The article talks about what "kawaii" is, what language this word came from, how and by whom it is used in our time.
Language
In any living language that people actively use, completely new words appear over time. This process is absolutely natural, and almost all languages are subject to it. Although there are countries that deliberately do not allow the distortion of their colloquial speech, inventing "domestic" analogues to all foreign definitions.
If we consider the Russian language, then over the past ten years, a lot of such words have appeared in it. The internet has played a big role in this. In the network space, no one limits people in communication or on a linguistic basis, and Russian "users" and especially young people have absorbed many verbal borrowings and expressions from other languages over time. A very strong influence was exerted by Japanese culture, or rather, anime - graphic films. It was thanks to him that words such as chan (nice young girl), kun (boyfriend) and kawai entered the everyday life of the young (and not only) generation. But what is "kawaii"? We'll talk about that.
Origin
This word came to us from the Japanese language, it means "cute", "very pretty". Previously, before its widespread use, it was used mainly in relation to what causes pity, the desire to protect and regret. So now we know what "kawaii" is.
To put it simply, in the Japanese language and culture, this is a kind of subjective concept that describes some object or person that a single individual finds very cute, lovely or touching. But sometimes it is also used by native speakers to describe an adult who behaves like a child or not in accordance with his true age. As you can see, this Japanese word has several meanings at once.
Wide use
But why aren't other similar words in foreign languages so widespread around the world?
It's all about Japanese culture, or rather, its modern manifestations. Japanese culture itself is very interesting and original, for many centuries it was not affected by the influence of the West, as a result, this led to the fact that many of its manifestations, however, like the Japanese mentality itself, seem very unusual and unlike Western to foreigners. And one of her characteristic features is the deliberate giving to things, toys, clothes and the very behavior of cuteness and everything else that can be considered cute. And as we already know, this Japanese word just means "cute".
This expression can often be heard in Japan itself, tourists are often surprised that the Japanese resort to such a "kawaii" aesthetic despite gender, age and socialposition in so many things that in Western culture would be considered completely inappropriate, too childish and even infantile.
This manifests itself not only in the behavior of ordinary people in Japan, but also in industries such as the media, advertising, logos, and so on. So now we know what "kawaii" is.
Distribution
If we talk about where in Japan you can find manifestations of "kawaii", then this is almost all areas of life. These are municipal institutions, shops, advertising. And by the way, many companies have their own "kawaii" mascots, for example:
- Pikachu, one of the characters from the animated series "Pokemon", is depicted on several aircraft of one of the Japanese passenger airlines.
- Most police units also have their own mascots, which are sometimes placed on police boxes.
- All prefectures in Japan have their own "kawaii" mascot characters.
Souvenir products of this kind are very popular in Japan, however, they are bought not only by foreigners, but also by the inhabitants of this country, both children and adults. Also, this word is often used in relation to clothing, its style and style, usually when it has an emphasized childish style. This includes various accessories with drawings or depicting characters from Japanese cartoons.
True, some of the Japanese have a negative attitude towards this concept and its manifestations, considering it too childish or even a sign of infantilementality of an adult.
Now we know the meaning of kawaii.
Use in Russia
Such cute products and the concept itself gradually spread beyond Japan, both to Western and other Asian countries. For example, it is popular in South Korea and China. In Russia, anime played a big role in this, and gradually this word became firmly established in the everyday life of most young people. True, in our country, in pronunciation and writing, its simplified form “kawaii” is used instead of “kawaii”, and in the slang of anime lovers and youth in general, the word “kawaii” appeared. We now know what it is and its translation from Japanese.
