Japanese abbreviated and contracted words

Template:Short description Abbreviated and contracted words are a common feature of Japanese. Long words are often contracted into shorter forms, which then become the predominant forms. For example, the University of Tokyo, in Japanese becomes , and "remote control", , becomes . Names are also contracted in this way. For example, Takuya Kimura, in Japanese Kimura Takuya, an entertainer, is referred to as Kimutaku.

The names of some very familiar companies are also contractions. For example, Toshiba, Japanese , is a contraction or portmanteau of , and Nissan, Japanese , is a contraction of .

The contractions may be commonly used, or they may be specific to a particular group of people. For example, the is known as by its employees, but this terminology is not familiar to most Japanese.

Patterns of contraction

Japanese words are spelled using characters that represent syllables (morae), rather than individual phonetic units (phonemes) as in the English alphabet. These characters are compiled into two syllabaries: hiragana and katakana. Japanese also makes extensive use of adopted Chinese characters, or kanji, which may be pronounced with one or more syllables. Therefore, when a word or phrase is abbreviated, it does not take the form of initials, but the key characters of the original phrase, such that a new word is made, often recognizably derived from the original. In contracted kanji words, the most common pattern of contraction is to take the first kanji of each word in a phrase and put them together as a portmanteau. In the example from the lead, using , the Tō- of Tōkyō and the Dai- of Daigaku becomes , the common abbreviation for the University of Tokyo.

There are also instances in which alternative readings of a particular kanji are used in the contraction. For example, Nagoya's main train station, Nagoya Station, is referred to by locals as , a contraction of , in which the alternative reading of Na- (名), the first character in "Nagoya", is used.

In loanwords and names, the most common pattern is to take the first two morae (or kana) of each of the two words, and combine them forming a new, single word. For example, "family restaurant" or famirī resutoran (ファミリーレストラン) becomes famiresu (ファミレス).

Yōon sounds, those sounds represented using a kana ending in i and a small ya, yu or yo kana, such as kyo count as one mora. Japanese long vowels count as two morae, and may disappear (the same can be said for the sokuon, or small tsu っ); Harry Potter, originally Harī Pottā (ハリーポッター), is contracted to Haripota (ハリポタ), or otherwise be altered; actress Kyoko Fukada, Fukada Kyōko (深田恭子), becomes Fukakyon (ふかきょん).

These abbreviated names are so common in Japan that many companies initiate abbreviations of the names of their own products. For example, the animated series Pretty Cure (プリティキュア) marketed itself under the five-character abbreviated name purikyua (プリキュア).

Long kanji names

Contraction	Kanji	Original word	Full kanji	Meaning
Nikkei		Nihon Keizai Shinbun		Japan Economic Times
Nōdai		Tōkyō Nōgyō Daigaku		Agricultural University of Tokyo
Nyūkan		Nyūkoku Kanrikyoku		Immigration Office
kōkō		kōtōgakkō		high school
Odakyū		Odawara Kyūkō Dentetsu		lit. Odawara Express Electric Railway (Odakyū Electric Railway)
Tochō		Tōkyō-to Chōsha		Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Tōdai		Tōkyō Daigaku		University of Tokyo
Kokuren		Kokusai Rengō		The United Nations
Kansai Gaidai		Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku		Kansai International Language University

Loanwords

Three and four character loanwords

Contraction	Katakana	Original word	Katakana	Meaning
amefuto		amerikan futtobōru		American football
anime		animēshon		animation
dejikame		dejitaru kamera		digital camera
depāto		depātomento sutoa		department store
eakon		ea kondishonā		air conditioner
famikon		famirī konpyūtā		family computer (Nintendo)
famiresu		famirī resutoran		family restaurant
konbini		konbiniensu sutoa		convenience store
pasokon		pāsonaru konpyūtā		personal computer, PC
puroresu		purofesshonaru resuringu		professional wrestling
rabuho		rabu hoteru		love hotel
rimokon		rimōto kontorōrā		remote control
sando		sandouichi		sandwich
sumaho		sumāto fon		smart phone
terebi		terebijon		TV (television)
toire		toiretto		toilet
wāpuro		wādo purosessā		word processor

Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Japanese	Original word	Japanese	Meaning
bukatsu		bukatsudō		after-school club (extracurricular) activity
shāshin		shāpupen no shin		(in colloquial language) lead of a mechanical pencil
keitai		keitaidenwa		Mobile phone

Created words

Many abbreviations, especially four-character words, have been created for particular products or TV shows.

Contraction	Japanese	Origin	Notes
Pokémon		poketto monsutā (Pocket Monster[s])	The well-known video game and animation franchise.
purikura		purinto kurabu (Print club)	An automated photograph machine
mukku	( + )	magazine + book	A cross between a magazine and a book
sedoguro	( + )	Cedric & Gloria	Nissan Cedric and Nissan Gloria luxury sedans
purosaku	( + )	Probox & Succeed	Toyota Probox and Toyota Succeed family of vans

Contractions of names

Contraction	Japanese	Name	Japanese	Notes
Burapi		Buraddo Pitto (Brad Pitt)		Hollywood actor.
Dikapuri		Reonarudo Dikapurio (Leonardo DiCaprio)		Hollywood actor.
Fukakyon		Kyōko Fukada		Japanese idol and actress.
Hanakana		Kana Hanazawa		actress, singer, and voice actress.
Hashiryū		Ryūtarō Hashimoto		politician.
Kimutaku		Takuya Kimura		SMAP star
Matsujun		Jun Matsumoto		Japanese idol, member of boy-band Arashi.
Matsuken		Ken Matsudaira		Jidaigeki actor, famous for Matsuken samba.
Shimuken		Ken Shimura		television performer and actor.
Shuwa-chan		Ānorudo Shuwarutseneggā (Arnold Schwarzenegger)		Hollywood actor and politician.
Yamataku		Taku Yamasaki		politician.
Tattsun		Tatsuhisa Suzuki		main vocalist of OLDCODEX and voice actor.

Highways and railway lines

Many highways and railway lines have names that are contractions of the names of their endpoints. For example, (Tomei Expressway) takes one kanji (tō) from (Tokyo) and the other (mei) from (Nagoya; its pronunciation changes from the kun'yomi na to the on'yomi mei). (Tokyu Toyoko Line) links Tokyo and Yokohama, taking part of its name from each city.

Other examples include:

Contraction	Japanese	Origin	Japanese
Keiyō Line		Tokyo + Chiba
Saikyō Line		Saitama + Tokyo
Senzan Line		Sendai + Yamagata
Hanshin Main Line		Osaka + Kobe
Seikan Tunnel		Aomori + Hakodate

Sometimes names of this type preserve older place names. For instance, the character is taken from the word (Musashi), which was once the name of the Japanese province in which the city of Tokyo was located, can still be seen in the company names (Tobu or "East Musashi"), (Seibu or "West Musashi"), and in the (Nanbu Line or "South Musashi Line").

Some other examples:

Contraction	Japanese	Origin	Japanese
Sōbu Line		Kazusa/Shimōsa + Musashi
Uchibō Line		Inner + Bōsō Peninsula (= Awa + Kazusa)
Sotobō Line		Outer + Bōsō Peninsula (= Awa + Kazusa)
Jōban Line		Hitachi + Iwaki
Nippō Main Line		Hyūga + Buzen/Bungo
Hōhi Main Line		Bungo + Higo

Single letters as abbreviations

Many single letters of the Latin alphabet have names that resemble the pronunciations of Japanese words or characters. Japanese people use them in contexts such as advertising to catch the reader's attention. Other uses of letters include abbreviations of spellings of words. Here are some examples:

• E: /いい (ii; the word for "good" in Japanese). The letter appears in the name of the company e-homes.
• J: The first letter of "Japan" (日本) as in J1 League, J-Phone.
• Q: The kanji きゅう ("nine") has the reading kyū. Japanese "Dial Q2" premium-rate telephone numbers start with 0990.
• S, M: used for sadism and masochism respectively, often referring to mild personality traits rather than sexual fetishes. "SM" is also used for sadomasochism, instead of "S&M" used in English, in a more sexual context.
• W: The English word "double." Japanese people sometimes pronounce the letter "double." ダブル For example, ”Wデート” (W deeto) means "double date(s)"; "WW Burger" from Freshness Burger has double beef and double cheese.

Longer Romaji abbreviations

Contraction	Japanese spoken form	Origin	Notes
CM	(shī-emu)	commercial message	a single commercial or a commercial break
GW	() (jī-daburu(yū))	Golden Week ()	Golden Week is a series of four unrelated holidays within one week at the beginning of May
NEET	(nīto)	no education, employment, or training	A NEET is someone who is unable or unwilling to work, and typically lives at home supported by their parents.
NG	(enu-jī)	no good ()	Often used as the opposite of "OK"; a mistake while filming a scene for film or TV
OL	(ōeru)	office lady ()	OLs are low-level female corporate employees
PV	ピーブイ (pībui)	promotional video	the term is generally used to describe music videos and trailers
SP	エスピー (esupī)	special (スペシャル)	a TV special, a special episode of a particular TV series
VTR	(buitīāru)	video tape recording	a video clip shown during a TV program for members of a panel to comment on
W	(wārudokappu)	World Cup	Used to refer to the FIFA World Cup for soccer