本研究探討日語類意表現「紙（Kami）」「紙（Shi）」及「paper」。外來語「paper」比漢語「紙（Shi）」甚至和語「紙（Kami）」的意義範圍為廣，這與一般和語、漢語及外來語涵蓋意義範疇的傾向不同。對於辭典上記載「paper」「接於名詞之上，表示僅有名目而無實體之意」的意義是「日語的用法」，本研究亦與英語‘paper’及中文“紙zhi”做了比較

This study investigates the synonyms in Japanese, including Kami, Shi and paper. The paper (foreign word) reveals wider meaning than does Shi (word of Chinese origin) or even Kami (word of Japanese origin). This trend is contradictory to the other words of Japanese origin, words of Chinese origin, or foreign words. Definition of paper as stated in dictionary as ＂in conjunction with a noun for an expression with no real objective＂ is a way of usage in Japanese. This study also compares the use of English word ＂paper＂ and Chinese word ＂zhi＂