中文

Reverse Order Words between Japanese and Chinese

Probably many people know that Chinese characters are used both in Japanese and Chinese, and they share uncountable vocabulary. However, do you know that many words are reversed in Japanese compare to Chinese?

 

This is because the Japanese words were borrowed from classical Chinese, which has a different word order than modern Chinese languages, due to massive language change and evolution over the course of many centuries.

The other reason is Japanese invented “Japanese-made Chinese words”, called Wasei-kango(和製漢語) and the order is affected by grammatical reason. The word order in Japanese is [Subject + Object + Verb] while the word order in Chinese is [Subject + Verb + Object].

 

Here are the examples of reverse order words!

1. Reverse order but same meaning

These words mean basically same in Japanese and Chinese.

Japanese Chinese English
言語 語言 / 语言 language
紹介 介紹 / 介绍 introduction
暗黒 黑暗 / 黑暗 darkness
運命 命運 / 命运 fate
胃腸 腸胃 / 肠胃 stomach
売買 買賣 / 买卖 buying and selling (trading)
途中 中途 / 中途 halfway
面会 會面 / 会面 visitation, meeting
苦痛 痛苦 / 痛苦 pain
探偵 偵探 / 侦探 detective
詐欺 欺詐 / 欺诈 fraud
窃盗 盜竊 / 盗窃 theft
限界 界限 / 界限 limit
制限 限制 / 限制 restriction
脅威 威脅 / 威胁 threat
離脱 脫離 / 脱离 separate
講演 演講 / 演讲 lecture, speech
施設 設施 / 设施 facility
兵士 士兵 / 士兵 soldier
遅延 延遲 / 延迟 delay
濾過 過濾 / 过滤 filtration
絶滅 滅絕 / 灭绝 extinction
移転 轉移 / 转移 transfer
敗戦 戰敗 / 战败 defeat
段階 階段 / 阶段 stage

*階段 in Japanese means “stairs” (樓梯 / 楼梯 in Chinese).

 

2. Reverse order and they mean totally different!

There are also some words which means totally different when it’s reversed.

Example:

Japanese 語法 usage, idiom, grammar
Chinese 法語 / 法语 French language

*語法/语法 (means grammar) exists in Chinese too.

 

3.Reverse order and one language has more meanings

Some words has more meanings in one language. In this example, the word has more meaning in Japanese.

Japanese 期日 date, deadline
Chinese 日期 date

 

In fact, there are a lot of reverse order words, but they often have more meanings in one languages or have slightly different meanings.

If you learn both Japanese and Chinese, don’t forget to check the meaning in both languages even if they look like similar!

 

Read about Chinese words that made in Japan.

 

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