{"id":712,"date":"2021-01-25T14:15:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T05:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/?post_type=japanese&p=712"},"modified":"2021-05-27T13:51:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T04:51:45","slug":"howtoreadforeignwords","status":"publish","type":"japanese","link":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/japanese\/howtoreadforeignwords\/","title":{"rendered":"How to read foreign words or “GAIRAIGO,” words that came from abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Hello to all studying Japanese!
There are a lot of things that you may have trouble with while you are learning Japanese, are not there?
In particular, I often hear from English speakers that it is difficult to pronounce \u201cGAIRAIGO\u201d.
Today, I would like to talk about some of the many \u201cGAIRAIGO\u201d in Japanese, and among them, pronunciation.

There are several pronunciation rules for foreign languages.
These rules are not easily found in the textbooks you learn at Japanese language schools, but once you understand that, it is not so hard, so read carefully.
In Japanese, there are no consonants other than the letter “n” which is pronounced with only consonants!

There is always a consonant followed by a vowel.
Vowels – a, i, u, e, o “a”, “i”, “u”, “e”, “o”
Consonants-k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w, n, b, g, z, d, b, p, c, j

In Japanese, there are no consonants other than the letter “n” which is pronounced with only consonants!
There is always a consonant followed by a vowel.<\/u><\/mark><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

ex.
s<\/span>tore \u30b9<\/span><\/strong>\u30c8\u30a2
watch<\/span> \u30a6\u30a9\u30c3\u30c1<\/span><\/strong>
web<\/span> \u30a6\u30a7\u30d6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So, what vowel should be followed by a consonant? Actually, there are three major rules.
(There are many small rules and exceptions\u2026)

\u25ceRule 1: Add “u” after consonants.<\/mark><\/u><\/strong>
Most foreign words, if the original English word has only consonants, can be read in Japanese katakana by adding “u”.
In other words, make the u-dan sound.

U-dan – U-dan – “U,” “K,” “S,” “T,” “N,” “F,” “M,” “Y,” “L,” “G,” “Z,” “B,” and
“P”.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\r\n

ex.
fall<\/span> \u3000\u30d5\u30a9\u30fc\u30eb<\/span><\/strong>
service<\/span> \u3000\u30b5\u30fc\u30d3\u30b9<\/span><\/strong>
series<\/span>\u3000\u30b7\u30ea\u30fc\u30ba<\/span><\/strong>
stove<\/span>\u3000\u30b9\u30c8\u30fc\u30d6<\/span><\/strong>
sports<\/span>\u3000\u30b9\u30dd\u30fc\u30c4<\/span><\/strong>
native<\/span>\u3000\u30cd\u30a4\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6<\/span><\/strong>
help<\/span> \u3000\u30d8\u30eb\u30d7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n


\u25ceRule 2: Add “o” to “t” and “d” consonants.<\/u><\/mark><\/strong>
Add “o” to the consonants of \u201ct\u201d and \u201cd\u201d to make o-dan.
O-dan – “o,” “ko,” “so,” “to,” “no,” “ho,” “mo,” “yo,” “ro,” “wo,” “go,” “zo,” “do,” “bo,” “po”.

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

ex.
d<\/span>river\u3000\u30c9<\/span><\/strong>\u30e9\u30a4\u30d0\u30fc
diamond<\/span>\u3000\u30c0\u30a4\u30e4\u30e2\u30f3\u30c9<\/span><\/strong>
hard<\/span>ware\u3000\u30cf\u30fc\u30c9<\/span><\/strong>\u30a6\u30a7\u30a2
soft<\/span>ware\u3000\u30bd\u30d5\u30c8<\/span><\/strong>\u30a6\u30a7\u30a2
ad<\/span>venture\u3000\u30a2\u30c9<\/span><\/strong>\u30d9\u30f3\u30c1\u30e3\u30fc
internet<\/span>\u3000\u30a4\u30f3\u30bf\u30fc\u30cd\u30c3\u30c8<\/span><\/strong>
coat<\/span>\u3000\u30b3\u30fc\u30c8<\/span><\/strong>
t<\/span>raining\u3000\u30c8<\/span><\/strong>\u30ec\u30fc\u30cb\u30f3\u30b0
t<\/span>rain\u3000\u30c8<\/span><\/strong>\u30ec\u30a4\u30f3<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u25ceRule 3: Many of the long vowel sounds “ar”, “er”, “ur”, “or” are long sounds in the a-dan.<\/mark><\/strong><\/u>
Most “ar”, “er”, “ur”, and “or” long vowel sounds have a long “a” sound.

A-dan long vowel-\u300c\u30a2\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ab\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30b5\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30bf\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ca\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30cf\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30de\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30e4\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30e9\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ef\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ac\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30b6\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30c0\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30d0\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30d1\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ad\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30b7\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30c1\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30cb\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30d2\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30df\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ea\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30ae\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30d3\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u300c\u30d4\u30e3\u30fc\u300d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

ex.
driver<\/span>\u3000\u30c9\u30e9\u30a4\u30d0\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>\u3000
computer<\/span>\u3000\u30b3\u30f3\u30d4\u30e5\u30fc\u30bf\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>
elevator<\/span>\u3000\u30a8\u30ec\u30d9\u30fc\u30bf\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>
calendar<\/span>\u3000\u30ab\u30ec\u30f3\u30c0\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>
sur<\/span>vey\u3000\u30b5\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>\u30d9\u30a4
cur<\/span>tain\u3000\u30ab\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>\u30c6\u30f3
cur<\/span>ve\u3000\u30ab\u30fc<\/span><\/strong>\u30d6<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Exceptions<\/strong>

I explained that most consonants will be in the u-dan sound, but of course there are exceptions.
In Rule 1, I told that if an English word has only consonants, adding \u201cu\u201d will make it a Japanese katakana reading. The reason why these words do not fit the rule is because they were introduced to Japan at different times as foreign words. This is because these words are old foreign words that came to Japan at an early stage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

ex.
cake\u3000\u30b1\u30fc\u30ad, not \u30b1\u30fc\u30af
steak \u3000\u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30ad, not \u30b9\u30c6\u30fc\u30af
deck \u3000\u30c7\u30c3\u30ad, not \u30c7\u30c3\u30af
brake \u3000\u30d6\u30ec\u30fc\u30ad, not \u30d6\u30ec\u30fc\u30af
stick \u3000\u30b9\u30c6\u30c3\u30ad\uff08\u6756\uff09, not\u30b9\u30c6\u30a3\u30c3\u30af\u203bHowever, \u30b9\u30c6\u30a3\u30c3\u30afis used in the sense of \u68d2.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There are other words that have the same pronunciation in English, but two different pronunciations in Japanese, and each with a different meaning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

ex.
Sheet \u30b7\u30fc\u30c8 is a piece of paper. It is also used for spreadsheets. Another is a \u30b7\u30fc\u30c4of bedding.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In addition, there are foreign words that are not from English but from other foreign languages such as Portuguese. Portugal and the Netherlands have been in contact with Japan for a long time, so there are many old foreign words that came from Portugal and the Netherlands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

ex.
tabaco \u3000\u30bf\u30d0\u30b3 from Portuguese
capa \u3000\u30ab\u30c3\u30d1 from Portuguese \u203braincoat in English
pao\u3000\u30d1\u30f3 from Portuguese\u3000\u203bbread in English
glas\u3000\u30ac\u30e9\u30b9\uff08\u785d\u5b50\uff09from Dutch, \u203beasily mistaken by “\u30b0\u30e9\u30b9\u201d glass
kop\u3000\u30b3\u30c3\u30d7 from Dutch\u3000\u203b\u30b3\u30c3\u30d7 can easily be mistaken for \u201c\u30ab\u30c3\u30d7\u201dcup
gom\u3000\u30b4\u30e0 from Dutch rubber \u203brubber in Englishr
enquete\u3000\u30a2\u30f3\u30b1\u30fc\u30c8 from French \u203bquestionnaire in English<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Did you all understand? There are many \u201cGAIRAIGO\u201d, and there are some more rules and exceptions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

However, if you remember the above three rules, you will be able to read most \u201cGAIRAIGO\u201d, so please try to apply the above rules when you hear \u201cGAIRAIGO\u201d in the future.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"featured_media":236,"template":"","format":"standard","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/japanese\/712"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/japanese"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/japanese"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerable.tech\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}