Some authors are just not consistent in using the kanji or hiragana of the same word throughout the same book. I had seen in one case where the author wasn’t even consistent within the same paragraph.
Whilst sometimes it is done on purpose – writing a kanji word with katakana or hiragana (to highlight a word similar to how you can put a word in italics in English) for the most part that is just laziness on the part of the writer and editor – I have seen loads of mistakes like this one simply because when you type in Japanese you have to constantly confirm your input, if you don’t (and most writers don’t) the engine will decide for you when you have finished the sentence.
Sometimes it’s used in dialogue to show age or knowledge. But here it just might be inconsistency. Same happens with ruby text/furigana. But the latter is probably because it takes a lot of effort if it’s being applied selectively.
Because the author wanted it that way.
It can be a stylistic choice to show how a character is more archaic or refined, compared to another.
If the same speaker does this, well, blame the author
To me it seems like the author wants to distinguish between the two readings/nuances, first ‘odayaka ni’ (gently, quietly) and then ‘yuruyaka ni’ (slowly, as in time is moving slowly). I could be wrong.
It’s just a nice example of how the Japanese writing system does not demand orthographic consistency, even when there’s no or nearly no deeper meaning to the choice.
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Some authors are just not consistent in using the kanji or hiragana of the same word throughout the same book. I had seen in one case where the author wasn’t even consistent within the same paragraph.
Whilst sometimes it is done on purpose – writing a kanji word with katakana or hiragana (to highlight a word similar to how you can put a word in italics in English) for the most part that is just laziness on the part of the writer and editor – I have seen loads of mistakes like this one simply because when you type in Japanese you have to constantly confirm your input, if you don’t (and most writers don’t) the engine will decide for you when you have finished the sentence.
Sometimes it’s used in dialogue to show age or knowledge. But here it just might be inconsistency. Same happens with ruby text/furigana. But the latter is probably because it takes a lot of effort if it’s being applied selectively.
Because the author wanted it that way.
It can be a stylistic choice to show how a character is more archaic or refined, compared to another.
If the same speaker does this, well, blame the author
To me it seems like the author wants to distinguish between the two readings/nuances, first ‘odayaka ni’ (gently, quietly) and then ‘yuruyaka ni’ (slowly, as in time is moving slowly). I could be wrong.
It’s just a nice example of how the Japanese writing system does not demand orthographic consistency, even when there’s no or nearly no deeper meaning to the choice.
Whats the name of this book?