英语汉语借词之词汇化的研究

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Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Research Background

A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (the six edition), it isdefined as both form and meaning are borrowed, or ‘assimilated’, with someadaptation to the phonological system of the new language (2008:286). As a speciallexical phenomenon in lexicology, loan words play a no less crucial role in languagecommunication with its novel and interesting pragmatic features. Edward Sapir is ofthe opinion that languages, like cultures, are rarely sufficient unto themselves (1921).In historical course, the exchanges between various ethnic groups, the mutualdissemination of different cultures and the occurrence of new born things and viewsare all prerequisites of and provide bases for the interpenetration of languages,meanwhile calling for the addition of new lexicon, of which loan words is one of theessential ways. Insofar as it touches upon loan words, the surpassing openness placesEnglish in the vanguard of receiving new words and languages.The American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson described the Englishlanguage as “the sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven.”(Manser, 2008). English is a worldly language. Of the half a million words that haveaccumulated in the vocabulary of present-day English, only a small minority arenative to the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England some 1500 years ago (Metcalf, 1999).On the way it has absorbed many exotic words to enrich and enlarge its vocabulary.According to Fromkin (1983), of the 20,000 or so words in common use, aboutthree-fifths are borrowed. The sources of loan words in English present a magnificentpicture of English development, which is a hotchpotch taking mainly from French,Latin, Greek, Scandinavian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, and otherlanguages, such as Hebrew, Arabian, Farsi, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese as well.Chinese, as a language, is of long standingand well-established.

1.2 Aims of the thesis

The goals of the study are to describe the process of lexicalization of Chineseloan words in English, and to set up its preliminary theoretical frame, while deepeningthe understanding of lexicalization and language change.In specific, this thesis aims at making an observation to the entrance of Chinesewords into English by lexicalization theory from the perspective of diachroniclinguistics, and discussing related problems about Chinese loan words enteringEnglish, while generalizing the process of lexicalization of Chinese loan words inEnglish, as well as researching into the degree of its lexicalization.During the discussion of the mentioned topics, this paper is in an attempt toreveal the laws of lexicalization of Chinese words entering English, which areexpected to have a special meaning for researchers exploring the universalities anDSPecialties of loan words in language change.