2.4 Loanwords from other languages — and false friends — Epoché
What you will be able to do Recognise that a fifth of Japanese loanwords are not from English at all, and name the four languages that supplied most of them. Read a hundred borrowings from German, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian and Russian. Stop reaching for an English source when the word has none — the mistake that produces the worst guesses. Handle the false friends: バイキング is a buffet and カルテ is a medical record. Prerequisites : lesson 2.3 — 和製英語 ( waseieigo ), and the four words to fix in your first month. About eighty per cent of Japanese loanwords come from English. This lesson is about the other twenty per cent, and the reason it exists is not completeness. It is that the conversion rules of lesson 2.1 work on any European word, so a German or Portuguese borrowing looks exactly like an English one — and if you assume English, you will construct a wrong etymology and then a wrong meaning. The rule There is no phonological rule here; the sound conversion is the same whatever the source. What there is instead is a chronology , and it is reliable enough to guess with. Period Source, and what it supplied 1540s onwards Portuguese , with the first European traders and missionaries: food, clothing, household things. パン , タバコ , ボタン , カステラ . The oldest layer, and the only one that escaped katakana (lesson 0.9). 1600s–1850s Dutch , the one European nation allowed to trade during the closed period: science, medicine, tools, glass. ガラス , コップ , ビール , レンズ , ポンプ . 1870s–1930s German , because Japan modernised its medicine, law and universities on the German model: medicine, academia, mountaineering, philosophy. カルテ , レントゲン , ゼミ , アルバイト . 1870s onwards French , for art, fashion, cooking and the language of officialdom's finer distinctions. アトリエ , アンケート , ジャンル , オードブル . twentieth century Italian for music and food, Russian for a handful of specialities. テンポ , パスタ , イクラ , ノルマ . The chronology is usable as a heuristic. A medical or academic word is more likely German than English. A cooking or art word is more likely French. A word for a tool, a glass vessel or a piece of laboratory equipment is more likely Dutch. A word for a foodstuff that has been in Japan for centuries is probably Portuguese. And the practical instruction is simply: if an English etymology feels strained, stop forcing it. アルバイト is not "album" or "all byte"; it is German Arbeit , work. Word list From German Japanese Meaning, and the German behind it アルバイト a part-time job — Arbeit , work カルテ a patient's medical record — Karte , card レントゲン an X-ray — Röntgen, who discovered them ワクチン a vaccine — Vakzin アレルギー an allergy — Allergie エネルギー energy — Energie ウイルス a virus — Virus , read the German way ホルモン a hormone — Hormon . In a restaurant it means offal. ノイローゼ a neurosis, a nervous breakdown — Neurose ヒステリー hysteria — Hysterie ギプス a plaster cast — Gips ゼミ a university seminar — Seminar テーマ a theme, a topic — Thema リュック a rucksack — Rucksack ゲレンデ a ski slope — Gelände メルヘン a fairy tale, and the storybook style — Märchen バウムクーヘン a ringed layer cake — Baumkuchen カプセル a capsule — Kapsel ザイル a climbing rope — Seil フリーター someone living on part-time work — English "free" plus Arbeiter From French Japanese Meaning, and the French behind it アンケート a questionnaire, a survey — enquête アトリエ an artist's studio — atelier デッサン a drawing, a sketch — dessin ジャンル a genre — genre ニュアンス a nuance — nuance エチケット etiquette — étiquette クレヨン a crayon — crayon コンクール a competition, especially musical — concours グランプリ the grand prize — grand prix オードブル a starter, hors d'oeuvre — hors-d'œuvre ズボン trousers — jupon ピーマン a green pepper — piment マヨネーズ mayonnaise — mayonnaise オムレツ an omelette — omelette クロワッサン a croissant — croissant シュークリーム a cream puff — chou à la crème シルエット a silhouette — silhouette ブーケ a bouquet — bouquet サボる to skive, to skip class — sabotage plus a Japanese verb ending レストラン a restaurant — restaurant From Portuguese Japanese Meaning, and the Portuguese behind it パン bread — pão タバコ tobacco, cigarettes — tabaco . Usually written たばこ . ボタン a button — botão カステラ a sponge cake — from Castella , Castile カッパ a rain cape — capa カルタ a traditional card game — carta コンペイトウ a small star-shaped sugar sweet — confeito ミイラ a mummy — mirra , myrrh シャボン soap, now mostly in "soap bubble" — sabão オルガン an organ, the instrument — órgão ジョウロ a watering can — jorro ブランコ a swing in a playground — balanço てんぷら tempura — tempero , seasoning. Written in hiragana. かぼちゃ a pumpkin — from "Cambodia", through Portuguese traders ビスケット a biscuit — biscoito , reinforced later by English From Dutch Japanese Meaning, and the Dutch behind it ガラス glass, the material — glas コップ a tumbler, a drinking glass — kop . Not the English "cup", which is カップ . ビール beer — bier レンズ a lens — lens ポンプ a pump — pomp メス a scalpel — mes , knife ピンセット tweezers — pincet ゴム rubber; an elastic band — gom ペンキ paint — pek ブリキ tin plate — blik コック a cook, a chef — kok スコップ a spade, a shovel — schop ランドセル the leather satchel Japanese schoolchildren wear — ransel オルゴール a music box — orgel ホース a hose — hoos ドック a dock; also a medical check-up — dok ズック canvas, canvas shoes — doek オランダ the Netherlands — Holland コーヒー coffee — koffie , not English ガス gas — gas From Italian and Russian Japanese Meaning and source テンポ tempo, pace — Italian オペラ opera — Italian ソプラノ soprano — Italian フィナーレ a finale — Italian パスタ pasta — Italian ピザ pizza — Italian スパゲッティ spaghetti — Italian ミネストローネ minestrone — Italian イクラ salmon roe — Russian ikra ノルマ a quota, a set workload — Russian norma インテリ an intellectual — Russian intelligentsia ペチカ a Russian masonry stove — Russian カンパ a fundraising drive — Russian kampaniya セイウチ a walrus — Russian sivuch ゲリラ a guerrilla; also a sudden downpour — Spanish The false friends These are the ones that will actively mislead you, because an English reading of them produces a confident wrong answer rather than a blank. You will read it as It actually means バイキング "Viking" a buffet. From a restaurant