Questions tagged [loanwords]
外来語. Words brought into Japanese from languages other than Chinese.
208
questions
2
votes
1answer
178 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
votes
1answer
212 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
votes
3answers
2k 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 ...
12
votes
1answer
225 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
votes
1answer
78 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
467 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
118 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
votes
2answers
129 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?
8
votes
2answers
242 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
votes
1answer
1k views
2
votes
1answer
253 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
vote
1answer
123 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
votes
2answers
892 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
634 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
295 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
116 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
votes
2answers
203 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
93 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
209 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
209 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
...
1
vote
1answer
66 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
158 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
521 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
votes
1answer
176 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 ...
-2
votes
2answers
93 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
162 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
votes
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
255 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 ...
5
votes
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
136 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
167 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
3k 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
1k 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
vote
1answer
280 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
247 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
72 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
281 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
792 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
180 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
293 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
136 views
Is ワンサイズ a valid Japanese word?
Japanese For Busy People volume II, revised third edition, on page 23 has
To state or ask how much bigger, you use other words.
ワンサイズ大きいのはありませんか。
Do you have one that is a size bigger?
However,...
7
votes
2answers
595 views
Attempts to distinguish English “L” and “R” sounds using (extended) katakana
Katakana can represent many foreign sounds that do not exist in native Japanese words, either by using special characters such as ヴ or by using special katakana combinations such as フュ. They are ...
5
votes
2answers
234 views
Is there an opposite of gairaigo, covering both kango and wago?
Is there a term that means that something isn't gairaigo, words recently derived from (predominantly European) foreign languages?
For example, I'd like to say that 踊り is a non-gairaigo word, which ...
4
votes
1answer
165 views
Meaning of ブラック in this sentence about work
A Japanese friend that works as a teacher told me he wants to quit his job and come to work in Europe. I asked why and he answered:
EUに行くのが夢。 あと、日本社会の中でも教える仕事はスーパーブラック
What is the meaning of ブラック ...
6
votes
3answers
543 views
Why Was Jaguar Borrowed as ジャガー?
It's listed as being borrowed from English, but even if it were the case that it had been borrowed from Portuguese, it's still pronounced /ɡwɑɹ/ and not /ɡɑɹ/. Japanese phonology is also perfectly ...
4
votes
1answer
191 views
Why does ボウル use a vowel kana rather than a long vowel mark?
It seems like both ボウル and ボール are valid Japanese words. The general impression I get is that using long vowel marks ("ー") are the norm for words written in katakana.
In Why are long vowels ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Is マネージャー suitable when describing a manager working in a large business?
In Fluent Forever's Awesome Word List, マネージャー is used to describe a manager in a bank or similar organisation.
However, doing a search with the basic version of google image search mainly got middle-...
