Japanese abbreviated and contracted words


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 Tōkyō Daigaku becomes Tōdai, and "remote control", rimōto kontorōrā, becomes rimokon. 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 Toushiba is a contraction or portmanteau of "Tokyo Shibaura" Toukyou Shibaura, and Nissan is a contraction of "Nippon Sangyou/Nihon Sangyou".
The contractions may be commonly used, or they may be specific to a particular group of people. For example, the "Kokuritsu Kankyō Kenkyūjo" is known as Kanken by its employees, but this terminology is not familiar to most Japanese.

Patterns of contraction

Japanese words are spelled using characters that represent syllables, rather than individual phonetic units 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 Tōkyō Daigaku, the Tō- of Tōkyō and the Dai- of Daigaku becomes Tōdai, 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 subway station, Nagoya Station, is referred to by locals as Meieki, a contraction of "Nagoya-Eki", in which the alternative reading of Na-, the first character in "Nagoya", is used.
In loanwords and names, the most common pattern is to take the first two morae of each of the two words, and combine them forming a new, single word. For example, "family restaurant" or famirī resutoran becomes famiresu.
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 ; Harry Potter, originally Harī Pottā, is contracted to Haripota, or otherwise be altered; actress Kyoko Fukada, Fukada Kyōko, becomes Fukakyon.
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 marketed itself under the four-character abbreviated name purikyua.

Long kanji names

Loanwords

Three and four character loanwords

ContractionKatakanaOriginal wordKatakanaMeaning
amefutoアメフトamerikan futtobōruアメリカン・フットボールAmerican football
animeアニメanimēshonアニメーションanimation
dejikameデジカメdejitaru kameraデジタルカメラdigital camera
depātoデパートdepātomento sutoaデパートメント・ストアdepartment store
eakonエアコンea kondishonāエアコンディショナーair conditioner
famikonファミコンfamirī konpyūtāファミリーコンピューターfamily computer
famiresuファミレスfamirī resutoranファミリーレストランfamily restaurant
konbiniコンビニkonbiniensu sutoaコンビニエンス・ストアconvenience store
pasokonパソコンpāsonaru konpyūtāパーソナルコンピューターpersonal computer, PC
puroresuプロレスpurofesshonaru resuringuプロフェッショナル・レスリングprofessional wrestling
rabuhoラブホrabu hoteruラブホテルlove hotel
rimokonリモコンrimōto kontorōrāリモートコントローラーremote control
sandoサンドsandouichiサンドウィッチsandwich
sumahoスマホsumāto fonスマートフォンsmart phone
terebiテレビterebijonテレビジョンTV
toireトイレtoirettoトイレットtoilet
wāpuroワープロwādo purosessāワードプロセッサーword processor

Abbreviations

Created words

Many abbreviations, especially four-character words, have been created for particular products or TV shows.
ContractionJapaneseOriginNotes
Pokémonポケモンpoketto monsutā ポケットモンスター The well-known video game and animation franchise.
purikuraプリクラpurinto kurabu プリントクラブ An automated photograph machine
mukkuムック magazine + bookA cross between a magazine and a book

Contractions of names

Highways and railway lines

Many highways and railway lines have names that are contractions of the names of their endpoints. For example, 東名高速道路 takes one kanji 東 from 東京 and the other 名 from 名古屋. 東急東横線 links Tokyo and 横浜 Yokohama, taking part of its name from each city.
Other examples include:
ContractionJapaneseOriginJapanese
Keiyō Line京葉線Tokyo + Chiba東京＋千葉
Saikyō Line埼京線Saitama + Tokyo埼玉＋東京
Senzan Line仙山線Sendai + Yamagata仙台＋山形
Hanshin Main Line阪神本線Osaka + Kobe大阪＋神戸
Seikan Tunnel青函トンネルAomori + Hakodate青森＋函館

Sometimes names of this type preserve older place names. For instance, the character 武 is taken from the word 武蔵, 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 東武, 西武, and in the 南武線.
Some other examples:
ContractionJapaneseOriginJapanese
Sōbu Line総武線Kazusa/Shimōsa + Musashi下総／上総＋武蔵
Uchibō Line内房線Inner + Bōsō Peninsula 内＋房総（＝安房＋上総）
Sotobō Line外房線Outer + Bōsō Peninsula 外＋房総（＝安房＋上総）
Jōban Line常磐線Hitachi + Iwaki常陸＋磐城
Nippō Main Line日豊本線Hyūga + Buzen/Bungo日向＋豊前／豊後
Hōhi Main Line豊肥本線Bungo + Higo豊後＋肥後

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:
ContractionJapanese spoken formOriginNotes
CMシーエム commercial messagea single commercial or a commercial break
GWジーダブルGolden Week ゴールデンウィークGolden Week is a series of four unrelated holidays within one week at the beginning of May
NEETニート no education, employment, or trainingA NEET is someone who is unable or unwilling to work, and typically lives at home supported by their parents.
NGエヌジー no good Often used as the opposite of “OK”; a mis-take while filming a scene for film or TV
OLオーエル office lady OLs are low-level female corporate employees
PVピービー promotional videothe term is generally used to describe music videos and trailers
SPエスピー special a TV special, a special episode of a particular TV series
VTRブイティーアール video tape recordinga video clip shown during a TV program for members of a panel to comment on
W杯ワールドカップ World CupUsed to refer to the FIFA World Cup for soccer