Katakana Literary Works

Katakana Literary work 1: Poem

Katakana Work number 2 

さくぶん２

やまださんへ

こんにちは。わたしはまやです。おげんきですか。

わたしは　バーナードのがくせいです。バーナードに　しんせつなひとが　います。だいかくは　たのしいですが、たくさん　しゅくだいが　あります。

じゅうはっさいです。そして　テネシーから　きました。でも　わたしのははは　にほんじんです。そして　わたしの　そふぼは　よこはまに　すんでいます。　まいねん　にほんへ　いきます。

わたしは　ダンスと　アートが　すきです。いま　いちねんせいですが、さらいねん　けんちくの　せんこうを　します。

アメリカの　たべものが　すきですか。わたしは　にほんの　たべものが　すきです。せんしゅう　ははと
ラーメンの　レストランへ　いきました。

じゃ、また。しち月　ついたちに　きます。でんわを　かけます。

よろしくおねがいします。

麻綾　より

きのうの しゃしん

きのう　チケン　かつを　つくりました。
そして　ごはんと　みそも　たべました。おいしかた。

The Amazing Tetsuya Kumakawa

彼は世界の宝！なりたいです！

Katakana Analysis Draft

Most of the Katakana my group and I found were loan words on Japanese products.  I think more onomatopoeia would be found in anime.  

Here are two katakana I found:
1. Loanword, コンピューター, computer, Daily Sun Japanese newspaper
This might be written in katakana because scientific and technical terms are often written in katakana.  Also, I realize wikipedia isn't always the best source, but it says, "Katakana were used for telegrams in Japan before 1988, and for computer systems—before the introduction of multibyte characters—in the 1980s. Most computers in that era used katakana instead of kanji or hiragana for output."

2. Loanword, コーラ, Cola, Coca Cola-flavored hard candy
The purpose of writing this in katakana might be because Cola is a foreign invention, a foreign word, and a name. Katakana is often used for transcribing words from foreign languages.

Some words are transcribed into katakana because it does not make sense to change a foreign name.  It would be unrecognizable to the foreigners who are familiar with the word.  There also aren't kanji that stand for foreign words because kanji were developed before these words were known.  The katakana show that the word is foreign or unusual, which helps readers know that they aren't looking at traditional Japanese word. 

Each textbook is different in explaining katakana because there are exceptions to why certain words are in katakana.  Some names are in katakana; some are not.  "Computer" could have been written in hiragana or kanji (it's not a loanword, name, or onomatopoeia), but somehow it's in katakana.  Textbooks don't give strict rules for what words are in katakana because there are none.  In general, most katakana are foreign or unusual sounding words, onomatopoeia, words for emphasis, or names.