The Most Common Loan Words in Japanese

The Japanese language has borrowed many words from foreign countries, firstly from China as early as the Nara Period (710-794). Gairaigo (Ã¥ ¤â€"æ  ¥Ã¨ ªÅ¾) is the Japanese word for loan word or borrowed word. Many Chinese words were mixed into Japanese to the extent that they are no longer considered loan words. Most Chinese loan words are written in kanji and carry the Chinese reading (on-reading). Around the 17th century, the Japanese language began to borrow from many western languages. For example, from Portuguese, Dutch, German (especially from the field of medicine), French and Italian (not surprisingly many are from the fields of art, music, and food), and most of all, English. Today, English is the origin of most modern loan words.​ The Japanese use English words to express concepts for which they have no equivalents. However, some people simply prefer to use English expressions for practically or because it is fashionable. In fact, many loan words have existing synonyms in Japanese. For example, the Japanese word for business is shoubai 商å £ ², but the loan word bijinesu ãÆ'“ã‚ ¸Ã£Æ' Ã£â€š ¹ is also used. Another example is gyuunyuu 牛ä ¹ ³(Japanese word) and miruku ãÆ'ŸãÆ' «Ã£â€š ¯(loan word) for milk. Loan words are generally written in katakana, except the ones of Chinese origin. They are pronounced using Japanese pronunciation rules and Japanese syllables. Therefore, they end up quite different from the original pronunciation. This makes it hard to recognize the original foreign word. Many loan words are often abbreviated in ways they wouldnt get abbreviated in their original language. Examples of Loan Words Maiku ãÆ'žã‚ ¤Ã£â€š ¯ ---- microphoneSuupaa ã‚ ¹Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'‘ãÆ' ¼ ---- supermarketDepaato ãÆ'‡ãÆ'‘ãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ'ˆ --- department storeBiru ãÆ'“ãÆ' « ---- buildingIrasuto ã‚ ¤Ã£Æ' ©Ã£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'ˆ ---- illustrationMeeku ãÆ' ¡Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£â€š ¯ ---- make-upDaiya ãÆ'€ã‚ ¤Ã£Æ' ¤ ---- diamond Multiple words are also shortened, often to four syllables. Pasokon ãÆ'‘ã‚ ½Ã£â€š ³Ã£Æ' ³ ---- personal computerWaapuro ãÆ' ¯Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'â€"ãÆ' ­ ---- word processorAmefuto ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ'•ãÆ'ˆ ---- American footballPuroresu ãÆ'â€"ãÆ' ­Ã£Æ' ¬Ã£â€š ¹ ---- professional wrestlingKonbini ã‚ ³Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'“ãÆ'‹ ---- convenience storeEakon ã‚ ¨Ã£â€š ¢Ã£â€š ³Ã£Æ' ³ ---- air conditioningMasukomi ãÆ'žã‚ ¹Ã£â€š ³Ã£Æ'Ÿ ---- mass media (from mass communication) A loan word can be generative. It may be combined with Japanese or other loanwords. Here are some examples. Shouene çÅ" Ã£â€š ¨Ã£Æ'  ---- energy savingShokupan é £Å¸Ã£Æ'‘ãÆ' ³ ---- loaf of breadKeitora è » ½Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ' © ---- light commercial truckNatsumero 㠁 ªÃ£  ¤Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ­ ---- a once-popular song Loan words are often combined into Japanese as nouns. When they are combined with suru, it changes the word into a verb. The verb suru (to do) has many extended uses. Doraibu suru ãÆ'‰ãÆ' ©Ã£â€š ¤Ã£Æ'â€"㠁™ã‚‹ ---- to driveKisu suru ã‚ ­Ã£â€š ¹Ã£ â„¢Ã£â€šâ€¹ ---- to kissNokku suru ãÆ'ŽãÆ'Æ'ã‚ ¯Ã£ â„¢Ã£â€šâ€¹ ---- to knockTaipu suru ã‚ ¿Ã£â€š ¤Ã£Æ'â€"㠁™ã‚‹ ---- to type There are also loan words that are actually made in Japan. For example, sarariiman ã‚ µÃ£Æ' ©Ã£Æ' ªÃ£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'žãÆ' ³(salary man) refers to someone whose income is salary base, generally the people work for corporations. Another example, naitaa ãÆ'Šã‚ ¤Ã£â€š ¿Ã£Æ' ¼, comes from the English word night followed by ~er, means baseball games played at night. Common Loan Words Arubaito ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ' «Ã£Æ' Ã£â€š ¤Ã£Æ'ˆ ---- part-time job (from German arbeit)Enjin ã‚ ¨Ã£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ¸Ã£Æ' ³ ---- engineGamu ã‚ ¬Ã£Æ'   ---- chewing gumKamera ã‚ «Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' © ---- cameraGarasu ã‚ ¬Ã£Æ' ©Ã£â€š ¹ ---- glassKarendaa ã‚ «Ã£Æ' ¬Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'ۋÆ' ¼ ---- calendarTerebi ãÆ'†ãÆ' ¬Ã£Æ'“ ---- televisionHoteru ãÆ'݋Æ'†ãÆ' « ---- hotelResutoran ãÆ' ¬Ã£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ' ©Ã£Æ' ³ ---- restaurantTonneru ãÆ'ˆãÆ' ³Ã£Æ' Ã£Æ' « ---- tunnelMacchi ãÆ'žãÆ'Æ'ãÆ'  ---- matchMishin ãÆ'Ÿã‚ ·Ã£Æ' ³ ---- sewing machineRuuru ãÆ' «Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ' « ---- ruleReji ãÆ' ¬Ã£â€š ¸ ---- cash registerWaishatsu ãÆ' ¯Ã£â€š ¤Ã£â€š ·Ã£Æ' £Ã£Æ'„ ---- solid colored dress shirt (from white shirt)Baa ãÆ' Ã£Æ' ¼ ---- barSutairu ã‚ ¹Ã£â€š ¿Ã£â€š ¤Ã£Æ' « ---- styleSutoorii ã‚ ¹Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ' ªÃ£Æ' ¼ ---- storySumaato ã‚ ¹Ã£Æ'žãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ'ˆ ---- smartAidoru ã‚ ¢Ã£â€š ¤Ã£Æ'‰ãÆ' « ---- idol, pop starAisukuriimu ã‚ ¢Ã£â€š ¤Ã£â€š ¹Ã£â€š ¯Ã£Æ' ªÃ£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'   ---- ice creamAnime ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ'‹ãÆ' ¡ ---- animationAnkeeto ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ±Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£Æ'ˆ ---- questionnaire, survey (from French enquete)Baagen ãÆ' Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£â€š ²Ã£Æ' ³ ---- a sale at store (from bargain)Bataa ãÆ' Ã£â€š ¿Ã£Æ' ¼ ---- butterBiiru ãÆ'“ãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ' « ---- beer (from Dutch bier)Booru pen ãÆ'Å"ãÆ' ¼Ã£Æ' «Ã£Æ'šãÆ' ³ ---- ballpoint penDorama ãÆ'‰ãÆ' ©Ã£Æ'ž ---- TV dramaErebeetaa ã‚ ¨Ã£Æ' ¬Ã£Æ'™ãÆ' ¼Ã£â€š ¿Ã£Æ' ¼ ---- elevatorFurai ãÆ'•ãÆ' ©Ã£â€š ¤ ---- deep fryingFuronto ãÆ'•ãÆ' ­Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'ˆ ---- the reception deskGomu ã‚ ´Ã£Æ'   ---- rubber band (from Dutch gom)Handoru ãÆ' Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'‰ãÆ' « ---- handleHankachi ãÆ' Ã£Æ' ³Ã£â€š «Ã£Æ'  ---- handkerchiefImeeji ã‚ ¤Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£â€š ¸ ---- imagejuusu ã‚ ¸Ã£Æ' ¥Ã£Æ' ¼Ã£â€š ¹ ---- juicekokku ã‚ ³Ã£Æ'Æ'ã‚ ¯ ---- cook (from Dutch kok) Nationality is expressed by adding jin ä º º, which literally means person, after the country name. Amerika-jin ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š «Ã¤ º º---- AmericanItaria-jin ã‚ ¤Ã£â€š ¿Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¢Ã¤ º º ---- ItalianOranda-jin ã‚ ªÃ£Æ' ©Ã£Æ' ³Ã£Æ'ۊ º º---- DutchKanada-jin ã‚ «Ã£Æ'ŠãÆ'ۊ º º----- CanadianSupein-jin ã‚ ¹Ã£Æ'šã‚ ¤Ã£Æ' ³Ã¤ º º---- SpanishDoitsu-jin ãÆ'‰ã‚ ¤Ã£Æ'„ä º º---- GermanyFuransu-jin ãÆ'•ãÆ' ©Ã£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ¹Ã¤ º º---- French