Words of Foreign Origin as Used in Chinese

Usually, when a word of foreign origin (called “gairaigo” in Japanese) is incorporated into another language, an easily pronounceable version is decided upon based on how the word sounds in its original language. Writing such words may not be a problem if the language employs phonograms (Japanese, etc.) but how does it work in the case of ideogram-driven languages like Chinese?

For example, three different types of characters are used in written Japanese, each with a different purpose. For example, katakana are used for the transcription of foreign words and for onomatopoeias. Kanji, which are Chinese ideograms, are not ordinarily used for foreign loans. On the other hand, since kanji are the only characters in use in China, it is only natural that they are used for all words, whether of foreign origin or onomatopoeia. Seeing them used this way can often seem strange to people like the Japanese, who have knowledge of kanji.

In this issue, through a variety of examples, we will take a look at the Chinese way of writing words of foreign origin.

Even Words of Foreign Origin Are Written in Kanji in Chinese

You might remember that in the previous column, I wrote that “all foreigners in China have their names written using kanji”. Although this seems perfectly normal for Japanese names, which are also written in Chinese characters, these ideograms must also be used for the names of people from countries that do not use kanji. Let’s illustrate this point with a few famous names.

[English]	[Japanese]	[SC]*1	[TC]*2	[Chinese pronunciation]*3
Clinton	kurinton	克林顿	柯林頓	kè lín dùn / kē lín dùn
Putin	Puuchin	普京	普京	pǔjīng
Michael Jackson	maikeru jakuson	迈克尔・杰克逊	麥可・傑克森	mài kè ĕr jié kè xùn / mài kě jié kè sēn

This rule is not limited to names but applies to all foreign words used in Chinese. Most languages of the world use phonograms, therefore how are these words expressed in written Chinese, which only uses ideograms?

Actually, there are many transcription methods. For the names displayed above, the Chinese characters are chosen based on how they sound rather than what they mean, their meaning being completely ignored. Other examples of such phonetic loans are “chocolate / qiǎo kè lì (巧克力)” and “sofa / shā fā (沙发)”.

On the other hand, some transcriptions are chosen without taking pronunciation into account whatsoever and by focusing solely on translating the meaning from the source language (semantic loans). How exactly is this achieved? To clarify this notion, let’s have a look at a few examples of this in English words and phrases that find their origin in the Chinese language.

You probably wouldn’t have a single clue to the meaning of “hǎo jiǔ bu jiàn (好久不见)” if you heard it spoken in Chinese, but these four ideograms literally mean “long time no see,” which has become an established expression in English. In the same way, the Chinese words “diū liǎn (丢脸)” and “xǐ nǎo (洗脑)” are used in English respectively as “lose face” and “brainwashing”. The Chinese original expressions sound nothing like their English counterparts, since it is the meaning of each of the kanji that was translated and adopted into the English language.

The situation is quite similar for foreign words used in Chinese in that they can be transcriptions based on pronunciation in the source language, and translations based on the meaning in the source language (phonetic loans, translated loans, semantic loans and hybrid). Let’s take a look at a few more examples.

Representative examples

Company names, etc.

[English]	[Japanese]	[SC]	[TC]	[Chinese pronunciation]
Microsoft	maikurosohuto	微软	微軟	wēi ruǎn
Softbank	sohutobanku	软银	軟銀	ruǎn yín
Oracle	orakuru	甲骨文	甲骨文	jiǎ gǔ wén
General Motors	jenerarumootaazu	通用汽车公司	通用汽車公司	tōng yòng qì chē gōng sī
Canon	kyanon	佳能	佳能	jiā néng
Warner	waanaa	华纳	華納	huá nà
Macintosh	makkintosshu	麦金塔	麥金塔	mài jīn tǎ

Places

[English]	[Japanese]	[SC]	[TC]	[Chinese pronunciation]
Washington	washinton	华盛顿	華盛頓	huá shèng dùn
Singapore	shingapooru	新加坡	新加坡	xīn jiā pō
Canada	kanada	加拿大	加拿大	jiā ná dà
Italy	itaria	意大利	義大利	yì dà lì

Landmarks

[English]	[Japanese]	[SC]	[TC]	[Chinese pronunciation]
Tokyo Midtown	tookyoo middo taun	东京中城	東京中城	dōng jīng zhōng chéng
Tokyo Skytree	tookyoo sukai tsurii	东京晴空塔	東京晴空塔	dōng jīng qíng kōng tǎ
Eiffel Tower	ehhueru too	埃菲尔铁塔	艾菲爾鐵塔	ài fēi ĕr tiĕ tǎ

If you look at these examples, you can notice that in Japanese, words of foreign origin directly become phonetic loans from the original language. No effort is put into creating a uniquely Japanese proper noun, even for names that originated in Japan (salaryman, etc.). On the other hand, in China, borrowed words are turned into ideograms through hybrid methods, such as phonetic and semantic loans as well as literal translation.

Katakana vs. Kanji: Which is Easier to Understand?

In conclusion, let’s take a look at the same foreign words as used in Chinese (as translated loans) and Japanese (as phonetic loans). With knowledge of kanji, Japanese people can probably understand many of the meanings of the Chinese examples written below. In fact, many people feel that the meaning of loan words is easier to understand if they are depicted as translated loans rather than through the Japanese practice of phonetic loans.

How are words of foreign origin used in your language? Are the following words translated into your language or used as is based on their English pronunciation?

[English]	[Japanese]	[SC]	[TC]	[Chinese pronunciation]
solution	soryuushon	解决方案	解決方案	jiě jué fāng àn
collaboration	koraboreeshon	合作	合作	hé zuò
real time	riaru taimu	即时	即時	jí shí
Internship	intaanshippu	实习	實習	shí xí
concept	konseputo	理念	概念	lǐ niàn / gài niàn
fashion show	huasshonshoo	时装秀*4	時裝表演	shí zhuǎng xiǜ / shí zhuāng biǎo yǎn
renewal	rinyuuaru	刷新	更新	shuā xīn / gēngxīn
speech contest	supiichi kontesuto	演讲比赛	演講比賽	yǎn jiǎng bǐ saì
fan	huan	迷	迷	mí
mobility	mobiritii	移动性	移動性	yí dòng xìng
marketing	maaketingu	市场战略	市場戰略	shì chǎng zhàn lüè
prototype	purototaipu	原型	原型	yuán xíng
presentation	purezenteeshon	发表	發表	fā biǎo
hazard map	hazaado mappu	防灾地图	防災地圖	fáng zāi dì tú
archive	aakaibu	保存记录	資料庫	bǎo cún jì lù / zī liào kù
analyst	anarisuto	分析家	分析者	fēn xī jiā / fēn xī zhě
simulation	shimyureeshon	模拟实验	模擬實驗	mó nǐ shí yàn
skill	sukiru	技能	技能	jì néng

If, through these examples, you have managed to grasp the transcription process of foreign words into Chinese, then this column has achieved its goal. If you have found this topic to be of interest, there are websites and books available which go deeper into the subject and provide more theoretical and/or technical explanations. Why not have a look?

*1	SC: Simplified Chinese is used in mainland China and Singapore.
*2	TC: Traditional Chinese is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and many Chinatowns around the world.
*3	Only one reading is displayed when the pronunciation is the same in SC and TC.

*4	”秀" is a phonetic loan of the word “show”

Facts About Chinese
No. 1: The Diversity of the Chinese Language
No. 2: Two Styles of Chinese Characters
No. 3: The Difference between Written and Spoken Chinese
No. 4: The Difference between Japanese and Chinese Characters
No. 5: Kanji Logograms Created in Japan
No. 6: Words of Foreign Origin as Used in Chinese
No. 7: Borrowed Words that Change in a Colloquial Context
No. 8: Phonetic Representation of Chinese Characters