英汉新词对比研究.doc

渭南师范学院本科毕业论文题 目： 英汉新词对比研究 学院名称： 外国语学院 专业班级： 英语专业08级英本1班 毕业年份： 2012年6月 姓 名： 麻 建 玲 学 号： 080241047 指导教师： 唐 文 丽 职 称： 讲 师 渭南师范学院教务处 制A Comparative Study of Neologisms between English and ChineseBy Ma JianlingA paper Presented to the Department of English Studies ofWeinan Normal UniversityIn Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsMay 23, 2012Class: Class 1 of 2008 Advisor: Tang Wenli英汉新词对比研究摘要: 本文在已有英汉新词研究成果的基础上，从语言对比的角度，对英汉新词展开进一步探讨。首先，文章对以往英汉新词研究进行了回顾，包括新词的定义，分类，主要特征以及产生原因。其次，对英汉新词来源作了对比研究, 英汉新词的来源主要有三种：构词法造新词；语义的改变(旧词获得新义)；从其他语言借词。最后阐述了词汇，语言和文化之间的关系，从而揭示英汉新词文化特征的异同。本文的研究不仅帮助外语学习者加深对英汉新词的了解，而且对外语教学来说具有一定的借鉴意义。关键词: 新词; 对比研究; 新词的来源; 文化特征A Comparative Study of Neologisms between English and ChineseAbstract: Based on previous research findings pertinent to the study of English and Chinese neologisms, this paper addresses the topic from a comparative perspective. The paper begins with the review of the past research findings, including the definition and classification of neologism, its characteristics and the reasons for the creation of neologisms. Then, it proceeds to make a comparative study on the sources of neologisms and analyze the origins of English and Chinese neologisms. There are mainly three types: creating neologisms by word-formations; semantic changes (old words taking on new meanings); borrowing from other languages. Lastly, it expounds the relationship among the vocabulary, language and culture, to reveal the similarities and differences of the main cultural features reflected in English and Chinese neologisms. The paper not only helps foreign language learners of English to deepen the understanding of the new words, but also is highly implicational for English teaching.Key words: neologism; contrastive study; origins of neologism; cultural featureTable of ContentsI. Introduction.1II. A General Survey of Neologism.2A. Definition of neologisms.2 B. Classification of neologisms.3 C. Characteristics of neologisms.3D. Reasons for creation of neologisms .41. Politics and Economy.42. Science and Technology .5 3. Lifestyle and Culture.54. Computer and Society .6III. The Origins of English and Chinese Neologisms.6 A. The Origins of English Neologisms.61. Creating neologisms by word-formation.62. Changes in meaning.93. Borrowing from other languages.10 B. The Origins of Chinese Neologisms.10IV. Neologisms and Culture13A. Relationship among culture, language and vocabulary.13B. The main cultural features reflected in English and Chinese Neologisms.131. Analysis of the similarities.14 2. Analysis of the differences.14V. Conclusion.16Bibliography.18ivI. IntroductionLanguage is the most essential tool in the activities of human beings. Language has a close relationship with society. In some sense, language is like a mirror through which people can observe social happenings in a country. With the advance of modern society, people come to realize that the existing vocabulary can hardly meet the requirements when they discover new things, come across new problems, bring about new ideas, sum up new experiences and develop new concepts. Under the circumstances, both English and Chinese have undergone the fastest-developing period in history, thus a large number of neologisms have appeared both in English and Chinese. Neologism study has become a specialized subject of linguistics. The study on English and Chinese neologisms can reveal the influence of social and cultural contacts on the development of language and the tendency of language development. Certainly, the research on neologism is not only of great interest to scholars, but also of practical value for teachers, educators and especially for foreign language learners. The goal of the paper is to help readers to get to know the similarities and differences of English and Chinese neologisms so that problems may be reduced in the cross-cultural communications. Language is a social phenomenon and changes with the development of society while the vocabulary is active and sensitive to social changes. So the research on neologism becomes important in every language. As early as the year of 1902, Leon Mead published Word-Coinage, which is said to be the first book studying neologism. In 1920, Alphonso Smith, the dean of the English department of American Navy Institute wrote a book entitled New Words Self-defined, which had proved to be a big progress in the research on neologism. Later, Professor IWillis Russell wrote articles entitled Words and Meanings, to introduce new words and their new meanings. War is said to be the major cradle for the birth of neologisms. During World War II, a lot of neologisms appeared. Marjorie Taylor, a librarian, Clarence Bam hart and Paul Charles Berg are the most important people who have made great contributions to the development of neologism in the period.Many Chinese scholars also have done a lot of research on neologisms. Yao Hanming discussed the relationship among neologisms, culture and society (1998:10-11). Liu Mingdong introduced translation techniques of English neologisms (2002:29-30). Deng Tianzhong analyzed the characteristics of frequent English neologisms (2005:50-51).A glance back at the previous research indicates that the study is not very systematic, so far, no thorough research has yet been done from the comparative perspective. Therefore, this paper will make a comparative study on English and Chinese neologisms so as to provide implications for English teaching and learning.This paper of English and Chinese neologisms based on the achievement of research, mainly from the comparative study of English and Chinese new words further comparative study, which put the subject to the wider study field.II. A General Survey of English and Chinese NeologismsA. Definition of neologismWith the development of our society, neologisms have been finding their appearance in the language. The researches on the standard definition for neologism are being heatedly pursued; however, no general agreement has yet been reached. Researchers with different knowledge backgrounds may define neologism in different ways. The term “neologism” originates from Greek neo-means “new” and logos means “words”. To define the nature of neologisms, French lexicographer and terminologist A1aill Rey says: “Neologism, a unit of the Lexicon, a word or a phrase, which meaning or which signifier-signified relationship, presupposes an effective function in a specific model of communication”. (姚汉铭 10)Some Chinese scholars try to define it in its narrow sense, while others define it in a broad sense. For example, Li Jianguo defines new words like this: “the so-called new word is new, which is in line with national language word formation rules, clear meanings and communication results. But they dont indicate whether it includes new meanings of old words or not. ” (姚汉铭 11)The definition of Wang Tiekun on neologisms is “a new creation or borrowed words from dialect words, old words and industry words, which is also produced new semantics and new usages of the inherent words.” (ibid)In general，neologism may be introduced into vocabulary because of the rapid progress of modern science and technology, political struggle, changes in social habits, economic development, etc. New words are being invented or introduced all the timeB. Classification of neologismFrom the standpoint of formation, neologisms can be classified into three groups. They are created neologisms, which mainly include derivatives, compounds and shortenings (acronyms, initializes, clippings and blends); semantic neologisms, which include old words, furnished with new meanings through such processes as broadening or narrowing , elevation or degradation，and transference of meaning; borrowed neologisms，which are borrowed from foreign languages. Based on their functions，neologisms can be classified referential neologisms, which are created to fill the gap in a specific field to solve communication difficulties and expressive neologisms, which are neologisms developed to introduce new forms of expression into discourse. From the standpoint of their registers, neologisms involved politics, economics, science and technology, education and many other aspects of society. The classification of neologisms will facilitate understanding of their meanings and at the same time give a very clear idea about how to use them in daily English. C. Characteristics of neologisms1. The emergence of neologism for the social contingency“New words are produced by the changes of social life or some of peoples psychological need, but all originate from the basic vocabulary, because the basic vocabulary has three characteristics, that is, universality, stability, productivity, and these characteristics are closely linked to each other. The stability laid the solid foundation on neologisms. It is significant for the generation as the most important concept. Therefore, when people coin neologisms, they will rely on these basic vocabularies that are common, easy to understand and not easy to change. Neologisms are social changes in language, but the inevitability of neologisms doesnt mean it will be some specific form, on the contrary, the creation of neologisms embodies the great inevitability contingency.” (邓天中 50)2. The meaning of neologism for uncertainties Most of the neologisms just appeared, or quoted for the first few times, the user always try to use the context to give the reader a replacement, in order to avoid misunderstanding.Such as the case that in dealing with the meaning of new word background from the guardian newspaper. Ever since a colleague or client found that the only response to your questions are the occasional “Hmmm”? You are just been “back grounded”! To background someone is to deny them for your full attention while they have multi-tasking. (刘明东, 蒋学军 51)D. Reasons for creation of neologisms 1. Politics and EconomyIn recent years, the international political situations have been undergoing great changes. With these changes, a lot of neologisms have been added to the English language. For instance, the disintegration of the former Soviet Union brought the new word CIS (Commonwealth of Independence State) to English. After the foundation of European Union, there appeared a series of neologisms related to EU (European Union). Other issues such as the clashes in different parts of the world, the change of political situations and the spreading of terrorism added such new words as Iraq War; 911; eco-terrorism; Watergate Incident; humanitarian disaster. (ibid） With the reform and opening policy in China, a lot of new things as well as new problems have come forth so that a series of new policies and measures were taken. Accordingly a great number of new words emerged, such as clean government building, combat corruption, one country two systems, and Hope Project. Many neologisms emerged in the field of economy in both English and Chinese, such as globalization, information economy, WTO, Euro, e-commerce, CEO (Chief Executive Officer), DIY (Do It Yourself), go into business, holiday economy.2. Science and TechnologyThe field of science and technology is a major of neologisms in the modern society. Numerous neologisms related to computer and Internet has been created. For example, “cyber-” with other elements, such as cybercafe, cyberculture, cyberpet, cyber-economy, cyber-commerce, cybergeeks, cybersurf and cybercrime; About software such as freeware, warez (pirated software); About computer operation, such as import (input), export (output), cut and paste (clip), download; About the computer virus such as virus , hacker etc. The progress of new century in science and technology is also manifest in the rapid development of life science; people often mentioned buzzwords clone (cloning), genetic engineering (genetic project), etc. People talk about the AIDS, SARS (typical pneumonia), Mad Cow Disease (BSE), bird flu and other relevant medical diseases also known to the public words. (杨建平 184)3. Lifestyle and CultureThe improving living condition and the enhancing cultural standard, it is necessary for us to create neologisms so that we can express our new concepts or ideas clearly. There are the representatives of the neologisms in our life. “Half candy husband and wife”: a form of marriage which separated by city, the husband and wife lives alone in weekday, but live together at weekend. “The Ding Chong family”: The families dont have children, who treat pets as children. “Gray skills”: enterprises asked some graduates with special requirements as skills such as drinking, singing, playing mahjong and playing cards. “Naked exam”: people who took the exam are completely relying on their own strength without any points. “Grab peoples day”: refers to the people who have no lovers celebrated Valentines Day with temporary companion. “Sun guest”: is to show own life experiences and feelings on the Internet and share with others. 4. Computer and Society The information age is as the main medium of network information exchange. Many Internet words with interest and ridicule become a modern freedom to show their emotions as the important channel, but also for the “let you speak the truth has created favorable conditions. For example: whether or not(有木有), what(神马), geilivable (给力), rich second generation(富二代), officer second generation (官二代), cheating(坑爹). Dizzy (cant understand), VIP (rich guy), clap brick (opinions), the top (support), strongly support(狂顶), 撮(eat), east east (things), dinner party (please to have a meal), a material (skill), failure衰(bad倒霉), raise a key point养眼(nice), cup with (tragedy), wash with (comedy), big shrimp大虾(大侠) (master), hold住(keep calm), 浮云(nothing). III. A Comparative Study on Origins of English and Chinese NeologismsA. Origins of English neologisms1. Creating neologisms by word-formation(1) Derivation“Derivative affix and root or stick with the combination of the root, this is a form for new words to make new modern English strong ability” (杨金菊 26) (The most common affix has two kinds which are the prefix and suffix, midfix in English is not common, but sometimes in reading and translation when encountered. “prefix + stem”, such as “Multi-” means “more”, “many”: “Multiculturalism” means multicultural (socialist); multiskilling means JiNengHua; multiplex theatre means cinema more marked on the Internet. Tele- means “distance”, “telecom”, the “computer”: “teleconference” means remote conference; “telecommunication” electronic communication; “teleordering” electronic orders. “Hyper-” means “super”: “hyperlink”; “hypermedia”; “hypertext”. (陈颖 80) “suffixes + stem”, such as: -ism said “discrimination”:“ableism” (for the disabled) physical discrimination; “Fattism ” obesity discrimination; “Ageism” old man discrimination; “Lookism” face discrimination. “-ware” means “software”: “freeware” free software; “hareware” sharing software. “-er / or” such as printer; Monitor; Scanner; Browser; Server, Hacker, Surfer. “-head” said “not welcome people”, “to. enthusiasts”: such as “dittohead” yes-man, followers; “Digital-head”; “Nethead; “Tech-head” technology fan. (2) Compounding “The compound is of two or more words form neologisms according to certain program arrangement. Because the compound is synthesis by its most basic vocabulary, its composition can be composed by all sorts of parts of speech, so it has been an active way to form a kind of new words.” (刘珍 86) noun + noun: “web master” network management; “web TV” network television; “net worm” net insect; “system board” motherboard; “computer lover” network lover; “firewall”; “ectronic commerce”; “people person” popularity, good people; “gay marriage” same-sex marriage; “Generation gap”; “Theme park”. -ing+ noun: “Warning message” warning information; “Programming language” “deleted file”; “compressed drive”; “Finished product” finished products. adverbs + verb: “download” ; “upload”; “online”; “offline”; “Backup”; “Input”; “output”. nominalization verbs + noun: “Write operation”; “control menu”; “Control panel” (control board); “Swap area” exchange area. adjectives + noun: online bank; “online transaction” online trading; “online shopping”; “local area network”. (3) Analogy “Analogy update word is one important method that the modern English makes new words, its characteristic is modeled on a similar words which are the original creating its corresponding word or similar words.” (刘明东,蒋学军 26) Analogy method can be divided into approximate analogy and antonymic analogy. Approximate analogy is used between words with approximate point modeled word. For example: earthquake, moonquake, starquake; white collar, blue collar, iron collar. Antonymic analogy is the use of existing compound words which mean the opposite of new compound words. For example: Hardware-software；brain dra