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Non-American-English Foreign Words used in Japan

Golgo_13

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27 Nov 2003
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Here are a few I thought of:

pan - bread, from Portuguese pan or French pain

karuta - a card game played during New Year holidays, from Portuguese carta

arubaito - a part-time job, from German arbeiten, to work

abekku - a pair, a couple, from French avec

konkuuru - a contest, from French concours

bakansu - a vacation, from French vacances

ankeito - a questionnaire, from French enquete

shimiizu - a lady's undergarment, from French chemise

penshon - a country inn, from French pension

enerugii - energy, from German energie

kurakushon - car horn, from British Klaxon

tanku rorii - from British tank lorry
 
iruka - that salmon roe on sushi (I think) from the Russian ..?.. read that one somewhere
 
Mandylion said:
iruka - that salmon roe on sushi (I think) from the Russian ..?.. read that one somewhere

True, except "iruka" is a dolphin. :D

"Ikura" is derived from the Russian Ikra
 
Hey Golgo Sama!

Quiz: What is the difference between hamba-ga- and hamba-gu-? (Yes, I know the answer...)
 
And do not forget that all car parts are from British English, not American English:

bonnet = hood

handle = steering wheel

etc.
 
Buntaro said:
Hey Golgo Sama!

Quiz: What is the difference between hamba-ga- and hamba-gu-? (Yes, I know the answer...)

hanbaagaa is "Hamburger" and comes on a bun.

hanbaagu is without the bun
 
I wonder what they call a McDonald's quarter pounder.

"Yonbun no ichi pondo baagaa"?
 
The word "Arigatou" is most like derived from the Portuguese "Obrigado" (thank you).

The word arigatou did not exist prior to the start of trading relations with the Portuguese. And the Kanji for arigatou or arigatai is contrived--a kanji for aru (to exist) and one for katai (hardness). The two kanjis combined have no implication of gratitude in the original Chinese definitions, but is pronounced arigatou.
 
Golgo_13 said:
The word "Arigatou" is most like derived from the Portuguese "Obrigado" (thank you).

Was there another word for "Thank you" before ? (doomo ?) It's strange if there wasn't such a common phrase, so used by Japanese nowadays. Another weird thing is that Japanese also use "sankyuu" from "thank you" (it's even listed in my electronic dictionary). I know of no other language importing a word (in this case 2!) for thanking someone, as it usually exist in all languages.
 
I assume when the Imperial capital was in either Nara or Kyoto they could have said "Ookini" like they still do in Kansai. Back then, there were still cavemen living in the Tokyo area so what they spoke there is irrelevant.
 
Buntaro said:
And do not forget that all car parts are from British English, not American English:
bonnet = hood
handle = steering wheel

A funny thing with Japanese imports is that they mix so easily British and American English, so that they say bonetto (from BrE "bonnet") and toranku (from AmE "trunk", "boot" in BrE).

When it comes to food, they even import both words or words from other languages with the same meaning :
- sweets (BrE), candy (AmE) & bonbon (French)
- biscuit (BrE) & cookie (AmE)
- cake (English) & gateau (French)
- pie (English) & tarte (French, or "tart" from English)

Other words :

- mesu (from German "Mes", either "surgical knife" or "fair/festival")
- uirusu (from Latin), bi-rusu (from German) = virus
- manto (from French "manteau")
 
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Golgo_13 said:
The word "Arigatou" is most like derived from the Portuguese "Obrigado" (thank you).
This has been argued to death in sci.lang.japan the general responses are
- No it isn't
and
- Please God. Don't start this argument again!!

No it is not. Arigatou is a standard grammatical conjugation of a word
"arigatai", which literally means "having difficulties", with the
polite verb "gozaimasu". Other common examples include "omedetou
gozaimasu" (congratulations) from "medetai" and "ohayou gozaimasu"
(good morning) from "hayai". The word "arigatai" certainly existed in
Japanese long before the Japanese ever encountered Portuguese, in fact
it can be found in some of the earliest Japanese literature.
Similarly, the word "obrigado" in Portuguese comes from Latin
"obligare". The change l -> r is typical of Latin-derived Portuguese
words.
 
As PaulTB pointed, in ancient Japan, people use a word "Arigatashi"(rare/unusual), and it turned to "Arigatou" because (it is said) to find/meet/get something rare is usually a thankful event for us.

You can find Arigatashi in a famous old essay "Makurano-soushi"(written in early 11c). The name of chapter 73 is "Arigataki-mono".

Can you imagine what is Arigataki-mono(rare things/persons) for a intelligent lady of that time?
If you can read/understand ancient Japanese, here's the text.
http://www.wao.or.jp/naniuji/koten/makurano.htm
 
kara said:
If you can read/understand ancient Japanese, here's the text.
http://www.wao.or.jp/naniuji/koten/makurano.htm
As it happens I've done (a little) bit of on old kana -> new kana changes but it's still pretty difficult.

(I've got this computer quiz that is aimed at people taking the 入学試験 for a 高校. It's amazing how much I've forgotten since school - or never knew. But at least now I can (generally) find where the 県 are in Japan :)
 
What's the one from Dutch for a satchel or backpack you hikiagemasu? I came across it a couple years ago in a children's story. Rakku, rukku?
 
Ewok85 said:
my favorite zubon (trowsers) but i tend to say 'pants' and cause a bit of a stir
Because they also stand for men's briefs? Zubon is from French, right? Although pantsu may be the more standard now. Where did the old word jiipan (jeans) come from?
 
Elizabeth said:
Although pantsu may be the more standard now.
Only in America. Japan uses the britgo definition of pants - hence the "and cause a bit of a stir" bit.
 
PaulTB said:
Only in America. Japan uses the britgo definition of pants - hence the "and cause a bit of a stir" bit.
Oh, OK--thanks. it was listed ahead of zubon in my dictionary, so I wasn't sure.
 
Here are some French words. I hope there all right! :p

-oma-ru/Homard (French) for lobster

-vapu-ru/vapeur (French) for steam

-marine/marinee (French) for a dish of fish or meat marinated with herbal vegetables in vinegar and oil

-kuresonn/cresson (French) for watercress

-amerike-nu/americain (French) for American

-gurie/grille (French) grill

-foagura/foie gras --fat liver of a fattened goose

Some words are suppose to have accents but they come out screwed up.
 
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