Abstract：Language contact theory is a phenomenon of linguistic studies. Business, culture-communication, transmigration, war and many other types of interactions from different languages speaking countries will arouse language contact, which has different forms and the most common form is the loanwords. And with the frequent communication of economy and culture between China and western countries and the elevating of the China international status.Chinese will have a increasing influence on English.Meanwhile,the loanwords from Chinese will play an indispensable role in English enrichment and development. The global language monitor reports that since 1994,among the new words that have been collected into English,the loanwords from Chinese have the biggest number that Chinese is more 5-20 percents than any other languages. With the enthusiasm and attention on English study, this paper will base on the language contact theory, analyze and study the loanwords from Chinese in English. The first chapter is about background and its definition and the second is to introduce the language contact theory. The third is about the sources of loanwords from Chinese in English and the forth is to analyze its channels. And the fifth is to study its distribution .The sixth is to express its translation skills and the seventh is about the influences. It’s hoped that this paper may help English learners in China better understand loanwords from Chinese in English.

Keywords: Language contact;English;Chinese;loanwords

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

1 Introduction-1

1.1 Background of the study-1

1.2 Significance of the study-2

1.3 Definition of Chinese loan words-3

2 Language contact theory-3

3 Sources of Chinese loan words in English-4

3.1 Intercultural communication in different historical periods-4

3.1.1 Period I: before the Opium War-4

3.1.2 Period II: from the Opium War to the establishment of PRC-6

3.1.3 Period III: from the establishment of PRC to now-7

4 Channels for Chinese words to enter English language-8

4.1 Through trading-8

4.2 Through news media-9

4.3 Through teaching ,tourism,diplomacy and other aspects-9

4.4  Through Inter-language-9

5 Distribution of Chinese loan words-9

5.1 Politics-10

5.2 Culture-10

5.3 Others-18

6.Means of translation-19

6.1Transliteration-19

6.2Translation loans-20

6.3Loanblends-21

7.Influence and development of Chinese loan words-21

7.1The influence of Chinese loanwords in English on Chinese and English culture-22

7.2Development of Chinese loan words-22

7.2.1Four periods-22

7.2.2Five levels-24

8. Conclusion-27

References-29

Acknowledgements-32