On Friday, March 22, 2024, taking place on the Zoom Platform, the Japanese Language and Culture Undergraduate Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Diponegoro University held an online linguistic public lecture with the theme: “Looking at Onomatopoeia in Anime: Komi-San wa Komyushou desu” and “A look into Multilingualism and Linguistic Landscape” by presenting Utari Novella, S.S., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. from Bina Nusantara University and Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. from Gadjah Mada University asspeakers. Utari Novella, S.S., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. is a graduate of S1 Japanese Literature Bung Hatta University then continued her S2 twice in Master of Japanese Linguistics Padjadjaran University and S2 Master of Linguistics at Nagoya University Japan, and continued her S3 Linguistics at Nagoya University Japan. She also has a history of research ranging from College Excellence Research to Doctoral Dissertation Research. Meanwhile, Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. is a graduate of S1 Japanese LanguageEducation at Gadjah Mada University, then continued her Masters in Psychology Education at Gadjah Mada University and S2 Masters in Japanese Linguistics Applications at Waseda University, and continued her S3 in the Field of International Culture and Communication at Waseda University. She also has a history of research ranging from University Excellence Research to Doctoral Dissertation Research.
In this public lecture Utari Novella, S.S., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. conveyed the meaning of onomatopoeia, classification of onomatopoeia types according to Tamori 1993, forms and characteristics of onomatopoeia, and onomatopoeia in the anime 古見さんは、コミュ症です(Komi-San wa Komyushou desu). Onomatopoeia itself is a language that is formed through sounds produced by certain objects which are then imitated and made into word elements that represent the sound of the object. According to Tamori 1993, there are two types of onomatopoeia: Giongo (containing sounds) and Gitaigo (not containing sounds). The interesting part of this lecture is the analysis of onomatopoeia in the anime 古見さんは、コミュ症です(Komi-San wa Komyushou desu). There are several onomatopoeias such as Giongo, Giseigo, Gijoukankagu, Gijoukanjou, Gitaigo, and Higijougo. While Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. delivered material on views on multilingualism and the Linguistic landscape regarding what linguistics is, branches of linguistics, interdisciplinary linguistics, applied linguistics, what is multilingualism, Japanese language policy and planning, Japanese language profile, language policy & planning, linguistic landscape in Tokyo.
Participants who attended this general class were very active and listened to the material well so that quite a number of students asked questions in the question and answer session. One of them was a question from Rahtu Nila Sepni regarding how to best translate onomatopoeia. Utari Novella, S.S., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D explained that when we are looking for the meaning of an onomatopoeia, we can translate it to the closest meaning, translate it into the target language. or if there is no appropriate onomatopoeic language, we can translate it to vocabulary. Another question from Muhammad Nur was why there are onomatopoeias that are actually inaudible in the real world and why there are differences in Japanese onomatopoeias from other countries. Utari Novella, S.S., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. explained that the inaudible can be categorized not by the sound but by the expression of the situation. Then why onomatopoeia can be different from one country to another because it is influenced by the sounds they have which haveto do with chronology so that there are many sounds in Japan that are different from other countries. So you have to study the chronology or the field of science.
Sister Jenifer asked Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. about the reason why in Japan foreign language mastery lessons are not given like English which is applied in Indonesia. Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. explained that actually Japanese people have learned foreign languages (English), they actually learn English from childhood. Regarding the JET program, they bring in native speakers to teach students usually at the elementary to high school level to learn English and also related to understandingEnglish. But there is another side related to national identity as Japanese people with Japanese language and culture. There are two sides that explain multilingualism in Japan. Then another question came from Putri Zahra Dwinata about Japanese people studying koku go and outsiders studying nihongo what the specific differences are. Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. explained that the difference is very clear that in koku go the understanding is for example learning about old kanji, kanji that used to beused in old Japanese texts because the current kanji with the old kanji are different in how to learn how to teach then there are differences in writing between the past and the present then if in Japanese language classes learn bunpou and others, if in koku go more details such as Japanese history, how to write and read ancient kanji.
The Linguistics Public Lecture with Utari Novella, S.S., M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. and Fatmawati Djafri, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. went smoothly and was attended by approximately 170 students of the Japanese Language and Culture Undergraduate Program at Diponegoro University, Gadjah Mada University, and Dian Nuswantoro University. The material presented was also very interesting and added insight that there are many types of onomatopoeia and can be studied and analyzed through manga or anime and the application of Japanese linguistics which is very much needed in the current era considering the number of people who are interested in Japanese.