Table Of ContentMandarin Loanwords
English-based Mandarin loanwords are commonly used in Chinese people’s
daily lives. Mandarin Loanwords demonstrates how English phonemes map into
Mandarin phonemes through Mandarin loanwords adaptation. The consonantal
adaptations are the most important in the analyses, and vowel adaptation and tonal
adaptation is also considered.
Through the analysis, it is proven that the functions of phonology and phonetics
play a significant role in Mandarin loanword adaptation, however the functions
of other factors, such as semantic functions of Chinese characters and English
orthography, are also discussed. Additionally, the phonetic symbolization of
Chinese characters is mentioned.
Tae Eun Kim is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Language and Information
Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. She received her Master’s degree
from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea in 2002, and earned another
Master’s degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison in the United States in
2009 and her PhD in 2012. Her research interests are Chinese phonology, Chinese
phonetics, Chinese lexicology, and Chinese pedagogy.
Routledge Studies in Chinese Linguistics
Series editor: Hongming Zhang
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Hongming Zhang
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Song Jiang
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A Corpus-based Study
Chu-Ren Huang, Shu-Kai Hsieh, Keh-Jiann Chen
A Study of Sino-Korean Phonolgy
Its Origin, Adaptation and Layers
Youyong Qian
Partition and Quantity
Numerical Classifiers, Measurement and Partitive Constructions
in Mandarin Chinese
Jing Jin
Mandarin Loanwords
Tae Eun Kim
For more information about this series, please visit:
www.routledge.com/languages/series/RSICL
Mandarin Loanwords
Tae Eun Kim
First published 2019
by Routledge
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© 2019 Tae Eun Kim
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asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
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To Daisy and Claire
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
1 Introduction 1
2 Lexical stratification and types of Chinese loanwords 12
3 Comparative study of Mandarin phonology
and English phonology 29
4 Adaptation of Mandarin loanwords originating
from English 58
5 Important factors affecting Mandarin loanword
adaptation 122
6 Conclusion 155
Appendix 161
Bibliography 187
Index 197
Acknowledgments
The original version of this book is my PhD dissertation at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. It is my privilege and honor to express my deepest gratitude
to my academic advisor, Prof. Hongming Zhang, who gave me a chance to publish
this book. Without his valuable expertise, support, and devoted encouragement,
this book would certainly not have reached publication. I would like to express
my sincere gratitude to the other PhD committee members: Prof. B.J. Lim, Marlys
Macken, Yafei Li, and Rania Huntington for their critical feedback and compas-
sionate guidance for my dissertation. I would also like to express exceptional grat-
itude to my friend, Dr. Youyong Qian for his unselfish and unwavering support.
I am very grateful to Prof. Hyuncheol Kim for his constant cooperation and warm
encouragement. I also feel grateful to Claire Margerison from the Routledge press
for her kind help. It is also my joy and privilege to express my sincere and deep-
est gratitude to Youngsun Kong, my husband, parents, and sisters. Without their
endless love and prayer, I would never have been to finish this book. I am also
deeply indebted to my precious daughters, Daisy and Claire. They always stood
by me through the good times and bad times. Their beautiful smiles and words of
encouragement and love always give me hope and meaning to life. Their bright
eyes and beautiful spirits served as the most amazing source of inspiration and the
greatest reason to wake up every morning. Last but not the least, it is my honor to
thank God, who always answers my prayers and always gives me strength when-
ever I fall into despair. Without you, this dream would have remained only that,
and not become a reality. Thank you so much Dear Lord.
This work was supported (in part) by the Yonsei University Future-leading Research
Initiative of 2017–2022–0055.
1 I ntroduction1
The scientific study of Chinese loanwords started relatively late. It began in the
early 20th century, and gradually grew into an actively studied subject by the
1950s. However, the history of Chinese loanwords is so extensive that it is impos-
sible to know the precise beginnings of foreign language vocabulary borrowing.
In fact, words have been borrowed since China encountered and made contact
with other countries. According to Shi (2000), the 12 names of star signs such as
Sheti 摄提 and Dan’e 单阏, which were already found in Qu Yuan’s 屈原 (B.C.
340–278) Li Sao 离骚 (Departing in Sorrow), are related to the names of 12 west-
ern star signs, which were created in Babylon. Those names are clearly not only
disparate, but also difficult to understand in the monosyllabic language of Ancient
China. Cen (1951) also highlights the loanwords borrowed from Ancient Tujue
突厥 in Chu Ci 楚辞 (Songs of Chu). Even though many researchers do not agree
with Cen’s opinions, it is certain that the phrases or words contain something
different from Ancient Chinese language, and they cannot be understood with
the language system in the period of the Shang and Zhou dynasties 商周时代
(B.C. 1600–B.C. 221). Therefore, with examples of such disparate words found
in ancient documents, we can assume that the history of Chinese loanwords is
quite long.
Various loanwords are still currently flooding into China. In particular, loan-
words originating from English are actively imported from every field. Thus, it
is time for more research on Chinese loanwords, since they are common in both
daily and technical contexts. This study is about Chinese loanwords that have
originated from English. Chapter 1 provides the background of Chinese loan-
words. Therefore, the history and the terminology of Chinese loanwords will be
generally discussed. Additionally, the influence of loanwords on Chinese lan-
guage and the previous studies are also treated.
1.1 Language contact and lexical borrowing into China2
In the history of the Chinese language, large-scale borrowing occurred both
between the 2nd century B.C. and the 13th century due to the translation of Bud-
dhist scriptures and in the 16th century when the Western missionaries came to
China (Lin 2007). However, borrowing has occurred throughout Chinese history
