From: fournet.arnaud
Message: 52448
Date: 2008-02-07
----- Original Message -----
From: Rick McCallister
The majority, or at least something close to the
majority, of words in Japanese and Korean are from
Chinese. Japanese, like English, is an enthusiastic
borrower of lexicon. Look at all the English words
that exist in Japanese --they even make up English
words that don't exist in English-speaking countries
such as Walkman and Discman, etc. Even names such as
Pokemon --from "Pocket Monster". They have a slew of
Dutch and Portuguese words from the first era of
western contact. I think you've seen too many geisha
movies if you think Japanese culture is stagnant and
non-evolving.
==========
One amazing fact is
Japanese even invented Chinese words
before Chinese re-borrowed them.
One example is
Chinese wen2xue2 : philology :
the study xue2 of written things wen2
It looks like a typical Chinese word
but in fact it is a re-reading of a word created
by Japanese people.
People who borrow from another language
tend to create odd things
like French "smoking" used
as a supposedly English word for
"good-looking men's clothes".
When you have some rudiments about English
this meaning makes little sense.
There is still much to study in the art of
borrowing from another language.
Arnaud
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