A VIEW FROM TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN: LOANWORDS IN JAPANESE
Abstract
This study examines the interaction between general phonological repair mechanisms and non-linguistic socio-historical factors in Japanese loanword adaptation, with particular reference to two Uzbekproper names: Tashkent (Uzbek: Toshkent) and Uzbekistan (Uzbek: Oʻzbekiston). Building on established patterns of Japanese loanword adaptation, the analysis shows that most borrowings follow systematic phonological principles. However, the data for the two focused proper names present divergent adaptation outcomes. Namely, Tashkent exhibits variation (tashikento vs. tashukento), while Uzbekistan is uniformly rendered as uzubekisutan, a form that appears to disregard o in the final syllable. This paper argues that the variation in Tashkent is not strictly phonologically driven but stems from a conflict between two historical influences: a Russian-era adaptation, probably institutionalized by diplomatic conventions (leading to tashikento), and a more recent, purely phonologically predicted form based on the English source (leading to tashukento). Conversely, the uniform adaptation of Uzbekistan appears driven by an orthographic constraint beyond morphology and phonology, where the recognizable suffix -stan leads to a uniform final vowel /a/, overriding Uzbek-specific phonological faithfulness. Comparison with general adaptation patterns indicates that, for proper names — especially those associated with politically and historically complex regions — non-linguistic factors such as diplomatic convention and historical transmission routes may take precedence over structure-preserving phonological principles in Japanese loanword adaptation.
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