How to say "Loanword" in Japanese | 外来語

If you are wondering what's the Japanese word for "Loanword" you've come to the right place!

the Japanese word for "Loanword" is "Gairaigo", written in japanese as "外来語".

Here's a more detailed explanation:

The Japanese noun '外来語 (がいらいご)' refers to a 'loanword', which is a word adopted from a foreign language and incorporated into Japanese. These words are often written in katakana to distinguish them from native Japanese words or Sino-Japanese vocabulary. Loanwords are commonly derived from English, Portuguese, Dutch, and other languages, reflecting Japan's historical and cultural exchanges. For example: 'computer' is a loanword「コンピュータは外来語です」(コンピュータはがいらいごです). 'Bread' is also a loanword「パンは外来語です」(パンはがいらいごです). Loanwords are widely used in modern Japanese, especially in fields like technology, fashion, and food.

The Kanji are characters that represent meanings. As you can see, this word is made up of 3 Kanji:

The kanji "外" means "Outside" and can be read as "Ge", "Gai", "Soto" and "Hazu". The kanji "来" means "Come" and can be read as "Rai", "Kita" and "Ku". And The kanji "語" means "Language" and "Word" and can be read as "Go" and "Kata".

Now, let's make sure you understand this word the other way around too.

What does "Gairaigo" mean in japanese?

"Gairaigo" means "Loanword" .

To learn more about the kanji in this word, checkout this pages:

To make really sure you learn this word, We've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this word and of the characters that comprise it.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "げ" is read as "ge". The hiragana "が" is read as "ga". The hiragana "い" is read as "i". The hiragana "そ" is read as "so". The hiragana "と" is read as "to". The hiragana "は" is read as "ha". The hiragana "ず" is read as "zu". The hiragana "ら" is read as "ra". The hiragana "き" is read as "ki". The hiragana "た" is read as "ta". The hiragana "く" is read as "ku". The hiragana "ご" is read as "go". And The hiragana "か" is read as "ka".

About kanji, you need to know that most Kanji have two types of readings: Kunyomi, based on native japanese pronunciation. And onyomi, based on chinese pronunciation.