Loanwords have entered written and spoken Chinese from many sources, including ancient peoples whose descendants now speak Chinese. In addition to phonetic differences, varieties of Chinese such as Cantonese and Shanghainese often have distinct words and phrases left from their original languages which they continue to use in daily life and sometimes even in Mandarin. As a result of long-term direct relationships with northern peoples, starting from the pre-Christ period, there are many exchanges of words. In addition, there were times when northern tribes dominated China. Similarly, northern dialects include relatively greater numbers of loanwords from nearby languages such as Turkic, Mongolian, and Manchu(Tungusic).

Throughout China, Buddhism has also introduced words from Sanskrit and Pali. More recently, foreign invasion and trade since the First and Second Opium Wars of the mid-nineteenth century has led to prolonged contact with English, French, and Japanese. Although politically minded language reform under the Republic and People's Republic of China have generally preferred to use calques and neologisms in place of loanwords, a growing number particularly from American English have become current in modern Chinese. On the mainland, transcription into Chinese characters in official media and publications is directed by the Proper Names and Translation Service of the Xinhua News Agency and its reference work Names of the World's Peoples.[1]

Since Hong Kong was under British control until 1997, Hong Kong Cantonese borrowed many words from English such as 巴士 (from the word "bus", Mandarin: bāshì, Cantonese: baa1 si2), 的士 (from "taxi", Man.: dīshì, Can.: dik1 si2), 芝士 (from "cheese", Man.: zhīshì, Can.: zi1 si6), and 麥當勞/麦当劳 (from "McDonald's", Man.: Màidāngláo, Can.: Mak6 dong1 lou4), and such loanwords have been adopted into Mandarin, despite them sounding much less similar to the English words than the Cantonese versions.[2]

Foreign businesses and products are usually free to choose their own transliterations and typically select ones with positive connotations and phonetic similarity to their products: for example, 宜家 (IKEA) is "proper home". Owing to antonomasia and genericization, these can then enter general Chinese usage: for example Coca-Cola's 可口可乐 Man.: kěkǒu kělè ("delicious fun") has led to 可乐 Man.: kělè becoming the common Chinese noun for all colas.

Since the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War, relations between the ROC and PRC had been hostile, thus communication between Taiwan and mainland China became limited. For that reason, many loanwords and proper names became quite different from each other. For example, "cheese" in mainland China is 芝士 zhīshì, while cheese in Taiwan is 起司 qǐsī.

Sanskrit

Chinese WordPronunciationMeaningOriginal WordPronunciationOriginal Meaning
剎那chànàinstantक्षणkṣaṇainstant
蘋果píngguǒappleबिम्बाbimbāapple
涅槃nièpánnirvanaनिर्वाणnirvānanirvana
舍利子shèlìzirelicशरीरśarīrabody
曇花tánhuāepiphyllumउदुम्बरudumbaracluster fig tree
須彌山xūmíshānMt. SumeruसुमेरुsumeruMt. Sumeru
波羅蜜多bōluómìduōPāramitāपारमिताpāramitāperfection

Persian

Chinese WordPronunciationMeaningOriginal WordPronunciationOriginal Meaning
巴刹bāshābazar (market)بازارbāzārbazar (market)
巴旦木bādànmùalmondبادامbādāmalmond
葡萄pútáograpeباده or Bactrian *bādāwabādewine
獅子shīzilionشیرšīrlion
百里香BǎilǐxiāngThymeآویشنAvišanThyme

English

Chinese words of English origin have become more common in mainland China during its reform and opening and resultant increased contact with the West. Note that some of the words below originated in other languages but may have arrived in Chinese via English (for example "pizza/披萨" from Italian). English acronyms are sometimes borrowed into Chinese without any transcription into Chinese characters; for example "IT" (information technology), "PPT" (PowerPoint), "GDP" (Gross domestic product), "APP" (mobile app), "KTV" (karaoke), or "DVD". A rarer occurrence is the blending of the Latin alphabet with Chinese characters, as in "卡拉OK" ("karaoke"), “T恤” ("T-shirt"), "IP卡" ("internet protocol card").[3] In some instances, the loanwords exists side by side with neologisms that translate the meaning of the concept into existing Chinese morphemes. For instance, while the loanword for 'penicillin' is 盘尼西林 (pánníxīlín), a neologism that 'translates' the word was later coined, 青霉素 (qīngméisù), which means 'blue/green mold extract/essence'. In contemporary Chinese, neologisms using native Chinese morphemes tend to be favored over loanwords that are transliterations. In the case of penicillin, the term 青霉素 is used almost exclusively, while 盘尼西林 is viewed as an early 20th century relic. Similarly, 'science' is now known as 科学 (kēxué) 'subject/specialty study' rather than 赛因斯 (sàiyīnsī), though it should be pointed out that the characters 科学 were actually coined in the late 19th century by the Japanese as a kanji compound.

In the chart below, loanwords in Taiwan will be written in traditional characters and loanwords in mainland China will be written in simplified characters.

English Pinyin Chinese Category Notes
Amen āmen 阿们 Religion
ammonia āmóníyà 阿摩尼亚 Science & technology Rarely used in mainland China
amoeba āmǐbā 阿米巴 Science & technology
amoxicillin āmòxīlín 阿莫西林 Health & medicine
ampere ānpéi 安培 Science & technology
amphetamine ānfēitāmìng 安非他命 Health & medicine
ampoule ānbù 安瓿 Science & technology
antitrust fǎntuōlāsī 反托拉斯 Politics
aspartame āsībātián 阿斯巴甜 Food & drink
Aspirin āsīpílín 阿斯匹林 Health & medicine
Baccarat Bǎijiālè 百家乐 Arts & entertainment
bacon péigēn 培根 Food & drink
bagel bèiguǒ 贝果 Food & drink
ballet bālěi 芭蕾 Arts & entertainment
bandage bēngdài 绷带 Health & medicine
banjo bānzhuóqín 班卓琴 Arts & entertainment
bar (jiǔ)bā 吧、酒吧 Arts & entertainment
Baroque bāluòkè, bāluókè 巴洛克、巴罗克 Arts & entertainment
bass bèisī 贝司、贝斯 Arts & entertainment
bassoon bāsōng 巴松 Arts & entertainment
bazooka bāzǔkǎ 巴祖卡 Science & technology
beer píjiǔ 啤酒 Food & drink
bikini bǐjīní 比基尼 Clothing
bingo bīnguǒ 宾果 Arts & entertainment
bit (unit of information) bǐtè 比特 Science & technology
blog bókè 博客 Culture & society
blues bùlǔsī 布鲁斯 Arts & entertainment
bolero bōláiluó 波莱罗 Arts & entertainment
bourgeois bù'ěrqiáoyà 布尔乔亚 Politics
brandy báilándì 白兰地 Food & drink
brownie bùlǎngní 布朗尼 Food & drink
bullying bàlíng 霸凌 Culture & society
bungee jumping bèngjí 蹦极 Arts & entertainment
bus bāshì 巴士 Transportation
bye-bye bàibài 拜拜 Slang
caffeine kāfēiyīn 咖啡因 Food & drink
calorie kǎlùlǐ 卡路里 Science & technology
cancan kāngkāngwǔ 康康舞 Arts & entertainment
cannon jiānóngpào 加农炮 Science & technology
carat kèlā 克拉 Science & technology
carbine kǎbīnqiāng 卡宾枪 Science & technology
card kǎpiàn 卡片 Science & technology As the last element of a compound, kǎ 卡 alone is used, e.g. yínháng kǎ 银行卡 / 銀行卡 "Bank card (ATM card)".
carnival jiāniánhuá 嘉年华 Arts & entertainment
cartel kǎtè'ěr 卡特尔 Culture & society
cartoon kǎtōng 卡通 Arts & entertainment
cashmere kāishìmǐ 开士米 Clothing
celluloid sàilùluò 赛璐珞 Science & technology
cement shúiméntīng 水门汀 Science & technology Dated in mainland China
cha-cha qiàqiàwǔ 恰恰舞 Arts & entertainment
Champagne xiāngbīn 香槟 Food & drink
cheese qǐsī/qishì/zhīshì 起司、奇士、芝士 Food & drink First two loanwords used in Taiwan, last used in mainland China
cherry chēlízi 车厘子 Food & drink Transliterated from plural, exclusively refers to black cherries in mainland China
chiffon xuěfǎng, qìfēng 雪纺、戚风 Clothing, Food & drink The first loanword refers to chiffon as a kind of fabric, the second refers to chiffon cake
chocolate qiǎokèlì 巧克力 Food & drink
cider xīdá 西打 Food & drink
cigar xuějiā 雪茄 Food & drink
clone kèlóng 克隆 Science & technology
coca, coke kějiā, gǔkē 可加、古柯 Food & drink
Coca-Cola kěkǒu kělè 可口可乐 Food & drink
cola kělè 可乐 Food & drink
cocaine kěkǎyīn 可卡因 Narcotics
cocoa kěkě 可可 Food & drink
codeine kědàiyīn 可待因 Health & medicine
coffee kāfēi 咖啡 Food & drink
cookie qǔqí 曲奇 Food & drink
cool Slang
copy kǎobèi 拷贝 Only used in the context of computers
sofa shāfā 沙发 Housing
coup d'état kǔdiédǎ 苦迭打 Politics
craton kèlātōng 克拉通 Science & technology
cream jìlián, qílín 忌廉、淇淋 Food & drink
crêpe kělìbǐng 可丽饼 Food & drink
croissant kěsòng 可颂 Food & drink
cumin kūmíng 枯茗 Food & drink Rarely used in mainland China, usually appears in compound words such as kūmíngqúan 枯茗醛 “cuminaldehyde”
curry gālí 咖喱 Food & drink
cyanide shān'āi 山埃 Science & technology Rarely used in mainland China
Dacron díquèliáng 的确良 Science & technology
daddy diēdì 爹地 Slang
didgeridoo díjílǐdùguǎn 迪吉里杜管 Arts & entertainment
disco dísīkě 迪斯科 Arts & entertainment
domino duōmǐnuò 多米诺 Arts & entertainment
drive-thru déláisù 得来速 Food & drink
einsteinium ài/āi 鑀、锿 Science & technology First loanword used in Taiwan, second used in mainland China
Eucalyptus yóujiālì 尤加利 Botany
eureka yóulǐkǎ 尤里卡 Culture & society
fantasy fàntèxī 范特西 Arts & entertainment Rarely used in mainland China
fan fěnsī 粉丝 Arts & entertainment Transliterated from plural, also a term for cellophane noodles
fascism fǎxīsī 法西斯 Politics
fillet fēilì 菲力 Food & drink Usually refers to filet mignon
geek jíkè 极客 Science & technology
ghetto gédōu 隔都 Culture & society
go-kart gāokǎchē 高卡车 Arts & entertainment
golf gāo'ěrfū 高尔夫 Arts & entertainment
guitar jítā 吉他 Arts & entertainment
hacker hēikè 黑客 Science & technology
hallelujah hālìlùyà 哈利路亚 Religion
hamburger hànbǎobāo 汉堡包 Food & drink
hello hālóu 哈喽 Greeting
heroin hǎiluòyīn 海洛因 Narcotics
hippie xīpíshì 嘻皮士 Culture & society
honey hāní 哈尼 Slang As a term of endearment
hysteria xiēsīdǐlǐ 歇斯底里 Health & medicine
humour yōumò 幽默 Culture & society
ice cream bīngqílín 冰淇淋 Food & drink
jacket jiākè 夹克 Clothing
jazz juéshì 爵士 Arts & entertainment
Jeep jípǔchē 吉普车 Transportation, organizations
jitterbug jítèbā 吉特巴 Arts & entertainment
karaoke kǎlā ok (kǎlāōukēi) 卡拉OK Arts & entertainment
karting kǎdīngchē 卡丁车 Transportation
ketamine kètāmìng 克他命 Science & technology
khaki kǎqí(sè) 卡其(色) Clothing
koala kǎolā 考拉 Animals
lace lěisī 蕾丝 Clothing
lesbian lěisībīan 蕾丝边 Culture & society
lacquer làkè 腊克 Science & technology
laser léishè 镭射 Science & technology
latte nátiě 拿铁 Food & drink
lemon níngméng 柠檬 Food & drink
limbo língbōwǔ 凌波舞 Arts & entertainment
liquor lìkǒujiǔ 利口酒 Food & drink
logic luóji 逻辑 Science & technology
lottery lètòu 乐透 Arts & entertainment
mankini nánjīní 男基尼 Clothing
marathon mǎlāsōng 马拉松 Arts & entertainment
margarine màiqílín 麦淇淋 Food & drink Dated in mainland China
marker mǎkèbǐ 马克笔 Culture & society
massage mǎshājī 马杀鸡 Culture & society Rarely used in mainland China
metre Science & technology
meme míyīn 迷因 Arts & entertainment
mini mǐnǐ 迷你 Culture & society
microphone màikèfēng 麦克风 Science & technology
model mótèr 模特儿 Arts & entertainment
modern módēng 摩登 Culture & society
mohair mǎhǎimáo 马海毛 Clothing
mommy māmi 妈咪 Slang
montage (film) méngtàiqí 蒙太奇 Arts & entertainment
mosaic mǎsàikè 马赛克 Arts & entertainment
motif mǔtǐ, mú 母体、模 Arts & entertainment
motor mǎdá 马达 Science & technology
motorcycle mótuōchē 摩托车 Transportation
mousse mùsī 慕斯 Food & drink
mozzarella mòzālǐlā, mǎsūlǐlā 莫扎里拉、马苏里拉 Food & drink
muffin mǎfēn, màifēn 玛芬、麦芬 Food & drink
mug mǎkèbēi 马克杯 Food & drink
mummy mùnǎiyī s木乃伊 Culture & society
Nazi Nàcuì 纳粹 Politics, organization
neon níhóng 霓虹 Science & technology
nicotine nígǔdīng 尼古丁 Health & medicine
Nylon nílóng 尼龙 Clothing
ohm ōumǔ 欧姆 Science & technology
Olympics Àolínpǐkè 奥林匹克 Organizations
opium yāpiàn 鸦片 Narcotics
parfait bāfēi 芭菲 Food & drink
parka pàikè dàyī 派克大衣 Clothing
party pàiduì 派对 Culture & society
penicillin pánníxīlín 盘尼西林 Science & technology Dated in mainland China
Pharaoh fǎlǎo 法老 Culture & society
pickup truck píkǎ 皮卡 Transportation
pie pài Food & drink
pizza pīsà/bǐsà 披萨、比萨 Food & drink
plutonium bù, bù 鈽、钚 Science & technology
poker pūkè 扑克 Arts & entertainment Refers to card games in general
polka bō'ěrkǎ 波尔卡 Arts & entertainment
pudding bùdīng 布丁 Food & drink
pump bèng Science & technology
punk péngkè 朋克 Arts & entertainment
rabbi lābǐ 拉比 Religion
radar léidá 雷达 Science & technology
romance luómànshǐ, làngmàn 罗曼史、浪漫 Culture & society
rum lǎngmǔjiu 朗姆酒 Food & drink
rumba lúnbā 伦巴 Arts & entertainment
salad shālà, shalǜ 沙拉、沙律 Food & drink
salmon sānwényú 三文鱼 Food & drink
salon shālóng 沙龙 Culture & society
sandwich sānmíngzhì, sānwénzhì 三明治、三文治 Food & drink
sardine shādīngyú 沙丁鱼 Food & drink
sauna sāngná 桑拿 Health & medicine
saxophone sàkèsī(fēng) 萨克斯、萨克斯风 Arts & entertainment
scooter sùkèdá 速克达 Transportation Rarely used in mainland China
shampoo xiāngbō 香波 Health & medicine
sherry xuělìjiǔ 雪利酒 Food & drink
shock xīukè 休克 Health & medicine
sirloin shālǎng, xīlěng 沙朗、西冷 Food & drink First loanword used in Taiwan, second used in mainland China
snooker sīnuòkè 斯诺克 Sports
sonar shēngnà 声呐 Science & technology
soda sūdá 苏打 Food & drink sūdáshǔi 苏打水 is used when referring to soft drinks, xiǎosūdá 小苏打 is used when referring to baking soda
strawberry shìduōpílí 士多啤梨 Food & drink Rarely used in mainland China
Soviet sūwéi'āi 苏维埃 Politics
sundae shèngdài, xīndì 圣代、新地 Food & drink
talk show tuōkǒuxiù 脱口秀 Culture & society
tango tàngē 探戈 Arts & entertainment
tank tǎnkè 坦克 Transportation
tannic acid dānníngsuān 单宁酸 Science & technology
taxi dīshì 的士 Transportation
tarot tǎluó 塔罗 Culture & society
Teflon tiěfúlóng, tèfùlóng 铁氟龙、特富龙 Science & technology First loanword used in Taiwan, second used in mainland China
T-shirt t xù (tīxù) T恤 Clothing
telephone délǜfēng 德律风 Arts & entertainment Dated in mainland China
ten-pin bowling bǎolíngqiú 保龄球 Arts & entertainment
TOEFL tuōfú 托福 Organization
toffee tàifēitáng 太妃糖 Food & drink
toast tǔsī 土司、吐司 Food & drink
tuna tūnnáyú 吞拿鱼 Food & drink
turquoise tǔ'ěrqíshí 耳其石 Color
USB flash drive u pán (yóupán) U盘 Science & technology
valve Science & technology
Vaseline fánshìlín 凡士林 Health & medicine
vitamin wéitāmìng 维他命 Health & medicine
vodka fútéjiā 伏特加 Food & drink
waltz huá'ěrzī 华尔兹 Arts & entertainment
watt wǎtè 瓦特 Science & technology
whisky wēishìjì 威士忌 Food & drink
X-ray x guāng (àikésīguāng) X光 Health & medicine
yoga yújiā 瑜伽 Arts & entertainment
yogurt yōugé 优格 Food & drink
yo-yo yōuyōuqiú 悠悠球 Arts & entertainment
yuppie yǎpíshì 雅皮士 Culture & society

Malay

These words are only used in Singapore and Malaysia.

Malay Pinyin Chinese Meaning Notes
tolong duōlóng 多隆 help
kampung gānbǎng 甘榜 village
sagu xīgǔmǐ 西谷米 sago (starch) sagu+米 (, 'grain')
tumpang lóngbāng 隆帮 to stay with somebody
tanjung dānróng 丹戎 cape

See also

Further reading

  • Daniel Kane (15 September 2006). The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 162–166. ISBN 978-0-8048-3853-5. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  • Robert S. Bauer; Paul K. Benedict (1997). Modern Cantonese Phonology. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 347–405. ISBN 978-3-11-014893-0. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  • Wendy Yeun-wen Pao (1983). A Study of English Loanwords in Chinese Through Chinese Newswriting. South Dakota State University. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  • Janet Zhiqun Xing (30 March 2006). Teaching And Learning Chinese As a Foreign Language: A Pedagogical Grammar. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 120–124. ISBN 978-962-209-763-6. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  • 胡兆云 (2001). Language contact and lexical borrowing of English and Chinese: A comprehensive study. Shandong University Press. ISBN 978-7-5607-2382-2. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  • Kate Parry; Xiaojun Su (3 April 1998). Culture, literacy, and learning English: voices from the Chinese classroom. Boynton/Cook Publishers. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-86709-448-0. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  • Martin Haspelmath; Uri Tadmor (22 December 2009). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 576–580. ISBN 9783110218442. Retrieved 28 May 2020.

References

  1. Xinhua News Agency. Names of the World's Peoples: a Comprehensive Dictionary of Names in Roman-Chinese [世界人名翻译大辞典, Shìjiè Rénmíng Fānyì Dà Cídiǎn].
  2. "8 Chinese Words Borrowed From English That Will Finally Make Sense to You". www.yoyochinese.com. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  3. Zuo, X. (2005). Language planning with respect to English into China. Terminology, 11(2), 283-292.
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