How do you say "email" in Chinese?

Question

From my experience, many people in the Chinese community in America simply use the English word "email." This is known as lexical borrowing (loanword; 词汇借用). However, I am wondering what the proper word in Chinese for "email" is...

(From what I have observed. while both are precise translations, sometimes people mixes the two. Or just don't have a clear understanding of translating "email" into Chinese. This is close to a form of language contamination, where the misuse is spread throughout people.)

My understanding (based on feedback):

电子邮件 (Electronic mail)

缩写(Abbreviation):

• 电邮 (E-Mail)
  • 电子 --> 电 = Electronic
  • 邮件 --> 邮 = Mail

Refers to emails; very general term that refers to a letter (信) sent through electronically. The abbreviation is the juxtaposition of 电子 and 邮件.

Example: “关于那件事， 我已经发给教授一份电邮了。” 

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电子邮箱 (Electronic Mailbox or Email Box)

缩写(Abbreviation):

• 邮箱 (Mailbox)
  • 电子
  • 邮箱 = Mailbox

Refers specifically to the mailbox. For the abbreviation, we can eliminate the suffix "Electronic" (电子) in in verbal contexts, as the speakers would know what are referring to a digital mailbox.

  Example: “我想把它发到你的邮箱。”

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Summarized translation: These terms can refer to both physical and digital mail without the "e-" suffix. The suffix "e-"(电子) indicates electronic. However, in a conversational context, one should already know you are referring to digital mails, thus allowing the removal of the "e-" suffix in Chinese:

• 电子邮件 (diànzǐ yóujiàn) - Electronic mail (Email)
• 邮件 (yóujiàn) - Mail

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• 电子邮箱 (diànzǐ yóuxiāng) - Electronic mailbox (Email Account / Email Box)
• 邮箱 (yóuxiāng) - Mailbox

Answer 1

（电子）邮件、（电子）邮箱，都可以，平时都挺常用的，但意思不一样。通常“电子”可以省略。“邮箱”是指存储“邮件”的地方。

例：我昨天给你发了一封邮件，麻烦你打开邮箱看一眼。

Translation:

(电子)邮件, (电子)邮箱 are both OK and commonly used in our daily life, but they have different meanings. 电子 is usually omitted. 邮箱 is where 邮件 is stored.

e.g. I sent you an e-mail(邮件) yesterday. Please check your e-mail(邮箱) to see if you've received it.

Answer 2

It seems like you already know the answer. 電子郵件 is the most formal and correct way to say "email" in Chinese. Chinese people either say the original English word "email " (with accent, of course), or 電子郵件. There are many sources that support this. Basically that is the correct answer. Also, since the internet explosion and the world-wide use of email, in casual conversations we usually use " 信" alone to represent both digital and physical mail, depending on context. For example, "我剛才寄了一封信到你的信箱, 待會去看一下" infers that the "信" in this case is an email, since there's no point in mailing a physical letter to someone in front of you. On the other hand, the sentence "你還有留著一年前張三寫給你的信嗎?" infers the "信" in interest here is a physical mail.