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Article: Japanese: A language in a state of flux: 'Torrential' import of foreign words threatens the basis of communication.
- Article from:
- Japan Times (Tokyo, Japan)
- Article date:
- September 23, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Japan Times. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Tomoko Otake
Sep. 23--Languages are never static. They change and evolve with people over time. They also interact with other languages, and through an endless cycle of loaning and borrowing of words, ideas and concepts are shared, exchanged and nurtured across national and cultural boundaries.
But the torrential influx of foreign words into the Japanese language in recent years -- overwhelmingly, these days, from English -- has got linguists and also language policymakers here worried. They say the use of these so-called loanwords, known as gairaigo in Japanese, has happened at such a rate that many Japanese are now unable to fully understand ...