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Loanwords are terms from foreign languages that are used in the Japanese language. However, in a narrow sense, foreign words refer to terms originating from European and American **languages, most of which come from the Anglo-American language families. There are many Chinese words in the Japanese language, most of which were introduced from China over the centuries. According to the definition of loanwords, Chinese words should also be considered a type of loanword. However, from a conventional perspective, Chinese vocabulary does not include foreign words. Some of the earlier borrowed words have fully integrated into Japanese, to the point where there is almost no trace of their foreign origin. Historically, these types of words were written using hiragana or kanji, and nowadays they are generally written in hiragana. For example: たばこ (tobacco), てんぷら (tempura), かっぱ (raincoat), じゅばん (juban), きせる (pipe). Words that have been Japaneseized but still retain a foreign origin are generally written in katakana. The forms of words in this category are relatively fixed. For example: ラジオ, ナイフ, スタート, オーバー, ガラス, パン, ピアノ – Words that clearly have a foreign origin are written in katakana. Words in this category often have an irregular form (i.e., spelling), but those with a *common spelling are generally written according to that *common spelling. Such words may be written using Kana words from modern Japanese as well as syllables that are not found in Chinese characters. These extraordinary syllabic kana are used to write foreign words, foreign place names, and personal names that are relatively close to their original sounds or spelling. These extraordinary syllabic kana include: イェ (ye), ウィ (wi), ウェ (we), ウオ, クァ (qwa), グァ (gwa), クィ (qwi), クェ (qwe), クォ (qwo), シェ (she), ジェ (je), チェ (che), ツァ (tsa), ツィ (tsi), ツェ (tse), ツォ (tso), テイ, デイ, テユ, デユ, トゥ (twu), ドゥ (dwu), ファ (fa), フィ (fi), フェ (fe), フォ (fo), フュ (fyu), チィ (tyi), ヂィ (dyi), and so on. In principle, the long vowel in loanwords is written with the macron symbol “—”. For example: overcoat. However, there is also a practice of adding vowels without using long vowel marks, for example: ミイラ, バレエ, レイアウト, ボウリング, etc. The sounds corresponding to English word endings such as -er, -or, and -ar are, in principle, written with the long vowel mark “—” as a long vowel of the ア segment, but this mark is often omitted out of convention. For example: elevator (–), computer (–), etc. The sound that follows the イ and エ segments and corresponds to an ア syllable is, in principle, written as “ア”, for example: ピアノ, フェアプレー, イタリア, etc. However, by convention, some words are also written as “ヤ”. For example: tires, dials, etc. Japanese has many words that have been borrowed from foreign languages (mainly European and American languages), and these words are called loanwords. The use of many loanwords in everyday conversations and writings is a major characteristic of Japanese. In loanwords, some also take a meaning different from that of the original word. In Japan, “アルバイト” (arubaito) refers to part-time jobs done by students; it is a word of German origin meaning to work. Loanwords are generally written in katakana, so they are easy to understand at a glance. But in reality, there are many loanwords that we usually don’t realize are loanwords. For example, “タバコ (tabako)” is originally a Portuguese word, but since it is often written in hiragana as “たばこ,” many Japanese people think it is originally a Japanese word. On the other hand, baseball games held at night under artificial lighting are called “ナイター” (naita), and buses with only a driver and no conductor are called “ワンマンバス” (wanmanbasu); although they are written in katakana, these are all words created in Japan. It can be said to be a foreign word of Japanese origin, which foreigners do not understand. However, there are also many Japanese who believe that these words were originally borrowed from foreign countries.