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Japanese English

Japanese English (JE) refers to the varieties of English mainly used by non-native speakers whose first language is Japanese, usually in Japan. This may include English learned as a foreign language, its fashionable use in the media and advertising (often disparagingly called 'Engrish' to mimic how Japanese-speakers non-fluent in English may pronounce 'English'), or the use of English as a working language in certain institutions such as research centres or publications like the Japan Times.

When used for a communicative purpose, such as in English-language newspapers, this variety is typically very similar to American English in vocabulary, grammar and spelling. However, there are a number of words used in JE which either originate in Japan or have developed a separate meaning: for example, prefecture does not refer to a political district in native English-speaking nations. Police box is used as the translation for 交番 kooban, but in fact this is a local police station, rather than a callbox specifically for contacting the police, as in the UK. Another example is dust box, Japanese English for what many English speakers might call a waste bin or a trash can. The expression rarely appears in Japanese itself, which prefers 塵箱 gomibako.^[1]Additionally, many English words exist in Japanese, but these loanwords are considered part of its vocabulary, just as many Japanese words such as karate form part of English.

An alternative term sometimes applied to JE is Japlish. Since Jap is racist English slang for a Japanese person, many authors may avoid this term. Alternatively, it has been used to refer to a special set of English loanwords in Japanese itself (和製英語 wasei-eigo - literally 'made-in-Japan English') - words not used in a way that English speakers would readily understand.^[2]

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notes
↑ about.com: 'Japanese phrase of the day (useful Japanese phrases) - Gomi o dasu.' ごみを出す Gomi o dasu means 'take out the rubbish/garbage'. ↑ For example, in Murray (1999), which includes a section on wasei-eigo. One example of this is desuku (デスク) from English desk, which is actually a title for a journalist. In Japanese, job titles can be used as forms of address, with the honorific -san (-さん). It is therefore acceptable to refer to a journalist, for example, as desuku-san (literally 'Mr Desk'). These words are subject to Japanese grammar just as a native item would be; e.g. they can form compounds with Japanese words, and the meaning may differ, as in famikon (ファミコン) 'family computer', meaning 'games console'. Wasei-eigo words are usually written in katakana, though occasionally other scripts may be used, as in purinto kurabu (プリント倶楽部) - i.e. 'print club' (a special kind of photo booth), the full form of purikura (プリクラ).

[1] about.com: 'Japanese phrase of the day (useful Japanese phrases) - Gomi o dasu.' ごみを出す Gomi o dasu means 'take out the rubbish/garbage'.

[2] For example, in Murray (1999), which includes a section on wasei-eigo. One example of this is desuku (デスク) from English desk, which is actually a title for a journalist. In Japanese, job titles can be used as forms of address, with the honorific -san (-さん). It is therefore acceptable to refer to a journalist, for example, as desuku-san (literally 'Mr Desk'). These words are subject to Japanese grammar just as a native item would be; e.g. they can form compounds with Japanese words, and the meaning may differ, as in famikon (ファミコン) 'family computer', meaning 'games console'. Wasei-eigo words are usually written in katakana, though occasionally other scripts may be used, as in purinto kurabu (プリント倶楽部) - i.e. 'print club' (a special kind of photo booth), the full form of purikura (プリクラ).

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Japanese English

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