Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

engrish

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.88 in modern English

Syllables
en-gr-ish
IPA
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

Ungrammatical, unorthographical or nonsensical English of the kind found in East Asia, notably in Japan.

Derogatory

Example Sentences

Etymology

From the mispronunciation of the word English common to Japanese speakers, who have difficulty distinguishing "L" and "R" sounds. The Japanese transliteration of the word "English", イングリッシュ (Ingurisshu) is often used for teaching purposes. In that word, /ɾ/ (romanised as "r") is pronounced instead of the English /l/.

Usage

Phrases

English language

Frequently Paired Words

Chinglish English language

Synonyms

Japanese English Japlish Janglish Japanglish Nihonglish

Questions

What does engrish mean?
Ungrammatical, unorthographical or nonsensical English of the kind found in East Asia, notably in Japan.
Where does engrish come from?
From the mispronunciation of the word English common to Japanese speakers, who have difficulty distinguishing "L" and "R" sounds. The Japanese transliteration of the word "English", イングリッシュ (Ingurisshu) is often used for teaching purposes. In that word, /ɾ/ (romanised as "r") is pronounced instead of the English /l/.

How to pronounce engrish

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “engrish”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “engrish”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “engrish” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.