Questions tagged [loanwords]
外来語. Words brought into Japanese from languages other than Chinese.
215
questions
4
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0answers
136 views
Do loanwords have quasi-phonemic vowel reduction?
I've started to notice this, and I'm not sure whether my eyes are deceiving me or not, but it seems as if several, but not all loans have a high statistical probability of vowels being reduced/...
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2answers
128 views
3
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1answer
208 views
Is ゼミ a synonym for a university class?
I know that ゼミ is short for ゼミナール (seminar), but the word seems to be used differently than how it's used in English. My guess from the times I've seen it used is that it's a catch-all term for ...
8
votes
4answers
4k views
Why is “Wikipedia” written as ウィキペディア instead of ワィキペディア?
The free online dictionary Wikipedia is called ウィキペディア in kana.
Why is it not called ワィキペディア? Which string of kana provides a pronunciation closer to the English word?
1
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2answers
394 views
Is there a Kanji for the Japanese word イクラ as in salmon roe?
I can't find anything in the dictionary.
My book gives the word in hiragana but the dictionary also shows katakana.
A quick google revealed that it is a loanword from Russian so katakana seems more ...
3
votes
1answer
164 views
What is the etymological origin of the word キノピオ (Toad in Super Mario Bros)?
I just found out the Toad character from the Super Mario Bros is known as キノピオ in Japan.
Where does that name come from? I know 茸 (きのこ) means mushroom, but what does the suffix -ピオ stand for?
Thanks ...
0
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2answers
142 views
Why are some Japanese foreign words spelled with different sounds?
Please consider the following:
Warrior is ウォリアー： this vowel sound "a" changes to ”オ"
Work is ワーク:this vowel sound "o" changes to "ア"
Chariot is チャリオット:this vowel sound "a" stays "ア"
Corridor is コリドー:...
2
votes
1answer
282 views
パドル -What does it actually mean?
I believe, many of you have already seen this meme.
In short, in a PlayStation game Fate/Extra an anime girl is singing Jingle bells-like song in Japanese:
走{はし}れ艝{そり}よ
風{かぜ}のように
月{ずき}見晴{みは}らを
...
14
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1answer
225 views
Did the Japanese have a concept of “Asia” apart from the Eurocentric definition?
Japan had contact with China, India and the Mongols, among others. Is there a term they used for Asia (in the sense of "land mass where China is" or such) before "アジア"?
10
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3answers
3k views
Is 人孔 from English?
I was discussing with a friend about the word 人孔, and I know I read (or was told) that it's taken from the English "manhole", literally juxtaposing the kanji for "man" with that for "hole", since for ...
13
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1answer
296 views
Why is デレる ichidan? (Etymology of デレる and デレデレ)
I thought modern slangy verbs coined from onomatopoeia and loanwords were all godan verbs (for example, ググる, コピる, ピヨる, ボコる). This has been asked several times:
What are the principles behind turning ...
0
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1answer
82 views
Correct translation for application user roles
I'm working on an application which has user roles such as "admin", "customer", "contractor"and would like to add localisation to the app.
On my main menu I have:
Users
Roles
Tenants
and the ...
2
votes
1answer
593 views
Native Japanese vocabulary, pure Wago/Yamato Kotoba
Can you still speak Japanese while avoiding to use most Chinese loan words? The native portion of the Japanese language is called Yamato Kotoba or Wago, but how fluent could you still be without the ...
0
votes
1answer
127 views
How to know whether a word is borrowed from foreign languages?
If I want to translate the word "card" into Japanese, there's only one word in Katakana in Google Translation: カード. If I search the relevant Chinese word "卡片", there's still only one single result カード
...
8
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is beatboxing called 「ヒューマンビートボックス」?
I was watching TV when the topic turned to certain celebrities' ability to beatbox. In talking about this every mention of the term beatbox was
ヒューマンビートボックス.
Why is human necessary?
The use of ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
What term would be used for words that are borrowed from Japanese and used in other languages?
Many Japanese words are used in other languages, sushi, anime, karaoke, tsunami....
Is there a term to identify these words? I am familiar with terms such as 外来語 to indicate loanwords borrowed from ...
2
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2answers
130 views
At what age is a person considered to be シルバー?
I read this term in an online article and it was referring to people. I assume it means elderly people. Is there an age that one must be to use this term?
10
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3answers
311 views
Looking to understand a fantasy name
This is related to Beyblade, regarding a team exclusive to a game that didn't get translated to English. Each blader has their own holy beast to command and I'm not getting the name of one of them.
...
4
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1answer
1k views
2
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1answer
267 views
What's the origin of the title 親王?
As far as I know, prior to the adoption of the title "Emperor" in ancient China by Shihuangdi (who claimed to be the first 皇帝 (huangdi), from the titles of 8 ancient godly beings), 王 was the sole ...
1
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1answer
125 views
Why ロサンゼルス and not ロスアンゼルス but ロスアラモス and not ロサラモス？
Is there a rule as to when to keep the articles like San,Las, Los,La, Le (L'), Les (yes, my dear Dutch, not forgetting Den), in names on separate katakanas? Sometimes there is no choice, like in Las ...
6
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2answers
939 views
Are on’yomi words loanwords?
this is probably a silly question, but since words with multiple kanji are usually read with on’yomi would that effectively make most japanese vocabulary loanwords? like 森林 or 図書館？i understand ...
6
votes
1answer
640 views
How to pronounce 1ターン?
I've seen the phrase 1ターン1度 "once per turn" used in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Card game, so it seems like ターン is a legit counter. But I'm not sure how to pronounce it. From what I've googled so far, some people ...
2
votes
1answer
444 views
Transcription and pronunciation of words that had “wi” in them in English and are「ウィ」in Japanese
I was looking up how the name Will Smith is pronounced and written in Japanese. Why does "Will" become 「ウィル」? I would have expected ワ to be used instead for the first sound.
I found mentions of the "...
2
votes
1answer
143 views
Etymology of bateren (伴天連 / 破天連)
The archaic Japanese word bateren 伴天連 / 破天連 (referring to a missionary [Jesuit] priest) is derived from the Portuguese padre.
The Portuguese word notably does not contain or end in a nasal consonant, ...
0
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2answers
216 views
Unvoiced vowels in katakana: special case?
When foreign words or proper names are used in Japanese, some modifications are necessary, in particular a lot of vowels are introduced. E.g. 'plastic' (two syllables) becomes プラスチック (five). In this ...
4
votes
1answer
95 views
Is the adjective インディペンデント actually used as an adjective?
I saw a movie labeled
インディペンデント作品
The adjective インディペンデント does not end in i and is followed by neither na nor no here. Is this meant as a strange compound noun (katakana + kanji)? Or is this a ...
6
votes
1answer
255 views
Why are there very few non-する gairaigo verbs in Japanese?
I can think of many gairaigo noun + する verbs in Japanese, like ゴルフする, but I can think of only a handful of non-する verbs in Japanese, such as ググる (mentioned in Are there words which consist of katakana ...
2
votes
1answer
276 views
How did スマート (from 'smart' in English) shift to mean 'slim, trim' and 'stylish'?
I first learned of this loanword on /r/FalseFriends. Wiktionary:
Etymology
From English smart.
Adjectival noun
スマート (-na inflection, rōmaji sumāto)
slim, trim,
slender
stylish
What type of semantic ...
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1answer
67 views
なんだこの「ギャラリー」？ What does he mean by gallery?
Panel this is taken from for context. This is commentary about a school go tournament that will start soon.
あれ おまえも見にきたの？
なんかギャラリー多いな
海王中囲碁部はトップレベルだもん
見なきゃソンだよ
My translation attempt:
Oh, you came ...
3
votes
1answer
183 views
What are the common practice of reading names of modern Chinese people?
From what I've seen from the Japanese Wikipedia, names of communist figures (Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Xi Jinping) seem to be read with on'yomi (Mou Takutou, Tou Shouhei, Shuu Kinpei). On the other ...
12
votes
2answers
535 views
Transitive English words becoming intransitive 外来語
While reading naruto's answer to Difference in sentences (と and に）, I realized that although キス is an intransitive verb in Japanese, the English kiss is almost always used as a transitive verb. Some ...
5
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1answer
180 views
Loanwords related to science
I speak fluent English, Ukrainian and Russian. And I also have experience learning German and Japanese. As an avid language learner, I've been reflecting on what the languages have in common, their ...
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2answers
95 views
Does プレゼント have both English meanings or just the “gift” meaning?
Present in English means both gift, and it also mean the current (present) time. Japanese online examples and translation seem to omit this second meaning. Does プレゼント have both English meanings or ...
0
votes
2answers
195 views
Does マンション also mean “luxurious house” in Japanese?
According to Jisho.org/mansion and Japanese Core 1000 マンション in Japanese means "apartment, condominium, residential building". But in English where the word might come from, it also refers to a large ...
13
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3answers
3k views
Does ガス also mean gasoline in Japanese?
What are the meanings of ガス in Japanese?
I'm asking because in English it can be used for either "a substance in a form like air that is neither solid nor liquid" or, for gasoline, the liquid fuel. ...
6
votes
2answers
268 views
Is there a list of official valid loanwords or they are adapted on the fly from their original languages?
In Spanish there is an entity, the Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Española) which states what is a valid spanish word or not.
In Japanese, I've read the Japanese Ministry of Education has an ...
6
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2answers
2k views
Which language レシート is adapted from?
レシート is supposed to mean receipt. The adaptation of the word looks a bit odd to me. If it comes from English, why does it lose the "p"? Why it uses a "shii" sound instead of a "ce" (to me there are ...
2
votes
1answer
140 views
Can any nationality be expressed by adding + jin to the country name?
So, many country nationalities are written by adding +jin to the country name like
Itaria-jin イタリア人 , Oranda-jin オランダ人, Kanada-jin カナダ人,
Supein-jin スペイン人 , etc.
but there are some like american who ...
0
votes
1answer
191 views
Convert Japanese Style English Font to Normal(?) English Font [closed]
This might be computer science related question.
I am manipulating Japanese data and in some Japanese words, there are English words and Numbers are in.
ＳＹＳＫＥＮ, 松井ケ丘３, コメリＨ＆Ｇ, 篠路７－１ are the examples....
24
votes
2answers
4k views
What's the original Japanese word for door, other than the loanword ドア?
I assume that ドア is a loanword from English, unless it's a big coincidence, yet, it's in the top 200 most used Japanese words by frequency, in a Japanese words by frequency list. What's the original ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views
How do you describe something “spicy”?
When I typed "spicy natto" on Google Translate, I got this:
スパイシーな納豆
Here are two things that confused me:
1) why do we need な?
2) why not use 辛い?
Does anyone know?
17
votes
2answers
1k views
How would I know whether a word existed and was commonly used N years ago?
Suppose I'm writing a novel that takes place N years ago, say N = 80. Given the dramatic increase of loanwords in the past century, especially from English, what would be the best way (if there is any)...
1
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1answer
301 views
Is there a defined cause for the recent rise in the popularity of gairaigo?
I was looking on the web for Japanese graphic design and found some pre-WWII material. Then I saw some more recent advertisement material. Comparing the two eras, I notice a difference that was beyond ...
3
votes
2answers
266 views
When are foreign language based words written with kanjis?
I was reading the wikia of an anime and I found this,
Red Riot Unbreakable 烈怒頼雄斗安無嶺過武瑠
(レッドライオットアンブレイカブル)
(Reddo Raiotto Anbureikaburu)
The name of a ...
1
vote
0answers
73 views
what's the difference in usage between gairaigo and wago? [duplicate]
Please help me to understand how and when english-derived words are used in modern Japanese?
I understand that ko-hi and garasu didn't exist in Japan, so there are no Japanese words for them. But I ...
8
votes
1answer
297 views
Why did the 黄色い線 become the 黄色いブロック?
Until a few months ago, I am absolutely sure in every single train station I had ever been the announcement was something along the lines of "黄色い線の内側でお待ちください".
Then, out of the blue, one day the word ...
1
vote
1answer
821 views
Should you say English loanwords in the Japanese pronunciation?
For example, if an American travels to Japan, would they ask for "kohi" in a "koppu", maybe a "foku" for their "supagetti", or would they use "coffee", "fork", etc.?
Which would be more socially ...
0
votes
1answer
185 views
Could ベビーカー be derived from “Baby carriage”?
Most etymologies I've come across for "ベビーカー" assume that it's wasei eigo based on a combination of "baby" (ベビー) and "car" (the "カー" part of "マイカー"). For example, the Japanese edition of Wikipedia ...
6
votes
1answer
400 views
Are there differences in meaning for 「ワイルド」 and 'wild'?
The word ワイルド is generally translated as 'wild' in English. Of course there are many instances where this is the appropriate translation. But I feel like there is a wider range of meanings in Japanese ...
