Japanese word

片言

Pronunciation

Romajikatakoto

Meaning

  • nounbroken language

Example

彼は片言の日本語を話します。kare wa kata koto no nihon go o hana shi ma su

He speaks broken Japanese.

Illustration for 片言 (broken language)

More examples

子どもは片言で自分の気持ちを伝えようとしました。ko do mo wa kata koto de ji bun no ki mo chi o tsuta e yō to shi ma shi ta

The child tried to express their feelings in halting speech.

Core concept

Refers to communication that gets its meaning across through fragments and simple expressions instead of fluent, fully formed language.

Common phrases

  • 片言の日本語kata koto no nihon go

    broken Japanese

  • 片言の英語kata koto no ei go

    broken English

Definition in Japanese

幼児や外国人などが、語彙や文法を十分に身につけないまま、たどたどしく話すこと。また、その言葉。yō ji ya gai koku jin na do ga go i ya bun pō o jū bun ni mi ni tsu ke na i ma ma ta do ta do shi ku hana su ko to ma ta so no koto ba

Word origin

片言 (katakoto) is formed from 片 (kata, "one-sided" or "partial") and 言 (koto, "words"), describing words expressed in an incomplete form.

Usage tips

  • In English, broken Japanese describes limited language ability, while 片言 (katakoto) can stand alone as a noun for the speech itself.

Other meanings

  • baby talknoun

Opposites

  • 流暢ryūchōfluentna-adjective

Word lists with this word