Taiwan has a very complex history that has shaped and influenced its linguistic diversity. Taiwanese Hokkien was the dominant language spoken on the island for a very long time, predating the introduction of Mandarin Chinese by the ROC government.
During the Japanese occupation of the island, Taiwanese people began introducing Japanese words into their local Hokkien language. Today, many of those loanwords are still present and heavily used.
Common Japanese Loanwords in Taiwanese Hokkien
Here is a list of some of the most widely used Japanese loanwords in Taiwanese Hokkien:
| Japanese | Taiwanese | Bopomo | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 便所 (benjo) | 便所 | ㄅㄧㄢ˫ ㄙㆦˋ | bathroom |
| 味の素 (ajinomoto) | 味素 | ㆠㄧ˫ ㄙㆦ˪ | MSG |
| 野球 (yakyū) | 野球 | ㄧㄚˋ ㄍㄧㄨˊ | baseball |
| 出張 (shutchō) | 出張 | ㄘㄨㆵㄉㄧㆫ | travel on business |
| 注射 (chūsha) | 注射 | ㄗㄨ˪ ㄒㄧㄚ˫ | injection |
| 利潤 (rijun) | 利潤 | ㄌㄧ˫ ㆡㄨㄣ˫ | profit, interest |
| 弁当 (bentō) | 便當 | ㄅㄧㄢ˫ ㄉㆲ | bento |
| 病院 (byōin) | 病院 | ㄅㆥ˫ ㆪ˫ | hospital |
| 離緣 (rien) | 離緣 | ㄌㄧ˫ ㄧㄢˊ | divorce |
Double Loanwords
Some of them are double loanwords, meaning they are English loanwords in Japanese that were then brought into the Taiwanese Hokkien language. Note that those loanwords often do not have Chinese characters.
| Japanese | Taiwanese | Bopomo | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ライター (raidaa) | / | ㄌㄞ˪ ㄉㄚㆷ | lighter |
| ビール (biiru) | / | ㆠㄧ˪ ㄌㄨ˪ | beer |
| カメラ (kamera) | / | ㄎㄚ ㄇㆤˋ ㄌㄚㆷ | camera |
These are just a few of the many Japanese loanwords used in daily Taiwanese Hokkien. Since Taiwanese is primarily a spoken language, it is relatively informal and standardization efforts are still ongoing. Therefore, it is difficult, even impossible, to currently compile a full list of all these loanwords.
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