English and Spanish Adjectives That Describe the Japanese Concept of Kawaii
English and Spanish Adjectives That Describe the Japanese Concept of Kawaii
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DOI：
10.1177/21582440231152415
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发表时间：
2023-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Andreau, Jorge Mario
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Nittono, Hiroshi;Saito, Hatsune;Andreau, Jorge Mario
“卡哇伊”一词在当代日本无处不在，并随着日本流行文化的传播而传播到世界各地。虽然这个词在英语中通常被翻译为“可爱”，但它的含义比“可爱”更微妙，而且它用于更广泛的对象。本研究的主要目的是确定西班牙语是否有一个相当于“卡哇伊”一词;此外，在日语，英语和西班牙语的相似性和差异进行了探讨。日本（n = 486）、美国（n = 365）和阿根廷（n = 303）的受访者进行了一项网络调查，向他们展示了各种在日语中经常被描述为“kawaii”的摄影图像，并要求他们写下三个形容词来描述这些图像。他们还被要求在效价和唤醒维度上评估他们在观看每张图像时的情感状态。结果表明，婴儿的物体（例如，人类、动物和玩具）最常被定义为日语中的“kawaii”、英语中的“cute”和西班牙语中的“tierno”。这些词被用作主要形容词的平均频率为“kawaii”（57.5%）高于“cute”（26.8%）或“tierno”（22.4%）。所有这些图像都与积极和适度唤起的情感状态有关，这在三个国家都是相似的。本研究表明，形容词“kawaii”，“可爱”和“tierno”几乎可以等同地用于描述婴儿和宠物，但日语形容词“kawaii”比其他两个词包含更广泛的类别。
The word "kawaii" is ubiquitous in contemporary Japan and has spread to the rest of the world with the dissemination of Japanese pop culture. Although the word is conventionally translated in English as "cute," its meaning is more nuanced than "cute," and it is used for a wider variety of objects. The primary aim of this study was to determine if Spanish has an equivalent to the word "kawaii"; additionally, similarities and differences across Japanese, English, and Spanish were explored. An internet survey was conducted in which respondents from Japan (n = 486), the United States (n = 365), and Argentina (n = 303) were presented with various photographic images that were often described as "kawaii" in Japanese and asked to write three adjectives to describe the images. They were also instructed to rate their affective states when looking at each image in the valence and arousal dimensions. The results showed that babyish objects (e.g., human, animal, and toy) were most frequently defined as "kawaii" in Japanese, "cute" in English, and "tierno" in Spanish. The average frequency at which these words were used as primary adjectives was higher for "kawaii" (57.5%) than for "cute" (26.8%) or "tierno" (22.4%). All of these images were associated with positive and moderately-aroused affective states similarly across all three countries. The present study demonstrates that the adjectives "kawaii," "cute," and "tierno" can be used almost equivalently for describing babies and pets, but that the Japanese adjective "kawaii" encompasses wider categories than the other two words.