Japanese English

Japanese English (JE) refers to the forms of English mainly used by non-native speakers in Japan. This may include English learned as a foreign language, its fashionable use in the media and advertising (often called Engrish), or the use of English as a working language in certain institutions such as research centres or publications such as the Japan Times.

When used for a communicative purpose, such as in English-language newspapers, this variety is typically very similar to American English in vocabulary, grammar and spelling. However, there are a number of words use in JE which either originate in Japan or have developed a separate meaning: for example, prefecture to mean a political district is an English word which is not used in native English-speaking nations. Police box is always used as the translation for 交番 kouban, but in fact this is a local police station, rather than a callbox specifically for contacting the police, as in the UK. Additionally, many English words exist in Japanese, but these loanwords are considered part of its vocabulary, just as many Japanese words such as karate form part of English.

'Parking ticket' machine in Osaka, Japan. The name is written above the English sign in katakana - パーキング・チクット paakingu chikutto - indicating this is a wasei-eigo term translated from Japanese.

More commonly, English in Japan takes the form of what is colloquially known as Engrish, a termwhose spelling mimics the supposed Japanese inability to articulate the difference between English [r] and [l]. The acceptability of this term is debatable; many Japanese may consider it derogatory, while others may not. It is most widely used by English speakers as a humourous slang term. Furthermore, it is sometimes used to refer to other versions of English in East Asia, e.g. as spoken by Chinese or Korean user of English.

An alternative term someties applied to JE is Japlish. Since Jap is racist English slang for a Japanese person, many authors may avoid this term. Alternatively, it has been used to refer to English loanwords in Japanese itself (和製英語 wasei-eigo - literally 'made in Japan English') - words not used in a way that English speakers would readily understand.

Origin of the term 'Engrish'

The term originates from the fact that Japanese and a few other East Asian languages do not distinguish the phonemes /r/ and /l/ as in English - thus it could be described as an Anglocentric reference, identifying a difference as a deficiency relative to English. Writers attempting to render JE on paper tend to either eliminate the letter l and replace it with r, or else mix them randomly, producing such words as rice for lice. Furthermore, Japanese users of English sometimes mix up the two, leading to mis-spellings in English.

Japanese has an /r/ phoneme which is phonetically often similar to the pronunciation of t or d in American English, where these occur before an unstressed syllable: e.g. city or butter. This sound is known to phoneticians as a flap and transcribed as [ɾ] but is only one of several variants of r found in Japanese. Another is the similar alveolar lateral flap [ɺ]. Some speakers will also pronounce it as a [d] in word-initial position, and some forms may be perceived by English speakers as an [l]. The confusion arises because phonetically the Japanese /r/ is articulated similar to the prounciation of English [l], but phonologically serves as an /r/. Therefore, misinterpretations involving /r/ and /l/ may be as much due to listeners' misperceptions as speakers' approximations.

English language learning in Japan

English is a compulsory subject in Japanese schools from the age of 11; students who enter university are also obliged to take an English course in their first year, assessed through the TOEIC exam. However, although the Japanese government has issued guidelines requiring a focus on real-life communication skills, most teaching is still very 'traditional': a focus on learning grammar rules and on reading the language, with Japanese as the medium of instruction used by almost exclusively Japanese native-speaking teachers. This means that exposure to native English can be limited for many learners, who may have few opportunities to practice listening and speaking.

Intentional 'Engrish'

'Engrish' is usually accidental, but sometimes its use is deliberate. Foreign branding, for example, serves the same purpose it does in the West: exotic embellishment. For the same reasons that a Chinese character or a Japanese Kanji tattoo seems "exotic" to many in the West, Asians may appreciate English words or gibberish for its aesthetic appeal alone; straight lines, frequent symmetry, and the unembellished curves of Latinate letters may all appeal to Asian senses of aesthetics and balance.

Current examples

• J-Pop groups tend to use inappropriate English phrases in their songs as foreign phrases heard by their Japanese fans is considered chic and "cool", regardless of its accuracy and appropriateness in the context that it is being presented. An example of this is the KinKi Kids' song Garasu no Shonen, where the phrase "Stay with me", gets the loudest cheers during their live performances of the song, despite the fact the phrase is inappropriate in its placement in the chorus. Even artists in Japan that "know better" use this device. 80's J-Pop artist Ann Lewis, who is half American, also used inappropriate English phrases in her music as well, even though she had the capacity to use native English. More recently, the half-American Crystal Kay Williams has used 'Engrish' in her songs despite being schooled in Yokosuka, a U.S. naval base.

• The wheel covers of SUVs in Japan usually have phrases about nature using English words that are inappropriate in the context the writers intended. Whether this is intentional or not is still a subject of debate.

• The Japanese cosmetics firm TBC has started an ad campaign saying (insert adjective) is TBC. The sentence structure is fundamentally flawed and produces sentences such as "Peaceful is TBC" or "Beautiful is TBC" in the ads.

'Engrish' in the popular media

Engrish in its original sense of unintentional mistranslation is periodically found in translated live action Asian film and television and occasionally in translated Japanese anime. However, it is more often used intentionally in English language productions as a parody of the concept, or of the linguistic differences that give rise to Engrish. In some instances, racist overtones, though unintentional, may be apparent.

Examples in animated television and film

• The wartime Donald Duck cartoon, Commando Duck, the caricatures of the Japanese Army speak in Engrish, such as “Hello, please,” and later, “Must always be shooting rope in the center of the middle, just like Lone Ranger!”

• Japanese anime can also feature examples of Engrish which, over time, become distanced from their original intended meaning. In Dragon Ball, for instance, the character of Bulma (Buruma) was intended to be called Bloomer--her father's name is Mr. Briefs, and in the sequels Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT she would have a son named Trunks and a daughter named Bra. Later, however, there are occasions when her name is clearly spelled "B-U-L-M-A".

• Engrish has been featured in several episodes of the American animated series South Park. In episode 801, titled "Good Times with Weapons", the main characters "play ninja" accompanied by a ridiculous song, sung in Japanese by Trey Parker, one of the show's creators, that featured the chorus “Let's Fighting Love”. The song is most likely a reference to Engrish found in some J-Pop songs featured in a large number of Japanese anime, in addition to the odd juxtaposition of English and Japanese--the song features lyrics such as "Taisetsu na mono protect my balls!", which when fully translated means "Important thing protect my balls", among other lines that make sense when fully put in English. The episode "Mecha-Streisand" features a Japanese TV announcer who sings the Godzilla theme song in Engrish. The episode featuring Chinpokomon also employed Japanese characters using Engrish. And Tuong Lu Kim, the Asian owner of the local Chinese restaurant City Wok, pronounces "City" as "Shitty."

• The animated comedy Drawn Together features a character named Ling-Ling (a parody of the Pokémon character, Pikachu) who is an Asian of unspecified nationality. Ling-Ling's speech consists mainly of Japanese-sounding gibberish, while his subtitles contain almost exclusively Engrish. A joke directly referencing Engrish occurs in the episode "Super Nanny"; when Ling-Ling takes an eye exam, he says "R" for every letter on the eye chart even though every letter on the chart is actually the letter L. Ling-Ling also complains about his mispronounciation of "Prell" brand shampoo, stating "Oh, Plerr... How can you leave Ring-Ring hair with such shine and body and leave soul with such shame and embarrassment?"

• The command center screen of the Tuatha de Danaan in the Full Metal Panic series portrayed Engrish when Kaname, synchronizing with the de Danaan's computer system, typed a message that said "DON'T WORRY! EVERYTHING IS GONNA OKAY!"

• In the eighth season Simpsons episode In Marge We Trust, Homer Simpson telephones a company in Japan, and speaks to an engrish-speaking worker who greets him with "Hello, chief. Let's talk, why not?".

Examples in Western video games

• In Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the Japanese pilots speak in Engrish and with an overbearing "Japanese" accent. This portrayal of the Japanese pilots' voices have caused some publications, like GameSpot, to call these portrayals "flat-out racist".[1]
• The Blademaster, a character in Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III for PC, is programmed to speak in Engrish when clicked on. His dialogue includes, "Can cut through armor, but still cut a tomato," and, "I, hero, FIGHT!"

Examples in live action television

• In the Monty Python episode, "The Cycling Tour," the main character tells a Chinese man posing as a British Consul that he is on a bicycle tour of Northern Cornwall, to which the "consul" replies, "Ah! Colonworol!" An entire sketch built around the concept is "Erizabeth L," in which a Japanese con artist (played by Terry Jones) posing as Italian film director Luchino Visconti forces the cast of a period drama he is filming into speaking their lines with an exaggerated "Japanesque" accent and chides them when they slip into standard English pronunciation.

• Get Smart featured a recurring villain based on Dr. Julius No named "The Claw". He would mispronouce his own name as "Craw", leading Max to assume his name was "The Craw". The recurring gag response would be, "Not Craw, Craw!"

• Benny Hill episodes have an Engrish-speaking character called Chow Mein; his mangled English phrases baffle his interviewer: "How rubbery, evlybloody's crapping!"

• On The Tonight Show, Jay Leno frequently shows poorly translated instructions from Asian products as part of the "Headlines" segment.

• On the classic Seinfeld episode "The Chinese Woman", Jerry's caucasian girlfriend Donna Chang uses the word "ridicurous" in a conversation.

• On Chappelle's Show Season 3, Episode 2, in the controversial skit "Racial Pixies", Dave Chappelle played a miniature Asian sitting on MTV VJ La La's shoulder telling an Asian man in the skit to say "Herro Ra Ra" instead of "Hello La La".

• In 2003, on The Tom Green Show, Tom Green visits Japan. At one point, he finds a soda machine that reads: "Why Don't You Have Anything to Drink? Choose One, Making You Better Feeling!"

• In 2003-2004, the live-action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon had a few strange Engrish phrases thrown in with the Japanese in the theme song, most notably "try get a chance" and "moonlight real girl". The extended version of the theme that Sae sings in the Kirari live event includes "moonlight fortune" and "catch me kiss again" in the lyrics. Also, the Sailor Senshi shout their henshin and attack phrases in Engrish, even though they are Japanese.

Examples in live action film

• An early example of modern Engrish can be seen in the 1983 comedy A Christmas Story, when waiters at a Chinese restaurant attempt to sing "Deck the Halls" to restaurant patrons, incorrectly singing "boughs of horry/Fa ra ra ra ra," instead of singing "boughs of holly/Fa la la la la."

• Another movie example is the "Supplies/Surprise" gag from the movie UHF.

• A significant plot point of the film-noir movie Chinatown involves a Japanese man telling Jack Nicholson's character that saltwater is "Bad for grass" as Jack is picking up a pair of glasses from a saltwater pond.

• In Lethal Weapon 4, when Mel Gibson's character is speaking to Uncle Benny, a Chinese restaurant owner/ Triad member. He asks Uncle Benny for some "flied lice" to which Benny responds, "It's fried rice, you plick!".

• In Lost in Translation, there is an intentional 'Engrish', when a Japanese middle aged woman visits, rather approaches Bill Murray quite boldly and repeatedly asks him to "lip her stockings". The sangvinic Murray, clueless and tired, makes her repeat the sentence four or five times until he reveals it to be a mistaken "rip", ultimately kicking the uninvited guest out.

Other examples

• The Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q has a character of Japanese descent named Christmas Eve. She constantly confuses her L 's and her R 's, becoming incomprehensible at one point while trying to say the word "recyclables" during the song "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" (which eventually ends with Christmas singing "Evlyone's a ritter bit lacist").

• Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the Honourable John So, is also an exponent of "Engrish". Of Chinese descent, So is often mocked by comedians and the public for his pronunciation of the English language.

• Kiyoshi's Dad, a supporting character in the webcomic Chugworth Academy, speaks Engrish, and is best known for trying to order an "almadirro" (armadillo) from a pet store.

• Engrish can also appear in labels, instructions and diagnostic messages in documentation and on hardware of products manufactured in Asian countries. One example is written on computer cooling-fans manufactured by Titan, which say "Going faster is the system job." Another example is an error message on the Fujifilm FP363SC film processor, which reads "Urgentry close processing cover". Yet another example is the printing on packages of chopsticks found in many Chinese restaurants, which reads "Please to try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks the traditional and typical of Chinese glorious history and cultural." (Some packages use "glonous" instead of "glorious").

• On the back of Heavy Metal band, Iron Maiden's early EP Maiden Japan, it has the instruction "Pray Roud!", an obvious reference to Engrish.

• The series South Park features a character who owns and operates the only Chinese take out resturant in town, named "City Wok". The unsuspecting owner, Mr. Won Lu-Kim, pronouces it "Shitty Wok" and the main characters call in every once in a while just to hear him say "One order of shitty beef..." The joke has appeared in a number of different episodes and is a long standing favourite amoung fans.

• The series Drawn Together, an animated reality TV show much like the Real Life, has a Pikachu inspired "the foreign guy" named Ling-Ling. Ling-Ling doesn't actually speak any particular language, using what his fellow housemates describe as "Choriential". The viewers are blessed with subtitles for this character, however Engrish is often used. Examples include "Crean the dishes" and "Be true to who you really L".

Wasei-eigo

Engrish can also refer to the Japanese pronunciation of English loanwords or a Japanese dialect with a number of English loanwords. Because Japanese has only five vowels, and few consonant clusters, English loanwords are often pronounced in a manner that sounds unusual and even humorous to English speakers. For example, in spoken Japanese, guitarist Eric Clapton becomes エリック・クラプトン Erikku Kuraputon, Australia becomes オーストラリア Ōsutoraria, and "McDonald's" becomes マクドナルド Makudonarudo, which is often further abbreviated to マクド Makudo or マック Makku. Japanese uses over 600 imported English words in common speech, sometimes in abbreviated form. Examples are ハンカチ hankachi for "handkerchief", フォーク fōku for "fork", テーブル tēburu for "table", プロレス puroresu for "pro wrestling", and so on. The more outlandish and humorous the pronunciation change is, the more likely it is to be considered Engrish. Even fairly logical English loanwords in Japanese will often sound foreign and unintelligible to an English speaker, such as the use of チーズ chīzu for "cheese" when taking a photograph. These pronunciation changes are linguistically systematic and are completely unrelated to the speaker's intelligence.

Engrish was once a frequent occurrence in consumer electronics product manuals, with phrases such as "to make speed up find up out document", or "Gas is maybe poison is" (for "Gasses may be poisonous"), but it is less frequent today. Another source of poor translation is unchecked machine translation, such as that from the Babelfish service or Google Language Tools. Engrish is often created by translating a phrase using the Babelfish service or Google Language Tools to translate something into Japanese, then copying and pasting the Japanese text and translating it back into English.

Pop culture

Engrish features prominently in Japanese pop culture, as some young Japanese people consider the English language to be highly fashionable. Japanese has assimilated a great deal of vocabulary from the English language, and many popular Japanese songs and television themes feature disjointed phrases in English amongst the mostly Japanese lyrics. Japanese marketing firms helped to create this popularity, and have subsequently created an enormous array of advertisements, products, and clothing marked with English phrases that seem highly amusing or inexplicably bizarre to a native English speaker. These new English terms are generally short-lived, as they are used more fashionably than meaningfully. Many times English is just used in advertising or on products as an attempt to look modern and is not actually an attempt to communicate.

References

• Murray G (1999). 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese. Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 4-7700-2302-2.
• Sakui K (2004) 'Wearing two pairs of shoes: language teaching in Japan.' ELT Journal 58(2): 155-163.
• Sakui K & Gaies SJ (1999) 'Investigating Japanese learners’ beliefs about language learning.' System 27: 473-492.

See also

• Japanese language
• English language
• Lingua franca

External links

• Engrish.com—Many examples of Engrish
• InnocentEnglish.com—More examples of Engrish