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Episode 1 : Are “ばね” and “バネ” different?

Both mean “spring” in Japanese. The word “spring” can be written in both Hiragana “bane” and Katakana “bane“.

Today’s theme is whether the word “bane (spring)” represents different things when written in hiragana or in katakana. Do you write the word in hiragana? Or in katakana? (I’m also interested in this ratio. I think I can see the ratio by asking PIOLAX Web Members this question.) Do you have a conviction when you write “bane” in hiragana or katakana (although this is not such a serious matter)? Well now that the preamble is over. Let’s move on to the main part.


Bane (spring)
It is generally accepted that the word “bane (spring)” comes from “hane-ru (a verb meaning “to spring” or “to jump” in Japanese)” ,and the pronunciation of “hane-ru” has evolved into a noun “bane.” There are many Japanese words that had originally been a verb and later became to be used as a noun as well. There are also many cases the other way around. Not so long ago, we often used the word “to xerox” for indicating “to copy”. Well, this is a little off the subject, but this word “to xerox” is one of the decent Japanese words.

I suppose you’ve already got the idea. Basically, writing “bane” in hiragana is right. “But…,” you may think, “I come across ‘bane’ in katakana quite often.” Yes, we can see the word “bane” written in katakana everywhere. Does the word “bane” represent different things when written in hiragana or in katakana? Except the cases when the word “bane” is written in katakana intentionally, it seems that most people use these two writings without any particular reason (either writing is OK). Then, in what cases it is written in katakana purposely? First, when the word “bane” is used in proper names such as company name or product name. Other reason to write the word in katakana is that if you write “bane” in hiragana, the word becomes more difficult to distinguish from adjacent words, as shown in the following examples.

Example 1: When Hiragana is used
imakara bane no hanashi wo simashou (Now let’s talk about springs.)
Example 2: When Katakana is used
imakara bane no hanashi wo simashou (Now let’s talk about springs.)

That’s it for today.
By the way, you should be careful when you write the word in alphabet as “bane” because it means “a cause of continual trouble” in English. Well then, see you next time!

Written by Banekko (a child of spring)