A Study On The Translation Of Loanwords In Modern Chinese

Loanwords are also called borrowed words. There are a large number of loanwords in the Chinese language which are used in almost every field of the social life. The study of loanwords has always been an important issue in linguistic studies. Therefore, the study of loanword translation is of great significance both in theory and practice. In theory, it is an indispensable part of translation studies and lexicology, and it can also facilitate the study of sociology and psychology. In practice, the study can deepen our understanding of loanword translation and thus help us with its translation.However, the traditional study has concentrated on the collection and classification of loanwords in the Chinese language and on the correct use of transliteration. Little attention has been paid to explaining why different types of loanwords have come about. This thesis is a tentative study on the motives for translating each type of loanwords and the regularities in loanword translation through the analysis of a large number of loanwords in the Chinese language. To carry out the study, the author of the thesis classifies the loanwords in the Chinese language into five categories: phonemic loans, hybrids, semantic loans, loan translations and graphic loans in the present thesis.The author of the thesis maintains that linguistic and cultural factors are the decisive factors in loanword translation. Since language and culture are intrinsically related, we should take into account both linguistic and cultural factors in study of the loanword translation. Loanwords, as the carrier of foreign culture, are subjected to the influence of the Chinese language and culture when being translated intoChinese. By taking cultural factors into the study, the author of the thesis aims to offer a new perspective in the study of loanword translation and so as to broaden its study scope.Both the linguistic and cultural factors are investigated to explain why different types of loanwords have come about. The author of the thesis first analyzes the motives for translating loanwords into phonemic loans from cultural and psychological perspectives and finds that those culturally compatible words are usually translated into phonemic loans whereas those culturally less compatible words are usually rendered into semantic loans or loan translations. And psychological factor is also one of the motives for translating loanwords into phonemic loans. Loanwords are translated into hybrids in case when the semantically adapted part in hybrids can usually indicate the meanings of the words and thus can facilitate the readers' understanding of those words in the Chinese language. Translating loanwords into semantic loans and loan translations is also influenced by the linguistic and cultural factors of the Chinese language. Owing to the fact that the morphemes in the Chinese language have an amazing ability to form compounds, and the frequent use of those compounds have imbued Chinese-speaking communities an analytical mentality in understanding words, the translation of loanwords into semantic loans and loan translations would be easy for the Chinese to recognize and understand their meanings. The linguistic relation between Chinese and Japanese and historical reasons are analyzed to account for the smooth integration of a large number of graphic loans from Japanese into Chinese. The author of the thesis holds that the use of Chinese characters in the Japanese language smoothes the path of lexical borrowing between the two languages.Another reason is that a great number of Chinese students and intellectuals went to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and they translated and introduced the books about western science and culture from Japanese into Chinese, which also explains why such a great number of loanwords in Chinese have been borrowed from Japanese.The regularities in loanword translation are also investigated in the thesis. Apart from the study on the regularity of translating loanwords into phonemic loans, semantic loans...