Apunts sobre fenòmens de contacte de llengües en la població japonesa a Catalunya

This study explores the presence of the Catalan and Spanish languages in the discourses of the
Japanese people living in Catalonia. Based on the data collected through interviews and participant
observations, it has been found that it is quite common for language contact within
this population to occur in a single word predominantly in Spanish. Catalan, on the other
hand, has a much less significant presence compared with Spanish and the use of Catalan is
limited to certain words particularly related to distinctive elements of Catalan culture. This
phenomena occurs due to the following factors: firstly, Spanish forms part of the relation
between Japanese citizens and Catalan society; secondly, from the phonologically standpoint,
Catalan contains some sounds that are difficult for Japanese speakers to pronounce; and lastly,
the use of Catalan is not very common amongst the Japanese population, which refrains from
using this language to respect behavioral homogeneity.