A Study of Japanese Loanwords in Chinese Chen Haijing Master's Thesis in EAL4090 East Asian Linguistics 60 ECTS Asian and African Studies Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn, 2014 II M.A. Thesis (EAL4090 – 60 ECTS) East Asian Linguistics Asian and African Studies A Study of Japanese Loanwords in Chinese Chen Haijing Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn, 2014 III © Chen Haijing 2014 A Study of Japanese Loanwords in Chinese Chen Haijing http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo IV Summary Since Japanese language makes extensive use of Chinese characters in its writing system, and a large portion of its vocabulary is borrowed from Chinese in ancient times, it makes people to believe that Chinese always has the overwhelming influence on Japanese. However, the situation is completely changed since modern times. A great number of Japanese words entered into Chinese. Nevertheless, many Chinese people still think that nowadays Chinese language is in a dominant position in linguistic exchange between Chinese and Japanese. The goal of this research is to give people better understanding of the significance of Japanese loanwords in modern Chinese. In this paper, I analyze the channels, classifications, characteristics and influences of Japanese loanwords in different time backgrounds. The findings are mainly based on about one thousand Japanese loanwords that I collected from dictionaries and academic papers. The main results are that Japanese loanwords take an important part in creating new words and formating modern Chinese. Research also indicates that both linguistic factor and social factor affect loanwords, meanwhile, the host language and society are influenced by loanwords. Therefore both Chinese language and society affect the intakes of Japanese loanwords, at the same time the Chinese language and society are also influenced by Japanese loanwords. V VI Foreword I would like to thank my academic supervisor professor Bjarke Frellesvig for helping me through this project. If not for him, this thesis would probably never have seen the light of day. Special thanks are given to everyone who took the time to comment and review on my work. It is obviously clear that none of this would have been possible had it not been for the support of these individuals. VII VIII Table of contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Sources and material ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Structure and presentation .................................................................................................. 2 2 Different definitions of Japanese loanwords ...................................................................... 4 2.1 Phonemic loans .................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Semantic loans ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Graphic loans ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Different definitions of Japanese loanwords ................................................................... 5 2.5 Definition of Japanese loanwords in this paper ............................................................... 8 3 Ancient times-about the 2nd century～1839 (from Eastern Han Dynasty to middle-late Qing Dynasty) .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Phonemic loans-Chinese Characters conveyed sounds (the Han and Wei Dynasties AD 2nd)................................................................................................................................................ 10 3.2 Graphic Loans (the Tang and Song Dynasties 618-the 12th century) ....................... 13 3.3 The characteristic of transcriptions of Japanese words in ancient times ................... 16 3.3.1 Preponderance of proper nouns .......................................................................... 16 3.3.2 Transition from phonemic loans to graphic loans ............................................ 17 3.3.3 Limitation .............................................................................................................. 18 4 1840～1920s (from the Opium War of 1840 to before the Anti-Japanese War) ............. 19 4.1 1840 (the Opium War)～1894 (the Sino-Japanese War) ............................................. 19 4.2 1894 (the Sino-Japanese War)～1911 (the Revolution of 1911) ................................ 22 4.3 1912 (the Republic of China)～1920s (before the Anti-Japanese War) .................... 24 4.4 Reasons of borrowing Japanese words ........................................................................... 26 4.4.1 Attempt of borrowing western words ................................................................ 26 4.4.1.1 Attempt of phonemic borrowing ......................................................... 27 4.4.1.2 Attempt of semantic borrowing .......................................................... 29 4.4.2 Special connection between Chinese and Japanese ......................................... 29 4.5 Classification of Japanese Loanwords ............................................................................ 30 4.5.1 Introduction of data source ................................................................................. 30 4.5.2 Classes of Japanese loanwords ........................................................................... 32 4.5.3 Data analysis ......................................................................................................... 34 IX 4.5.3.1 A sufficient preponderance of terminologies .................................... 34 4.5.3.2 Superiority of loans translated from western languages .................. 34 4.5.3.3 Extensive scope of Japanese loans ...................................................... 34 4.5.3.4 An increase of three syllables loans.................................................... 35 4.5.3.5 Flexibility of the part of speech........................................................... 35 4.6 Channels of borrowing ..................................................................................................... 36 4.6.1 Travel diaries of visiting Japan ........................................................................... 36 4.6.2 Studying in Japan ................................................................................................. 37 4.6.3 Translations of Japanese books .......................................................................... 38 4.7 Characteristics of Japanese loanwords ........................................................................... 39 4.7.1 A preponderance of nouns .................................................................................. 39 4.7.2 Large quantity ....................................................................................................... 40 4.7.3 Close connection with the development of society ......................................... 40 4.7.4 The uniqueness of Japanese loans ...................................................................... 40 4.7.5 High frequency used among intellectuals ......................................................... 41 4.8 Influences on intake of Japanese loanwords .................................................................. 41 4.8.1 Social influence .................................................................................................... 41 4.8.2 Linguistic influence.............................................................................................. 42 4.8.2.1 Trisyllabic neologisms ......................................................................... 42 4.8.2.2 Affixation ............................................................................................... 42 5 The plateau of borrowing ................................................................................................. 44 6 Modern times-1978 after China's reform and opening-up～the present .......................... 46 6.1 Social background ............................................................................................................. 46 6.2 Channels of borrowing ..................................................................................................... 47 6.2.1 Japanese products ................................................................................................. 47 6.2.2 Influence from Taiwan and Hong Kong ........................................................... 50 6.2.3 Mass media............................................................................................................ 50 6.3 Classifications of Japanese loanwords ........................................................................... 51 6.3.1 Introduction of data source ................................................................................. 51 6.3.2 Classes of Japanese loanwords ........................................................................... 52 6.3.3 Data analysis ......................................................................................................... 58