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A disgruntled viewer is suing Japan's national broadcaster for "mental distress" caused by an excessive use of words borrowed from English.
一位观众因不满日本电视台过多使用英语外来语,以“精神痛苦”为由将日本国家广播公司NHK告上法庭。
Hoji Takahashi, 71, is seeking 1.4 million yen in damages from NHK."The basis of his concern is that Japan is being too Americanised," his lawyer Mutsuo Miyata told the news agency AFP.
71岁的高桥鹏二(音译)向NHK索赔140万日元(约合人民币88213元)。“他主要担心日本过度美国化,”他的代理律师宫田康弘(音译)向法新社解释说。
English became more prevalent in Japan after World War II during the US-led occupation. This was followed by a growing interest in American pop culture.
二战后美国占领日本期间,英语在日本得到广泛普及,美国流行文化也日益成为日本民众追随的对象。
The country's modern vocabulary is littered with borrowed words, many of which are changed to fit the Japanese phonic structure.
很多外来词汇也由此进入到现代日语词汇中,其中许多被转化成日语发音。
Mr Takahashi, who is a member of a campaign group supporting the Japanese language, highlighted words such as "toraburu" (trouble), "risuku" (risk) and "shisutemu" (system) in NHK's news and entertainment programmes. He accused NHK of irresponsibility by refusing to use native Japanese equivalents.
高桥鹏二是保护日语组织的成员,他指出像trouble,system,risk等词在NHK的新闻和娱乐节目中经常出现。他指责NHK不负责任地使用这些外来词汇,而拒绝使用日语中原有的对等词汇。
"With Japanese society increasingly Americanised, Takahashi believes that NHK, as Japan's national broadcaster, shouldn't go with the trend, but remain determined to prioritise the use of Japanese, which he thinks would go a long way toward protecting Japanese culture," Mr Miyata told the Japan Times on Wednesday.
“日本社会越来越美国化,他相信NHK作为传播机构不应该跟随潮流,而应该坚决以优先使用日语为原则,这样才能保护日本文化。”高桥鹏二的律师周三对《日本时代报》表示。
Mr Takahashi filed his complaint on Tuesday with the Nagoya District Court in the central region of Japan, the newspaper said.NHK said it would not comment until it had studied the legal documents.
报刊称高桥鹏二已于周二将他的控诉材料提交给位于日本中部的名古屋地方法院。NHK称在他们研读法律文件之前不会给出任何评论。
Vocabulary is also borrowed from other foreign languages. The German "arbeit" becomes "arubaito" to mean work, and the Portuguese "pao" is used as "pan" for bread.
日语中也有其他语言的外来语。德语中工作"arbeit"在日语中是"arubaito",葡萄牙语表示面包的"pao"日语为“pan”。
Traditionalists in France and French-speaking Canada also worry about the influx of English words into their native tongue.
法国以及加拿大法语区的传统主义者也同样担心英语词汇会影响到它们的母语。
France's 1994 Toubon Law makes French compulsory in government publications, most workplaces, advertisements, parts of the media and state-funded schools. However, the French parliament is debating relaxing these rules so that university courses can be taught in English.
法国1994年颁布的土伦法规定,在政府刊物、多数工作场所、部分媒体和公立学校必须使用法语。但是,法国议会也正在讨论是否要放松这些规定,以便大学课程可以使用英语教学。