Zhong, Ai;
(2019)
Chinese influence on the English lexicon.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Contacts between English and Chinese have existed for several centuries, causing lexical exchanges between the two languages. As a result, numerous lexical items are taken from Chinese to English and vice versa. This thesis particularly focuses on Chinese contributions to the English language. Two types of analysis feature in this study. Typological analysis identifies different kinds of Chinese influence, including the most classic and recognized types of lexical borrowing; two marginal and implicit types of lexical influence, namely indirect borrowing and expressions with ethnic tags; and different Chinese varieties of English, which reflect the long history of language contact between the two languages and the recent emergence of Chinese contributions to the Western culture. In the semantic analysis, lexical borrowings from Chinese are contextualized in various semantic fields: 14 semantic sketches cover domains that have extensive reference to China and Chinese culture, while three case studies focus on some special patterns of Chinese influence on the English vocabulary in three specific areas. Both the typological and the semantic analyses show possible ways of approaching the topic of Chinese influence on the English lexicon. Additionally, this study presents a tentative taxonomy of Chinese influence, which can be applied to other languages or other kinds of language contacts. Overall, the study demonstrates the possibility of combining different methods and mixed sources to give a more comprehensive account of how Chinese influences the English language as well as to adequately reflect the contacts between two languages and two cultures.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Chinese influence on the English lexicon |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2019. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > SELCS |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10077219 |
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