that means "halt". The word とま is of Japanese origin and is usually written in hiragana. When written in katakana, though, it is used in the context of military action. The sheet that Mia shared with our group showed that all military commands are written in katakana, not just the wordトマ. The connotation that the word has when in military context is much different than in everyday use. The command is more "angular" and written with fewer strokes. Maybe the government chose to use katakana for military words in order to differentiate the two contexts. It separates violence from harmony.
    Next, the word カラダ (karada), meaning body, was on the front cover of a Japanese fitness magazine. Like トマ, カラダ is also of Japanese origin and is usually written in hiragana or kanji. Our group discussed that the writer wanted to emphasize the word karada and make it stand out among the hiragana words around it. When people look at the page, "body" is the first word they see.
    The last katakana example that I would like to mention is written on something that I personally use every day. It is a box of gum. On the box are the words, "ミントカプセル" (mint capsule) and "クリスタルミント" (crystal mint). Both of these phrases are examples of loan words. The Meji company decided to write all descriptions of the gum's taste in katakana words modeled after English words. I think this is because English words might be seen as innovative and appealing to the younger generations, who are the largest consumer of the product. Also, the words themselves, namely capsule and crystal, provoke a vividly appealing image of what the gum will taste like. I will say, I like the gum!
    Katakana is open-ended. Each of the textbook passages we looked at mention katakana for loanwords, foreign names, and onomatopoetic words. Only one of the textbooks mentions emphasis. From studying samples from everyday usages, I can see why the textbooks may differ slightly from each other. Sometimes there is no right or wrong way to write something; it depends what kind of meaning and intensity of meaning the speaker is trying to convey. It is then up to the reader to interpret the katakana within the context of the situation. As students learning Japanese, I think that as we gain experience in Japanese culture and language, we will be able to more instinctively interpret the meaning the writer is trying to convey. Katakana is by far the most subjective and malleable writing system I have studied.