汉语外来词:界定、时段及译介特征

On Classification and Characteristics of Chinese Loan Words

不同历史时期,汉民族与不同的异族接触(包括冲突)产生语源及语用领域各异的汉语外来词。狭义而言的外来词仅指以音译手段进入汉语的外来词汇;广义上则将以音译和意译手段引进的词汇均视作外来词,即包括纯音译词、混合音译词、意译词和借形词等几类。汉外民族接触不同,汉语吸收来的外来词也因此呈现不同的语源与特征,这与史上的几次翻译活动频繁的"翻译潮"相呼应。汉语外来词从其生成与演化过程也可看一些译介特征。汉语外来词丰富了汉语词汇,促进了汉语的语义发展与造词功能。

Interactions, conflicts included, of the Han Chinese with other racial and ethnic communities throughout the history have brought in a great number of loan words for the Chinese language. They are phonemic loans largely based upon the pronunciation of the source words, semantic loans upon the meaning, graphic loans upon the written lexical form or spelling, and hybrids combing both the pronunciation and meaning. In the narrowest sense, only those under the first catego- ry constitute Chinese loan words but in broad terms they cover all the above-mentioned categories. The evolution of Chinese loan words coincides with the major historical “waves” of translation activities and in the process reveals some interesting features in their linguistic sources and translation. These loan words have enriched the vocabulary of the Chinese language and promoted its semantic evolution and word formation.