The Study of the Culture Infiltration from Perspective of Etymology

LUO+Yi-ting

【Abstract】By analyzing Chinese and English borrowings， this paper first points out that the extent of infiltration of both languages in terms of linguistics and culture. English borrowings have great effect on Chinese culturally， linguistically and semantically. Many English words reflect in the latest technological and cultural development in the world is borrowed by Chinese vocabulary. Tracing these words back in the Etymology way， we can find the influence brought by the English language culture to Chinese language culture. From another aspect， through analyzing words borrowed from Chinese in form in recent years， which are listed as new words in English dictionaries， and through exploring the Chinese tradition and culture these borrowings mainly based on， this paper reflects that Chinese culture has affected English culture to a certain degree.

【Key words】etymology； borrowed words； culture； infiltration

【摘要】通過分析英漢互借詞，本文首先指出了兩種語言在語言學和文化上的擴張和滲透。在語言學和語義學層面上，英語借詞都對中國文化產生著深遠的影響。許多反映著世界上最先進技術和文化發展的英語詞匯借入到漢語當中。對這些借詞進行英語語源學上的追溯和分析，可以看出英語語言文化對漢語語言文化的影響。另一方面，通過分析英語詞典中新增的來源于漢語的借詞，探索這些借詞背后所蘊含的中國傳統文化，反映出中國文化對西方文化也有著一定程度的影響。

【關鍵詞】語源學 借詞 文化 滲透

I. Brief Introductions of Etymology

The etymology of a word refers to its origin and historical development：that is， its earliest known use， its transmission from one language to another， and its changes in form and meaning. Etymology is not definition；it is explanation of what our words meant 600 or 2， 000 years ago. Think of it like looking at pictures of your friends parents when they were your age. People will continue to use words as they will， finding new or wider meanings for old words and coining new ones to fit new situations. In fact， this list is a testimony to that process. Etymology is also the term for the branch of linguistics that studies word histories.

II. The Way Words Borrowed turn one into the other

A. Words Borrowed from Chinese into English

Differs from the situation mentioned above， the appearance of words borrowed from Chinese is mainly caused by the development and expanding of Chinese traditional culture. “Chinese Borrowing in English”， written by Garland Cannon in 1988， had explained the situation about how and which kind of Chinese words were borrowed into English in the early times. With the communication of these two kinds of languages and cultures becomes more frequent， more and more Chinese are borrowed into English. Such as for those Chinese young students who study English， learning load words and their origin can not only help having a better understanding， but also achieve more about many language phenomenon.endprint

B. Words Borrowed from English into Chinese

As if other borrowed words in Chinese， borrowed words from English stand for the cultural communication between two countries. The opening-up policy makes our country get closer to international environment. In this way， it brings a lot of new ideas， new technologies， and all these things need some new words to express them. Therefore， there are two methods to create new words：the first way is creating a new one；the second way is borrowing word from other countrys languages.

C. The Implication of the Borrowed Words Phenomenon

a. The Homoplasy of Both Cultures

The meaning of language means the information on different aspects of objects， the essential attribute of the object and the reflection of movement， and it continues its development in peoples social interaction and social practice. From the perspective of philosophy of language， the semantic system of vocabulary is an open system that can transform energy and exchange information with other systems as a language environment， allowing the system to update its own development.

Convergence of cross-cultural communication is the integration of language， culture， communication ability affecting human culture， reflected through the mutual language borrowing. The impact of language and culture is reflected in the vocabulary.

For example， generation gap does not exist in Chinese at first. After World War II， the western worlds politics， economy and technology have undergone dramatic changes， causing a strong collision between the new generation of youth and the older generation on the values and life styles， thus leads to the appearance of a new word generation gap. On account of the situation that two generations can hardly ensure smooth communication and understanding， this problem also exists in China， the word “generation gap” was quickly absorbed and used in Chinese. Similarly， some Chinese words are also accepted for use in English. For example， one country with two systems， paper tiger and so on.

b. Cultural Globalization

The development of world economic integration promotes globalization of culture. “Cultural globalization” refers to the various components of the culture spread all over the world. It includes international exchange of ideas on people， technology， finance and information. This exchange requires a common language， and English is chosen as their preferred language （Tian Hui 106）. With more and more extensive coverage， wider and wider use of the area， international exchange occurred between the non-native speakers becomes more and more frequent；English becomes a truly global language. This trend of “English globalization” gives the English language and the culture it represents a strong position in todays world；it also brings a dominant position in contacts with other cultures. At the same time， although China has a long history and splendid culture， however， compared to English culture， Chinese language and culture are in a weak position. We lived in an era of two-way open， a world with more and more of dialogue， so English words come in a large number.endprint

III. The Interaction Effects of Borrowed Words

Language is a useful tool people use for social communication， mental communication and information exchange. It is also have some relations with culture. To some extent， language reflects the culture， culture decides the language. The vocabulary can reflection of culture， the mutual load words phenomenon we can obviously know the interaction between Chinese culture and the western culture.

All in all， a countrys language and culture have a big impact to the language and culture of the disadvantaged， and then infiltrated into their language system. As the worlds strongest language， English absorbed lots of foreign words in the development. Although the Chinese languages and the English languages belong to different language systems—English culture stand for western civilization must be bring conflict with Chinese culture stand for eastern civilization.

IV. Conclusions

Borrowings are regarded as the “envoy of different cultures”， playing the role as a link and a bridge in intercultural communication. Its influence develops from cultural infiltration to minimize the conflicts caused by cultural differences. From the foreign words in a language we can get the situation of a countrys historical relationship and cultural communication with other countries. Therefore， the amount of load words is a mark of a country openness itself. As we all know， culture and language are interactive to each other， borrowed words in English languages and Chinese languages not only add their own language， but also increase their own culture. From the form and content of load words， it is not difficult to find different languages constantly infiltrate into each other in the interaction and the process of mutual penetration. By learning the etymology of the borrowed word， we can trace back to the origin language， and through the comparison of English language and Chinese language the cultural effect can be known clearly. This will greatly help the English learners remember words and understanding of cultural infiltration.

參考文獻：

[1]Garland Cannon.Chinese Borrowing in English.American Speech，1988.

[2]Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary.

[3]陳原.社會語言學[M].北京：學林出版社，1983.

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作者簡介：羅藝婷（1986-），女，天津人，講師，天津現代職業技術學院管理工程學院公共英語教研室，研究方向為英語教學、職業技術教育學。endprint