Lost in Gairaigo

Abstract: The Japanese language consists of a large number of loanwords, which derived from both China and the West. It is believed by many that influence by the English language began with the American occupation just after the Second World War. The loanwords from especially English increased vastly in number ever since. Today, the foreign loanwords from the West, gairaigo, makes up to approximately 10% in the Japanese language, and still increasing. Since new words are introduced into Japanese, especially for concepts that do not exist in the language and words for things coming from abroad, many native words have been replaced with the loanwords in several fields in the daily life of Japanese people. This thesis deals with the possibility of the difficulty for native speakers to find the native words and an assumption that there might be a gap between the genders, younger and older generations where the younger generations prefer using gairaigo words instead of their native counterparts. This is examined through a questionnaire answered by a total of 60 native speakers and through previous researches.