Japanese Language. Haruhiko Kindaichi

we must get rid of the idea that names of things should look important. You go to a library, for example. You are given a card called etsuran-hy (a perusal slip) at the entrance. On it you write your name and the name of the book you want to read, and take it to the etsuran-gakari (perusal clerk). The books you borrowed are to be taken to the room called etsuran-shitsu (reading room), where you read. There may be some charm in thedifficult word etsuran, but we can easily say tokusho-shitsu (reading room) for etsuranshitsu. As etsuran-gakari refers to someone who does not actually do the reading himself, this name is awkward. It had better be changed to kashidashi-gakari (a lending clerk). Etsuran-hy can be changed to mshikomi-hy (application slip) or it can simply be called kdo (card), for no other card is used in the library. If this can be done, there will be no need to use thedifficult Chinese character word etsuran. Ridiculously enough, the use of Chinese character words up to now reveals the feeling in Japan that names should lookdifficult and important.

      What we call mugen-kid (endless track; a Chinese character word) in Japanese is Raupenkette in German, which, if translated literally, means imomushi-gusari (caterpillar chain; a Yamato word). The coiner of mugen-kid will probably not be satisfied if we use the term imomushi-gusari. We do not expect to go so far, but we would like to coin new words with popular connotations in the same spirit. As Kuwabara Takeo¹¹ has said, it is better to call a thermometer a netsu-hakari (a measure for fever) than ken’onki (temperature-detecting instrument), for the former, composed of Yamato words, is more simple, homely, and easy to understand than the latter, which is composed of stiff Chinese characters which aredifficult to comprehend unless you see them written. And, for the same reason, tmegane (literally, distance-viewing glasses) is a better term for binoculars than sganky.

      Thirdly, in order to avoid the disadvantages of Chinese character words, those composed of two characters should, after careful selection, be treated as words understandable on the same level as Yamato words. On the other hand, the formation of new words by combining two one-character words should be avoided as much as possible. In the library there is a catalogue called kemmei mokuroku (item-name catalogue). The word kemmei is hard to understand. Kanda Hideo, director of Ueno Library, says he wants to change it to shudai-betsu mokuroku (catalogue classified by subjects). I agree with him—that would be easier to understand.

      The reason why character words are often hard to understand is that new words are formed by indiscriminately combining two one-character words. The word shk noted above is an example. Therefore, with the exception of words often used as prefixes and suffxes, we should avoid the creation of new words as much as possible. And even those which are used as prefixes and suffxes should be reduced. For example, the sound sho, as a prefix, stands for “many”

, “first”

, and “the fact”

. It is best to retain only the meaning “many” and stop using the other meanings. The word shoshin

(one’s belief ) with the prefix sho

can be replaced by shin-nen

and similarly, we can replace the word shokan

(one’s impression) with kans

. Shotaimen

(the first meeting) and shonanoka

(the seventh day after a person’s death) could be read hatsu-taimen and hatsu-nanoka respectively. If this is done, one will immediately understand upon hearing sho . . . that it is a plural of something. Thus, it will be very convenient. Even in this case, we should try as much as possible to put the prefix sho on the character words already in existence. Among the character words in Japanese, we find a large number of words that require three or four kana for transcription. No wonder there are so many words of the same sound. The proposals I have stated here—(1) to stop making new words by combining single-character words, (2) to retain only a few prefix-like words, and to attach these only to the already existing unmistakable character words —will be helpful in overcoming the difficulty.

The influence of Japanese on foreign languages

      As stated above, the Japanese language has been greatly influenced by a foreign language, that is, Chinese. But the influence exerted on other languages by Japanese has been exceedingly slight—something rare in the language of a civilized country. H. G. Wells says: “. . . her secluded civilization has not contributed very largely to the general shaping of human destinies; she has received much, but she has given little.”¹² The Japanese language, too, though it has received many loanwords from all over the world, has made few contributions to other languages.

      According to Ichikawa Sanki, Japanese loanwords in European languages are “bonze,” “inro,” “fune,” “rickshaw,” “kimono,” “soy,” “bushido,” “harakiri,” “geisha,” “Korea” (from K

rai), “moxa,” “tenno,” “judo,” and others, which are mostly names of social structures peculiar to Japan or of things related to the unique arts and customs of Japan. “Kimonoed” means to be dressed in a kimono—thus, “kimono” can also be used as a verb. Perhaps these are the most common Japanese loanwords.

      During the U.S. occupation of Japan a great many Japanese words were picked up by the Americans. In the new-words section of the New Webster’s Dictionary, I note the addition of “nisei,” “kamikaze,” “zaibatsu,” and “geta.” They are all words related to Japanese culture.

      It is the language of our northern neighbor, Ainu, that has been influenced most by the Japanese language, followed by the languages of our western and southern neighbors, namely, the indigenous inhabitants of Taiwan, the Koreans, and the Chinese.

      Ainu essentially has strong verb inflection according to person. For example, different forms of verbs are used in the sentences “I catch a bear” and “He catches a bear.” Japanese verbs do not make such changes. Thus, when first speaking Ainu, the Japanese used Ainu forms for person so poorly that it is said that part of the Ainu verb inflection has been lost.¹³ Moreover it is said that Ainu is not only becoming Japanized but the entire language is perishing under the weight of Japanese. This is perhaps an example of the greatest influence Japanese has had on another language.

      Both Korean and the language of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan have borrowed many Japanese cultural terms. Ogura Shimpei has listed examples of Yamato loanwords in his book, Chsengo Hgen no Kenky (A Study of Korean Dialects).¹⁴

      As for the influence of Japanese on Chinese, an article by Kuraishi Takeshir

called “Japanese Words that Became Chinese”¹⁵ maintains that the largest number of Japanese loanwords pertain to economics (e.g., nakagainin [broker] and torihiki [transactions]). Next in number are words relating to law and lawsuits, such as bengoshi (lawyer) and mshitate (declaration; testimony). They reveal the nature of the historical relationship between China and Japan. Besides these words, Wang Yun-wu’s large dictionary gives the following as words introduced from Japanese:

(the other party),

(standpoint),