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13. Language policy and practice in English loanwords in Japanese

  • Emi Morita
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The Politics of English
This chapter is in the book The Politics of English

Abstract

This paper discusses the conflict between language policy and actual practice regarding loanword use in Japan. Localized appropriation of foreign words is nothing new to Japanese history; nevertheless, the Japanese government deems the current influx of loanwords to be “problematic”. A 2007 report by the National Institute for Japanese Language (NIJLA), commissioned by the government, finds that numerous loanwords that appear in public discourse are not understood by the average Japanese person. NIJLA suggested that the most commonly non-understood foreign-language loanwords should be replaced with native Japanese or Sino-Japanese paraphrases instead. Despite the fact that it is the government that first “problematized” this situation, and one of its own institutions that has suggested the countermeasure, my comparative examination of loanword use in public resources reveals that it is primarily government administrators who introduce new loanwords, legitimize them, and treat them as established discourse. I argue that this apparent discrepancy is a conflict between two different forms of language ideology – NIJLA’s (as well as the government’s) essentialist notion of ‘democratic language’ versus actual language use, including the very ‘third space’ language practices of government officials that have arisen within the contexts of the transnational discourse of globalization and internationalism.

Abstract

This paper discusses the conflict between language policy and actual practice regarding loanword use in Japan. Localized appropriation of foreign words is nothing new to Japanese history; nevertheless, the Japanese government deems the current influx of loanwords to be “problematic”. A 2007 report by the National Institute for Japanese Language (NIJLA), commissioned by the government, finds that numerous loanwords that appear in public discourse are not understood by the average Japanese person. NIJLA suggested that the most commonly non-understood foreign-language loanwords should be replaced with native Japanese or Sino-Japanese paraphrases instead. Despite the fact that it is the government that first “problematized” this situation, and one of its own institutions that has suggested the countermeasure, my comparative examination of loanword use in public resources reveals that it is primarily government administrators who introduce new loanwords, legitimize them, and treat them as established discourse. I argue that this apparent discrepancy is a conflict between two different forms of language ideology – NIJLA’s (as well as the government’s) essentialist notion of ‘democratic language’ versus actual language use, including the very ‘third space’ language practices of government officials that have arisen within the contexts of the transnational discourse of globalization and internationalism.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. 1. Language policies, language ideologies and local language practices 1
  5. Part I. South Asia
  6. 2. The politics of Hinglish 21
  7. 3. Globalization and multilingualism 37
  8. 4. Kaduva of privileged power, instrument of rural empowerment? 61
  9. 5. The interface of language, literature and politics in Sri Lanka 81
  10. Part II. Southeast Asia
  11. 6. Governing English in Singapore 105
  12. 7. Uncertain locale 125
  13. 8. The encroachment of English in Malaysian cultural expression 145
  14. 9. “They think speaking in English isn’t good, you know” 167
  15. 10. The grip of English and Philippine language policy 187
  16. 11. Nimble tongues 205
  17. Part III. Asia Pacific
  18. 12. English vs. English conversation 227
  19. 13. Language policy and practice in English loanwords in Japanese 249
  20. 14. English speakers in Korea 269
  21. 15. English, class and neoliberalism in South Korea 287
  22. 16. Conclusion 303
  23. Contributors 317
  24. Index 321
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.4.17mor

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. 1. Language policies, language ideologies and local language practices 1
  5. Part I. South Asia
  6. 2. The politics of Hinglish 21
  7. 3. Globalization and multilingualism 37
  8. 4. Kaduva of privileged power, instrument of rural empowerment? 61
  9. 5. The interface of language, literature and politics in Sri Lanka 81
  10. Part II. Southeast Asia
  11. 6. Governing English in Singapore 105
  12. 7. Uncertain locale 125
  13. 8. The encroachment of English in Malaysian cultural expression 145
  14. 9. “They think speaking in English isn’t good, you know” 167
  15. 10. The grip of English and Philippine language policy 187
  16. 11. Nimble tongues 205
  17. Part III. Asia Pacific
  18. 12. English vs. English conversation 227
  19. 13. Language policy and practice in English loanwords in Japanese 249
  20. 14. English speakers in Korea 269
  21. 15. English, class and neoliberalism in South Korea 287
  22. 16. Conclusion 303
  23. Contributors 317
  24. Index 321
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