How To Convert English Phrases to Japanese

Japanese phrases that even probably the most proficient learners of the language discover the toughest to pronounce may be, satirically, those borrowed from their very own native tongue.

My spouse, who’s initially from the USA and now’s a fluent speaker of Japanese after residing in Japan for 15 years, nonetheless struggles to pronounce considered one of her residence nation’s most well-known manufacturers — “McDonald’s,” which in Japanese is マクドナルド (makudonarudo).

Realizing how katakanization works is a crucial sensible talent for native English audio system who examine Japanese.

Phrases of English origin, after they get transformed to katakana, typically throw off native audio system of English. It is because it is exhausting to unlearn their native tongue’s phonology — the sound system with a algorithm that they subconsciously observe since their early childhood — after which modify the unique sound to match the Japanese phonology. I name this course of katakanization as a result of international phrases tailored into Japanese are usually spelled with katakana characters and are generally known as katakana-go (katakana phrases).

For my part as a local speaker of Japanese and a language lover, figuring out how katakanization works is a crucial sensible talent for native English audio system who examine Japanese. Not solely can the flexibility to pronounce these phrases enable you to be extra simply understood by Japanese audio system, it additionally has the additional advantage of increasing your vocabulary, and virtually instantaneously, with out as a lot effort as you would possibly suppose. And as you would possibly already know, we use lots of katakanized loanwords of English origin. Like, rather a lot.

So I’m writing this text with the hope of serving to native-English-speaking Japanese learners who wrestle with one of many largest quirks of the Japanese language — katakana phrases. Later on this article, you’ll study three primary guidelines for the best way to katakanize English phrases. I hope they’ll enable you to have the ability to katakanize phrases by yourself so to pronounce phrases of English origin in a manner that Japanese audio system can simply perceive.

Stipulations: To get probably the most out of this text, it’s best to already know katakana (particularly the best way to pronounce them). If you should brush up, take a look at our Final Katakana Information.

Why Katakanize?

Earlier than entering into the fundamental katakanization guidelines, first, let me clarify a bit of extra about why I believe it’s best to study them.

No one Desires That “Oh-No-This-Particular person-Is-Speaking-to-Me-in-English Look,” Proper?

One of the frequent causes I hear some learners (even when their Japanese is fairly superior) keep away from katakanizing English phrases is, “Why cannot I simply pronounce English phrases accurately?”

The reply is fairly easy. Many Japanese audio system would not be capable to perceive it except they know the unique English pronunciation of the phrase. Is not “having the ability to talk with Japanese folks” the entire level of learning Japanese (at the least, for a lot of of you), anyway?

Code-switching to your native tongue compromises intelligibility.

Whereas code-switching to your native tongue might provide you with some authenticity because the speaker of the unique language, it compromises intelligibility. You might attempt asking “McDonald’s-tte doko desu ka?” (The place is McDonald’s?) with perfectly-pronounced McDonald’s on the road in Japan. You might additionally attempt asking the place “Seven-Eleven” is with out katakanizing it to sebun irebun (セブンイレブン). In both case, you’d most probably get that horrified, oh-no-this-person-is-talking-to-me-in-English look.

Notice that for katakanized phrases which might be significantly lengthy and could be a little bit trippy, you’ll be able to often shorten them — the truth is, many Japanese folks do! Take the earlier instance of マクドナルド; this may be shortened to マック or マクド. Equally, セブンイレブン turns into セブン. So don’t fret if you do not have full confidence of pronunciation simply initially.

Japanese Audio system Use English Loanwords, Like A Lot

Japanese folks use 3,000 – 5,000 loanwords in every day conversations, and 94% of them are of English origin.

Names of restaurant and retailer chains will not be the one English phrases borrowed into the Japanese language. English-derived loanwords have been deeply woven into Japanese, each written and spoken. A examine from the Nineties ^{confirmed that over 35% of all vocabulary printed in 70 Japanese magazines had been international loanwords, most of them being of English origin. A 2010 guide about wasei eigo (Japan-made English) additionally indicated that Japanese folks use 3,000 – 5,000 loanwords in every day conversations, and 94% of them are of English origin. In fact, these research are from years in the past, so we in all probability use much more katakana phrases in Japanese as we speak. The purpose is, it is so exhausting to hold on conversations in Japanese with out Western loanwords that Japan even has a consuming sport the place you need to take a shot each time you employ one!}

The portion of English loanwords in Japanese is rising with the inflow of latest applied sciences and ideas are evident in software program manuals like: アイコンをダブルクリックしてアプリケーションをインストールします icon-o doubleclick-shite application-o install-shimasu “Doubleclick the icon to put in the applying.” With this, it is turning into all of the extra helpful to know the way katakanization works. Whereas having to Japanize your native tongue could be a problem, it could enable you change into extra approachable for individuals who grew up talking Japanese.

Unpronounceable English Sounds

You might also wish to ask why Japanese audio system katakanize English phrases within the first place. It is just because many sound patterns in English will not be permitted within the Japanese phonology, identical to the French guttural /r/ is not in English. One of many (many) explanation why English pronunciation is a pure nightmare for Japanese highschool youngsters is that Japanese doesn’t enable any syllables ending with a consonant apart from /n/ (ン). English has 1000’s of phrases ending with consonants like cat, look and ship however they’re merely unpronounceable within the Japanese phonological universe.

There isn’t a alternative apart from to katakanize loanwords to make them pronounceable throughout the Japanese phonology.

Complicated syllables like power, sixth and garments are much more unpronounceable for Japanese audio system as a result of the Japanese phonology does not allow two or extra consonants to be squeezed collectively. The English /th/ sound is completely impermissible in Japanese — the truth is, in most human languages ^{— and due to this fact must be changed with the closest Japanese sound /s/ as in surī (スリー) “three.” Merely put, there is no such thing as a alternative apart from to katakanize them to make them pronounceable throughout the Japanese phonology.}

So katakanization does not precisely occur due to the writing system. It is exactly due to the Japanese phonology that governs how phrases are pronounced within the language.

Fundamental Conversion Guidelines

So how precisely does katakanization work? Though we have now some exceptions, there are three primary conversion guidelines that native Japanese audio system subconsciously apply.

Notice: IPA symbols we use on this article are based mostly on American English pronunciations.

Rule #1: Add Vowels

When a consonant shouldn’t be instantly adopted by a vowel, you add a vowel.

It is because every sound often includes a vowel in Japanese. The ン (/n/, or /m/) sound is an exception, however apart from that, a unit of Japanese sounds is both a single vowel like ア /a/ – イ /i/ – ウ /u/ – エ /e/ – オ /o/, or a set of consonant and a vowel like カ /ka/ – キ /ki/ – ク /ku/ – ケ /ke/ – コ /ko/. If you know the way katakana works, this in all probability is sensible to you.

Now, what vowel ought to I be including, proper? That’s:

• /o/ after /t/ or /d/
• /i/ after /ch/ or /j/
• Nothing after /n/ and /r/
• /u/ elsewhere.

Let’s use the phrase “threat” for example. First, r is adopted by a vowel i, so that you simply go away it alone. However the remaining, s and okay will not be adopted by a vowel. For s, you add u. For okay, add u. And you will get ri-su-ku — リスク.

Check out one other instance — the phrase “dimension.” Once you attempt to parse it, you see two pairs of a consonant and a vowel — si and ze. So it could be… シゼ…? No, not that. Watch out to not get confused with the spelling and the sound. The phrase “dimension” feels like “saiz,” proper? In case you’ll be able to’t consider the phonetic spelling off the highest of your head, there are converters like this which may come useful for katakanization. Now, going again to the “dimension (saiz)”, z is the one sound that is not adopted by a vowel. So that you add a u there, and now you’ve got bought sa-i-zu — サイズ. That is the way you write and say “dimension” in Japanese.

Rule #2: Exchange Sounds

Exchange illegitimate sounds with related reliable Japanese sounds.

You would possibly already know this, however the Japanese language has fewer sounds than the sounds English has. Like I discussed earlier, the th /θ/ sound does not actually exist in Japanese, and the closest sound is the s sound. That is why “three” turns into surii (スリー) and “thanks” turns into sankyū (サンキュー) in Japanese. Identical to that, for sounds that the Japanese language does not have, you may be changing sounds with the Japanese equivalents. Now let’s take a deeper look.

Vowels

As you could know, Japanese has solely 5 vowel sounds ア, イ, ウ, エ, and オ. That is clearly extra restricted in comparison with English — for instance, English has three “a” sounds (/æ/, /ʌ/, /ə/), however ア replaces all of them.

All examples above begin with vowels for the sake of instance, however after all, this alternative rule applies to a mix of vowels and consonants.

Phrases “hat” and “hut” — they’ve the totally different “a” sounds, however in Japanese, they each get transformed to ハット as a result of the /æ/ and /ʌ/ sounds each substitute to ア. This implies “cowboy hat” (カウボーイハット) and “Pizza Hut” (ピザハット) — they each use ハット regardless of the distinction within the English sounds.

Additionally, in terms of vowels, take note of the size of the vowel in query. Lengthy, prolonged vowel sounds are represented as “ー,” the hyphen-looking image in Japanese. For instance, “pull” is プル (puru), however “pool” is プール (pūru). An /r/ after a vowel as in automobile, 4 and earth turns into the extension of the vowel as effectively. So, very similar to in British English, automobile is カー (kā), 4 is フォー (fō) and earth is アース (āsu).

Consonants

Now, onto consonants! Identical to among the vowels, there are a number of English consonant sounds that do not actually exist in Japanese, and thus get changed with the closest sound as an alternative. Listed here are some examples.

Now, taking a look at this listing, are you able to guess what the phrase “stomach” would appear to be in katakana?

Stomach can be ベリー, identical to “berry” and “very.” That is as a result of there is no distinction in sound between “b” and “v” nor “r” and “l” in Japanese. ベリー attention-grabbing (…and probably ベリー complicated), proper?

There are additionally a couple of consonant + vowel pairs that we pronounce otherwise in English but get represented with the identical katakana character in Japanese. These variations is perhaps extra delicate than those proven above, however for instance, si and shi each change into シ. So “sea” and “she” each change into シー in katakana. Equally, the voiced variations of those sounds, “zi” and “ji” each change into ジ.

Rule #3: Duplicate Consonants

Duplicate the “cease” consonant on the finish of the phrase if it happens after a brief vowel.

Bit, dip, look… What makes these phrases sound so skippy? It’s the fast “pause” between sounds. In romaji to signify this sort of sound, we use duplicated consonants like bitto, proper? In katakana, we use ッ (the small tsu) as in ビット to signify these fast pauses. You will be duplicating the “cease” consonants, that are /p/, /b/, /ch/, /j/, /t/, /d/, /okay/ and /g/ — sounds you make by blocking the air move.

Now, let’s follow katakanizing “dip” and “look” — “dip” turns into ディップ (dippu) and “look” turns into ルック(rukku). Are you getting the gist?

Keep in mind this rule usually applies to the final syllable solely. For instance, picnic turns into pikunikku (ピクニック) as an alternative of pikkunikku (ピックニック). Additionally do not forget this solely occurs to the consonant after a brief vowel versus lengthy vowels, like beat, deep, or Luke.

Congrats, you’ve got simply realized the three primary guidelines of katakanization! Though these three guidelines account for many katakanization processes, they will not merely make you a grasp of katakanization. You will nonetheless encounter curve balls and a few tough ones — for these, you continue to have to make small changes right here and there.

Mixture Katakana

If you happen to’re hoping to take your katakanization to the following degree, it could be a good suggestion to evaluation mixture katakana. Mixture katakana are katakana characters product of a mix with a small character like フォ, ティ, or ジュ.

For instance, you would possibly anticipate “cat” to change into katto (カット), nevertheless it truly must be kyatto (キャット) as a result of the vowel of cat makes the c sound extra just like the Japanese /kya/ sound than the /ka/ sound. Equally, “hole” turns into gyappu (ギャップ) as an alternative of gappu (ガップ). That is too simple? These is perhaps comparatively frequent katakana combos, however there are some curveballs you won’t be so accustomed to — like トゥ as in トゥモロー (tomorrow), or デュ as in デュエット (duet).

These mixture katakana are the unsung heroes of katakana. They permit us to signify sounds that we did not have in Japanese — the sounds are even nearer to the unique English pronunciations.

At the moment, loanwords generally tend to use mixture katakana to raised signify the unique sounds.

Nevertheless, mixture katakana may be much less acquainted and not-so-easy-to-pronounce for Japanese audio system, particularly older people. At the moment, loanwords generally tend to use mixture katakana to raised signify the unique sounds, however this wasn’t all the time the case. For instance, “concept” was once generally written as アイデア in katakana, however lately, アイディア is way extra frequent. And, this results in the following notice: be careful for older loanwords!

Watch Out for Older Loanwords

A few of you could have already seen frequent English loanwords do not actually observe the fundamental guidelines. Like, kēki (ケーキ) “cake” not being kēku (ケーク), rajio (ラジオ) “radio” not being reidio (レイディオ) and kariforunia (カリフォルニア) “California” nor being kyarifōnia (キャリフォーニア). That’s as a result of these phrases are comparatively previous borrowings that got here to Japan earlier than the conversion guidelines turned constant.

Older loanwords are sometimes the way in which they’re for customary causes — you may want to recollect the best way to spell them in katakana.

As you would possibly’ve seen, part of this cause is the no-use of mixture katakana. Sounds that we historically did not have or unusual sounds in Japanese had been changed with ones simpler to pronounce and acknowledge for Japanese audio system. So in the event that they had been borrowed as we speak, they’d be katakanized otherwise — like レイディオ. Nevertheless, a lot of them stay the identical regardless of the change as we’re already used to the way in which they’re! Which means, older loanwords are sometimes the way in which they’re for customary causes — you may want to recollect the best way to spell them in katakana.

Katakanize Like a Professional

Katakanization could be a problem for native-English-speaking learners, even those that are already fluent in Japanese. Nevertheless, do not forget studying the best way to katakanize won’t solely enable you higher acclimate to Japanese phonology and enhance your general pronunciation, but in addition make your spoken Japanese extra understandable and approachable. And in case you have a look at it from a unique perspective — being an English speaker can be a bonus in Japanese studying if you know the way katakanization works. Once you begin having the ability to convert English phrases to katakana easily, and acknowledge extra katakana phrases that Japanese audio system use, you’d be stunned what number of phrases already!

I hope the three primary guidelines and additional suggestions enable you construct a great basis for katakana conversion. It’s a extremely sensible talent and probably a sport changer to deliver your Japanese to the following degree. So, preserve katakanizing and continue learning — Guddo rakku!