Contemporary Loanwords inhiragana: An Analysis of Typical Traits and Contexts

Loanwords (gairaigo), words ‘borrowed’ from other languages, are an integral part of the Japanese language, and are estimated to account for around 10% of the modern Japanese lexicon. While loanwords are conventionally written with the katakana script, some contemporary examples appear in the hiragana script, which is usually reserved for words of Japanese origin. A corpus of loanwords in hiragana was assembled and analysed in order to describe typical characteristics of these words, such as the source language and method of elongating vowels, as well as the genres of text in which such words appear. The motivation for the use of hiragana for loanwords is also discussed, and expands on selected well-documented functions of loanwords. For example, loanwords can be used to fill lexical gaps, or give a ‘cool’ or ‘modern’ image to a referent. These functions are discussed specifically in relation to loanwords in hiragana. The results of this study extend prior research on loanwords in Japanese, and reinforce the often-cited flexibility and adaptability of the Japanese writing system.