Introduction

In this project, the group members consisted of Jamie Arpan, Seiji Furukawa, Janely Beccera, and Charlotte Cao.

For this project, two websites were analyzed for incidence of native Japanese (NJ), Sino-Japanese (SJ), and English loan words, across nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The websites analyzed were: Muji’s site for a 2-layer futon; and the Apple watch series 6 website. 

Methodology

Text was copied from the websites, after which all nouns, verbs, and adjectives were designated as ENG, SJ, NJ, or a mix (EX: SJ-NJ). This information was then entered into a spreadsheet, sorting each word by its part of speech (noun, verb, adjective), word type (ENG, SJ, NJ, mix). The distribution of ENG-SJ-NJ, as well as the individual distributions for each part of speech by word type (EX: ENG-SJ-NJ incidence for nouns) were visualized as pie charts.

Within the group, the two websites were split up with Jamie and Seiji focused on the Muji futon, while Janely and Charlotte focused on the Apple watch. Likewise, each group did the designation, sorting, and distribution for their own website.

Analysis and Discussion

Muji: The Down Feather Futon

The muji website has a low incidence of English loan words, with NJ making up roughly 50% and SJ comprising around 40%. In stark contrast, English loan word incidence sits at only 7.5%, and all of these English loan words were nouns. This is likely the result of content words being more readily borrowed than other parts of speech. Additionally, 50 words from the analyzed set were written in hiragana. While this is standard for NJ verbs like ある, it is less standard for SJ. Specifically, the SJ word ふとん (futon) was most frequently written with hiragana (9 times) rather than kanji (twice). Both of these instances of kanji occurred when futon was used in the compound noun 羽毛布団 (down feather futon).

Based on the high incidence of NJ and SJ words, the target audience for this product is probably first time buyer adults or individuals who are purchasing another futon after years of use. It should also be noted that futon is a native japanese product, which would partially explain the low incidence of English loan words. This may also influence Muji’s marketing, as the individuals looking to purchase a futon are not all the same people who might consider purchasing a western mattress. In so far as Muji is catering to older customers, members of the older generation might be put off if they employed excess foreign loan words in their marketing materials. Muji also has an image to uphold, as Japanese company producing a Japanese product. They have little reason to utilize foreign loanwords except in the case that an NJ word doesn’t exist or is no longer frequently used.

Furthermore, Muji wants to enable ethos within the customer to convince buyers their product is the best. This can be seen through by how 50% of the words utilized are NJ, the majority of them being adjectives and verbs. While Muji is using SJ for technical terms and the greater part of nouns, it is supplying more NJ to emphasize the emotions or feelings that come with purchasing their futon.

Apple Watch Series 6

In comparison to Muji, the Apple website advertising the Apple Watch Series 6 has a slightly higher count of Sino-Japanese words than Native-Japanese words. But unlike Muji, there are more foreign loanwords being used throughout the page to attract a larger audience. We analyzed the text and found more Sino-Japanese words used as nouns, and Native-Japanese words used for verbs and adjectives. In regards to SJ words being used to express nouns, it may be because of the specific terms like some health-related words 酸素 (oxygen) and 心拍数 (heart-rate) that need to be expressed when introducing special features of the Apple Watch, and to show a kind of professionalism that caters to high-tech products. Because Sino-Japanese words are associated with formality and sophistication, it may cater to an audience that is older, wealthier and in search of a product that may help monitor their health and well-being. Not only will the Apple Watch help track one’s blood pressure and heart-rate, it is being advertised as a product of high-quality with high-standard features. 

Native-Japanese words are mostly used to express nouns such as verbs, adjectives and non-professional words. Although it uses Sino-Japanese words on a large scale to show the professionalism of the product, but as an advertising page, it still has to face the Japanese public. So, while retaining the professionalism, the NJ words can help customers understand some basic functions and advantages more effectively. NJ words were used to establish an assuring and personal connection between the product and customer (気になる時にあなたの体に取り込まれた酸素のレベル ‘[Apple Watch] will check the level of oxygen taken up by your body when you’re worried’). The incorporation of NJ words/phrases allow for solid, comprehensible sentences that effectively capture the attention of the reader. 

The Apple Watch page also had a fairly noticeable number of foreign loanwords. The use of FL allows for the promotion of a sleek and modern advertisement of a western-originated product. Moreover, FL words can better cater to the impression of the Apple watch– a high-tech product– and give people a sense of fashionable and functional uses. Since Apple is known for being a foreign business, customers are likely to see FL words as new and cool in an advertisement. The FL words were most commonly written as nouns for 25.8 % of the page, versus the FL verbs which only appeared in 6.9% of it. Some examples of the FL words were バックグラウンド, ウェルネス, フィットネス, クリスタル, センサー. These nouns worked to describe some of the features like ‘background’, ‘wellness’, ‘fitness’, ‘crystal’, ‘sensor’, etc. This is appealing to younger adults who may be more familiar and comfortable with FL and see them as modern and fashionable. In some cases, FL words were used instead of their SJ counterparts (バロメーター, 気圧計) (クラスター, 群聚). This could have been done to seem more trendy in using FL, and possibly allow younger viewers to understand context and features in a simpler way.

Materials

List of all FL, NJ, and SJ words for each website. Muji is on the left and Apple is on the right.