Japanese Katakana Loanwords: Sound Rules, False Friends and Wasei Eigo

Japanese borrows thousands of words from English and other languages and writes them in katakana, but they are reshaped to fit Japanese sounds, so “computer” becomes コンピューター (konpyūtā) and “ice cream” becomes アイスクリーム (aisukurīmu). Once you know the handful of sound rules behind these changes, you can read and guess a huge number of loanwords. The catch is that some of them change meaning on the way, and some “English” words were made up in Japan.

Why loanwords sound different

Japanese syllables almost always end in a vowel (or ん), and the language has fewer sounds than English. So when a word is borrowed, it is rebuilt from Japanese sounds:

• Extra vowels go between consonants: “desk” is デスク (desuku), “milk” is ミルク (miruku).
• L and R both become the ラ行 sounds: “lemon” is レモン, “radio” is ラジオ.
• V usually becomes B: “video” is ビデオ.
• “-er” and “-or” at the end become a long vowel, written ー: “teacher” would be ティーチャー, “elevator” is エレベーター.
• Th becomes S or Z: “thank you” turns into サンキュー.
• A small ッ marks a short pause before a hard consonant: “bed” is ベッド, “cup” is カップ.

Shortened words

Long loanwords are often cut to four syllables, which is a common rhythm in Japanese:

• パソコン (personal computer)
• スマホ (smartphone)
• エアコン (air conditioner)
• リモコン (remote control)
• コンビニ (convenience store). See our guide to convenience store Japanese.

False friends: loanwords that changed meaning

Made-in-Japan English (wasei eigo)

Some words look English but were created in Japan, so English speakers won’t understand them:

• サラリーマン: an office worker.
• コンセント: a power socket.
• ノートパソコン: a laptop.
• ガソリンスタンド: a petrol or gas station.
• ペーパードライバー: someone with a licence who never drives.

Not all loanwords come from English

パン (bread) comes from Portuguese, アルバイト (part-time job) from German, and イクラ (salmon roe) from Russian. That is why some katakana words don’t match any English word you know.

Tips for learning them

• Read katakana aloud slowly. Your ear often recognises the word before your eyes do.
• When you can’t remember a Japanese word, try the katakana version of the English. It works surprisingly often, but check it.
• Practise the Japanese pronunciation, not the English one. Saying マクドナルド (makudonarudo) the Japanese way is easier for listeners to follow.
• If katakana itself is still slow, start with our guide to learning hiragana and katakana.

How Hanabuddies can help

A native tutor can drill katakana reading with you, correct your loanword pronunciation and point out the false friends that trip up English speakers. It fits easily into regular lessons, and our pronunciation guide is a good place to start.