On Chinese Loanwords in English

Abstract-As a common phenomenon, languages borrow words from each other. The object of this paper is to study Chinese loanwords in English. It concentrates on the study of the history, source languages and transmission languages of Chinese loanwords in English and pays much attention to the approaches of borrowing. It also attempts to discuss the cultural influence of Chinese loanwords on English and to demonstrate that loaning is not only a linguistic but also a socio-linguistic phenomenon. In the hope that it can help English learners develop an interest and appreciation for English loanwords from Chinese and help them enlarge their vocabulary efficiently. It is also expected that foreigners can better understand Chinese culture by reading this paper. Index Terms-loanword, source languages, transmission languages, means of borrowing, culture Languages are rarely sufficient to themselves and "All languages borrow words from other languages" (Hatch, 2001, p170). English is quite open to borrow foreign words. Considering its short history of 1500 years, it is surprising that English has absorbed a great number of useful words and expressions of almost every language from all over the world. The English borrowings are not only from French, Latin, Greek and Scandinavian, but also from Indian, Chinese, Japanese and other languages. This paper attempts to analyze Chinese loanwords in English. It is mainly concerned with the history, source languages and transmission languages of Chinese loanwords in English as well as the means of borrowing. It also attempts to discuss the cultural influence of Chinese loanwords on English and to demonstrate that loaning is not only a linguistic but also a sociolinguistic phenomenon