A Cognitive Study Of The Japanese Loan-words In Modern Chinese

As is well known, China and Japan are close neighbors, and their communication could trace back to thousands of years ago. In ancient Japan, when people began to learn Chinese culture, they, at the same time, start to learn the Chinese language. By carefully studying Chinese characters, Japanese invented Kana. However, in late18th century and early19th century, It came to be on the turn that the Chinese language absorbed the Japanese one. During that period, a large number of Japanese-loaned words were borrowed and fixed into Chinese when the knowledge and culture of every aspect of Japan were spreading into China. These words became parts of Chinese and influenced Chinese substantially. To put it in the way, It can be said that the span between the late18th century and the early19th century is the first climax for Japanese being borrowed into Chinese. Since the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, especially after China’s reform and opening-up in1978, the two countries’ intercourse increased, expanded and deepened sharply in various aspects, such as economy, Politics, culture, education, environment etc. It can be said that this period is the second climax for Japanese being borrowed into Chinese.This thesis will pay close attention to the new words after the reform and opening-up of China, and mainly research on the Japanese loan-words which were borrowed in Modern Chinese. From the cognitive linguistic, through arranging and analyzing the Japanese loan-words of the Modern Chinese after the reform and opening-up, this thesis try to research the relationship between the loan-words and its cognitive subject. More importantly, this research expatriates how human beings’ cognitive process have an affect on the meaning’s transformation, reform and derivation for these loanwords. In addition, this thesis try to analyze the meaning construction of the Japanese loan-words from the Categorization and Metaphorical Theory.