2723
[This recent question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/2698/162)
introduced me to the concepts of
[外来語【がいらいご】](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gairaigo), defined as foreign words
not originating from Chinese, and
[和製英語【わせいえいご】](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-eigo), which are English
constructions that were made in Japan.

According to the above links, the word `レンジ` is considered a 外来語 because it is
derived from the English word "range", which is an old-fashioned way of
talking about a stove.

What happens when a 外来語 is combined with another word to form a compound word?

For example, `ガスレンジ` is a gas stove, not a "gas range" in English. Is this an
example of 和製英語?

`電子レンジ` combines a 外来語 with a kanji-compound. Is this still considered 外来語?
Or, is there some other classification for words like this?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-18T04:38:45.207
2715
2011-08-19T20:12:01.890
2017-04-13T12:43:44.397
-1
162
question
loanwords terminology wasei-eigo
How do you classify a word like "電子レンジ"?
There is a disagreement between Troyen and Derek, and I am not sure to
determine which is correct, so I will give two possibilities: If it is the
case, as you suggest, that there is no (compound) word as `gas range` in
English, then `ガスレンジ` would be an instance of 和製英語. If on the other hand, as
Derek suggests, an English compound word `gas range` was incorporated into
Japanese as one unit, then it would be 外来語.

**Schema of complex gairaigo vs. wasei-eigo**

  * gairaigo

> base (English) + ball (English) → baseball (English) → **ベースボール** (Japanese)

  * wasei-eigo

> American (English) → アメリカン (Japanese)  
>  coffee (English) → コーヒー (Japanese)  
>  アメリカン (Japanese) + コーヒー (Japanese) → **アメリカンコーヒー** (Japanese)

`電子レンジ` is not a 外来語.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-18T05:13:31.253
2716
2011-08-18T05:53:47.467
2011-08-18T05:53:47.467
2715
answer
After reviewing Wikipedia article
[語種](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AA%9E%E7%A8%AE), which states that a
word is either 和語【わご】, 漢語【かんご】, 外来語, or 混種語【こんしゅご】, I can safely answer that
`電子レンジ` belongs to 混種語 group.

A 混種語 (mixed type word) is a combination of two or more words (hence, is also
a 複合語【ふくごうご】) of differing categories 和語, 漢語, 外来語.

  * 和語: native Japanese, which include most 動詞 and 形容詞. Includes 固有語【こゆうご】.
  * 漢語: borrowed from ancient China
  * 外来語: borrowed from other than above. Includes 和製外来語, which includes 和製英語.

There are two component words in `電子レンジ`: `電子` and `レンジ`.

  * `電子`: 漢語
  * `レンジ`: 外来語 which is corrupted to 和製英語 by usage, see my old answer below for my postulation.

* * *

Old answer:

Methinks it's classified as compound word (複合語). The words in a compound can
be of any origin, and of any class (verb, noun), so it's difficult to say if a
compound like 電子レンジ is 和製英語 or not. Maybe you can classify as:

  * "purely 外来語": ガスレンジ, ~~高等学校~~
  * "purely 固有語": 夜明け, 旅立つ
  * can't think of pure compound 和製英語, because words like ボールペン in my opinion is considered as one word in Japanese. I don't know if ノートパソコン qualifies, as パソコン is a contraction rather than a 和製英語.
  * "mixed": 電子レンジ, ビニール袋

Interesting to note here is that although words like レンジ and ビニール are
originally 外来語, their usage in such compounds may "corrupt" them into 和製英語
(e.g. レンジ in 電子レンジ is actually oven, and ビニール in ビニール袋 is just plastic). In
that case, classifying ガスレンジ as "purely 外来語" might be controversial.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-18T08:40:41.530
2723
2011-08-19T20:12:01.890
2011-08-19T20:12:01.890
15
154
2715
answer