In this article, I'm going to talk about loanwords used in Japan. Well, can you guess how many loanwords are used in Japan? The answer is 'many'. Well actually, I'm not sure the exact number, but I can say so. For example, 'croquette' is from French, 'castela' from Portuguese, 'hamburger' from English, etc.
From my perspective, Japanese people seem to having a habit to import & use loanwords & combine them with other languages or even Japanese: for example, 'kamikoppu' is formed from 'kami', which is a Japanese word meaning 'paper' & 'koppu', which is the Japanese spelling of 'cup'. Kamikoppu is called 'paper cup' in English.
Some or many loanwords are used as different meanings from their original ones: for example, 'mansion'. This word is also used in Japan, but the meaning is different from in English. In Japan, 'a mansion' means an apartment building or a block of flats made of concrete'. But I know it means 'a large (& often attractive & impressive) house with a pool, a huge yard, & so on' in English. Plus, this sometimes or frequently leads foreigners to be confused about or misunderstand what Japanese people say to them in English.
Currently, many loanwords from English are used in Japan as well such as, 'drone', 'smartphone', 'celebrity (this is usually used as its short form 'celeb')', etc, but their meanings & pronunciation are sometimes different from English ones.
Anyway, that's it for today's my article. How were it & my English? Have they been clear or confusing? I hope all you guys visit & read my next article real soon. I'm really afraid it's time to say goodbye to you guys, see ya.
No comments:
Post a Comment