| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Lexical borrowing is associated with emerging social needs. It provides a new word for a newly introduced idea or thing, replaces a native word adding trendiness or euphemism, allows ambiguity, etc. The noun supirichuariti ('spirituality') and the adjective supirichuaru-na ('spiritual') present an intriguing case of borrowing in Japanese. Both emerged in the wider context of the 'New Spirituality' movements and culture in Japan. They began to be used in such professional fields as terminal care, psychology, and education in the 1990s. More recently the use of the word supirichuaru, in particular, has become trendy in the narrower context of a 'spiritual boom', in which it is often associated with 'spiritualism', and has come to refer to a range of interests and experiences associated with the boom. By drawing data from a wide range of discourse genres, this article elucidates the complexity of the borrowing processes. The article also argues that these Western loanwords, used in different subcultures with differing and often elusive meanings, are linguistic evidence, however ephemeral it may be, that reveals a common thread which runs through the current spiritual culture in Japan, where no native Japanese words have been able to take up the role.
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