独逸 – 12 Common Japanese words from German
Foreign words or Loanwords are called 外来語 in Japanese. These types of words are easy to spot since they are written in a special alphabet mostly for loanwords called Katakana.
Most of these words are from English but there is a substantial amount from German. Many of these words are used in the medical and science field but there are a number of common Japanese words from German also.
INDEX
Word List
アレルギー
Pollen, cat hair, dog hair, peanuts, or whatever can cause this. アレルギー comes from the German word Allergie and means allergies.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/カフェイン
In the morning many need a little boost. If you are in Germany you can get it from Kaffiein, in Japan from カフェイン or from caffeine in the United State.
エネルギー
So, now that you had your カフェイン you should be full of エネルギー. This word comes from Energie in German which is of course energy in English.
カリウム
The elements of the Periodic Table come from words in Latin. English uses some of those words but has some different ones too. For example, potassium is represented with the letter K.
In English, this can be confusing but not in Japanese or German. Potassium in German is Kalium which becomes カリウム in Japanese
ナトリウム
Next, ナトリウム is an element represented by N. This comes from the German word Natrium and means sodium in English.
テーマ
Ok, so enough of this science talk. Let’s change the topic or the theme. Or in German, I could say Thema. Then in Japanese, we could say テーマ.
タクト
For all you Nintendo lovers, back in 2002, there was a Zelda game titled, ゼルダの伝説：風のタクト. This was when I first saw this word and thought it meant something like tactics of the wind. That was of course incorrect.
タクト means baton like a conductor’s stick in an orchestra. The word comes from the German words Takt. So, if you have ever played the game, the title refers to the baton that Link uses throughout the game.
リュックサック
A rucksack is something that people carry things in on their back. Often you will hear it used by military or survivalist types. The word actually comes from the German word rucksack which means backpack.
In Japanese, the same words are used, リュックサック but it can be used for all kinds of backpacks from school children to anyone else.
グミ
The German word, Gummi is グミ in Japanese. Everyone or most people love these and they are popular all over the world. In the English-speaking world, they are known as gummy candies or snacks.
アルバイト
This is interesting and probably the most common word out of the list. アルバイト or バイト for short comes from the German word Arbeit. In German, this means job, work, task, and so on. When this word entered Japanese though, at one point it began to refer specifically to a part-time job. So, if you want to refer to a full-time job it is not used. Instead, you would say 仕事.
ボンベ
ボンベ in English means a gas cylinder. So, this is any of those metal containers for storing gas. The word comes from the German word Bombe.
メルヘン
Finally, we have the word メルヘン. This comes originally from the German word for fairy-tale which is Märchen.
Japanese have actually a few different words for fairy-tales or legends. メルヘン is used most of the time to refer to fairy-tale, fantastical, or whimsical like things, situations, and so on.
So now you know a little German in Japanese. If you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.
I also have several other posts on various topics on Japanese Universe if you are interested.
