カタカナ Analysis Draft

1A. 「マリオットホテル」(Located on a map provided to Japanese tourists visiting New York)

The expression of these words in カタカナ appears to be for multiple reasons. The first word, "マリオット," is understandable; it is simply a sounding out, in Japanese, of a "foreign" word. In this case, "Marriott" was originally a surname, originating in France or England (though Mr. Marriott himself was entirely American). The second word, "ホテル," is at first glance simply part of the name -- the property in question is indeed named the "Marriott Marquis Hotel." Colloquially, however, it is not referred to as such; it is "The Marquis," or "The Marriott," or as shown on this particular map, a "Marriott hotel." While I am uncertain if this is a common form of usage in Japanese, in American English -- where a "Marriott" is assumed to be a hotel -- referring to the place you stay at as "Marriott Hotel" would sound somewhat awkward in spoken conversation, as if you asked someone for a "Kleenex tissue," or a "Bandaid Adhesive Bandage."

So the term "ホテル" appears to have been expressed in カタカナ for several reasons. One, it implies that the location is an American hotel, with all the amenities, service, and expectations one would assume to find in an American property versus a traditional Japanese establishment. Though I have never stayed at a Japanese hotel before, I have been told that there are many subtle differences.

Additionally, by expressing the word "hotel" in カタカナ, emphasis is placed on the word, drawing a reader's eye. As it is located on a map provided to Japanese tourists by a Japanese traveler's agency, the implication seems to be that they wish to remind the traveler they are traveling in "exotic" lands. 

1B. 「メトロネットワーク／エクスプレス／ピル」(Located on a map of the Toykyo subway system)

Here, although the majority of the writing is in かんじ -- the names of towns, cities, destinations and streets -- occasional words appear in カタカナ. The most prominent of these phrases is the name of the system, メトロネットワーク, or "Metro Network." There are a few reasons for expressing their name in this way. One is that it is a common abbreviation for such systems in English speaking countries, shortened from "Metropolitan," referring to the location of the system. Brand names are also often expressed with カタカナ to indicate that this is not a "real" noun. It may also be shorter to refer to the network as the "Metro" rather than a longer, more complicated phrase.

Similarly, several basic nouns are referenced in カタカナ here; エクスプレス for "express,"  ピル for "pier," and ライン for "line." These may have been represented in カタカナ because the foreign word was shorter, simpler, or simply to emphasis the difference between a particular line and the others.

2. Like English, where use of font, color, style, size, and placement is known to be effective in directing attention, focus, and eliciting emotion, use of カタカナ can serve the same purposes. By giving emphasis (think, perhaps, italics?), or as a subtle reminder of the "exotic" nature of a word, product, location, or service, the writer draws attention to that word.

3. As to the textbook, it is not particularly surprising to find so many different explanations for what appears to be the same thing. Languages evolve over time; Japanese is no exception. Describing the history of a language is like describing the history of a people; it will be different every time it is told. Different historians remember, emphasis, quote, and focus on different things about the same event, and the more complex an event, the greater the differences between all of these reports. Even strictly factual reports -- say, the number of deaths in a battle -- tend to be reported, even interpreted, differently across multiple sources.

So having begun with the incredible complexity of the development of a language, which cannot in any case be described in all its details in a matter of a few paragraphs, adding the difficulty of translating that description into another language adds yet another layer of obscurity.

In the case of the explanations for カタカナ, this seems to be the case. Like viewing an identical paragraph translated from Japanese into English by several different authors, in each case there will be small differences .. and perhaps different mistranslations or misunderstandings. The message will, barring grievous error, be largely the same, as the given descriptions of カタカナ. In all cases it is used to imply that the things item or items are "different" somehow, whether that difference is their foreignness, their importance, or the fact that they are not actually words, but sounds.