Japanese Language
The Japanese language consists of kanji(), hiragana(
), and katakana(
).
Kanji, which are ideograms, are nearly countless. However we usually learn about 2,000 characters at elementary school and junior high school and the Japanese word processor only prepares about 10,000 characters. Maybe I can only write less than 2,000 characters without the word processor or dictionary.
Hiragana and katakana, which are the phonograms, have respectively about 50 letters. They have a one-to-one correspondence. Most of the Japanese words are written in hiragana and kanji. Katakana is used for loanwords and interjections, and for emphasizing a word.
Before the Second World War, foreign words were almost always transliterated with kanji but now most foreign words are transliterated with katakana.Kanji Loanwords (as an example)
The U.K. was introduced by the Portuguese as "Inglez." The word "Inglez" was transliterated as igirisu(). Koku(
), which meant a country, was added to igirisu, that is, the U.K. became igirisu-koku(
). Then igirisu-koku was abbreviated to eikoku(
). Now we use igirisu(
) or eikoku(
), but it later abbreviated to just eigo(
). (Japanese word "go(
note: A kanji character has usually two or more different pronunciations.
Katakana loanwords from English
The loanwords on the morning paper I read, which begin with "a", are shown on the following table.
Table: Loanwords Beginning with "a"
English (origin) Roma-ji English (origin) Roma-ji access akusesu anima(tion) anime(eshon) accessory akusesarii announce anaunsu ace eesu announcer anaunsaa acetaldehyde aseto-arudehido antenna antena action akushon apartheid aparutoheito advice adobaisu apartment apaato adviser adobaizaa appeal apiiru air eaa appointer apointaa alien eirian archery aacherii all Japan ooru-japan arm aamu allergy arerugii artist aatisuto amateur ama(chua) asbestos asubesuto American football amerikan-huttobooru assessment asesumento amino (acid) amino(san) at home (He felt at home.) atto-hoomu analog anarogu auction ookushon Interchange of Different Languages
English from Japanese: I can easily remember "tsunami", "judo", "kaizen", and "zen (Buddhism)".
Japanese from Sanskrit via Chinese: As I wrote on Teachers' Questions, "ullanbana" in Sanskrit was transliterated intoin China , and then it came to Japan. I do not know Chinese pronunciation but we pronounce it urabon-e. Japanese people have abbreviated it to bon(
).
Chinese from Japanese: On the Nikkei Newspaper (Sep. 7, 2005), Mr.(I do not know how to pronounce his name) said that the Japanese words yuushi (
= financing), teimei (
= being sluggish), and izakaya (
= a bar) have adapted themselves into Chinese. I am very interesting in the movement of these words because kanji originally came from China.
Interesting Change: Japanese people translated computer as denshi-keisanki(= electronic calculator) first. Then Chinese people translated computer as
(I do not know their pronunciation but we pronounce them den-nou). Now we do not use denshi-keisanki and use frequently den-no as an adjective.
I am surprised by a great many of loanwords but have to recognize them. When people come and go, the culture and words also come and go. The development of the transportation and the Internet promotes the movement of people, culture, and words. We have to accept loanwords with better culture rather than to refuse them. When I consider the Japanese population is about 2% of the world population, I believe this is the best way for Japan.