JAPAN: 'Stress' most recognized loanword here: poll

TOKYO (The Japan Times - Kyodo News), July 25, 2008: "Stress" is the most recognized and frequently used loanword in Japan, a survey on the Japanese language by the Cultural Affairs Agency showed Thursday. In the nationwide survey conducted in March, to which around 2,000 people responded, the agency asked respondents whether they understood the meaning of 60 loanwordsin the Japanese language, if they had seen or heard the words, and how often they had used them. In the survey, 98.5 percent of the respondents said they had either seen or heard the word "stress," prompting an agency official to comment that it was a "reflection of the current state of Japanese society, in which many people feel stressed." Among other loanwords in the survey, "recycle" and "volunteer" were recognized by more than 90 percent of respondents. The least recognized loanword was "enforcement," with a recognition rate of only 9.4 percent, followed by "consortium" with 10.2 percent and the French word "mecenat," which means cultural support activities by companies, with 13.8 percent, according to the survey. Compared with a similar survey five years ago, the recognition rate for "Web site" jumped to 67.2 percent from 38.1 percent, while rates for other Internet-related words also increased. The latest survey also showed that more people correctly understand and use "collaboration" and "lifeline." Meanwhile, 14.5 percent of respondents were positive about the use of imported words, of whom two-thirds said it was impossible to express certain things without loanwords. However, 39.8 percent were not in favor of loanwords, with half of them saying the Japanese language would be damaged as a result, the survey showed. (C) The Japan Times