French word

japonais

Pronunciation

IPA/ʒaponɛ/

Meaning

  • masculine nounJapanese

Example

Je parle japonais.

I speak Japanese.

Illustration for japonais (Japanese)

More examples

Je lis un livre en japonais.

I am reading a book in Japanese.

Core concept

A language heard in Japan and seen in writing that combines distinctive speech patterns with several writing systems.

Common phrases

  • cours de japonais

    Japanese course

  • en japonais

    in Japanese

  • lire en japonais

    read in Japanese

Similar words

anglais: A global language learned by many people worldwide.
chinois: The language spoken in China, written mainly with Chinese characters and using tones.
espagnol: The language spoken in Spain and much of Latin America.

Definition in French

Langue parlée au Japon et utilisée par la majorité de la population pour communiquer à l'oral et à l'écrit.

Word origin

French japonais derives from Japon, the French name of Japan, with the suffix -ais used to form a related adjective or language name.

Usage tips

  • After parler, a language name normally appears without an article, as in Je parle japonais, while le japonais refers to the language more generally.

Other meanings

  • Japanese personnoun

Word lists with this word