Wasei-eigo
Wasei-eigo (和製英語, Japanese-made English, English words coined in Japan) are Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms: English constructions not used in the English-speaking world or by native English speakers, but that appear in Japanese. This should not be confused for foreign words gairaigo, which generally refer to words from European languages, especially English. Wasei-eigo is also distinct from Engrish, as these are actual Japanese words used in Japanese conversation—not attempts at speaking English.[1] These include acronyms and initialisms particular to Japan—see list of Japanese Latin alphabetic abbreviations. Wasei-eigo can be compared to wasei kango (和製漢語, Japanese-created kango (Chinese compounds)), which are Japanese pseudo-Sinicisms (Japanese words created on Chinese roots), and are also extremely common.
Some common examples are sararīman = "salaryman" meaning 'white-collar worker'; ōeru = OL standing for "office lady" meaning 'female office worker'; "walkman", a brand name for a portable audio player; etc.
Some wasei-eigo have in turn been borrowed as pseudo-Anglicisms in other countries.
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See also [edit]
- List of gairaigo and wasei-eigo terms
- List of Konglish terms
- List of Japanese Latin alphabetic abbreviations
- Engrish
- Franponais
References [edit]
Further reading [edit]
- Laura Miller. 1997 "Wasei eigo: English ‘loanwords' coined in Japan." In The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright, edited by Jane Hill, P.J. Mistry and Lyle Campbell, Mouton/De Gruyter: The Hague, pp. 123-139. Google Books
- Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991, ISBN 4-7674-2015-6
- Katakana Shingo-jiten, Gakken 2003, ISBN 4-05-301351-8
