Why is という in ボソニックという食べ物 (for example) written in ひらがな rather than と言う?


Why is という in ボソニックという食べ物 (for example) written in ひらがな rather than と言う? In my
understanding, ボソニックという食べ物 means "a food called Bosonic".




In this usage, という is almost an independent particle "that, called, known as"
rather than the combination of と + 言う, thus no longer any point to retain
original kanji (that symbolizes the "real" meaning). It's just like we spell
English words _anyway_ , _into_ or _nevertheless_ in one word for the specific
meaning.

That said, it's not a hard rule that you must change kanji usage in this
manner. Some people would write 言う all the time, while others would always use
いう. But it could be said that it's a "better practice".

The question is eventually related to:

  * [Kanji or kana in お待ちください](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/26029/7810)
  * [Why are a high proportion of basic Japanese words written in hiragana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24068/7810)
  * [Intuitive or logical way to know when to use a kanji spelling vs hiragana spelling?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15713/7810)
  * [Which kanji to use for saying ありがとうございます in emails?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/565/7810)




In this usage, という is almost an independent particle "that, called, known as"
rather than the combination of と + 言う, thus no longer any point to retain
original kanji (that symbolizes the "real" meaning). It's just like we spell
English words _anyway_ , _into_ or _nevertheless_ in one word for the specific
meaning.

That said, it's not a hard rule that you must change kanji usage in this
manner. Some people would write 言う all the time, while others would always use
いう. But it could be said that it's a "better practice".

The question is eventually related to:

  * [Kanji or kana in お待ちください](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/26029/7810)
  * [Why are a high proportion of basic Japanese words written in hiragana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24068/7810)
  * [Intuitive or logical way to know when to use a kanji spelling vs hiragana spelling?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15713/7810)
  * [Which kanji to use for saying ありがとうございます in emails?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/565/7810)

