Loan words

Loan words (外来词, wàilái cí) refer to those words that are borrowed from other languages. There are many loan words in Chinese and undoubtedly, even more will be recruited into the vocabulary pool of the Chinese language in the future.

With the rapid advancement of computing technology and global communication, it is inevitable that foreign words will continue to find their way into the Chinese lexicon. The issues relevant to the discussion of teaching and learning Chinese as FL is how to train students so that they can not only identify loan words in communication, but also become capable of introducing new loan words into Chinese so as to enhance their competence in Chinese communication.

Chinese has a long history of borrowing new words from foreign languages.

Studies (e.g. Shi 2000) show that Chinese year names were probably borrowed from Babylonian during the Zhou dynasty (770 BC–221 BC). From loan word dictionaries (e.g. Cén 1990), we see that Chinese has not only borrowed words from the languages of neighboring countries, such as India (Hindu), Korea (Korean) and Japan (Japanese), but also from many European languages such as Latin, French, Russian, English and Spanish. Regardless of the source, these loan words may be roughly categorized into two types: (1) borrowed into Chinese based on their original pronunciation, as shown in (5.6), and (2) borrowed into Chinese based partially on their original pronunciation and partially on their original meaning as shown in (5.7). Words translated into Chinese from foreign languages, such as 电脑 (diànnăo, “computer”) and 下载 (xiàzăi, “download”),

are generally not considered loan words because those characters/words are Chinese words, not foreign words.

(5.6) “sofa” 沙发 shāfā

“jacket” 夹克 jiákè

“pudding” 布丁 bùdīng

“платы” 布拉吉 bùlāji (from Russian “skirt”)

“jeep” 吉普 jípŭ

“modern” 摩登 módēng

“salad” 萨拉 sālā

“vitamin” 维他命 vítāmíng

“coffee” 咖啡 kāfēi

“Coca cola” 可口可乐 kĕkŏukĕlè

“Motorola” 摩托罗拉 mótuōluólā

“McDonald” 麦当劳 màidāngláo

“bus” 巴士 bāshì

“Benz” 奔驰 bēnchí

“Bush” 布什 bùshí

“Nixon” 尼克松 níkèsōng

“Pennsylvania” 宾西法尼亚 bīnxīfăníyà (5.7) motorcycle 摩托车 mótuō chē

credit card 信用卡 xìnyòngkă

apple pie 苹果派 píngguŏ pài

Yuppie 雅皮士 yăpí shì

Hippie 嬉皮士 xīpí shì

Thailand 泰国 tàiguó

Chauvinism 沙文主义 shāwénzhŭyì (from French)

ballet 芭蕾舞 bāléi wŭ (from French)

bar 酒吧 jiŭbā

champagne 香槟酒 xiāngbīng jiŭ

AIDS 艾滋病 àizī bìng

T-shirt T 恤衫 tìxùshān

hamburger 汉堡包 hànbăo bāo

pizza 比萨饼 bĭshà bĭng

Starbucks 星巴克 xīngbākè

bowling 保龄球 băolíng qiú

Internet 因特网 yīntèwăng

From the examples in (5.6)–(5.7), it can be seen that those loan words that were borrowed into Chinese either because the concepts expressed by those words did not exist in Chinese life or because Chinese had not yet invented the words for those concepts at the time when they were borrowed. What makes the borrowing process complicated, though, is the rules that govern the conversion from foreign words and sounds into Chinese characters and sounds. Notice that none of the

Chinese words in (5.6)–(5.7) are phonetically identical to their counterparts in the language from which they are borrowed. Students might have to learn all the rules of conversions from foreign sounds to Chinese to be able to identify loan words.

Advanced students might even be able to introduce some new loan words into Chinese. Table 5.6 lists some of the most commonly used Chinese characters that correspond to the 26 English letters combined with different vowels.

Table 5.6 Possible Chinese characters representing 26 English letters Letter Possible characters when converted into Chinese

a 阿ā, 爱 ài, 奥 ào, 安 ān, b 巴bā, 白 bái, 贝 bèi, 伯 bó, 布 bù

c 卡kă, 凯 kăi, 塞 cài, 查 chá, 西 xī, 克 kè, 康 kāng, 库 kù d 达dá, 戴 dài, 多 duō, 丹 dān, 德 dé, 迪 dí, 杜 dù, 邓 dèng e 伊yí, 艾 ài, 埃 āi, 爱 ài

f 法fă, 费 fèi, 芬 fēng, 弗 fú, 富 fú

g 加jiā, 盖 gài, 高 gāo, 格 gé, 戈 gé, 吉 jí, 乔 qiáo, 治 zhì, 杰 jié h 哈hā, 海 hăi, 瀚 hàn, 赫 hè, 亨 hēng, 希 xī, 霍 huò

i 伊yí, 艾 ài, 英 yīng, 欧 ōu

j 吉jí, 杰 jié,朱 zhū, 约 yuē, 乔 qiáo, 夹 jiā k 卡kă, 凯 kăi,克 kè, 肯 kĕn, 基 jī, 柯 kē, 库 kù

l 拉lā, 莱 lái, 兰 lán, 劳 láo, 利 lì, 林 lín, 朗 lăng, 路 lù, 罗 luó, 尔 ĕr m 马mă, 麦 mài, 梅 méi, 莫 mò, 米 mĭ, 明 míng, 曼 màn, 蒙 mĕng n 纳nà, 男 nán, 尼 ní, 纽 niŭ, 诺 nuò, 恩 ēn

o 澳ào, 奥 ào, 欧 ōu p 波bō, 博 bó, 佩 pèi, 皮 pí q 昆kūn, 奎 kuí

r 拉lā, 兰 lán, 雷 léi, 洛 luò, 罗 luó, 利 lì, 鲁 lŭ

s 萨sà, 塞 sài, 舒 shū, 施 shī, 西 xī, 谢 xiè, 雪 xuĕ, 辛 xīn, 斯 xī, 苏 sū t 塔tă, 泰 tài, 特 tè, 托 tuō, 顿 dùn

u 尤yōu, 安 ān

v 范fàn, 番 fán, 维 wēi, 弗 fú, 夫 fū

w 韦wĕi, 华 huá, 威 wēi, 文 wén, 惠 huì, 伍 wŭ

x 西xī

y 约yuē, 阳 yáng, 扬 yáng, 伊 yí z 载 zăi, 赞 zàn, 曾 céng, 齐 qí, 其 qí

For English words such as “Clinton”, the first step is to divide the word into Chinese monosyllabic segments: c, lin, ton. Since Chinese does not allow consonant cluster as “cl”, “c” has to be converted into a character independent from “lin”. Based on Table 5.6, the closest pronunciations and characters for the three segments are kè 克, lín 林, and dùn 顿. For place name like Bellingham, one may convert it into bĕilínhàn 北林瀚 (literally “north forest immeasurable”)

or bĕilínhăi 北临海 (literally “north nearby sea”). However, since the meaning of bĕilínhăi better fits the geographic feature of Bellingham in the state of Washington, US, it becomes the preferred choice.

It should be noted that the list of the possible Chinese characters representing the 26 English letters used with various vowels in Table 5.6 is not meant to be exclusive. Since Chinese is a language rich in homophones, any of the characters listed in the Table may be replaced by its homophone. In addition, Table 5.6 does not provide meaning for those characters exemplified. This is because for loan words, the key feature involved in borrowing from an original language to Chinese is retaining the sound of the original words, not meaning. As long as the meaning of a given character does not have any negative connotation, it can be used to represent the sound of a loan word. Certainly, it is ideal to find a perfect match between the sound and meaning of the original words and Chinese characters. It is said that one of the reasons why 可口可乐 (kĕkŏukĕlè, “Coca cola”, literal translation: “make one’s mouth pleasant”) has achieved immediate success and become one of the most popular soft drinks in China was due to its aptly translated brand name. However, while certainly something to strive for, such an ideal conversion as Coca Cola, which positively retains both its original phonetic and semantic properties is uncommon. Most loan words can only retain their phonetic property as those in (5.6) and some loan words may have a semantic feature added to the original phonetic form during conversion as those in (5.7). When not appropriately borrowed into Chinese due to the choice of meaningless homophonic characters, such as 起司 (qĭsī, “cheese”), loan words may soon be replaced by other more appropriately borrowed words or translated words (e.g. 奶酪 năilào “cheese”).

Once students of Chinese as FL learn the possible characters representing the alphabet in Table 5.6, it becomes relatively easy for them to identify, read and learn purely phonetic-converted loan words, especially those borrowed from their native languages. If loan words are borrowed based partially on their sounds and partially on their meaning, students will have to have, in addition, knowledge of the Chinese words that best describe the meaning of the borrowed word in its original language along with the knowledge of characters that represent the sounds in the alphabet. For instance, when borrowing words denoting the meaning of some kind of food from English, Chinese words such as 饼 (bĭng,

“cake”), 酒 (jiŭ, “wine”), and 包 (bāo, “bun”) are added to the original words

“pizza”, “champagne”, and “hamburger” to form the loan words 比萨饼 bĭsà bĭng, 香槟酒 xiāngbīng jĭu, and 汉堡包 hànbăo bāo. In these cases, without the additions, it would be difficult for Chinese people to understand the real meanings of the loan words.

Although loan words make up only a small percentage of all Chinese words, they are vital for students to learn in order to succeed in communication. This becomes even clearer when we look at the source language and the types of words that are often borrowed into Chinese. According to Shi (2000: 162–3), among 7704 loan words, 3,426 are from English, 882 from Japanese, 780 from Hindu,

401 from Russian and 400 from Mongolian with the remaining words coming from other languages. When classifying the loan words borrowed from English, Shi’s statistics show that approximately two-thirds of them are related to technology, science, medicine, and industry with the remainder related to politics, economy, religion, entertainment, and daily activities. Since these areas are among the interests of students of Chinese, teaching loan words becomes a necessity.

Technically, words translated from other languages, such as those in (5.8) are not considered loan words: they are derived from other languages based on the meaning of the original words without regard to phonetic similarity; in fact, the Chinese characters used in translation are not pronounced similarly to the original words. The difference between translated words and loan words is so distinct yet so related that it is difficult to discuss and teach one type without mentioning the other.

(5.8) “cream” 奶油 năiyóu (literal translation: milk oil) “cheese” 奶酪 năilào (lit. milk junket)

“Windows 98” 视窗98 shìchuāng jiŭbā (lit. viewing window 98) “space shuttle” 航天飞机 hángtiān fēijī (lit. space airplane) “mouse” 鼠器 shǔqì (lit. mouse instrument) “broadband” 宽带 kuāndài (lit. wide band) “browser” 浏览器 liúlănqì (lit. viewing instrument) “motor” 电动机 diàndàng jī (lit. electric machine)

(cf. 马达 mădá)

“email” 电子邮件 diànzĭ yóujiàn (lit. electronic mail)

(cf. 伊妹儿 yīmèir)

When translating and introducing new foreign words into Chinese, some people prefer the literal translation method (e.g. “Test of English as a Foreign Language”, 英语作为外语的考试, yīngyŭ zuòwéi wàiyŭ de kăoshì) and some prefer metaphor or metonymy (e.g. “ice cream”, 冰激淋, bīngjīlín, meaning something like “ice simulates the feeling of cool water” and “Sprite” 雪碧 xuĕbì meaning that the soft drink is like snow and blue jade — cold and sparkling.) For students of Chinese as FL, words translated using the literal method may be relatively easy to understand, learn and use. Words derived from other methods may have to be learned as special new words because: (1) it is difficult to draw the connection between the original meaning and the metaphorical or metonymic meaning and (2) these words differ from other ordinary words in that they come from other languages. However, adequate and gradual introduction of the translated words along with loan words to students should make teaching and learning more interesting. With the increase of the number of loan words and translated words, students’ communicative competence should also be improved.

5.4 Difficulties in Acquisition

In learning Chinese characters, the degree of difficulty for students may vary depending upon the writing system of students’ native language. For native students of logographic writing, pronunciation of characters (e.g. initials, finals, and tones) may be more challenging than other areas. For native students of alphabetic writing, however, the most difficult task might be twofold: (1) writing and memorizing the form, meaning, and sound of characters, and (2) learning tones. Chapter 4 discussed the procedures in acquisition of tones and in the following section, I will recommend some specific procedures in learning to pronounce, read, and write characters.