Celebration of Scholars
A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Usage of Katakana-Go in Contemporary Japanese
Name:
Jennifer Campbell
Major: Japanese
Hometown: Shawano, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Yan Wang
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis
Abstract
"A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Usage of Katakana-Go in Contemporary Japanese"In recent times, researchers have observed an increase in the use of “gairai-go”, also known as foreign loan words, in Japanese daily speech. While there have been extensive amounts of data collected to prove the change in use of these foreign words, very little research has been put into the broader spectrum of “katakana-go”, the overarching subcategory of Japanese that consists of smaller categories such as foreign loan words, onomatopoeias, words being written in a form of emphasis, and as a method to make more complex Japanese words easier to read or abbreviate.
This research analyzed the larger category of
katakana-go and its change in frequency and method of usage across multiple
generations. Studies consisted of observation blog analysis of writers of varying ages, surveying the Japanese
populace, and comparing results to former researcher’s data. These studies were then compiled into charts that showed the fluctuation of usage between generations and genders. Results showed
increases and decreases in usage as generations become younger and a contrast between genders as to which types of katakana-go were used more frequently. While also not purposefully investigated, the research brought to light the shift of using hiragana (cursive Japanese script) in replacement of some forms of katakana-go, showing a progressive change in the written Japanese language.
Submit date: March 15, 2015, 3:51 p.m.