Questions tagged [loanwords]
外来語. Words brought into Japanese from languages other than Chinese.
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Whats the native word for poison/toxin?
I was looking for the native word used before どく (which is obviously a loanword). In Kagoshima-ben its どっ in Okinawan ドゥク /ルク which also seem like loanwords from chinese. Thanks in advance.
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Questions on using the ページ counter
I am uncertain about a couple of things regarding the use of the ページ counter.
Firstly... How do I differentiate the use of the ページ counter to refer to "how many (pages)" vs "which (page)...
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What are the reasons to use the English "or" in Japanese texts?
Sometimes I encounter the English "or" used in texts written by Japanese natives, which seems a little odd from a foreigner's point of view. I mean it's true that the Japanese are known for ...
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How do Japanese kept up with the current loanwords
How do loanwords appear in the Japanese vocabulary. If someone or some group decided to borrow a new word, how does it propagate to the rest of the population? Or are loanwords a regional thing?
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"Ka no taikoku shin" = China? [Rurouni Kenshin Live Action]
The Rurouni Kenshin Live Action movie (2012) is set in 1878 Tokyo Japan. In it, a high-ranking general (Yamagata) talks about how opium (アヘン) (which is spreading through japan) might destroy Japan as ...
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Etymology of ダンボール
This question has been on my mind for quite a while. The fact that ダンボール (corrugated cardboard) is written in katakana infers that it's a 外来語. However, it can also be written as 段ボール, and I have no ...
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What's a prototypical example of モラハラ (moral harassment)?
I'm not exactly sure what モラハラ is. All I can tell is that it's strongly associated with workplace bullying. But I don't really understand how "moral harassment" might be a thing. Is it kind ...
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"デウス" = Jesus, instead of "イエス"?
In the recent show Shogun (S01EP02), set in the early 1600s, an Englishman explains to a Japanese lord that there a two different sects of Christianity (Protestant and Catholic) that are essentially ...
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Are there standards for transliteration into Japanese?
There seem to be some inconsistencies, for example, "t" becomes "tsu" in スーツケース, but "to" in メトロ. "eer" becomes "iiru" in ビール, but it seems like in ...
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Why can 尸魂界 be read as ソウル・ソサエティ "Soul Society"? Are there other words that can have a different loan word reading?
I am watching the anime "Bleach" with Japanese audio, and I hear them talk about something in the story called the Soul Society.
When I look at the transcript, I see, that 尸魂界 is used. ...
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If 米 can be used to refer to America as a country (USA), can it also refer to America as a continent?
I am currently studying this Kanji. In addition to the original meaning of rice, it also has other meanings of meter (SI unit of length) and America. In English and my mother tongue Indonesian, "...
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What does "B.D." mean here? (Birdie Wing)
In Birdie Wing, Eve is being led blindfolded to a golf match that she has to do to settle a mafia dispute. While being explained this absurd premise, she says something in Japanese which is translated ...
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"B" meaning "hot and heavy"?
In Maison Ikkoku, the title of episode 60 is "見ちゃった！響子{きょうこ}と三鷹{みたか}がいきなりB？！", which is translated to "Caught in the Act! Kyoko and Mitaka-Hot and Heavy!"
My question is, what is &...
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What term is used for different types of smoking (e-cigs, vapes, cigars)?
If someone wants to smoke a cigarette in your presence, they might ask "タバコいいっすか？". I've also heard it referred to as 煙 (kemuri). I'd imagine those terms work for cigars as well (however ...
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Why isn't there an actual Japanese word for "balcony"?
The Japanese word for "balcony" is a loanword of veranda - ベランダ (Beranda). Veranda is a Anglo-Indian word from Hindi varanda which came from Portuguese varanda and is extensively used in ...
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When to use ンネ vs ッネ?
For example, why the correct spelling is トンネル rather than トッネル ?
Is it an arbitrary/historical choice, or is there a rule that explains it? Would the pronunciation differ?
This wiki page says that ッ &...
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Why does 'アプリストア’ mean appstore?
I initially expected 'appstore' to be アップストア
I don't see why it's translated as 'apuri-store'
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Does フェミニスト mean something like "womanizer"?
Does フェミニスト mean something like "womanizer"?
Wiktionary says:
(dated, colloquial) a chivalrous man
Vice reports that someone on Reddit said:
One Reddit commenter suggested that the text ...
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Can the "&"-symbol (ampersand) be used in Japanese to connect two language names?
For example, is this correct and commonly understood by Japanese-readers:
"日本語 & 英語"
which should represent "Japanese & English" and denote a bilingual edition of a ...
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Meaning of ローンボーイ
From the visual novel Higurashi no Naku Koro ni,
圭一
「おいおいおいおい！ 本人不在で勝手に話を進めるなー！ 俺は孤独と静寂を愛するロンリーガイだぜー？」
魅音
「あっはははははっは！！ だぁれがロンリーガイだー！」
魅音
ローンボーイの間違いでしょー？ くっくっくっく！」
レナ
「はぅ～、ローンって圭一くん…。 お金に困ってるなら協力するよ…...
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ト and ツ in English loanwords
When it comes to gairaigo, every time there's a consonant cluster or a final one you generally add a -u to it. Glass=gurasu, plan=puran, story=sutoorii, wrestling=resuringu.
As far as I can tell, this ...
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Difference between 火花 and スパーク
When talking about sparks, what is the difference between 火花 and スパーク?
If I want to describe a spark of static electricity, which word is better to use?
Can either of these words be used ...
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Difference between 道化師, ピエロ, and クラウン
What’s the difference in usage between these three words?
ピエロ
クラウン
道化師
Which of these would describe a typical American’s notion of a circus clown?
type of clown I’m thinking of
Does one of these ...
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Kanji after gairaigo pronunciation [duplicate]
For instance, in "アカウントにサインイン中です。" How is "中" pronounced?
At a purely mental level, I've always maintained the idea that how you read is up to you, which seems to be backed by ...
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Did the medical mask exist in Japan before the arrival of the English?
The word for a medical "mask" is borrowed from the English language. Does this infer that these types of masks did not exist in Japan before the arrival of the English? If these masks did ...
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What is the difference between ギャンブラー, 博徒, and 博奕打ち?
I was looking up a character from a Japanese game whose profession/specialty was gambler and saw that the word used in Japanese was ギャンブラー. My general distaste for katakana-English inflamed, I looked ...
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How to understand usage of ツ in words with a closed syllable?
We have words ペット、ベッド、ファックス、ピクニック.
The symbol ッ usually is indicated for doubling consonants or to indicate a closed syllable.
The question is why the word post (ポスト) was written without ッ before ト?
...
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How to read 艶肌 in 艶肌メイク
Question: How is the 艶肌 in 艶肌メイク ("glossy skin make-up") pronounced?
Context: An Instagram influencer used 艶肌メイク in one of their posts.
Background: I struggle with newly coined Japanese ...
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What was the movement of tea leaves called before it was called ジャンピング?
I recently learned that apparently the phenomenon of tea leaves moving up and down in very hot water is called ジャンピング (See example videos). This surprises me a bit as I would certainly expect that ...
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Why is there ベッドルーム when there's already 寝室? [duplicate]
I was trying to find house vocabulary and found multiple (from my perspective) synonyms (where the synonyms sounded like English). For example, ベッドルーム and 寝室, as well as キッチン and 台所, as well as バスルーム ...
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Meaning of "本ノック"?
I've seen some books with "本ノック" in the title, such as "Python実践データ分析100本ノック" and "有機化学1000本ノック 反応機構編" but can't figure out what it actually means.
I've also seen it used ...
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What is the reason for the odd vowel values of Japanese ココア?
I've done a bit of digging, and for the life of me, I cannot find any clear record or explanation for why Japanese ココア is pronounced the way it is.
Sources researched to date:
Lots of different ...
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Do [贈]{おく}り物 and プレゼント mean the same thing?
The use of loan words such as プレゼント are used much more just like カメラ is and such. So should i just disregard [贈]{おく}り物 and focus my memory on something else or do you know if [贈]{おく}り物 is still used ...
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Loanwords not being pronounced in a normal moraic rhythm?
Here's a spectogram of a speaker's rendition of “プロトタイプ” from English “prototype”, collected from Forvo
It should be clear from this spectogram that the pu-mora is pronounced in half a mora; the mora-...
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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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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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:...
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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
...
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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"?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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