Mandarin Loanwords

Tae Eun Kim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351253383
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Lingue e linguistica
• Subtopic: Lingue

English-based Mandarin loanwords are commonly used in Chinese people's daily lives. Mandarin Loanwords demonstrates how English phonemes map into Mandarin phonemes through Mandarin loanwords adaptation. The consonantal adaptations are the most important in the analyses, and vowel adaptation and tonal adaptation is also considered.

Through the analysis, it is proven that the functions of phonology and phonetics play a significant role in Mandarin loanword adaptation, however the functions of other factors, such as semantic functions of Chinese characters and English orthography, are also discussed. Additionally, the phonetic symbolization of Chinese characters is mentioned.

1 Introduction¹

The scientific study of Chinese loanwords started relatively late. It began in the early 20th century, and gradually grew into an actively studied subject by the 1950s. However, the history of Chinese loanwords is so extensive that it is impossible to know the precise beginnings of foreign language vocabulary borrowing. In fact, words have been borrowed since China encountered and made contact with other countries. According to Shi (2000), the 12 names of star signs such as Sheti 摄提 and Dan’e 单阏, which were already found in Qu Yuan’s 屈原 (B.C. 340–278) Li Sao 离骚 (Departing in Sorrow), are related to the names of 12 western star signs, which were created in Babylon. Those names are clearly not only disparate, but also difficult to understand in the monosyllabic language of Ancient China. Cen (1951) also highlights the loanwords borrowed from Ancient Tujue 突厥 in Chu Ci楚辞 (Songs of Chu). Even though many researchers do not agree with Cen’s opinions, it is certain that the phrases or words contain something different from Ancient Chinese language, and they cannot be understood with the language system in the period of the Shang and Zhou dynasties 商周时代 (B.C. 1600–B.C. 221). Therefore, with examples of such disparate words found in ancient documents, we can assume that the history of Chinese loanwords is quite long.

Various loanwords are still currently flooding into China. In particular, loanwords originating from English are actively imported from every field. Thus, it is time for more research on Chinese loanwords, since they are common in both daily and technical contexts. This study is about Chinese loanwords that have originated from English. Chapter 1 provides the background of Chinese loanwords. Therefore, the history and the terminology of Chinese loanwords will be generally discussed. Additionally, the influence of loanwords on Chinese language and the previous studies are also treated.

1.1 Language contact and lexical borrowing into China²

In the history of the Chinese language, large-scale borrowing occurred both between the 2nd century B.C. and the 13th century due to the translation of Buddhist scriptures and in the 16th century when the Western missionaries came to China (Lin 2007). However, borrowing has occurred throughout Chinese history as a result of political, economic, and cultural contact with foreign countries. Based on the periodic borrowing of foreign vocabulary, the history of Chinese loanwords will be discussed in Section 1.1.

In the Han 汉 dynasty (B.C. 206–A.D. 220), borrowing may be divided into two groups. First is a set of vocabulary from the Huns (Xiongnu 匈奴). It was adopted through repetitive war and peaceful interactions with the Huns. Many of the words are the titles of thrones and bureaucrats, with a few common nouns included. For example, there are ‘Chanyu 单于,’ ‘Yanzhi 阏氏,’ and ‘luò-tuo 骆驼 (camel).’³ Second is a set of vocabulary from central Asia that was called xī-yù西域. Beginning when Zhang Qian 张骞 (B.C. 164–114) was sent to the xī-yù as an ambassador, there was close contact between the Chinese language and the language of xī-yù. As the Silk Road was opened, the interaction between China and ancient tribes increased. As a result, the Silk Road played a pivotal role in introducing new concepts to China. For example, there are ‘shī-zi 狮子 (lion),’ ‘mù-xu苜蓿 (medicago),’ ‘pú-táo葡萄 (grape),’ and ‘shí-liu石榴 (pomegranate).’ In addition, ‘Xiongnu 匈奴’ and ‘Hu 胡,’ which were the names of ancient tribes, were widely used, and thus they developed into a prefix that indicates things adopted from foreign cultures in the northern or western border of China. Examples include ‘hú-luó-bo 胡萝卜 (carrot),’ ‘hú-qin胡琴 (huqin),’ and ‘hú-gua胡瓜 (cucumber).’

In the period from the East Han 东汉 (A.D. 22–220) through the Tang 唐 dynasties (A.D. 618–901),⁴ there were also two groups of lexical borrowing. Buddhism played a significant role in the borrowings of this period. With the introduction of Buddhism in the late East Han dynasty, many words had to be borrowed in order to facilitate the translation of Buddhist terms into Chinese. Buddhism was introduced through the Silk Road from ancient India in the late East Han dynasty (Shi 2000), and it was well-received by the ruling class in the Northern and Southern dynasties. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism flourished, and the translation of Buddhist scriptures gained prominence. Most Buddhist scriptures were written in Sanskrit, and many borrowings came from Sanskrit. For example, ‘ní-lí泥犁 (hell)’ is used only in the scripture, but ‘chà-nà刹那 (an instant in time)’ become used in daily life through the change of meaning (Zhou and You 2006). ‘Fó-tuó佛陀 (Buddha),’ ‘Mí-lè-fó弥勒佛 (Maitreya),’ ‘bǐ-qiū-ní比丘尼 (a female Buddhist monastic),’ and ‘shā-mén 沙门 (shaman)’ are also adopted from Buddhism. In addition to Buddhist terms, many other words were borrowed through the Silk Road. They were usually terms related to material cultures and social systems of ancient countries (Miao 2005). Compared with earlier times, the number of borrowings increased, and the subjects referred to in the borrowings became more diverse. For example, ‘mò-yào 没药 (myrrh),’ ‘pí-pá琵琶 (lute),’ ‘dá-là-gǔ答腊鼓 (West Asian cylindrical drum)’ were borrowed from Persian; ‘bì-lì 荜篥 (oboes),’ ‘Yì-dū-hù 亦都护 (an official designation),’ ‘Kè-hán可汗 (Khan)’ were imported from Turkish; ‘píng-guǒ苹果 (apple)’ was originally ‘pín-pó-luó 频婆罗 (a quantifier),’ which is a loanword adopted from Sanskrit (Shi 2000).

In the Yuan 元 dynasty (A.D. 1271–1368), many astronomical instruments and weapons were introduced in China.⁵ Therefore, words like ‘zán-tū-shuò-bā-tái 咱秃朔八台,’ which means ‘orientation instrument,’ were widely imported. Additionally, Islam started to gain prominence in China during this period. In fact, Islam already had contact with China in the Tang dynasty (A.D. 651), and it took a major step forward in the Song 宋 dynasty (A.D. 960–1279), but it was in the Yuan dynasty that Islam truly exercised its influence in China. Thus, words such as ‘mù-sù-(lǔ)-mán木速(鲁)蛮’ which means ‘a Muslim’ and originated from Arabic, and ‘dá-shī-mán答失蛮 / dá-sù-mán答速蛮 / dà-shí-mǎ 大石马 / dà-shí-mì 大实密,’ which means ‘a Muslim missionary or scholar’ and originated from Persian, were translated in large amounts.

There are two remarkable things in the period of the Ming 明 dynasty (A.D. 1358–1644) and Qing 清 dynasty (A.D. 1616–1911). One is that the Western missionaries came to China, and the other is that Christian texts were translated and Western learning was adopted. Christianity was already introduced in the Tang dynasty (A.D. 635), but it disappeared, since Buddhism became the state religion in the later Tang dynasty. The real missionary work began in the 1580s, during the later Ming dynasty (Masini 1993). The missionaries’ efforts to spread the Christian faith naturally resulted in the translation of Christian texts. The missionaries came from many countries in Europe. For example, Matteo Ricci (A.D. 1552–1610) the famous Italian missionary, played an important role in introducing the scientific technology of the West. In addition, various terms related to subjects such as math and astronomy were also translated in Chinese. For example, there are ‘jǐ-hé几何 (geometry),’ and ‘dì-qiú地球 (Earth)’ (Chen 1999). Especially, after the Opium War (A.D. 1840–1842), China entered a new epoch, and the Chinese language had already approached the modern and contemporary stage. As the Qing dynasty, a feudal empire, started collapsing, foreign powers were rapidly transforming China into a modern society. As a result, there was great change in the history of Chinese language. The Chinese vocabulary, usage of Chinese grammar, and increase of loanwords in Chinese at that time reveal a cross section of the change (Shi 2000). The defeat in the Opium War drove China toward the invasion of Western powers, and simultaneously provided the chance to widely accept Western learning, since Chinese intellectuals realized that they had to adopt it actively in order to reform China (Chen 1999; Yu 2010). Consequently, the Western masterpieces in the various fields started being translated in the middle of 19th century, and many words borrowed from foreign languages appeared. Some examples include ‘ā-piàn阿片 (opium),’ ‘gōng-sī公司 (company),’ ‘Liáng-tiān-chǐ量天尺 (Hylocereus),’ ‘luó-sī-dīng 螺丝钉 (screw),’ and ‘bì-jī 哔叽 (serge)’ (Yang 2007).

After the Sino-Japanese war (A.D. 1894–1895), Chinese intellectuals revered Japan as a model for the modernization and reformation of the society (Miao 2005), and accordingly, many Japanese books were imported. According to Masini (1993), 958 Japanese works were translated into Chinese between 1896 and 1911. Examples of the borrowing from Japan between the late 19th century and the early 20th century include: ‘gàn-bù干部 (cadre),’ ‘jī-jí 积极 (active),’ ‘xiāo-jí消极 (passive),’ ‘jǐng-qì景气 (economic boom),’ ‘qǔ-xiāo取消 (cancel),’ ‘yǐn-dù引渡 (extradite),’ ‘jǐng-chá警察 (police),’ ‘cái-tuán 财团 (financial group),’ ‘zhǔ-guān 主观 (subjective),’ and ‘tè-quán 特权 (privilege).’ In addition, in the period around the May 4th Movement (A.D. 1919) of the early 20th century, loanwords in many fields such as science and technology, thought, and culture were adopted through various channels. In this period, English stood out as the most influential origin of Chinese loanwords. Among the English-based Chinese loanwords used today, the older ones were usually made by the Western missionaries or translators of foreign books in this period. Some examples include, ‘lèi-dá雷达 (radar),’ ‘dé-mó-kè-lā-xī 德谟克拉西 (democracy),’ ‘dé-lǜ-fēng 德律风 (telephone),’ ‘wéi-tā-mìng 维他命 (vitamin),’ ‘yōu-mò幽默 (humor),’ ‘jiǔ-bā酒吧 (bar),’ ‘yǐn-dé引得 (index),’ ‘kā-fēi咖啡 (coffee),’ and ‘jí-pǔ-chē 吉普车 ( jeep).’ On the other hand, most recent Chinese loanwords have been made by intellectuals or translators who are good at foreign languages, or people working in media-related fields (Lin 2007).

In the 1950s, the middle of the 20th century, much Russian vocabulary was imported into China because of the political situation, since the People’s Republic of China, having been established in 1949, considered Russia (the Soviet Union at that time) to be the first international partner or supporter in their efforts to obtain technology and industry (Miao 2005). Some examples of loanwords from Russia at that time include: ‘Sū-wéi-āi 苏维埃 (Soviet),’ ‘bù-ěr-shí-wéi-kè 布尔什维克 (Bolshevik),’ ‘bù-lā-jí布拉吉 (clothes),’ ‘Dù-mǎ 杜马 (a name of Russian assembly),’ ‘hù-bù 户布 (a monetary unit),’ and ‘liè-bā 裂粑 (bread).’ However, most of these loanwords disappeared after the close partnership between China and Russia was broken, and only a few words have survived (Shi 2004). As China officially opened the economy and increased their interaction with foreign countries, many words and expressions were borrowed from various countries. Among the source languages, English occupies the dominant place. The return of Hong Kong (A.D. 1997) especially facilitated many English words being adopted into Mandarin through the Yue 粤 dialect (Yu 2010). Furthermore, since the 20th century, loanwords originating from Japanese have been constantly imported into China. Usually, the loanwords from Japanese are Japanese translations of technical terms that came from Western countries. The following words are examples: ‘nèi-róng内容 (content),’ ‘dìng-yì 定义 (definition),’ ‘mù-dì目的 (objective),’ ‘làng-màn-zhǔ-yì 浪漫主义 (romanticism),’ and ‘nèi-zài内在 (intrinsic),’ which are rhetorical terms, and ‘guān-jié-yán 关节炎 (arthritis),’ ‘jiǎ-sǐ假死 (suspended animation),’ ‘jié-jié 结节 (a node),’ ‘kàng-tǐ抗体 (antibody),’ ‘tīng-lì听力 (hearing),’ ‘yíng-yǎng 营养 (nutrition),’ and ‘xuè-yā 血压 (blood pressure),’ which are medical jargon (Shi 2000). Among the loanwords, some have disappeared but most are still used in daily life (Yang 2007). In addition, the development of the Internet and the expansion of foreign language education accelerated lexical borrowing. As a result, the percentage of loanwords in Chinese vocabulary currently continues to increase.

1.2 Terminology of loanwords in Chinese

There are many names for loanwords in Chinese: ‘wài-lái-cí 外来词 (a word from foreign language),’ ‘jiè-cí 借词 (loanwords),’ ‘wài-lái-yǔ 外来语 (a language from foreign language),’ ‘yì-yǔ 译语 (a translated language),’ ‘yì-cí 译词 (a translated word),’ and ‘jiè-zì借字 (a borrowed character).’⁶ Also, researchers define Chinese loanwords in various ways, since they each present a different scope of Chinese loanwords, based on the various definitions. According to the definition of Ci Hai辞海 (Sea of Words) (1989), wài-lái-cí is called jiè-cí or wài-lái-yǔ, which indicates a word or a phrase adopted from other languages. In this definition, a word and a phrase are not distinguished; it is reasonable, since the distinction between a word and a phrase is very difficult in Chinese (Yang 2007). On the other hand, Gao and Liu (1958) define wài-lái-cí and jiè-cí separately. They argue that wài-lái-cí is a native word that originates from foreign languages, but jiè-cí is a foreign word that was borrowed from other languages (Gao and Liu 1958: 13).

In fact, it is hard to find historically when the term of wài-lái-cí or wài-lái-yǔ started being used. We can only verify that wài-lái-cí was fo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Lexical stratification and types of Chinese loanwords
• 3 Comparative study of Mandarin phonology and English phonology
• 4 Adaptation of Mandarin loanwords originating from English
• 5 Important factors affecting Mandarin loanword adaptation
• 6 Conclusion
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index