The impact of loan‐words on modern Japanese

要旨

A salient feature of modern Japanese is the use of numerous loan‐words derived from European languages and written in katakana script. Evidence from a number of sources points to a large but uneven increase in the proportion of new loan‐words entering the language. There has also been a change in the type of words being borrowed. Whereas earlier this century loan‐words were almost exclusively names of new objects, there is now a greater tendency to adopt abstract terms and use loan‐words alongside existing terms. Public perception of current loan‐word usage is not always positive. Confusion in the meaning of many new terms appears to be a key factor in generating concern over this phenomenon of language change. Contemporary borrowing patterns centre on the adoption of words which have emotional appeal. This accounts for the preponderance of loan‐words in advertising and the mass media. The use of novel loan‐words by bureaucratic and other elites may also be influenced by the appeal of a high‐status language and a need to recreate elite dialects in the face of the effects of language reforms. The adoption of loan‐words from English appears likely to continue but an increasing integration of English‐derived words into Japanese and the creation of hybrid neologisms is blurring the boundary between loan‐words and native forms.

主題