Re: Orthography Question

Nik Taylor wrote:

> Eric Christopherson wrote:
> > Hey! I always wondered why _tabako_ was written in hiragana! :D
> Yeah, apparently it's just been in the language for so long, that they
> seem to have forgotten that it was foreign!  Or maybe when it entered
> the language the distinction between hiragana and katakana wasn't so
> strict?
Of the five dictionaries I just consulted, the score was 4-1 in favor of
katakana. The standard sign hung outside shops to indicate they sell
cigs is indeed written in hiragana, but I was so used to seeing the
katakana version in other venues that I did a double-take when I first
saw such a sign (Huh? Oh, tabako!) and still needed a little time to get
used to it. I don't think we can write off "tabako" in katakana just
yet.

As to why 'tabako' "works" in hiragana, I can only freeform here and
guess that it's because "tabako" looks and sounds like a native Japanese
word in a way that other loans like "storessu" (stress), "anaunsaa"
announcer, or even "biiru" (beer) and "pan" (bread) do not.

Kou