908
Last night I had dinner in a ramen restaurant in northern Japan and was
surprised to read the katakana "ライス" (raisu) on the menu. This is obviously
the English word "rice" borrowed. But what kind of rice or method of
preparation might it refer to given that Japanese already has "kome", "gohan",
and "meshi"?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-09T23:43:36.420
901
2019-07-23T02:13:02.967
125
question
word-choice synonyms loanwords food
Since Japanese already had several words for rice why was "ライス" (raisu) borrowed from English?
I think it has to do with the fact that there are certain dishes that are
western in origin. They use rice, but they are served differently. Take a look
at dishes like 「カレーライス」 or 「ハヤシライス」 or 「タコライス」. All of these are served on
plate or with western ingredients. ご飯 and 丼 are usually served in their own
dish or in a bowl with more standard things on top.

There's also the fact that カタカナ英語 is very common. For some anecdotal evidence,
there was a tour book for Tokyo Disneyland that I bought once that literally
had combinations like, 「ファンタスティックスな素晴らしさ」. Basically they were just throwing
in カタカナ英語 to enhance it and make it look special.

You'll find lots of words where there is カタカナ英語, a "native" Japanese word, and
an imported 漢字 compound all for the exact same thing. Japanese is a language
that does this a lot.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2011-06-10T00:00:03.873
902
2019-07-23T02:13:02.967
2019-07-23T02:13:02.967
45
45
901
answer
ライス is used for non-Japanese rice dishes, I believe, like curry or rice served
on a plate in Western fashion. カタカナ and borrowed words are also used as
'fancy' or 'elegant' alternatives in Japan, especially in advertising.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-10T00:14:43.217
903
2011-06-10T02:00:00.130
2011-06-10T02:00:00.130
281
281
901
answer
ご飯 (ごはん), 飯 (めし) and ライス all refer to the same thing: steamed rice. ご飯 and 飯
can mean meal, too.

As you said, it is not uncommon to see ライス in a menu at a restaurant, even
when it is not part of a compound word such as カレーライス. I do not know why they
do not say ご飯, and I can only make a guess at possible reasons:

  * As Jeshii said, they may want to make it sound like something fancy by using a loanword instead of the more common word ご飯. (But I am not sure if calling it ライス really sounds fancy compared to calling it ご飯.)
  * As Uronym said, they may serve steamed rice on a plate, in which case it is understandable to call it differently from the usual steamed rice in Japanese cuisine, which is served in a bowl. (But the question is about a ramen restaurant, and I would be surprised if a ramen restaurant in Japan serves steamed rice on a plate. The use of the word ライス is not uncommon in ramen restaurants.)
  * Depending on context, ご飯 refers to meal, and they may want to avoid possible confusion caused by this usage. (But some restaurants _do_ write ご飯 to mean steamed rice and there is no possibility of confusion. Note that “set meal” at a restaurant has a separate word 定食 (ていしょく).)

As you can see, I am not satisfied with any of these reasons. If there is a
better explanation, I am happy to learn it.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-10T01:39:46.500
908
2011-06-10T01:39:46.500
15
901
answer
In addition to the other answers, ライス is sometimes simply used for
disambiguation. The meaning of ご飯 _gohan_ largely overlaps with "meal", so it
can become ambiguous whether you're talking about a "meal" (as opposed to à la
carte) or "rice". The more specific words for "rice" like 白米 can be too
specific, so ライス is a broad, convenient descriptor.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-10T01:42:06.347
909
2011-06-10T01:42:06.347
88
901
answer