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from what i can tell, it shares the same meaning in chinese. shouldnt a phone
be written in katakana?
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2015-10-06T05:26:50.380
28498
2015-10-06T06:08:54.147
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question
translation words kanji etymology
Why is 電話（でんわ）in hiragana?
電話 is a Japanese word, and really, it's not でんわ - it's 電話. I'm assuming that
you are referring to how the word would be written when not using kanji. Yes,
it uses the same characters as modern Chinese and the pronunciation is
similar, but it's not considered 外来語, a foreign loan word. By your logic any
word that has the same kanji as Chinese should be written in katakana. I
suppose a case _could_ be made for this, and it is true that 音読み in reference
materials are written with katakana, but this distinction in normal use is
more reserved for words that would traditionally be considered foreign in
origin. For example, you can write 拉麺 but usually it will be ラーメン.

There are also words that use the 音読み of kanji that are of Japanese origin.
Would you say they should be written in katakana as well?
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2015-10-06T06:08:54.147
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2015-10-06T06:08:54.147
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answer