Why is the word オタク written in katakana?


Why is the word オタク(otaku) written in katakana?

I thought only foreign words are written in katakana. Is this word maybe
foreign after all? But it is used in Japanese, so I am confused. Please give
me an answer.




In this case, katakana is used to indicate オタク is used not in its original
sense but in its derivative sense. おたく was (and still is) an honorific
expression used to refer to someone's family. So オタク was initially chosen to
indicate you need to pay a special attention for interpreting this word. It's
similar to enclosing a word with double quotes in English. Today オタク has
become a word everyone knows, so it's safe to write it in hiragana, too.

This pattern is found in many technical terms. For example, のど usually means
_throat_ in everyday conversations, but ノド in the printing industry refers to
an [_inner margin_ of a book](http://www.formaxprinting.com/blog/2013/03/book-
printing-lingo-what-are-the-margins-of-a-book/).

There are many other reasons to use katakana instead of hiragana. See:

  * [Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1930/5010)




In this case, katakana is used to indicate オタク is used not in its original
sense but in its derivative sense. おたく was (and still is) an honorific
expression used to refer to someone's family. So オタク was initially chosen to
indicate you need to pay a special attention for interpreting this word. It's
similar to enclosing a word with double quotes in English. Today オタク has
become a word everyone knows, so it's safe to write it in hiragana, too.

This pattern is found in many technical terms. For example, のど usually means
_throat_ in everyday conversations, but ノド in the printing industry refers to
an [_inner margin_ of a book](http://www.formaxprinting.com/blog/2013/03/book-
printing-lingo-what-are-the-margins-of-a-book/).

There are many other reasons to use katakana instead of hiragana. See:

  * [Why are katakana preferred over hiragana or kanji sometimes?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/1930/5010)

