Japlish

[Boatti, Stephen]

When my kids were studying Japanese, I was amazed that the Japanese words
for so many common everyday items were actually English loan words. I could
not understand why they used English words for things that clearly had been
around for centuries and must have had native Japanese terms. And these
weren't just words that trendy teenagers used, but the primary translations
for English words taught in a Japanese language class.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Beth Campbell [mailto:besuchan at HOTMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 9:48 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Japlish

This reminds me of what I call Japlish.  I was doing a project studying loan
words in Japanese.  It's really funny what they have loan words for.  Many
of the younger generation kids use the English words for things they already
have a Japanese word for--such as the word for 'beach.'  They will say
'biichi' instead of 'umibe,' the pure Japanese word for 'beach.'  I think
this is because of a status symbol and/or a generational thing.  It makes
them feel more cool, or something, and their parents don't understand it as
well.  (Of course, you know, if our parents can't understand what we're
saying, then they must be stupid, right?)
Beth


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