Japanese – Educational Sociolinguistics

Japanese Loaned Words from English

Rebecca Lin

The Japanese language has borrowed many words from other languages, beginning with China during the Nara Period (710-794). Gairaigo (外来語) is the Japanese word for “borrowed word” or “loaned word.” Japanese has adopted so many Chinese vocabulary that they are no longer regarded as “loan words.” The bulk of Chinese loan terms have a Chinese reading and are written in kanji .

Japanese speakers use English words to convey ideas for which they have no native counterparts. However, some people simply favour using English expressions out of necessity or just because it’s trendy. In fact, Japanese already has synonyms for many loan words. For example, the Japanese word for “business” is “shoubai 商売”, but the loan word “bijinesu ビジネス” is also used. Another example is “gyuunyuu 牛乳(Japanese word)” and “miruku ミルク(loan word)” for “milk.”

Loan words, with the exception of those with Chinese roots, are usually written in katakana. They are pronounced according to Japanese pronunciation rules and syllables. They end up sounding very different from how they were initially said. As a result, it becomes challenging to distinguish the original foreign word.

Japanese Katakana Chart (retrieved from https://www.japanesepod101.com/)

Many borrowed words are frequently shortened in ways that they wouldn’t be shortened in their native tongues.

Examples of Loan Words

Maiku マイク —- microphone
Suupaa スーパー —- supermarket
Depaato デパート — department store
Biru ビル —- building
Irasuto イラスト —- illustration
Meeku メーク —- make-up
Daiya ダイヤ —- diamond

Multiple words are also shortened, often to four syllables.

Pasokon パソコン —- personal computer
Waapuro ワープロ —- word processor
Amefuto アメフト —- American football
Puroresu プロレス —- professional wrestling
Konbini コンビニ —- convenience store
Eakon エアコン —- air conditioning
Masukomi マスコミ —- mass media (from mass communication)

A loan word might generate new words. Japanese or other loanwords may be used in combination with it. Here are some examples.

Shouene 省エネ —- energy saving
Shokupan 食パン —- loaf of bread
Keitora 軽トラ —- light commercial truck
Natsumero なつメロ —- a once-popular song

In Japanese, loan words are frequently joined to form nouns. They turn the term into a verb when paired with “suru.” “Suru” (to do) has a wide range of other uses.

Doraibu suru ドライブする —- to drive
Kisu suru キスする —- to kiss
Nokku suru ノックする —- to knock
Taipu suru タイプする —- to type

There are also “loan words” that are actually made in Japan. For example, “sarariiman サラリーマン(salary man)” refers to someone whose income is salary base, generally the people work for corporations. Another example, “naitaa ナイター,” comes from the English word “night” followed by “~er”, means baseball games played at night.

Common Loan Words

Arubaito アルバイト —- part-time job (from German arbeit)
Enjin エンジン —- engine
Gamu ガム —- chewing gum
Kamera カメラ —- camera
Garasu ガラス —- glass
Karendaa カレンダー —- calendar
Terebi テレビ —- television
Hoteru ホテル —- hotel
Resutoran レストラン —- restaurant
Macchi マッチ —- match
Mishin ミシン —- sewing machine
Ruuru ルール —- rule
Reji レジ —- cash register

Nationality is expressed by adding “jin 人”, which literally means “person”, after the country name.

Amerika-jin アメリカ人—- American
Itaria-jin イタリア人 —- Italian
Oranda-jin オランダ人—- Dutch
Kanada-jin カナダ人—– Canadian
Supein-jin スペイン人—- Spanish
Doitsu-jin ドイツ人—- Germany
Furansu-jin フランス人—- French

Loanword	Roma-ji / Reading	English Word
グラス	gurasu	glass
スプーン	supūn	spoon
フォーク	fōku	fork
ナイフ	naifu	knife
ビール	bīru	beer
ワイン	wain	wine
バス	basu	bus
バイク	baiku	(motor) bike
コンピューター	conpyūtā	computer
インターネット	intānetto	internet
ウェブサイト	webusaito	website
ホテル	hoteru	hotel
レストラン	resutoran	restaurant
テーブル	tēburu	table
サービス	sābisu	service
エレベーター	erebētā	elevator
ドア	doa	door
サイズ	saizu	size
シャツ	shatsu	shirt
ネクタイ	nekutai	necktie
サンダル	sandaru	sandal
サングラス	sangurasu	sunglasses
テスト	tesuto	test

Some examples of loaned words from English in Japanese

English words used in Japanese (2021) JapanesePod101.com Blog. Available at: https://www.japanesepod101.com/blog/2021/05/13/english-loanwords-in-japanese/ (Accessed: November 30, 2022).

Takashi Ichikawa, et al. (1998). Sanseidō New Modern Dictionary (三省堂現代新国語辞典, Sanseidō-gendai-shin-kokugo-jiten), Tokyo, Japan: Sanseido Co., Ltd. ISBN 4-385-14034-0.

Oh, you are Japanese, BUT you speak English well!

Yuri

I went to Australia two years ago. It was a fantastic trip, and I met many people including 10ish local Australian people. When I introduced myself, all of the Australians said “oh, you are Japanese! But you speak English well!”

“Wait, what do you mean by but?”, I wondered. Is it weird that a Japanese person speaks English well? I never asked the question because I knew they didn’t mean anything negative. I just smiled and politely said ‘thank you’. BUT, there are many Japanese people who speak English well, and there are very many Japanese people living in Australia. Have you not met any Japanese person who speaks English? Really?

Japanese Loanwords in Modern Chinese

Yidan

Since Kanji (Chinese characters) is an integral part of Japanese writing system, and a fair chunk of its vocabulary came from Chinese in ancient times, people tend to believe that Chinese language is in a dominant position in linguistic exchange between Chinese and Japanese. However, the situation has been changed since modern times. Modern Chinese has borrowed a great number of words from Japanese since the 20^thcentury. According to the work by Wang Binbin on the subject of Japanese-word borrowings into Chinese (1998), 70 percent of the modern Chinese words relating to sociology, humanities and natural science originate from Japanese. Representing new ideas, advanced thoughts and scientific knowledgefrom the west, those “Japan-made” words have been assimilated into Chinese so smoothly and naturally that most Chinese don’t really notice their Japanese origin.

In my case, I’ve had such misunderstanding about Japanese’s impact on modern Chinese language. I have visited Japan many times. When I see vocabularies written in Kanji in Japanese books, newspapers or other places, I can understand almost all of those vocabularies and in the subconscious I believe it’s because they were all from Chinese. I never thought that many of them were actually created by Japanese language and then were imported to China.

Bad bi(lingual)s, bad bi(lingual)s, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Victoria Tothill-Brown

“Are you bilingual?”

“Yes.”

“When did you start learning French?”

“I don’t speak French.”

“But you said you were bilingual.”

I have had the above conversation more times than I care to acknowledge. I will never forget the time my high school counsellor, after I told her I wanted to forego the standard French classes to take Japanese, called me a “bad Canadian”. More than 10 years of studying and seven years of my life spent in Japan, I sometimes wonder if there’s space in the Canadian identity for “bad” bilinguals like me who struggle with a lack of national identity.

I will admit that I am a bilingual in the purest sense of the word. I speak two languages: English and Japanese (save for some sacres and enough French to stutter my way through buying a sandwich). I’m also a “bad” language speaker.

Language and Identity

Hina

I started using English when I was four. My parents decided to move to Boston, and consequently, I began to attend an American kindergarten. Because I couldn’t speak any English at that point, I never really understood what was going on around me. I distinctively remember the first day of school, when I found myself staring into the eyes of a boy who had jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. He looks just like me! That must mean he’s Japanese! However, when I enthusiastically invited him to play with me in Japanese (「一緒に遊ぼう！」), he stared at me before shaking his head and walking away. That was a blow to my self-confidence; at the tender age of four, I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to play with me. It quickly became evident that in my new surroundings, learning English was a complete necessity.

Continue reading “Language and Identity”