What changes are made to the pronunciation of gairaigo?


What changes are usually made to the pronunciation of gairaigo?

I notice that vowels are often added between multiple consonants and to the
end of words (eg "programmer" => "puroguramaa" (プログラマー)), and that sometimes
multiple words are turned into portmanteaus (eg "personal computer" =>
"pasokon" (パソコン)).

Are there other changes made?

Additionally, if you have an English word and you think it may have a gairaigo
equivalent, will pronouncing it in a "more Japanese" style make it easier to
understand?




> Additionally, if you have an English word and you think it may have a
> gairaigo equivalent, will pronouncing it in a "more Japanese" style make it
> easier to understand?

Absolutely. There's a linguistic thing going on here whereby sounds outside of
the language you grew up speaking are much harder for your brain to process.
This is why certain English sounds (such as /r/ and /l/) are hard for the
Japanese brain to process, and why certain Chinese sounds (/chī/ comes to
mind) are difficult for the English brain to process. Also, since many
Japanese learn the "Japanese pronunciation" of English in school (which is
often closer to _gairaigo_ than English), as long as you pronounce your
English in a Japanese way, chances are good that they'll understand.

Certain English speakers neglect this step with _gairaigo_ and insist on
pronouncing things the "English way", so they end up with sentences like
「昨日、golfをしました。」. This actually hinders understanding, because Japanese people
are more accustomed to hearing ゴルフ, not "golf". So although you may weep
inwardly at the butchering of English that goes on in everyday Japanese (I
know I do), if you want to be understood, you have to follow the crowd and
pronounce _gairaigo_ in the funky Japanese way.




> Additionally, if you have an English word and you think it may have a
> gairaigo equivalent, will pronouncing it in a "more Japanese" style make it
> easier to understand?

Absolutely. There's a linguistic thing going on here whereby sounds outside of
the language you grew up speaking are much harder for your brain to process.
This is why certain English sounds (such as /r/ and /l/) are hard for the
Japanese brain to process, and why certain Chinese sounds (/chī/ comes to
mind) are difficult for the English brain to process. Also, since many
Japanese learn the "Japanese pronunciation" of English in school (which is
often closer to _gairaigo_ than English), as long as you pronounce your
English in a Japanese way, chances are good that they'll understand.

Certain English speakers neglect this step with _gairaigo_ and insist on
pronouncing things the "English way", so they end up with sentences like
「昨日、golfをしました。」. This actually hinders understanding, because Japanese people
are more accustomed to hearing ゴルフ, not "golf". So although you may weep
inwardly at the butchering of English that goes on in everyday Japanese (I
know I do), if you want to be understood, you have to follow the crowd and
pronounce _gairaigo_ in the funky Japanese way.

