In the study of language, the etymological part is most difficult to deal with, especially in such a composite language as Japanese, where its lineage is not definitely known. But in so far as the etymology concerns the modern element of the language, it can be studied and made clear by a historical and comparative method. In this study 710 words have carefully been traced to their origin, dated documentary evidence having sufficiently been added to each item.
In classifying the modern elemnts of the Japanese language, those of English, German, French and American must also be taken into consideration. From historical point of view, however, the Dutch element has to be considered first, and then go on to the other elements ; otherwise the results attained become anachronistic and misleading. Take, for example, the chemical term “Tansangasu”. It is not derived from English or American “carbon dioxide”, but from Dutch “koolzuurgas”. Almost all the fundamental words belonging to modern natural science came from Dutch, the greater part of them being literal translation. They are the so-called translation loan-words.
