Abstract:
In this talk I will deal with the (ortho)graphic representation of Western loan words in Japanese. I start with a brief overview of katakana spelling rules and the phonemic principles behind them. Next I will discuss other available script options for writing loan words, which include not only hiragana and, where available, kanji, but also the roman alphabet. In a third step, I will speculate about how these unaltered roman spellings of loan words are starting to leave their mark on the romanization of domestic Japanese vocabulary, as witnessed by many innovative spellings based on English orthography rather than Hepburn or kunrei rules. These are particularly common in the commercial domain, with examples such as Cocolo for kokoro, Benry for benri, and, most impressively perhaps, alc for aruku.
Bio:
I am a linguist with special interest in sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and stylistics. I have done research on multilingual signage in central Tokyo, communication in Japanese eldercare, the language of dating spam mails, and, most recently, address terms in American literature. I am also a regular contributor to the Japan Times’ “Bilingual” column. I teach English language and linguistics at Waseda University.
