Random katakana for no apparent reason...

rajs20 · 7 Apr 2005

Occasionally I see some katakana used, for a word which is normally written in Hiragana. Anyone know why this is?

For example:

このアジトの近くに敵が近づいているぞ
(trans: There is an enemy getting closer to our hideout)

The first word is "kono" which should be in hiragana, but in the manga I was reading, it was actually written as コノ

In that case it's probably for emphasis.

Another thing that I see sometimes as katakana are "bad words" like バカ (baka) or some slang/rough words like オレ. (ore)

Thanks!

Raj

PaulTB · 7 Apr 2005

rajs20 said:
Occasionally I see some katakana used, for a word which is normally written in Hiragana. Anyone know why this is?

For example:

このアジトの近くに敵が近づいているぞ
(trans: There is an enemy getting closer to our hideout)

The first word is "kono" which should be in hiragana, but in the manga I was reading, it was actually written as コノ

In that case it's probably for emphasis.

rajs20 said:
Another thing that I see sometimes as katakana are "bad words" like バカ (baka) or some slang/rough words like オレ. (ore)

That's not necessarily because they are 'slang/rough/bad'. I think 俺 isn't one of the 'standard use' list. You'll often see イス in katakana - it isn't because chairs are bad.

rajs20 · 7 Apr 2005

Thanks Paul! I think actually the main thing that was confusing me was the "kono" being katakana... However 2 seconds after I made that post, I realized that it wasn't just "kono" that was katakana but the entire sentence... Which actually makes more sense

Sorry about that :sorry:

cacawate · 7 Apr 2005

PaulTB said:
it isn't because chairs are bad.

Says you!

...Sorry, haven't posted in a while.

Damicci · 7 Apr 2005

Hmm I wondered this too as I see it a lot in manga they will use katakana instead of hiragana for some words mainly when the word is being stressed. big bold lettering

I've seen
バカダメだナにゲット but I think in the case of the last one it was supposed to be "Get"

rajs20 · 7 Apr 2005

Ha, that's interesting (ナに). I guess that makes sense because in anime at least, they often say something like "Naaaaani o shite n da?" （or something like that anyways）

crunch · 7 Apr 2005

I would assume they are all for emphasis. Very much similar to using caps lock to get your point across

-Rudel- · 7 Apr 2005

Weeeeeeell. in the advertising world for commercials and big signs on stores, Katakana is usually used instead of Hiragana or Kanji.

I would definately say it's for emphasis.

McCrutch67 · 7 Apr 2005

I remember trying to read some "all katakana" sentences in some manga. The weirdest thing to get used to at first was reading ハ as "wa". It was so unnatural since は is already a character of a different sound so different script too threw me for a second.

PaulTB · 7 Apr 2005

rajs20 said:
Thanks Paul! I think actually the main thing that was confusing me was the "kono" being katakana... However 2 seconds after I made that post, I realized that it wasn't just "kono" that was katakana but the entire sentence... Which actually makes more sense

Sorry about that :sorry:

When it's the whole sentence it's usually because it's being said with a SCARY VOICE or by a foreigner. Gaijin speaking Japanese is about the only time truly random katakana will be used in a sentence.

cacawate · 8 Apr 2005

And robots. I believe one of the 号 from Dragon Ball Z talked in all katakana.

J44xm · 10 Apr 2005

cacawate said:
And robots. I believe one of the 号 from Dragon Ball Z talked in all katakana.

This is amusing. Do characters that "speak" in all katakana still use hiragana particles?

rajs20 · 10 Apr 2005

J44xm said:
This is amusing. Do characters that "speak" in all katakana still use hiragana particles?

Yea which can be a bit odd, seeing ハ instead of は, for example.

Random katakana for no apparent reason...

rajs20

Hokage

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

rajs20

Hokage

cacawate

観察するのが好きです

Damicci

先輩

rajs20

Hokage

crunch

女に不自由

-Rudel-

Fire Star Man

McCrutch67

先輩

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

cacawate

観察するのが好きです

J44xm

経験値が足りない

rajs20

Hokage

Similar threads