tooironic Posted October 20, 2009 at 07:34 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 07:34 AM Looked around and couldn't find a comprehensive topic about this. I'm always fascinated by the way Chinese imports words from other languages, e.g.: 卡拉OK kǎlǎōukēi - from Japanese カラオケ karaoke 狮子 shīzi - probably from Persian شیر šīr 粉丝 fěnsī - from English "fans" (lit. "bean vermicelli") 逻辑 luóji - from English "logic" 迷你裙 mínǐ qún - from English "miniskirt", lit. "enchant you skirt" ... and of course the famous 可口可乐 kěkǒukělè - transliteration of Coca-Cola, lit. "palatable and enjoyable" Of course there are hundreds more. Anyone got any favourites? I'm particularly interested in learning about more non-English loan words. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhwj Posted October 20, 2009 at 07:54 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 07:54 AM The appendix to Lydia H. Liu's Translingual Practice (translated as 跨语际实践) has a list of various types of loan-words, including those taken directly from western languages, those taken through Japanese, and those that were originally Chinese words, reinterpreted in Japan and imported back to China. It doesn't go beyond the early 20th century, however. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanglu Posted October 20, 2009 at 08:05 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 08:05 AM I like words that are a combination of borrowed pronunciation and meaning, like 新西兰. For non-english words, I like 苏维埃 from Russian, which I think was mainly used in Chinese to refer to the 苏区s under the control of the CCP in the civil war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Horhe Posted October 20, 2009 at 10:38 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 10:38 AM This is part of another post of mine: - Loans from the ancient western lands(Persian, etc.):葡萄 (pútao) = grapes 琵琶 (pípa) = pi-pa (Chinese lute), a four-stringed musical instrument 菠萝 (bōluó) = pineapple 石榴 (shíliu) = pomegranate - Loans from Indian Buddhist terms (they were not accepted until 6-7 century) 菩萨 (púsà) = Bodhisattva 罗汉 (luóhàn) = Arhat 和尚 (héshang) = Buddhist monk 佛 (Fó) = Buddha (short form of 佛陀 (Fótuó)) 塔 (tǎ) = pagoda - Loans from Mongolian 胡同 (hútòng) = hutong – a narrow street or alley, mostly found in Beijing 蘑菇 (mógu) = mushroom - Loans from English 沙发 (shāfā) = sofa 咖啡 (kāfēi) = coffee 尼龙 (nílóng) = nylon 拷贝 (kǎobèi) = copy (noun) 啤儿 (pí’ér) = beer; it was later changed into啤酒 (píjiǔ) 卡路里 (kǎlùlǐ) = calorie 苏打 (sūdǎ) = soda 巧克力 (qiǎokèlì) = chocolate 按乃近 (ānnǎijìn) = Analgin (metamizole sodium) 吉他 (jítā) = guitar 麦克风 (màikèfēng) = microphone 荷尔蒙 (hé’ěrméng) = hormone 克拉 (kèlā) = carat 夹克 (jiākè) = jacket 三明治 (sānmíngzhì) = sandwich 汉堡包 (hànbǎobāo) = hamburger 可口可乐 (kěkǒukělè) = Coca-Cola; initially, the name was 苦口苦辣 (kǔkǒukǔlà) – that way people wouldn’t buy it - Loans from Russian 苏维埃 (Sūwéi’āi) = Soviet 布尔什维克 (bù’ěrshíwéikè) = Bolshevik 伏特加 (fútèjiā) = vodka - Loans from French 沙龙 (shālóng) = salon 蒙太奇 (méngtàiqí) = montage - Loans from Italian 法西斯 (fǎxīsī) = fascist 比萨 (bǐsà) = pizza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooironic Posted October 20, 2009 at 10:50 AM Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 10:50 AM Thanks for that Don. I wonder if anyone can tell us any more information about these etymologies? I.e. not just "Persian, etc" or "Indian Buddhist terms" but the actual words that they came from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liuzhou Posted October 20, 2009 at 01:50 PM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 01:50 PM There is a long list here. Mainly Hong Kong usage, but not all. Also, Baby 啤啤 (Cantonese) 嬰兒 Bar 酒吧 Bowling 保齡球 滾木球 Brandy 白蘭地酒 Buffet 蒲飛 (Cantonese) 自助餐 Bus 巴士 公共汔車 Bye Bye 拜拜 再見 Calorie 卡路里 熱量單位 Cartoon 卡通 漫畫, 動畫 Cheese 芝士 奶酪 Cherry 車厘子(Cantonese) 櫻桃 Cocoa 可可 谷咕 (Cantonese) Coffee 咖啡 Chocolate 巧克力 朱古力 Curry 咖喱 Cyanide 山埃 (Cantonese) 化物 Disco 迪斯可 的士高 (Cantonese) Fashion 花樣 花臣(Cantonese) Film 菲林 (Cantonese) 膠卷 Gallon 加侖 Golf 高爾夫球 Guitar 吉他 結他 (Cantonese) Hamburger 漢堡 Jelly 者喱 果子凍 Mile 米英里 Morphine 嗎啡 Motor 摩托 電動機 Ounce 盎斯 安士 Pudding 布丁 布甸 Salad 沙拉 Sandwich 三明治 三文治 Sardines 沙丁魚 沙甸魚 (Cantonese) Salmon 三文魚 (Cantonese) 鮭魚 Sauna 桑拿 (Cantonese) 蒸氣浴 Sofa 沙發 梳化 Strawberry 士多啤梨 (Cantonese) 草莓 Sundae 新地 水果奶油冰淇淋 Taxi 的士 (Cantonese) 出租车,(Mandarin), 計程車 (Taiwan) Tips 貼士 (Cantonese) 小費, 提示 Toast 多士 吐司, 烤麵包 Toffee 太妃糖 拖肥 (Cantonese) Vitamin 維他命 維生素 Vodka 伏特加酒 Whisky 威士忌酒 Sorry for any repeats from above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animal world Posted October 20, 2009 at 01:56 PM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 01:56 PM That's an interesting list, Don. Perhaps i'm overly picky, but i make a distinction between proper names that are translated phonetically and actual loan words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atitarev Posted October 20, 2009 at 11:49 PM Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 at 11:49 PM (edited) 俄罗斯 Éluósī (Russia) is actually from Mongolian Орос (Oros), meaning Russia. Allah (from Arabic): 安拉 (Ānlā), 阿拉 (Ālā) and native Chinese: 真主 (Zhēnzhǔ) There are more borrowings from Japanese than from European languages in Chinese but many are not immediately recognisable (except for 卡拉OK, perhaps). Edited October 21, 2009 at 12:14 AM by atitarev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flywhc Posted October 21, 2009 at 02:38 PM Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 at 02:38 PM 粉丝 = fans is only used in Internet world. I don't think it is popular in speaking language. 秀xiu4 = show, from Shanghai dialect. Should be translated to 表演 脱口秀 tuo1kou3xiu4 = talkshow (I'd prefer to use 谈话节目 or 相声) Above worlds are not formal and not popular in speaking Mandarin except on TV programme. In Mandarin 打的(da2di1) means Take a Taxi, which is from Cantonese 搭的士(da te ci), which from English "take a Taxi". 苦力 = coolie 摩登 = modern 阀门 = valve 阀 only meant "level/class in society" before industrial age. 引擎 = engine 拉力赛 = Rallying 蕾丝 = lace 维他命(维生素) vitamin 旮旯 from Manchu 涅槃 from Sanskrit 政府，经济，民主 etc most modern political words are from Japanese by taking characters but not pronunciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooironic Posted June 19, 2010 at 03:05 PM Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 at 03:05 PM By the way I just discovered that the translation given for Analgin (按乃近) is non-standard; 安乃近 is much more common. (See here.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobyqueen Posted June 19, 2010 at 03:10 PM Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 at 03:10 PM Has Chinese not got its own derived word for logic? I would have thought you wouldnt need to borrow this concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomac Posted June 19, 2010 at 05:30 PM Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 at 05:30 PM Has Chinese not got its own derived word for logic? I would have thought you wouldnt need to borrow this concept. The early translation for logic was called "名學" which borrowed from a kind of Mozhism concepts. Like many modern academic subjects, there was a school of thoughts in China but seldom systematically sorted as a single subject. The chinese terms for Economics, Philosophy, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy and many are all loanwords translated by Japanese with Chinese characters and exported to China. In fact in centuries we are living with almost all concepts unknown to people living a few hundred years. Have you ever heard that vacation was actually 'invented' by Brits? Loanwords are just everywhere in China. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xianhua Posted September 6, 2010 at 08:34 PM Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 at 08:34 PM A couple more from English: 基因 - gene 黑客 - hacker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Horhe Posted September 6, 2010 at 10:10 PM Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 at 10:10 PM 吉普赛 - gypsy 博客 - blog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atitarev Posted September 15, 2010 at 03:22 AM Report Share Posted September 15, 2010 at 03:22 AM 歇斯底里 (xiēsīdǐlǐ) hysteria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pipas Posted September 16, 2010 at 02:14 PM Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 at 02:14 PM I ♥ 血拼 :rolleyes: Shopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara Braska Posted September 15, 2014 at 08:17 AM Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 at 08:17 AM Hello， every one, this is Tara, and I am a Chinese teacher. I am doing a some interesting language researches and wanna hear other people's advice, especially from our Chinese learners. This time I wanna collect some useful Chinese words which are directly copied( sound + meaning) form English, I have some examples here: microphone 麦克风 （ mai4ke4feng1) sofa 沙发 （ sha1fa1） mini 迷你 （ mi2ni3） Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara Braska Posted September 15, 2014 at 10:35 AM Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 at 10:35 AM Sorry, but please ignore the spelling mistakes....... I have another example here: chocolate 巧克力 qiǎokèlì salad 沙拉 shālā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPhillips Posted September 15, 2014 at 10:55 AM Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 at 10:55 AM 逻辑，印第安（人），雷达，声纳，坦克，吉普（车）马达，引擎，歇斯底里，爱滋（病），克隆，基因，桑拿，夹克，蕾丝，毛海（毛），木乃伊，咖啡，可可，沙拉，三明治，布丁，香槟（酒），威士忌（酒），白兰地（酒），派对，扑克（牌），芭蕾（舞），康乃馨， 拓扑，米（meter），镑（pound），瓦特，瓦斯（Eng. by way of Jse.），俱乐部（Eng. by way of Jse.）,咖喱（Tamil by way of Eng.）。 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnevets Posted September 15, 2014 at 11:23 AM Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 at 11:23 AM 巧克力咖啡因 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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