What is "kawai"? Meaning of the word

The article tells about what "kawai" is, from which language this word originated, how and by whom it is used in our time.

Language

In any living language, which people use actively, in due course absolutely new words appear. This process is absolutely natural, and almost all languages are subject to it. Although there are countries that deliberately do not allow distortion of their conversational speech, inventing "domestic" analogs to all foreign definitions.

If we consider the Russian language, over the last ten years, there have been a lot of similar words in it. By the way, the Internet played a big role in this. In the network space, no one restricts people in communication or by language, and Russian "users" and especially young people have in time absorbed many verbal borrowings and expressions from other languages. A very strong influence was exerted by Japanese culture, or rather, anime - graphic films. It was thanks to him that the young (and not only) generation included such words as chan (a nice young girl), kun (guy) and kawaii. But what is "kawai"? We will talk about this.

Origin

This word came to us from the Japanese language, it means "sweet," "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 "kawai" is.

Simply put, in the Japanese language and culture, this is a kind of concept of a subjective kind, describing an object or person, which the individual considers to be very nice, charming or touching. But sometimes it is used by native speakers and 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.

Widespread use

But why did not other similar words of foreign languages become so widespread around the world?

It's all about Japanese culture, or rather, its modern manifestations. Japanese culture in itself is very interesting and original, for many centuries it was not concerned with the influence of the west, as a result, it led to the fact that many of its manifestations, however, like the Japanese mentality itself, seem foreign to the very unusual and unlike the western. And one of its characteristic features is the deliberate giving things, toys, clothes and the very behavior of emotion and everything else that can be considered sweet. And as we already know, this Japanese word means "darling".

This expression can often be heard in Japan itself, tourists are often surprised that the Japanese resort to such a "kavain" aesthetics despite their gender, age and social status in so many such things that in Western culture would be considered completely inappropriate, too childish and Even infantile.

It manifests itself not only in the behavior of ordinary Japanese residents, but also in such industries as the media, advertising, logos and so on. So now we know what "kawai" is.

Spread

If we talk about where in Japan you can see the manifestations of "kavainnosti", then this is practically all spheres of life. These are municipal institutions, shops, advertising. And by the way, very many companies have their own "kavaynye" talismans, for example:

• Pikachu, one of the characters of the animated series "Pokemon", is depicted on several planes of one of the Japanese passenger airlines.
• Most police units also have their own talismans, which are sometimes placed on police booths.
• All the prefectures of Japan have their "kavaynyh" characters, talismans.

Souvenir products of this kind are very popular in Japan, however, not only foreigners buy it, but also the residents of this country, both children and adults. Also this word is often applied in relation to clothing, its style and style, usually when it has an emphatically childish style. Including the so-called various accessories with drawings or depicting characters of Japanese cartoons.

True, some part of the Japanese, refers to this concept and its manifestations negatively, considering it too childish or generally a sign of the infantile mindset of an adult.

Now we know the meaning of the word "kawai".

Use in Russia

Such cute products and the concept itself gradually spread beyond Japan, both to Western and to other Asian countries. For example, it is popular in South Korea and China. In Russia, an important role in this anime played, and gradually this word has become firmly established in the everyday life of most young people. The truth in our country in pronunciation and writing is its simplified form of "kawai" instead of "kawaii", and in the slang of anime and youth lovers in general, the word "kavaynyi" appeared. What is this, and his translation from the Japanese we now know.