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Chinese words borrowed into American English
Hey, how many of them can you recognize among all the following American English words that are actually borrowed from Chinese?
Dingho Bonsai Shanghai Cheong-sam Dingho Fengshui Ginseng Gung-ho IChing Kowtow Mah-jong Sampan Silk Tai-chi Tao Tofu Tong YinandYang
Borrowed from what language exactly? Mandarin? Cantonese? Taiwanese? Shanghainese?
Bonsai and Tofu are borrowed from Japanese, not Chinese languages.
I didn't recognise Dingho even though it's in the list twice. What is it? It's a very short list. China clearly has very little influence on the English language. Oh, one thing really annoys me. why do we go to all the bother of transliterating a word as "Feng Shui", which isn't even written in the Roman alphabet in its home country, and then people insist on saying "Fung Shway". Grr - at least transliterate phonetically if you're going to transliterate. Same goes for the Korean Daewoo - don't give me a W in there if we're not meant to say it, goddamit! Thankfully they went bust and I don't need to see or hear that word much nowadays.
<<Silk>>
Silk looks anything but Chinese. Silk itself was created there. But the English word for it is not of Chinese origin. It looks like a very anglo word.
<<Veronica Thu Mar 25, 2010 8:29 pm GMT
Bonsai and Tofu are borrowed from Japanese, not Chinese languages. I didn't recognise Dingho even though it's in the list twice. What is it?>> Bonsai 盆栽 Tofu 豆腐 >>It's a very short list. China clearly has very little influence on the English language.<< Well, Chinglish has become the biggest source of english! >>Oh, one thing really annoys me. why do we go to all the bother of transliterating a word as "Feng Shui", which isn't even written in the Roman alphabet in its home country, and then people insist on saying "Fung Shway". Grr - at least transliterate phonetically if you're going to transliterate.<< Feng Shui is a perfect phonectic transcrption of 风水 in Chinese Same goes for the Korean Daewoo - don't give me a W in there if we're not meant to say it, goddamit! Thankfully they went bust and I don't need to see or hear that word much nowadays. |