Gairaigo and Wasei-Eigo: A Corpus-Assisted Study on the Influence of English on the Japanese Lexicon

Abstract

[Abstract] This end-of-degree project explores the influence of English on the Japanese lexicon, focusing on the phenomenon of wasei-eigo, or ‘made-in-Japan English’. The aims are threefold: to study the word formation processes which take part in the aforementioned phenomenon, to compile and analyse English terms being assimilated into Japanese, and to examine cases of reborrowing and their potential impact on English and its learners. The methodology involves a corpus-assisted study through the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese (BCCWJ), provided by the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics in Tokyo. Word formation processes are studied following works such as The Languages of Japan by Masayoshi Shibatani (Cambridge University Press, 1990). The project offers an overview of wasei-eigo, an explanation of the Japanese writing system, a study of word formation processes, an analysis of borrowings in Japanese, and a discussion on reborrowings in English. First, the three Japanese alphabets (hiragana, katakana, and kanji) are covered, along with how they affect the phonetic adaptation of loanwords, often leading to epenthesis and consonant substitution. The three primary word formation processes in Japanese English are identified to be affixation, compounding, and clipping. Affixation, and particularly suffixation, adapts foreign verbs and adjectives to Japanese grammar; compounding, the most productive process, involves placing two English words together, creating terms that may not exist in English or bear a drastically different meaning; finally, clipping, a response to the Japanese language predisposition for shorter words, generates unique shortenings for English terms. Then, different types of English-derived words (EDWs) are categorised and analysed, including gairaigo (actual loanwords) and various subtypes of wasei-eigo: words with changed meanings (pseudo-loanwords), terms with unique shortenings, word combinations not working in English, blends (both purely foreign and foreign-Japanese hybrids), and initialisms Lastly, the dissertation will tackle reborrowing, where wasei terms are reintroduced into English with varying success. Some terms are fully integrated into English dictionaries already, while others remain within specific, niche communities. Some reborrowings maintain their Japanese phonetic adaptations, while others are ‘reromanised’. This study highlights the complexity and creativity in Japanese appropriation of English words, understood as a dynamic process of adaptation, innovation, and creation. While this linguistic exchange enriches both languages, it also poses challenges for English learners and future speakers, as meanings shift and terms are invented or reimagined. Understanding these processes is increasingly important for effective cross-cultural communication and language teaching in our globalised world.