If I want to translate the word "card" into Japanese, there's only one word in
Katakana in Google Translation: カード. If I search the relevant Chinese word
"卡片", there's still only one single result カード

I know that Japanese words borrowed from foreign languages would be written in
Katakana. The main problem is how to know whether the word is borrowed from
foreign languages?

I'm not surprised that words such as "coffee" or "computer" are borrowed as
they are novel things arisen from recent centuries. However I'm extremely
surprised that the word "card" is also borrowed as it is a very common object.
Doesn't Japanese use any cards in ancient years?

The same issue confused me for other words such as "butterfly( バタフライ )", all
which stand for very common objects but only have Katakana words.
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2019-10-16T02:45:15.467
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2019-10-23T23:01:54.833
2019-10-23T18:25:57.567
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question
katakana loanwords
How to know whether a word is borrowed from foreign languages?
You have chosen a word that has a very wide range of meanings in English.
Google tranlate has had to guess which meaning.

When you translate "card" do you mean:

  * A "western" playing card (a different borrowing, but adapted) : トランプ 
  * A "Japanese" playing card: 札
  * A credit card: カード
  * Thick paper: カード 厚紙(Japanese have had paper for a long time, but Japanese traditional thick paper is rather different from the western product.)
  * A business card: 名刺
  * Cardboard: 段ボール

There are probably several more meanings to "card". There can be many reasons
why the borrowed word displaced the native one: in this case there are
distinctions between the native and the foreign forms (of thick paper, or
playing cards) that are not made in English.

Similarly there is are native words for butterfly (蝶々) but when you are
talking about a fashion design and not an insect then the borrowed word is
felt to sound better.

There is no way to know if a given meaning will tend to use a word borrowed
from English or a native Japanese word. When there are competing terms such as
with 蝶々 or バタフライ, then there are nuances that distinguish between the words.
Learning a language means learning these differences.
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answer