A Contrastive Study Of English And Chinese Neologism

Neologism refers to words that are created to express new things, concepts and ideas in written and spoken communication. Since the early80s, the world has entered an "information age", with technology and science developing rapidly at a speed never seen before. During this Information Age, the world has witnessed some big changes in the fields of economics, politics, culture and law. Concurrent with these big changes, China has been undertaking a series of its own political, social and economic reforms, which have lead to some important changes. Consequently, a multitude of neologisms have emerged both in Chinese and English, and these neologisms have proven to be a great challenge for anyone learning Chinese or English as a foreign or second language.Both Chinese and English neologisms are created by giving words new suffixes, prefixes or by combining existing words together. This thesis seeks to provide a comprehensive comparison and analysis of Chinese and English neologisms using semantic, lexicological and sociolinguistic theories. With an understanding of these theories, foreign language learners can better understand both the formation rules and semantic features of Chinese and English neologisms. This thesis is also aimed at informing foreign language learners of the socio-cultural relationship that exists between Chinese and English neologisms, including their differences and similarities. Understanding these differences and similarities can help to reduce the problems of cross-cultural communication. The neologisms appearing in this thesis come from:The Oxford Dictionary of New Words; The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English; A Supplement to English-Chinese Dictionary; Xinhua Dictionary of New Words; and The New Century Dictionary of English Neologisms with Chinese Translation.In today’s developing society, more and more neologisms in both Chinese and English will be seen as the increasing interaction between English-speakers and Chinese people. As a result, Chinese and English neologisms will share more similarities.The thesis is composed of five chapters:Chapter one serves as an introduction, covering the motivation, the methodology, the organization of the thesis, as well as a brief survey of the existing literature on the subject.Chapter two "A General Survey of Neologism" is concerned with the definition and classification of neologism, importance of neologism in language, some characteristic features of neologism and the main reasons for the creation of neologism.Chapter three "Origins of English and Chinese Neologisms" analyzes the origins of English and Chinese neologisms. There are mainly three types:①creating new words by word-formation;②borrowing from other languages;③semantic change (old words taking on new meaning). In Chinese, there is another special type:dialects.Chapter four "Neologism and Culture" dwells on the relationship among vocabulary, language and culture, and analyzes the similarities and differences of the main cultural features reflected in English and Chinese neologism.Chapter five is a conclusion, bringing the thesis to an end.