Loanwords in Chinese

By SEBASTIEN ROUSSILLAT

HaVE you ever ordered coffee in China？ Like chocolate， wine and champagne， coffee originated in the West. How did the words for these alien things arrive in the Chinese language？ What about when it comes to more complicated or even abstract vocabulary， like scientific terms or sociological concepts based on the particular cultural or ethical background of other peoples？ When an established brand enters the Chinese market， one of the first it has to do is to pick a name in the native language. What is the best translation？

Imported objects and ideas need words to refer to them， and this is what we will discuss in this months installment – loanwords in Chinese.

It may be surprising to some people that an immensely rich and expressive language like Chinese could still borrow from others. In fact even ancient Chinese is scattered with foreign words and expressions in ethnic minority languages， many from Tibetan， Mongolian and Manchu， and some from Buddhist glossary. For instance，胡同 （hú tòng）， or lane， is from Mongolian， and 咋呼 （zhà hu） bluff， and 麻利 （má li） deft， have their origins in Manchu.

Some loan words in ancient Chinese have drifted out of daily use， but new ones keep popping up in every stage of the history， accelerating in modern times along with the countrys interaction with the world.

When Chinese people talk of something or somebody from the other side of the world， they often use the phrase 漂洋过海 （piāo yáng guòhǎi）， across the ocean. In Chinese 洋 （yáng） ocean， and 西 （xī） west， allude to foreign countries and the West in particular. as tomato and onion are both imported species， they are still called 洋柿子 （yáng shì zi） and 洋葱 （yáng cōng） in some parts of China. Similarly， Western-style suits and formal pants are respectively 西装 （xī zhuāng） and 西裤 （xī kù）， and a practitioner of Western medicine is a 西医 （xī yī）. If a person is sassy， a complimentary expression is 洋气 （yáng qi）， or of foreign air. Presumably this came from Chinese attitudes to the West in the 19th century when it led the world in fashion and technology and China looked up to it with admiration and for inspiration.

If there is no comparable object or idea for a foreign invention already in the country， one approach has been for Chinese people to splice the word for a similar object with some adjunct. When the train was first brought into China in the late 19th century， it was named 火车 （huǒ chē）， literally fire cart. In cases where it is nearly impossible to give a proper description of an exotic product in a concise phrase， the Chinese is often based on its pronunciation in the language of origin. Two examples are 沙发（shā fā）， sofa， and 咖啡 （kā fēi）， coffee.

Some translations， are really creative， bringing together the best of two cultures thinking. Many good examples can be found with foreign brands in the Chinese market. French retailer Carrefour is 家乐福 （jiā lè fú） in Chinese， which can be interpreted as “a happy family.” The Chinese transliteration of Coca-Cola is 可口可乐 （kě kǒu kě lè）， which ingeniously features both a positive meaning – tasty and delightful – and phonetic closeness to the original name. Crepes also have an adorable Chinese name， 可丽饼 （kě lì bǐng）， meaning pretty pancake. Scientific terms are particularly difficult to convert into another language in a single phrase， but there are plenty of successful examples in Chinese. Gene is 基因 （jī yīn）， which can be translated literally as “fundamental element，” and is both proximate to the English pronunciation and reflects the actual thing it is referring to. The Chinese equivalent of hacker is 黑客 （hēi kè）， bringing together 黑 （hēi）， meaning “black” or “dark” which is often associated with evil or secrecy， and 客（kè）， which alludes to an outsider， to prompt the image of a “black invader” or “guy in darkness.”

a new approach to transferring a foreign subject or phenomenon into Chinese appeared in later times. This combines an etymon based on foreign pronunciation with a prescriptive native Chinese word. Examples of this are 芭蕾舞 （bā lěi wǔ） ballet， and 爵士乐 （jué shì yuè） jazz， 舞 （wǔ） and 乐 （yuè） respectively meaning dance and music. When talk shows were introduced into China， the term was sagely translated as 脱口秀 （tuō kǒu xiù）. 脱口 （tuō kǒu） means talk instinctively， and 秀（xiù） means performance or show off. Combinations like these are self-explanatory.