拷贝=copy

[skylee]

The conclusion of this Topic:

Try not to use loan word if possible to safe the chinese language.

This is being arrogant ...

[Ian_Lee]

Try not to use loan word if possible to safe the chinese language.

But Hutong (the back alleys of Beijing) is also a loan word adopted from Mongolian language.

So should Chinese be cleansed of all loan words from English and Japanese as well as Mongolian and Manchurian?

[Claw]

But Hutong (the back alleys of Beijing) is also a loan word adopted from Mongolian language.

So should Chinese be cleansed of all loan words from English and Japanese as well as Mongolian and Manchurian?

Nope... just make more characters!

Hutong already has characters invented for it: 衚衕 (even though people still write 胡同). Just add a radical to better indicate its meaning and it looks more Chinese. A lot of characters that are standard Chinese today have evolved this way in the past. One example I can think of is the word for camel, 駱駝, which was standardized in the Tang dynasty by adding the 馬 radical (it was a loanword from some western Asian language).

In the same spirit, the 拷 in 拷貝 already has a 扌 radical, so we can leave it (even though it does mean torture, but it's okay for it to take on a second meaning). However, we should add a 扌 radical to 貝 as well. Now it looks like a Chinese word.

...reminds me of Roddy's Chinese complication project...

[Ong SeowChin]

This is being arrogant ...

Sorry... probably got influent by the french people!

[Ong SeowChin]

In the same spirit, the 拷 in 拷貝 already has a 扌 radical, so we can leave it (even though it does mean torture, but it's okay for it to take on a second meaning). However, we should add a 扌 radical to 貝 as well. Now it looks like a Chinese word.

I admire you guys knowledge about the language, however, I wonder if everybody could just create or edit a word as they want?

[Ong SeowChin]

The conclusion of this Topic:

Try not to use loan word if possible to safe the chinese language.

What I mean is, when there is an equivalent and existing word in chinese.

Ah it reminds me of something, for example, some people use 妈咪 instead of 妈妈 coz it was a loan word of mamy in english/american; HOWEVER 妈咪(mamie) means grand-mother in french.

[seagate]

I think Ong SeowChin brought us a very good topic that deserves through discussions. It is not something about a specific loanword like 拷贝 or 胡同， instead, it is concerned with the attitude towards loanwords. At first, let me give an example and see if anybody can understand what I am saying:

今天下午过了贴士之后，我先去办了汽车燕疏，然后去了士多，买了一斤士多啤梨和一个沃克曼，但是当我回到家以后，发现沃克曼根本不沃克。

Understand? No! I would call this a hybrid language - Chinese don't understand and English speakers feel confused. However, though it surely is a somewhat exaggerated example, it does reflect something! Now let me 'translate' the above 'Chinese' into Chinese:

今天下午过了考试(test)之后，我先去办了汽车保险(insurance)，然后去了商店(store)，买了一斤草莓(strawberry)和一个随身听(walkman)，但是当我回到家以后，发现随身听根本不能用(work)。

Personally I understand what Ong SeowChin was worrying about, and I was amazed at the overwhelming criticism he has received. I am not a conservative of culture and language, and I do know that a healthy culture and language should keep an open attitude towards other cultures.

However, this in no way means the abuse of any loanword is legitimate. A proper baseline principle should be prescribed, that is, as Ong suggested, whenever an equivalent Chinese word with a sensible meaning had existed, why should we bother to use a ambiguous loanword which usually is meaningless in Chinese? Everybody knows what 草莓 is， for what reason should we use the ugly 士多啤梨？ Is strawberry categorized as a kind of pear in botany?

[Ong SeowChin]

Thank you very much seagate, you have got exactly what I meant and done a very good conclusion of this topic!

...criticism he has received

Just to rectify that I'm a lady! it's alright though...