Why are a lot of Japanese words sound English?

Buddhist monks developed Japanese katakana in the 9th century as a short-hand. Now, Japanese texts write loan words from European languages or English in katakana. There are thousands of terms based on English, which is why some Japanese words might sound familiar!

Why do Japanese say O after English words?

There’s a reason for this. In Japanese, the sequence tu will always be pronounced tsu, and the sequence du will always be pronounced dzu. So adding o instead of u allows the word to retain the t or d of the original English word instead of being changed to ts or dz.

Why do Japanese people say u?

It is mostly made of isolated vowels and syllables consisting of a consonant plus a vowel. See this[1]. Thus, a word such as “space” becomes supeesu. Because there is no individual “s” consonant, “su” is chosen instead mainly because the Japanese “u” vowel is quite closed and inconspicuous compared to the others.

Why don’t the Japanese have their own words?

But also the Japanese have always had a tendency to import and reuse things in their own ways, so while the Japanese use words such as “new” from English these words will often mean different things, which do not necessary have “their own Japanese word.”. For example the Japanese expression,

Why do Japanese speakers add extra vowels in borrowed English words?

Japanese doesn’t allow consonant clusters, so Japanese speakers insert extra vowels into borrowed English words. You’d probably insert some extra vowels if you had to say the Nuxalk word stsq. Or you could drop some of the consonants.

Why is it so hard for Japanese to learn English?

The reason Japanese have difficulty with English is because of the limited range of vocalization used in the Japanese language. Unless pronunciations and nuances of foreign languages are learned in childhood, the human ear and brain has difficulty in discerning them.

Why can’t Japanese pronounce “a”?

In Japanese, “a” is always pronounced “ah.” Thus, “can’t” is pronounced, “cahnt” — and probably the reason some Japanese claim to have learned the King’s English. As an aside, Korean has 11 vowels and words ending in consonants.