外来語はなんですか?

What is Gairaigo?

Gairaigo refers to Japanese loanwords. About 33% of Japanese is made up of loanwords, with 80% of these coming from English! These loanwords are integrated into the Japanese language for many different reasons, including the accessibility they offer, ease of use, and the increased ability to express onself. Japanese largely see gairaigo as a positive, and many use gairaigo to seem cool.

Accessibility

Japanese is a language made up of four writing systems. Japanese words are usually written using a combination of hiragana and kanji. Unfortunately, certain kanji may be uncommon,complicated, or simply too hard to read in smaller texts. In situations like this, publications opt to use loan words in place of the native Japanese terminology. Words such as 危機 becomes リスク, allowing the text to accessible to more people.

Ease of Use

As technology advances, the Japanese language often lacks the words to describe new creations. At times, the native word that would refer to a new piece of technology is clunky and hard to say. Smartphone, for example, becomes 高機能携帯電話. Needless to say, most people opt to simply say sumaphon.

Expressing Oneself

While Japan is not necessarily lacking vocabulary, Japanese speakers may opt to use English to change the connotations of a phrase. Saying you feel 元気 would be taken differently than saying you feel OK です.

Want to Learn More?