It was difficult to find words that didn't emphasize or loan words.
One example I found was the word キヤノン which is for Canon, the Japanese
camera company. After doing some research, I found that Canon was
formerly named Kwanon after Guanyin (called Kannon in Japan), a
bodhisattva (confusing, I know). So basically, it ended up just being a
way to write a foreign name. I don't quite understand why it's キヤノン and
not カノン. Many other companies seem to use katakana for writing their
names, if they don't use romaji already. It seems that wherever katakana
is used for emphasis, companies tend to also just use English to
further that point as seen in companies like Toyota. Many company names
also use katakana but happen to be loanwords like レイク(lake) and プロミス
(promise).
In
manga, katakana is often used for onomatopoeia. In the Dragon Ball
manga below, every kind of action is also given a sound effect. In the
right page, the kamehameha is given a sound effect represented as キュアアツ.
In the left page, jumping is given a sound effect represented as パツ.
Truthfully, I think these representations are just as bad as the ones on
American comics.
I
read that katakana is also used to depict foreign accents or robotic
speech in writing which seem to also fall under emphasis. Additionally,
katakana (and only katakana) was used in telegraphs years
ago. Scientific terms are also generally expressed in katakana.
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