Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume VI, Part 2
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume VI
- Part I Asia
- Part II Australasia
- PART III The Pacific
- Index
- References
7 - English in Japan
from I.II East Asia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 April 2026
General editor
Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume VI, Part 2
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume VI
- Part I Asia
- Part II Australasia
- PART III The Pacific
- Index
- References
Summary
The current chapter explores English in Japan from four perspectives: (i) Japan’s sociopolitical history, which explains how English first entered the country in the early seventeenth century; (ii) Japan’s history of English language education, which presents a vexed problem; (iii) English loanwords that have entered the Japanese lexicon and which are divided into “pure” and “creative” borrowings; and (iv) the English used by Japanese speakers. The conclusion draws attention to the creativity of L2 users.
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- The New Cambridge History of the English LanguageAfrica, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific, pp. 202 - 228Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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