Sakura, pokemon, tsunami... We know they come from the Japanese language, but did you ever wonder why "sakura"? Or is there a reason those little monsters were called "pokemon"? What secrets do the Japanese words hide in plain sight?
Tsunami, or a tidal wave, is a straightforward example. It is created by two kanji hieroglyphs followed one another: 津 (tsu)"harbor" and 波 (nami) "wave", which give a sufficient explanation to the word.
Pokemon is shortened for Japanese ポケットモンスター (Poketto Monsutā) which literally translates as "pocket monsters". Also seems self-explanatory now, doesn't it? Not sure if it is a coincidence or was meant so, but pokemon sounds quite similar to bakemono (化け物, literally "changing things"). Bakemonos are the traditional monsters of Japanese folklore.
Bakemono are thus the results of bizarre transformations, from things that are common and normal to things that are mysterious and abnormal. Many animals were traditionally believed to have shape shifting powers, and these included snakes, boars, turtles, snails, birds, frogs, clams and even some plants. Could that be the real inspiration behind little Pokemons? I say, absolutely!
Sakura is spelled with one single kanji symbol: 桜. It is a simplified (oh, my!) version of an older form 櫻. Both hieroglyphs have the "tree" radical (木) and the "woman" radical (女) in them. From the older form we can see there were originally two shells (貝), symbolizing pink cowrie shells, above a woman. On its own, the character 嬰 means "baby" and also lends a feeling of smallness. Thus, 嬰 was added to 木 to represent a tree with small pink flowers —sakura. The word sakura itself comes from saku 咲く meaning “bloom” and ra 等 turning it into a noun. Thus, "that which blooms".
It is worth mentioning that sakura is a Japanese word for cherry blossom, which makes it clear: it is not geografically specific to Japan, especially in modern times. Although, many countries got their share of cherry trees from the "Land of the Rising Sun".
If the word "typhoon" (大風) is actually Chinese, the word "tycoon" (大君) that we use ever so often in reference to industries' moguls comes from the Japanese language. They both start with the same kanji 大—"big". Typhoon translates from Cantonese as "big wind"; tycoon literally means "great prince" or "high commander" and nowadays applies to wealthy business leaders. Using the same logic, the word 大根 (daikon), that kind of white raddish, simply means "big root" and is of Japanese origin, too.
As in other languages, Japanese has great, "precise" words that describe best some things we'd need several words in English to explain. Irusu right above is something my mother loves doing all the time. Another great word is べつばら (betsubara), or "separate stomach". It’s the imaginary one where you always seem to have room for dessert even though you’re full from a big dinner. Not only you can actually now name the "room" that seems always to be there no matter how much you've eaten, you also immediately learned 2 Japanese words that can be of help in a conversation!
Talking about eating a lot. You know those meals, normally offered in hotels, served buffet-style with a variety of hot and cold dishes which you can choose from whatever your heart desires? Well, the Swedes would call it smörgåsbord (smer-gus-bod) from words smörgås (sandwich) and bord (table).But in the Japanese language the English word viking was adopted to name the same thing: バイキング (bai-kin-gu). Were vikings the ones who showed the Japanese the power of buffet? Anyway, creative indeed!
Of course, there are many words from the Chinese language in Japanese, but did you know that a great deal of them are also of Portuguese origin? The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach Japan and to establish direct trade between Japan and Europe, in 1542. During 15th and 16th centuries Portuguese Jesuit priests introduced Christian ideas, Western science, technology and new products to the Japanese.
It is often suggested that the Japanese word arigatō (ありがとう) derives from the Portuguese obrigado, both of which mean "Thank you", but evidence clearly indicates a purely Japanese origin. These two are what they call false cognates, pretty much like Italian ciao and Vietnamese chào ("hello/goodbye").
Turns out, the word tempura is one of those Japanese words adopted from Portuguese. And "bread" in Japanese sounds exactly like in Spanish (which makes sense now that the Portuguese influence is clear) —pan (パン).
Quite funny, words like bīru (ビール), —you guessed it, beer— and arukōru (アルコール), alcohol, came from the Dutch who arrived to Japan in 1600s. Surely, only because they were trading those —wink, wink.
Were you ever curious about the meaning of tamagotchi? This word was created by soldering two words: one Japanese —tamago (たまご), "egg"— and another one English —watch— that was kinda "japanized" by adding a vowel —i— to the word's end since Japanese words normally end in a vowel. Doesn't it sound kind of similar to tomodachi (ともだち) which means "friend"? No connection there, that's my personal opinion.
Or what about this word you definitely heard many times —Sayonara (さようなら)— "goodbye"? Turns out, together "sayo" (so, that way) and "nara" (if) mean "if so" that suddenly doesn't sound as exotic as it was a second ago. —"If so, I gotta go! Say "if so" to Marry from me!" I mean, it does in the end convey acceptance of whatever a situation may offer, but perhaps I'm just trying to make it more philosofical.
Sayonara is quite common in English. Which other Japanese words can help you get by? Feels like it is time for some of the most common Japanese words and phrases. Remember, imitating native pronunciation is the key. Enjoy (6:21):
If we were to choose 3 most common kanji you better know when you are in Japan, those would be:
- 小 － こ (ko), little
- 中 － ちゅう (chyu), middle
- 大 － だい (dai), big or large
Other frecuently used Japanese words in the English language are those for martial arts: sumo, jujitsu, judo, aikido. I finally understood the difference between them when I learned about their meanings.
So, sumo (相撲) comes from su 相 "mutually" and mo 撲 "to rush at". And here you have two people, unarmed, in a struggle to force their oponent out of a circular ring, pushing each other. Mutually.
Jujitsu (柔術) has two kanji: jū 柔 meaning "gentle, soft" and jitsu 術 that can be translated as "art" or "technique". Here the idea is to use the attacker's energy, who is usually armed with some kind of weapon, against him, rather than directly opposing it. Thus, the technique is not aggresive, it's "gentle"!
Judo (柔道) starts with the same kanji character as jujitsu: 柔. And for a reason. This martial art is based on jujitsu but it was created by a certain person named Jigoro Kano. Kano believed that jujitsu was insufficient to describe his art: jitsu implies a method consisting of a set of physical techniques, moves. Kano, however, saw a more philosophical context in practicing his way. Accordingly, he changed the second character to dō (道), meaning "way, road" or "path", which has a common origin with the Chinese concept of tao.
And aikido (合気道). This one has 3 kanji hieroglyphs:
- 合 — ai — joining, unifying, combining, fitting;
- 気 — ki — spirit, energy, mood, morale;
- 道 — dō — way, path.
This modern Japanese martial art is also developed by a single person —Morihei Ueshiba— as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the way of harmonious spirit" in which the term aiki refers to the martial arts principle or tactic of blending with an attacker's movements for the purpose of controlling their actions with minimal effort. One applies aiki by understanding the rhythm and intent of the attacker, searching for the optimal position and timing to apply a counter-technique.
I always thought that emoji originated from the word combination "electronic emotions", or something like that. But the truth is, it comes from Japanese words: e (絵, "picture") + moji (文字, "character"). And the resemblance to the English words emotion or emoticon? It is purely coincidental.
But the most surprised I was by the Japanese origins of the words futon (which I always deemed to be French) and rickshaw (Hindi word, in my belief, wouldn't you agree?). But no, sir. Rickshaw originates from the Japanese word jinrikisha (人力車, 人 jin = human, 力 riki = power or force, 車 sha = vehicle), literally "human-powered vehicle". Futon, in turn, is a sum of 布 (ふ, fu, "cloth") and 団 (とん, ton, "mass") meaning basically "matress".
Not sure about you, but for a long time I thought —judging by the syllabical Japanese-like sounding— that the word "tiramisu" is of the Japanese origin, too. It is not. In fact, it is all-Italian. If you got into the same confusion, know this: the literal translation of that delicious dessert from the Italian language is "pull me up" as in "tira" (pull) + "mi" (me) + "su" (up), meaning "cheer me up": sweet delight created to make you happy. Quite straight-forward if you know Italian, isn't it? Ciao, confusion!
Ok, time to embrace Japanese slang words! Watch and listen to this short video (3:21) that will allow you to hear some Japanese speech and also learn 10 top Japanese slang words and expressions:
There is a word —onomatopoeia— that comes from Greek (and maybe that's why so uncomfortable to pronounce) that Japanese "likes" even more than other languages (they have over 1,000!). Simply said, onomatopoeia is the word for when we take a sound and make a word out of it. In English, this is words like BOOM! SLAP! or HAHAHA! Japanese onomatopoeia aren’t just written, but they are also crucial to speaking and sounding fluent. Also, it's fun!
One of the Japanese onomatopoeia you know already and probably said yourself is hidden in ピカチュウ. Or for you and me —Pikachu! Pikapika ぴかぴか (ピカピカ) being the word that in Japanese represents the sound of lightning and chū ちゅう (チュウ) —a sound a mouse makes. Which gives us THE pokemon —a mouse-like animal who can electrocute.
Here are some more of those:
- Otaota — オタオタ / おたおた — shocked, speechless
- Utouto — うとうと — dozed off
- Wakuwaku — ワクワク / わくわく — excited, thrilled, nervous/anxious from excitement
- Dokidoki — どきどき /ドキドキ — sound of throbbing heart
- Kushakusha — くしゃくしゃ — crumpling sound of paper
- Tsuntsun — つんつん — cross, angry, aloof
- Kutakuta — くたくた — weak with exhaustion, worn out, beat
- Pekopeko — ぺこぺこ — hungry, starving, famished
- Pakupaku — ぱくぱく / パクパク — heartily eating, chomp
And there are so many more! This last one (Pakupaku) actually gave the name to a very famous game —Pac-man. You did not see that coming, did you now?
And from all that variety of words and sounds, one of my most favorite words in Japanese is 木漏れ日 (komorebi). This one is made up of kanji radicals for "tree", "leaking" and "sun". There you have the meaning —sunlight filtering through trees.
That's how it feels to learn Japanese: there is light, the desired goal to achieve fluency in the language, or at least some basic understanding, but there are many obstacles covering it away like trees. Yet, it doesn't change the fact of feeling excited to experience the journey (wakuwaku?). From what seems like obstacles (trees), to baby-steps learning process (leaking), to the sun (the goal). I know it wasn't meant to be applied to language learning, but it is just such a great word I coudn't resist to connect it to Langventure!
Enjoy the komorebi, my friend, and always look for that "sun" that keeps you going on your way through forests of life!
さようなら! (Sayonara) Goodbye (If so)!
"This article is so 最高 (saikō)!!! Otaota! LikeLike!"
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