John FAWSITT

101

吉備国際大学研究紀要（人文・社会科学系）
第26号，101−107，2016

The Phonological Features of Gairaigo
John FAWSITT
Abstract(An Investigation of the Role Played by Phonological Featuresin the Adoption of Foreign Words into Japanese. )This preliminary proposal examines and speculates about the possibility that there is a linkof some type between the phonological features of a lexical item in one language that makes
its adoption into usage in another language more likely to occur. This is done with specificreference to the adoption and currency in Japan of foreign loan words known as“gairaigo”and their usage. It is speculated whether points of phonological resemblance between these
foreign words and their alternate, or a proximate Japanese word or term, coupled with adegree of semantic similarity increases the likelihood that they will be adopted and attainany level of currency among the recipient language’s users.
Key words：gairaigo, phono-semantic matching, phoneme
While the currents of trade, conquest, andLanguage Change

cultural interaction are responsible for muchof this crossfertilisation of language, perhaps

Living language is in a constant state of decay andthere are other deeper currents that attract andgeneration. The speaker of English 600 years ago

repel lexical incursions and facilitate or obstruct

would have a difficult time understanding thelinguistic permeation. These forces may act atlanguage as it is spoken now. Languages are madethe almost chemical level of language, that of thefrom and of other languages. The case where aphoneme. Language penetration is rarely evenlanguage has evolved independently would beand there is always a residue of what went before.

one where speech itself evolved independently.

Why this is, is perhaps explainable at this level.

Languages meet, merge, share, exchange,
appropriate, donate and divide in, to, and from

The most noticeable impulse for these lexicaleach other.

migrants is the advance of modern technology.

1)

However occasionally these additions might have
吉備国際大学外国語学部〒716-8508 岡山県高梁市伊賀町８
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8, Iga-machi, Takahashi, Okayama, Japan（716-8508）

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The Phonological Features of Gairaigo

more to do with changes in the values, structure,

Absorption Strategies

political, and social economy of the society. Inthe stages of a society’s evolution concepts andSince the industrial revolution and the consequent

things can take up new places in the hierarchy

flood of technological invention and innovation,of values. Something rare and valued can become

languages all over the world have had to findplentiful and taken for granted, thereby deserving

ways to accommodate these new products. Inof a less honorific name. Behaviour that was taboo

English for example it was found that construction

can become more accepted and require a lessof new Greek and Latin compound words wasprejudicial referential.

one way to create names for these innovations,eg.‘telephone’‘microscope’‘phonograph’. Once

However in cases where there is no obvious

named these items then become‘possessed’bychange in the status of the original term or

the namer’s language.‘Telephone’is seen as

expression why would there be any need toEnglish though it is a foreign compound. Somereplace it? It is possible that the imported word

cultures accepted this as a loan word others

is more succinct or in some way attractive. Alsosought ways to name it so as to express themere exposure can alter the language as is seen

meaning within or to reflect their own culturalin the adoption of American English expressions

tradition. Telephone thus becomes‘ 電 話 ’and isinto British English via television and other media.

‘acquired’by the Japanese language. Another

Equally the term can be adopted for its cachet

way is to accept the word by and large as it isor to differentiate itself from some more local or

and let the users shape it as they will.

traditional concept.

Sometimes the effort to nativise the item isconscious and aimed at preserving the purity ofCultures often respond cautiously to these arrivals

the language and, at other times, to make theand see them as examples of enrichment orterm more readily comprehensible or descriptive

contamination, as perceptions of the dynamism offor the listener. Each of these strategies is born

the target language vary. Examples of this caution

out of necessity caused by the arrival of the new

can be seen in the activities of the Académie

word and is easily understandable.

francaise and in those of the National Institute forJapanese Language and Linguistics. Who, among

Phono-Semantic Matchingother functions, assess the impact of foreignsourced neoligisms on their respective languages

Zuckerman deals with efforts to manage words

and often attempt to manage or ameliorate it. Thisthat are constructed so as to fit as seamlessly as

phenomenon has also been noted by Zuckermann

possible into the target language through what he(2003) in the cases of morphemic and phonetic

calls‘Phono-Semantic Matching or‘PSM’. In thismatching.

case the word is sourced into the target language
via its sound and meaning. The previous target

John FAWSITT103language terms that are similar sounding andof several dialects of the same language. Indeed

have a relatively proximate meaning are found

it is maintained that much, if not most of theand replace or preempt the entry of the foreign

worlds population is bilingual even thoughword. Zuckerman sees this as often being done

what constitutes a set of dialects or a of family

by language purists who wish to fill a lexicalof languages remains a fraught issue in many

void, a systematic borrowing, though there are ofregions.

course ad hoc borrowings done by laymen (p8).
These ad hoc borrowings are based on‘affinity’.

That languages interact within the user’sThis process being one where the foreignism isprocessing system is evidenced by thedrawn into the language, that is there is more ofphenomenon of‘language interference’. In thisa pull than a push,‘a special case of simultaneouscase the user’s various lexicons and grammars

importation and substitution’2)

start to interfere with each other. This is seenin the case of residents in other-language

The Influence of Apparent Lexical andspeaking countries finding that their utterances

Grammatical Similarity

become influenced by the surrounding linguistic
environment. Not only through the adoption of

It is a truism that the more similar languages are

specific vocabulary but by increased difficulty

to each other the easier they are to learn.

in producing sounds that are rarer in theIn fact one of the main obstacles to thecommunities they reside in.

acquirement of European languages for Japanese
speakers is often felt to be their very different

Learners’Inbuilt Bias

structure to Japanese, and conversely the greater
similarity between their languages increases theWhen we listen to a foreign language we lookincidence of multilingualism among European

for similarities and patterns. The most readily

nations. Dutch speakers who share many words

noticeable and meaningful are those with whichwith English are known to show particular

we think we are already familiar. This can

proficiency. Chinese-literate students of Japanese

be seen where foreign speakers substitute oroften hold an advantage over their westernselect structures that more closely resemble thecounterparts through their mastery of the written

phrasing of their own language. For example

language. Western students can be aided by“Bus is nothing”rather than“There is no bus.”

their familiarity with many of the meanings andSomeone from an English language backgroundconcepts expressed as gairaigo in Katakana.

listening to a tonal language such as Chinese may
neglect to pay attention to those subtle yet vital

Taken to its extreme, it is possible to say thatdifferences and focus on the aspects that are more

someone who is said to speak two or more

important in their own language.

similar languages might merely be the speaker

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The Phonological Features of Gairaigo

The contention that we do seek the sounds, orhas found itself since the 1860s, it has had toimpose our own presumptions on contextualized

find ways of dealing with a flood of new lexical

imminent utterances is illustrated in Zuckermann’s

items representing artefacts and concepts thatstory of a Jewish immigrant arriving at Ellis

had no immediately obvious equivalent in theIsland on a fake passport.“When asked about

original language. These new lexical items havehis name by the immigration officer, he says tobeen categorised as “gairaigo”. It has usuallyhimself (in Yiddish)‘shoyn fargesn’Of course

chosen the simple adoption of the immigrants

he meant‘already forgotten’but the clerk who

via transliteration into its own phonetic system.

knew neither Yiddish nor German (cf. schon

The katakana syllabary is used, and thevergessen), heard him and wrote down Sean

pronunciation of these terms comes to reflectFerguson”(Zuckermann p 27)

Japanese phonology and subsequently the word
is continually adjusted in various ways for theThe desire to make such transitions is illustrated

convenience of its users. The word is‘Japanned’

for example by the playful transitioning by thewith any‘hard on the tongue’features smoothed

professional baseball player Johjima Kenji ofand glossed over. 3)

his name to‘George McKenzie’Similarity invocabulary is of course based on sounds. Words

As this has been an ongoing process throughout

become similar when they contain the same sounds

the history of the country some long resident

and more similar when those sounds are placed

lexical items have achieved almost native statusin similar order. Adjust length and pitch, and you

especially those transmitted in the more distantarrive the same word in the phonetic sense.

past from Asia. Whereas most imported words

It is possible that there can be compoundedsince the middle of the 19th century are written

reasons for change that incorporate some or all

in the syllabary known as‘katakana’, nowadaysof the above reasons. Of more interest to thismost frequently seen in words where it is felt

paper is the adoption of terms that are alreadyspecial emphasis needs be placed on sound or

adequately catered for in the local lexicon. Termspronunciation. Some words, for example thethat are seemingly unnecessarily added.

imported word‘tobacco’, as it is represented in
English, has been present in Japan since at least

If these tendencies can be seen to exist, is it not

the 16th century and is now commonly rendered

possible that phonetic coincidence can also haveinto the the more graphic and visually oriented

influence on the acceptance of a word into anothersyllabary known as‘hiragana’as た ば こ rather

language?

than タバコ as it would be in katakana. Renderedin the Roman capitals, this would be TABAKO.

Gairaigo and the Japanese Phonetic Context

This rendering is in harmony with other structureof other words in Japanese and presents noIn the rapidly modernising context that Japan

phonemic deviation from the conventional. Thus

John FAWSITT

it must be remembered that rendering into either

105

preeminence are eroded.

syllabary renders the word subject to Japanesephonemic orthodoxy. Thus the word is alreadyGairaigo are now highly visible in society and are‘pronounceable’. In a sense it has been‘prepped’

said to comprise a significant percentage of thefor use. Such words may be longer, or containdaily vocabulary of the average user. Generally

combinations that are unusual but at the phonemic

the less traditional the context and the younger

level they are‘Japanese’. The anecdote of Sada

the speaker, the greater the proportion of gairaigo.

Masashi (2016) about older Japanese being prone

Whereas most people take these developments

to confuse the syllabic sequence of katakanisedin their stride, there is a concern to maintain thewords of five syllables or more such as‘ ラ ベ ン

expressive power of the more long establishedダ ー’(lavender) and‘ ベ ラ ン ダ ー’(veranda) islexicon.

illustrative. It is the order and, or length of theitem rather than the constituents that are novel.

I select the term‘gairaigo’even though it is

Items that present this type of difficulty for theoften referred to as‘katakanago’as gairaigo

user base are then subject to truncation as in the

distinguishes the origin of the word whereas

words aircon, wapuro etc. (As an aside I would‘katakanago’emphasises the sound. This can be

hypothesise that the more widely the word comesseen in works where non-native speaker Japanese

into use, the greater the tendency to truncate

utterances are graphically represented in katakana

and transform, and that words that have morefor example,“コンニチワ”or“スゴイ”. I do thisspecialist uses appear to adhere to their initiallyaware that it is possible that the Japanning of aadopted form for longer). Lexical items are notword might render the term‘neoligism’more

only truncated foreign words can be subject toappropriate than loanword and that the expression

some degree of epenthesis usually anaptyxis.

‘katakanago’may already convey this perception.

Thus the word‘trend’is produced as‘トレンド’

However I am trying to outline a process whereby(torendo) etc.4)

a loan word develops into a neoligism.

The phenomenon is of course not a new one
and has taken place throughout the country’s

Gairaigo as Part of the Language

history and its associations with the rest of Asiaand Oceania. It was only in the past 150 years

The degree of everyday usage in casual languagethat levels of technological and cultural disparity

of English words by people in ordinary situations

and rate of transmission have exceeded the rate

is a point of interest to the foreign observer. Toof assimilation. Due to global convergences inhear concerned mothers calling to their children

levels of development and lifestyle it is possibleto‘ ス ト ッ プ！’and finding people referring tothat the transmission has slowed down, and will

their‘ショック’is quite intriguing. One is led to

become more reciprocal or multi-sourced in thewonder what has led to this situation. Was thefuture as the West’s technological and economic

language so impoverished and unexpressive that

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The Phonological Features of Gairaigo

it did not have perfectly good words of its own for

In the same vein, there seemed to be a tendency

these situations? These were not new concepts,

to choose the word ‘admit’ as the English

nor had there been a change in their valuetranslation of the expression‘ 認 め る ’. This

relations with society. The native equivalents

preference also seemed to be perhaps explainable

were also perfectly succinct and servicable. Whatas being due to the similarity of the common‘mit’

had led to this shift? I took as an indication ofelement in both expressions.

a possible cause when I noticed that many ofstudents had a decided tendency to translate theCuckoos in the nest?

phrase‘sentaku suru’as‘select’and understandit more readily than the slightly more colloquial

Once the possibility had been perceived, it‘choose’. They also appeared to be more likely

then becomes necessary to see if it is possible

to be familiar with it when hearing it spoken. It

to find other examples. Here is an initial list ofis also common to hear younger children almost

superficially similar incidences.

invariably say‘see you’rather than‘good bye’.

チャレンジ

挑戦The crude hypothesis to explain these preferences

ショック

衝撃

being that the sound similarities between these

ゴージャス

豪華なexpressions and the equivalent Japanese term

モノクロム

黒

helped them to be remembered more readily

アタック

攻撃，圧迫

than the other possibilities available. That is toアップ

上がる

say that the English word‘select’possessing

チェック

確認

some similar phonemes to the Japanese‘sentaku’;

スピード

速度

starting with‘se’and possessing both‘t’andデビュウ

出番‘k’sounds is retained more readily than the lessガッツ

がんばれ・がまん

similar combination of sounds found in‘choose’.

ジューシー汁(This greater readiness may also be due to there

グロテスク

異形

being a greater number of sounds in‘select’

ラッキー楽that conform to the Japanese syllabic system

トラブル

こまる

rather than to any phonetic sharing) . Similarly

ダッシュ

走る，発，出す

but perhaps less convincingly‘see you’carriesスムーズ

スルスル，進むsome sounds in common with‘sayonara’‘s’andハッパニング

発生，発す‘y’. It is true that the exact equivalent of‘see

リラックス

楽する

you’might be‘mata ne’or some such phrase,

エロ

色っぽい

however‘see you’was used indiscriminately

ユニーク

唯一

regardless of whether there was a likelihood

グループ組

of another meeting or not, whereas‘sayonara’

It will be noticed that there are comparatively

appears to me to signal a more final valediction.

few nouns in the set. (Though whether Japanese楽観

John FAWSITT

107

and English grammar share exactly the sameelided or deleted.

boundaries between grammatical concepts may

If this hypothesis is at all founded in reality it

be debatable). However this is what makes thecould have implications for the likelihood forwidespread adoption and currency of thesepredicting the comparative ease students canterms surprising as they did not fill any‘lexicalabsorb, retain, access and enunciate different

vacuum’in the target language.

lexical items. For example numerous English
adjectives end with a‘y’e g. windy, rainy, happy

As can be seen, many of these items do shareetc. If we can posit that there is a tendency forsimilar initial sounds which may help them tostandard sounding lexical items to gain superior

spring more easily to the lips. It might be thataccess to the learner’s language processes thanthe phonic similarity coupled with the semantic

we can assume that they could be more readily

similarity acts as a hook and tricks the linguistic

learnt by Japanese speakers who already have anprocession into filing the term in a more

adjectivisation mechanism using the similar‘i’immediately accessible location. To use the image

sound ending.

of a computer, on the RAM equivalent rather thanon the hard disk with other foreign words that

If this tendency exists it might be possible to map

would have to be located, transferred to the active

out a path of least resistance in lexical acquisitionregistry, and then activated. 5)

for the average Japanese -speaking student by

It may be interesting to see whether thecomposing lists of vocabulary for production

abbreviations that occur, occur around thethat match the expectations of their language

common sound or whether it too is sometimes

processes.

References
1)

Daulton Frank E. Lexical borrowing and the global web of words THE RYUKOKU JOURNAL OF
HUMANITIES AND SCIENCES Vol.33 No.1 (2011)

2)

Zuckerman Ghil'ad Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew, Palgrave Studies inLanguage History and language Change, 2003

3)

C rawford Clifford ADAPTATION AND TRANSMISSION IN JAPANESE LOANWORD
PHONOLOGY Dissertation Cornell University, 20094)

大滝靖司日本語借用語における２ 種類の促音化, 国立国語研究所論集（NINJAL Research Papers）６：111-133（2013）5)

Daulton Frank E. Non-conscious Priming of Lexical Transfer, THE RYUKOKU JOURNAL OF
HUMANITIES AND SCIENCES Vol.29 No.2 (p133 〜 138)(2008)