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Why is this in katakana? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6438 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 1 of 6 11 August 2012 at 1:02am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saw this dude while watching the Olympics on TV.
I assume maybe he didn't know the kanji and didn't want to ask his friends (I'm assuming he's friends with the girl next to him and maybe the guy, too), but why write it in katakana rather than hiragana? It's not a loan word. Is it for emphasis? Also, why does he look familiar? Is he someone famous? Also, is that "Nippon" instead of "Nihon" because he's cheering for a sports team? Although I cannot think of the word to describe it, it seems to me that "Nihon" tends to be used in regular conversation and "Nippon" has more of a "pride-ish" feel to it, like you would use "Nippon" to cheer on your troops during a war, on war propaganda, when supporting your country or your country's sports team (against other countries' teams), like there's a formal/regal nuance to it. Am I on the right track with that? Would you ever say like "Nippon ni ikimasu" in casual conversation or would that sound weird? Edited by IronFist on 11 August 2012 at 1:03am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fiveonefive Diglot Groupie Japan Joined 5694 days ago 69 posts - 88 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Swedish | Message 2 of 6 11 August 2012 at 2:00am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||||||||
That sign is one of the official logos of the Japanese olympic team. He didn't make it.
Katakana is not limited to loan words.
Yep, that's the reason.
I get the feeling too but I have no idea who he is. The girl is a looker too.
Yep
You are on the right track and it's called nationalism.
That would sound incredibly weird and only extreme right wingers refer to Japan as "Nippon" in casual conversation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6438 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 3 of 6 11 August 2012 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||||||||
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It says 0 replies yet there are 2 replies. Is this a forum glitch?
Good thing I refreshed the thread. Otherwise I would've been like "crap, no one has replied to my post yet :( " 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6950 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 4 of 6 13 August 2012 at 11:17am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||||||||
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It could be for a combination of reasons: for emphasis, for design-related reasons
(writing it out like that gives a nice balance of 4 characters on the top and 4 on the bottom), and to clearly indicate that it should be read as "nippon" and not "nihon". I would say you're exactly on the right track regarding "nihon" vs. "nippon". Edited by Lucky Charms on 13 August 2012 at 11:19am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Umin Triglot Newbie Germany despairedreading.worRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4548 days ago 37 posts - 52 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Japanese Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 5 of 6 13 August 2012 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||||||||
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"Nippon" is just sometimes written in Katakana, especially in the sports context. Katakana are often used for
emphasis. Also they tend to look more "manly" and "edgy", while Hiragana are more "feminine" and "round".
wing to me, but always referred to Japan as "nippon" and even to the Japanese language as "nippongo". It might have been a dialect thing though. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fiveonefive Diglot Groupie Japan Joined 5694 days ago 69 posts - 88 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Swedish | Message 6 of 6 14 August 2012 at 10:43pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||||||||
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There is no dialect of Japanese that uses Nippon where the rest of the country uses Nihon.
Anyone in Japan who says "Nippongo" with a straight face would be considered an extreme nationalist. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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