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| '''Japanese English''' (JE) refers to the forms of [[English language|English]] mainly used by non-[[native speaker]]s in [[Japan]]. This may include English learned as a [[language learning|foreign language]], its fashionable use in the [[media]] and [[advertising]] (often called ''Engrish''), or the use of English as a working language in certain institutions such as research centres or publications such as the ''Japan Times''. | | {{subpages}} |
| | [[Image:Marines-poo-diving-shop-japan.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Japanese [[English language|English]] trade names may cause some amusement for those accustomed to other meanings.]] |
| | '''Japanese English''' (JE) refers to the varieties of [[English language|English]] mainly used by non-[[native speaker]]s whose first language is [[Japanese language|Japanese]], usually in [[Japan]]. This may include English learned as a [[language learning|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]]''. |
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| 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 use in JE which either originate in Japan or have developed a separate meaning: for example, ''prefecture'' to mean a political district is an English word which is not used in native English-speaking nations. ''[[Police box]]'' is always used as the translation for 交番 ''[[kouban]]'', but in fact this is a local police station, rather than a callbox specifically for contacting the [[police]], as in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. Additionally, many English words exist in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], but these [[loanword]]s are considered part of its vocabulary, just as many Japanese words such as ''karate'' form part of English. | | When used for a communicative purpose, such as in English-language [[newspaper]]s, 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 [[United Kingdom|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''.<ref>''about.com'': '[http://japanese.about.com/library/blpod071300.htm 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'.</ref>Additionally, many English words exist in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], but these [[loanword]]s are considered part of its vocabulary, just as many Japanese words such as ''karate'' form part of English. |
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| [[Image:Japanese-parking-ticket-machine.jpg|200px|right|thumb|'Parking ticket' machine in [[Osaka]], [[Japan]]. The name is written above the English sign in [[katakana]] - パーキング・チクット ''paakingu chikutto'' - indicating this is a ''wasei-eigo'' term translated from Japanese.]]
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| More commonly, English in Japan takes the form of what is colloquially known as ''Engrish'', a term whose spelling mimics the supposed Japanese inability to articulate the difference between English [r] and [l]. The acceptability of this term is debatable; many Japanese may consider it derogatory, while others may not. It is most widely used by English speakers as a humourous [[slang]] term. Furthermore, it is sometimes used to refer to other versions of English in [[East Asia]], e.g. as spoken by [[Chinese people|Chinese]] or [[Korean people|Korean]] user of English.
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| An alternative term someties applied to JE is ''Japlish''. Since ''Jap'' is [[racism|racist]] English [[slang]] for a [[Japanese people|Japanese person]], many authors may avoid this term. Alternatively, it has been used to refer to 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.<ref>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 [[journalism|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'.</ref>
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| ==Origin of the term 'Engrish'==
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| The term originates from the fact that Japanese and a few other East Asian languages do not distinguish the [[phoneme]]s /r/ and /l/ as in English - thus it could be described as an [[Anglocentric]] reference, identifying a difference as a deficiency relative to English. Writers attempting to render JE on paper tend to either eliminate the [[grapheme|letter]] ''l'' and replace it with ''r'', or else mix them randomly, producing such words as ''rice'' for ''lice''. Furthermore, Japanese users of English sometimes mix up the two, leading to mis-spellings in English.
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| Japanese has an /r/ phoneme which is [[phonetics|phonetically]] often similar to the pronunciation of ''t'' or ''d'' in American English, where these occur before an unstressed [[syllable]]: e.g. ''city'' or ''butter''. This sound is known to phoneticians as a [[flap]] and transcribed as [ɾ] but is only one of several variants of ''r'' found in Japanese. Another is the similar alveolar lateral flap [ɺ]. Some speakers will also pronounce it as a [d] in word-initial position, and some forms may be perceived by English speakers as an [l]. The confusion arises because ''phonetically'' the Japanese /r/ is articulated similar to the prounciation of English [l], but ''[[phonology|phonologically]]'' serves as an /r/. Therefore, misinterpretations involving /r/ and /l/ may be as much due to listeners' misperceptions as speakers' approximations.
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| | An alternative term sometimes applied to JE is ''Japlish''. Since ''Jap'' is [[racism|racist]] English [[slang]] for a [[Japanese people|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.<ref>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 [[journalism|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 ''[[Japanese popular culture#Purikura|purikura]]'' (プリクラ).</ref> |
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| ==English language learning in Japan== | | ==English language learning in Japan== |
| English is a compulsory subject in Japanese schools from the age of 11; students who enter university are also obliged to take an English course in their first year, assessed through the [[TOEIC]] exam.<ref>Students tested in the ''Teaching of English for International Communication'' exam are assessed in listening and reading comprehension, each carrying 50% of the final mark.</ref> However, although the [[Government of Japan|Japanese government]] has issued guidelines requiring a focus on real-life communication skills,<ref>Sakui & Gaies (1999: 488).</ref> most teaching is still very 'traditional': a focus on learning [[grammar]] rules and on reading the language,<ref>Sakui (2004: 156-157).</ref> with Japanese as the medium of instruction used by almost exclusively Japanese native-speaking teachers. This means that exposure to native English can be limited for many learners, who may have few opportunities to practice listening and speaking.<ref>Many prospective students also attend 学習 ''[[juku]]'' (cram schools) in the evenings to study English. Teachers in these schools are often undergraduate students.</ref> | | English is a compulsory subject in Japanese schools from the age of 11; students who enter university are also obliged to take an English course in their first year, assessed through the [[TOEIC]] exam.<ref>Students tested in the ''Teaching of English for International Communication'' exam are assessed in listening and reading comprehension, each carrying 50% of the final mark.</ref> However, although the [[Government of Japan|Japanese government]] has issued guidelines requiring a focus on real-life communication skills,<ref>Sakui & Gaies (1999: 488).</ref> most teaching is still very 'traditional': a focus on learning [[grammar]] rules and on reading the language,<ref>Sakui (2004: 156-157).</ref> with Japanese as the medium of instruction used by almost exclusively Japanese native-speaking teachers. This means that exposure to native English can be limited for many learners, who may have few opportunities to practice listening and speaking.<ref>Many prospective students also attend 学習 ''[[juku]]'' (cram schools) in the evenings to study English. Teachers in these schools are often undergraduate students.</ref> |
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| | ==Loanwords== |
| | [[Image:Japanese-parking-ticket-machine.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Parking ticket machine in [[Osaka]], [[Japan]]. Above the English version is [[katakana]] - パーキング・チケット ''paakingu chiketto'', the ''wasei-eigo'' term.<ref>''Parking ticket'' in [[British English]] usually means a notice of illegal parking handed down by a traffic warden; the term ''parking meter ticket'' or ''pay and display'' ticket would be used in reference to a parking meter machine.</ref>]] |
| | While ''wasei-eigo'' comprises English-like Japanese words and phrases invented in Japan, there are also many more recognisably English [[loanword]]s in Japanese, though the pronunciation has usually changed considerably. For example, as Japanese has five [[vowel]]s compared to the twenty-plus of many native English varieties, these sounds will systematically change: for example, the English vowel in 'bird' emerges as [a:] in Japanese: 'bird' becomes バード ''baado'' - which is also how 'bard' is pronounced when borrowed into Japanese.<ref>Usually for a 'bard' character in a [[role-playing game]].</ref> |
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| ==Intentional Engrish==
| | Lexical borrowing is not an attempt at learning another language, but negative attitudes to it can nevertheless arise. For some English speakers, the systematic and entirely usual practice of adopting words from other languages leads to some amusement, generally because of the pronunciation or perceived 'misuse' of English. This in turn leads to such Japanese words being labelled 'Engrish', even though they form part of Japanese rather than Japanese English. Japanese English speakers may, however, use them when speaking English - effectively double-borrowing them from English to Japanese, and from Japanese to Japanese English. |
| Engrish is usually accidental, but sometimes its use is deliberate. [[Foreign branding]], for example, serves the same purpose it does in the West: [[exotic]] [[embellishment]]. For the same reasons that a [[Chinese character]] or a Japanese [[Kanji]] tattoo seems "exotic" to many in the West, Asians may appreciate English words or gibberish for its aesthetic appeal alone; straight lines, frequent symmetry, and the unembellished curves of Latinate letters may all appeal to Asian senses of aesthetics and balance.
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| ===Current examples===
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| Engrish, seen in the [[Exuma]]: "It's a outdoor sport which began to shine lately. / To choose sports for fashion or your personality,the basic idea is to enjoy yourself which is important. / Outdoor sports is the science to raise spirits."]]
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| *[[J-Pop]] groups tend to use inappropriate English phrases in their songs as foreign phrases heard by their Japanese fans is considered chic and "cool", regardless of its accuracy and appropriateness in the context that it is being presented. An example of this is the [[KinKi Kids]]' song ''Garasu no Shonen'', where the phrase "Stay with me", gets the loudest cheers during their live performances of the song, despite the fact the phrase is inappropriate in its placement in the chorus. Even artists in Japan that "know better" use this device. 80's J-Pop artist Ann Lewis, who is half American, also used Engrish and inappropriate English phrases in her music as well, even though she had the capacity to use correct English. More recently, the half-American [[Crystal Kay|Crystal Kay Williams]] uses Engrish in her songs despite being schooled in [[Yokosuka]], a U.S. naval base.
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| *The wheel covers of [[SUVs]] in Japan usually have phrases about [[nature]] using English that use words that are inappropriate in the context the writers wanted to use it in. Whether this is intentional or not is still a subject of debate.
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| *The Japanese cosmetics firm [[TBC]] has started an ad campaign saying '''(insert adjective) is TBC'''. The sentence structure is fundamentally flawed and produces sentences such as "Peaceful is TBC" or "Beautiful is TBC" in the ads.
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| ===Engrish in popular media===
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| Engrish in its original sense of unintentional mistranslation is periodically found in translated live action Asian film and television and occasionally in translated Japanese anime. However, it is more often used intentionally in English language productions as a parody of the concept, or of the linguistic differences that give rise to Engrish. In some instances, racist overtones, though unintentional, may be apparent.
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| ====Examples in animated television and film====
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| *The wartime [[Donald Duck]] cartoon, ''Commando Duck'', the caricatures of the Japanese Army speak in Engrish, such as “Hello, please,” and later, “Must always be shooting rope in the center of the middle, just like Lone Ranger!”
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| *Japanese anime can also feature examples of Engrish which, over time, become distanced from their original intended meaning. In ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', for instance, the character of [[Bulma]] (Buruma) was intended to be called [[Bloomers (clothing)|Bloomer]]--her father's name is Mr. Briefs, and in the sequels ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' and ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' she would have a son named Trunks and a daughter named Bra. Later, however, there are occasions when her name is clearly spelled "B-U-L-M-A".
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| *Engrish has been featured in several episodes of the American animated series ''[[South Park]]''. In episode 801, titled "[[Good Times with Weapons]]", the main characters "play [[ninja]]" accompanied by a ridiculous song, sung in Japanese by [[Trey Parker]], one of the show's creators, that featured the chorus “Let's Fighting Love”. The song is most likely a reference to Engrish found in some [[J-Pop]] songs featured in a large number of Japanese anime, in addition to the odd juxtaposition of English and Japanese--the song features lyrics such as "Taisetsu na mono protect my balls!", which when fully translated means "Important thing protect my balls", among other lines that make sense when fully put in English. The episode "[[Mecha-Streisand]]" features a Japanese TV announcer who sings the [[Godzilla]] theme song in Engrish. The episode featuring [[Chinpokomon]] also employed Japanese characters using Engrish. And [[Recurring South Park characters#Tuong Lu Kim (City Wok Guy)|Tuong Lu Kim]], the Asian owner of the local Chinese restaurant [[City Wok]], pronounces "City" as "Shitty."
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| *The animated comedy ''[[Drawn Together]]'' features a character named [[Ling-Ling]] (a parody of the ''[[Pokémon]]'' character, [[Pikachu]]) who is an Asian of unspecified nationality. Ling-Ling's speech consists mainly of Japanese-sounding gibberish, while his subtitles contain almost exclusively Engrish. A joke directly referencing Engrish occurs in the episode "[[Super Nanny (Drawn Together episode)|Super Nanny]]"; when Ling-Ling takes an eye exam, he says "R" for every letter on the eye chart even though every letter on the chart is actually the letter L. Ling-Ling also complains about his mispronounciation of "Prell" brand shampoo, stating "Oh, Plerr... How can you leave Ring-Ring hair with such shine and body and leave soul with such shame and embarrassment?"
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| *The command center screen of the Tuatha de Danaan in the Full Metal Panic series portrayed Engrish when Kaname, synchronizing with the de Danaan's computer system, typed a message that said "DON'T WORRY! EVERYTHING IS GONNA OKAY!"
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| *In the eighth season ''[[The Simpsons|Simpsons]]'' episode ''[[In Marge We Trust]]'', Homer Simpson telephones a company in Japan, and speaks to an engrish-speaking worker who greets him with "Hello, chief. Let's talk, why not?".
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| ====Examples in Western video games====
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| *In [[Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII]] for the [[Xbox 360]] and [[Playstation 3]], the Japanese pilots speak in Engrish and with an overbearing "Japanese" accent. This portrayal of the Japanese pilots' voices have caused some publications, like [[GameSpot]], to call these portrayals "flat-out racist".[http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sim/worldwariisquadron/review.html]
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| *The Blademaster, a character in [[Blizzard Entertainment]]'s [[Warcraft III]] for PC, is programmed to speak in Engrish when clicked on. His dialogue includes, "Can cut through armor, but still cut a tomato," and, "I, hero, FIGHT!"
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| ====Examples in live action television====
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| *In the [[Monty Python]] episode, "The Cycling Tour," the main character tells a Chinese man posing as a British Consul that he is on a bicycle tour of Northern Cornwall, to which the "consul" replies, "Ah! Colonworol!" An entire sketch built around the concept is "Erizabeth L," in which a Japanese [[con artist]] (played by [[Terry Jones]]) posing as Italian film director [[Luchino Visconti]] forces the cast of a period drama he is filming into speaking their lines with an exaggerated "Japanesque" accent and chides them when they slip into standard English pronunciation.
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| *''[[Get Smart]]'' featured a recurring villain based on [[Dr. Julius No]] named "The Claw". He would mispronouce his own name as "Craw", leading Max to assume his name was "The Craw". The recurring gag response would be, "Not Craw, Craw!"
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| *[[Benny Hill]] episodes have an Engrish-speaking character called [[Chow Mein]]; his mangled English phrases baffle his interviewer: "How rubbery, evlybloody's crapping!"
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| *On ''[[The Tonight Show]]'', [[Jay Leno]] frequently shows poorly translated instructions from Asian products as part of the [[Headlines (The Tonight Show)|"Headlines"]] segment.
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| *On the classic ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode [[The Chinese Woman (Seinfeld episode)|"The Chinese Woman"]], Jerry's caucasian girlfriend Donna Chang uses the word "ridicurous" in a conversation.
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| *On ''[[Chappelle's Show]]'' Season 3, Episode 2, in the controversial skit "Racial Pixies", Dave Chappelle played a miniature Asian sitting on MTV VJ [[La La (Alani V?squez)|La La]]'s shoulder telling an Asian man in the skit to say "Herro Ra Ra" instead of "Hello La La".
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| *In 2003, on ''[[The Tom Green Show]]'', [[Tom Green]] visits Japan. At one point, he finds a soda machine that reads: "Why Don't You Have Anything to Drink? Choose One, Making You Better Feeling!"
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| *In 2003-2004, the live-action ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]'' had a few strange Engrish phrases thrown in with the Japanese in the theme song, most notably "try get a chance" and "moonlight real girl". The extended version of the theme that [[Sae]] sings in the ''Kirari'' live event includes "moonlight fortune" and "catch me kiss again" in the lyrics. Also, the Sailor Senshi shout their [[henshin]] and attack phrases in Engrish, even though they are Japanese.
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| ====Examples in live action film====
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| *An early example of modern Engrish can be seen in the [[1983 in film|1983]] comedy ''[[A Christmas Story]]'', when waiters at a Chinese restaurant attempt to sing "Deck the Halls" to restaurant patrons, incorrectly singing "boughs of horry/Fa ra ra ra ra," instead of singing "boughs of holly/Fa la la la la."
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| *Another movie example is the "Supplies/Surprise" gag from the movie ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]''.
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| *In the [[2005 in film|2005]] [[puppet]] movie ''[[Team America: World Police]]'', by the creators of ''[[South Park]]'', the character of [[North Korean]] leader [[Kim Jong-Il]] pronounces ''L'' 's as ''R'' 's, and even sings a feature song, "I'm So Ronery" (a mispronunciation of "I'm So Lonely").
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| *A significant plot point of the [[film-noir]] movie ''[[Chinatown (film)|Chinatown]]'' involves a Japanese man telling [[Jack Nicholson]]'s character that saltwater is "Bad for grass" as Jack is picking up a pair of glasses from a saltwater pond.
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| *In ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]'', when [[Mel Gibson]]'s character is speaking to Uncle Benny, a Chinese restaurant owner/ [[Triad]] member. He asks Uncle Benny for some "flied lice" to which Benny responds, "It's fried rice, you plick!".
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| *In [[Lost in Translation]], there is an intentional engrish, when a Japanese middle aged woman visits, rather approaches [[Bill Murray]] quite boldly and repeatedly asks him to "lip her stockings". The sangvinic Murray, clueless and tired, makes her repeat the sentence four or five times until he reveals it to be a mistaken "rip", ultimately kicking the uninvited guest out.
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| ===Other examples===
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| *The [[Tony Award]]-winning musical ''[[Avenue Q]]'' has a character of Japanese descent named Christmas Eve. She constantly confuses her ''L'' 's and her ''R'' 's, becoming incomprehensible at one point while trying to say the word "recyclables" during the song "[[Everyone's A Little Bit Racist]]" (which eventually ends with Christmas singing "Evlyone's a ritter bit lacist").
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| *[[Lord Mayor of Melbourne]], the Honourable [[John So]], is also an exponent of "Engrish". Of Chinese descent, So is often mocked by comedians and the public for his pronunciation of the English language.
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| *Kiyoshi's Dad, a supporting character in the webcomic [[Chugworth Academy]], speaks Engrish, and is best known for trying to order an "almadirro" ([[armadillo]]) from a pet store.
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| *Engrish can also appear in labels, instructions and diagnostic messages in documentation and on hardware of products manufactured in Asian countries. One example is written on computer cooling-fans manufactured by Titan, which say, "Going faster is the system job." Another example is an error message on the [[Fujifilm]] FP363SC film processor, which reads "Urgentry close processing cover". Yet another example is the printing on packages of chopsticks found in many Chinese restaurants, which reads "Please to try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks the traditional and typical of Chinese glorious history and cultural." (Some packages use "glonous" instead of "glorious").
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| *On the back of [[Heavy Metal]] band, [[Iron Maiden]]'s early EP [[Maiden Japan]], it has the instruction "Pray Roud!", an obvious reference to Engrish.
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| *The series [[South Park]] features a character who owns and operates the only Chinese take out resturant in town, named "City Wok". The unsuspecting owner, Mr. Won Lu-Kim, pronouces it "Shitty Wok" and the main characters call in every once in a while just to hear him say "One order of shitty beef..." The joke has appeared in a number of different episodes and is a long standing favourite amoung fans.
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| *The series [[Drawn Together]], an animated reality TV show much like the Real Life, has a Pikachu inspired "the foreign guy" named Ling-Ling. Ling-Ling doesn't actually speak any particular language, using what his fellow housemates describe as "Choriential". The viewers are blessed with subtitles for this character, however Engrish is often used. Examples include "Crean the dishes" and "Be true to who you really L".
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| ==Japlish==
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| Engrish can also refer to the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] pronunciation of English [[loanword]]s or a Japanese dialect with a number of English loanwords. Because Japanese has only five [[vowel]]s, and few [[consonant cluster]]s, English loanwords are often pronounced in a manner that sounds unusual and even humorous to English speakers. For example, in spoken Japanese, guitarist [[Eric Clapton]] becomes エリック・クラプトン ''Erikku Kuraputon'', [[Australia]] becomes オーストラリア ''Ōsutoraria'', and "[[McDonald's]]" becomes マクドナルド ''Makudonarudo'', which is often further abbreviated to マクド ''Makudo'' or マック ''Makku''. Japanese uses over 600 imported English words in common speech, sometimes in abbreviated form. Examples are ハンカチ ''hankachi'' for "handkerchief", フォーク ''fōku'' for "fork", テーブル ''tēburu'' for "table", プロレス ''[[puroresu]]'' for "[[professional wrestling|pro wrestling]]", and so on. The more outlandish and humorous the pronunciation change is, the more likely it is to be considered Engrish. Even fairly logical English [[loanword]]s in Japanese will often sound foreign and unintelligible to an English speaker, such as the use of チーズ ''chīzu'' for "cheese" when taking a photograph. These pronunciation changes are linguistically systematic and are completely unrelated to the speaker's intelligence. | | =='Engrish' as a term== |
| | English in Japan is often colloquially known as ''Engrish'', a term whose spelling mimics the supposed Japanese inability to [[articulatory phonetics|articulate]] the difference between (usually English) [ɹ] and [l]. The acceptability of this term is debatable; many Japanese may consider it derogatory. Its use is rooted in the observation that Japanese and a few other [[East Asia]]n languages have no /r/-/l/ contrast as English does - this could be described as an [[Anglocentricism|Anglocentric]] reference, identifying a difference as a deficiency relative to English. It is most widely used by English speakers as humorous [[slang]]. Writers attempting to render JE on paper tend to either eliminate the [[letter (alphabet)|letter]] ''l'' and replace it with ''r'', or else mix them randomly, producing such spellings as ''rice'' for ''lice''. Furthermore, Japanese users of English sometimes mix up the two, leading to mis-spellings in English. |
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| <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Engrish.jpg|300px|thumb|right|An example of Engrish noted in [[Tokyo]], [[2000]]]] -->
| | Japanese does have an /r/ [[phoneme]], which is [[phonetics|phonetically]] often similar to the pronunciation of ''t'' or ''d'' where these occur between vowels and in an unstressed [[syllable]] of North American English, e.g. ''city'' or ''butter''. This sound is known to phoneticians as a [[flap]] and transcribed as [ɾ] but is only one of several variants of ''r'' found in Japanese. Another is the similar alveolar lateral flap [ɺ]. Some speakers will also pronounce it as a [d] in word-initial position, and some forms may be perceived by English speakers as an [l]. The confusion arises because ''phonetically'' the Japanese /r/ is typically articulated similarly to the pronunciation of English [l], but ''[[phonology|phonologically]]'' serves as an /r/. Therefore, misinterpretations involving /r/ and /l/ may be as much due to listeners' misperceptions as speakers' approximations. |
| Engrish was once a frequent occurrence in consumer electronics product manuals, with phrases such as "to make speed up find up out document", or "Gas is maybe poison is" (for "Gasses may be poisonous"), but it is less frequent today. Another source of poor translation is unchecked [[machine translation]], such as that from the [[Babel Fish (website)|Babelfish]] service or [[Google]] Language Tools. Engrish is often created by translating a phrase using the [[Babel Fish (website)|Babelfish]] service or [[Google]] Language Tools to translate something into Japanese, then copying and pasting the Japanese text and translating it back into English.
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| ===Pop culture===
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| Engrish features prominently in [[Japanese pop culture]], as some young Japanese people consider the English language to be highly fashionable. Japanese has assimilated a great deal of vocabulary from the English language, and many popular Japanese songs and television themes feature disjointed phrases in English amongst the mostly Japanese lyrics. Japanese marketing firms helped to create this popularity, and have subsequently created an enormous array of advertisements, products, and clothing marked with English phrases that seem highly amusing or inexplicably bizarre to a native English speaker. These new English terms are generally short-lived, as they are used more fashionably than meaningfully. Many times English is just used in advertising or on products as an attempt to look modern and is not actually an attempt to communicate.
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| | ===Popular culture=== |
| | English is commonplace in [[Japanese popular culture]], such as in song [[lyrics]], and remains highly fashionable. Japanese [[pop music]], or [[J-pop]] (ジェイポップ ''Jei-poppu''), often features songs which mix English words and phrases with Japanese. Shop signs and [[advertising]] frequently include titles or slogans in English, in some cases these are not really intended to be [[communication|communicative]]. English expressions may also appear in ''[[katakana]]'' in advertising or logos. One Japanese company uses the name ザ・100円ショップ ''Za Hyaku-en Shoppu'' 'The Hundred-[[Japanese yen|yen]] Shop',<ref>'100-yen shops' are very common sales outlets in Japan, where a variety of household goods can be bought inexpensively - usually for ¥100.</ref> in which the English [[definite article]] 'the' appears in ''katakana'' - a grammatical word which has no equivalent in Japanese, and is therefore not a loanword. At other outlets, 'the' appears in English. |
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| ==Footnotes== | | ==Footnotes== |
| <div class="references-2column">
| | {{reflist|2}} |
| <references/>
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| </div>
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| ==References==
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| *Murray G (1999). ''13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese''. Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 4-7700-2302-2.
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| *Sakui K (2004) 'Wearing two pairs of shoes: language teaching in Japan.' ''ELT Journal'' 58(2): 155-163.
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| *Sakui K & Gaies SJ (1999) 'Investigating Japanese learners’ beliefs about language learning.' ''System'' 27: 473-492.
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
| *[[Franponais]] | | *[[Japanese popular culture]] |
| *[[Globish]]
| | *[[Culture of Japan]] |
| *[[Stereotypes of Asians]] | | *[[Japanese language]] |
| *[[Chinglish]]
| | *[[English language]] |
| *[[Konglish]]
| | *[[Lingua franca]][[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]] |
| *[[Taglish]] & [[Englog]]
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| *[[Spanglish]]
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| *[[Swenglish]]
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| *[[Finglish]]
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| *[[Hinglish]]
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| *[[Franglais]]
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| *[[Denglish]] | |
| *[[Wasei-eigo]] Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms
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| ==External links==
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| *[http://www.engrish.com/ Engrish.com]—Many examples of Engrish
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| *[http://www.innocentenglish.com/ InnocentEnglish.com]—More examples of Engrish
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| *[http://www.hanzismatter.com Hanzi Smatter] (一知半解)—Keeping track of the reverse of Engrish | |
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| [[Category:English language]] | |
| [[Category:Japanese language]] | |
| [[Category:Japan]]
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| [[Category:Linguistics]]
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| [[Category:Linguistics Workgroup]]
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| [[Category:Linguistics Live]]
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| [[Category:CZ Live]] | |
Japanese
English trade names may cause some amusement for those accustomed to other meanings.
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]
English language learning in Japan
English is a compulsory subject in Japanese schools from the age of 11; students who enter university are also obliged to take an English course in their first year, assessed through the TOEIC exam.[3] However, although the Japanese government has issued guidelines requiring a focus on real-life communication skills,[4] most teaching is still very 'traditional': a focus on learning grammar rules and on reading the language,[5] with Japanese as the medium of instruction used by almost exclusively Japanese native-speaking teachers. This means that exposure to native English can be limited for many learners, who may have few opportunities to practice listening and speaking.[6]
Loanwords
Parking ticket machine in
Osaka,
Japan. Above the English version is
katakana - パーキング・チケット
paakingu chiketto, the
wasei-eigo term.
[7]While wasei-eigo comprises English-like Japanese words and phrases invented in Japan, there are also many more recognisably English loanwords in Japanese, though the pronunciation has usually changed considerably. For example, as Japanese has five vowels compared to the twenty-plus of many native English varieties, these sounds will systematically change: for example, the English vowel in 'bird' emerges as [a:] in Japanese: 'bird' becomes バード baado - which is also how 'bard' is pronounced when borrowed into Japanese.[8]
Lexical borrowing is not an attempt at learning another language, but negative attitudes to it can nevertheless arise. For some English speakers, the systematic and entirely usual practice of adopting words from other languages leads to some amusement, generally because of the pronunciation or perceived 'misuse' of English. This in turn leads to such Japanese words being labelled 'Engrish', even though they form part of Japanese rather than Japanese English. Japanese English speakers may, however, use them when speaking English - effectively double-borrowing them from English to Japanese, and from Japanese to Japanese English.
'Engrish' as a term
English in Japan is often colloquially known as Engrish, a term whose spelling mimics the supposed Japanese inability to articulate the difference between (usually English) [ɹ] and [l]. The acceptability of this term is debatable; many Japanese may consider it derogatory. Its use is rooted in the observation that Japanese and a few other East Asian languages have no /r/-/l/ contrast as English does - this could be described as an Anglocentric reference, identifying a difference as a deficiency relative to English. It is most widely used by English speakers as humorous slang. Writers attempting to render JE on paper tend to either eliminate the letter l and replace it with r, or else mix them randomly, producing such spellings as rice for lice. Furthermore, Japanese users of English sometimes mix up the two, leading to mis-spellings in English.
Japanese does have an /r/ phoneme, which is phonetically often similar to the pronunciation of t or d where these occur between vowels and in an unstressed syllable of North American English, e.g. city or butter. This sound is known to phoneticians as a flap and transcribed as [ɾ] but is only one of several variants of r found in Japanese. Another is the similar alveolar lateral flap [ɺ]. Some speakers will also pronounce it as a [d] in word-initial position, and some forms may be perceived by English speakers as an [l]. The confusion arises because phonetically the Japanese /r/ is typically articulated similarly to the pronunciation of English [l], but phonologically serves as an /r/. Therefore, misinterpretations involving /r/ and /l/ may be as much due to listeners' misperceptions as speakers' approximations.
Popular culture
English is commonplace in Japanese popular culture, such as in song lyrics, and remains highly fashionable. Japanese pop music, or J-pop (ジェイポップ Jei-poppu), often features songs which mix English words and phrases with Japanese. Shop signs and advertising frequently include titles or slogans in English, in some cases these are not really intended to be communicative. English expressions may also appear in katakana in advertising or logos. One Japanese company uses the name ザ・100円ショップ Za Hyaku-en Shoppu 'The Hundred-yen Shop',[9] in which the English definite article 'the' appears in katakana - a grammatical word which has no equivalent in Japanese, and is therefore not a loanword. At other outlets, 'the' appears in English.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Students tested in the Teaching of English for International Communication exam are assessed in listening and reading comprehension, each carrying 50% of the final mark.
- ↑ Sakui & Gaies (1999: 488).
- ↑ Sakui (2004: 156-157).
- ↑ Many prospective students also attend 学習 juku (cram schools) in the evenings to study English. Teachers in these schools are often undergraduate students.
- ↑ Parking ticket in British English usually means a notice of illegal parking handed down by a traffic warden; the term parking meter ticket or pay and display ticket would be used in reference to a parking meter machine.
- ↑ Usually for a 'bard' character in a role-playing game.
- ↑ '100-yen shops' are very common sales outlets in Japan, where a variety of household goods can be bought inexpensively - usually for ¥100.
See also
