wasei kango
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Japanese 和製漢語 (literally “Japan-made Chinese words”).
Noun[edit]
wasei kango pl (plural only)
- Words coined in Japanese that are based on Chinese characters.
- Japanese coinages using Chinese roots, not originally in use in Chinese-speaking countries nor by Chinese native speakers, but only by speakers of Japanese.
Usage notes[edit]
Although invented in Japan, some of these terms, such as 科学 (kagaku, “science”) have been reimported to Chinese, as 科學/科学 (kēxué). This is typical of orthographic borrowings to Chinese from Chinese-character based scripts; for example 東京 (Tōkyō, “Tokyo”, literally “eastern capital”) is pronounced differently but written the same (or in simplified form), as 東京/东京 (Dōngjīng), also meaning Tokyo.
See also[edit]
- Japanese 和製漢語 (wasei kango)
- wasei eigo, Japanese pseudo-anglicisms