Have you ever been intrigued by how interconnected different languages are? Language is the key to human communication, and despite the vast differences between world countries and their cultures, their people’s languages have always influenced one another. This interconnectivity among languages creates common ground for people all around the world, showing that different languages and cultures are all connected somehow.
Because there are so many common English words in Chinese (and Chinese words in English), studying loanwords can pave the way for an easier language learning journey. Now without further ado, let’s jump right into the abundance of popular English loanwords in Chinese and explore the language phenomenon known as Chinglish.
Table of Contents
- Introduction to Chinglish
- Chinglish Examples
- List of Chinese Loanwords
- List of Food-Related Chinese Loanwords
- How to Say These Names in Chinese
- English Words Derived from Chinese
- List of English Words Derived from Chinese Food
- Conclusion
1. Introduction to Chinglish
Chinglish is a slang term that refers to spoken or written English as used by the Chinese. Due to the differences between the two languages, something that makes sense in Chinese may sound odd when directly translated in English. This is how Chinglish has become such a prevalent occurrence in China.
As the English language becomes more and more popular around the globe, Chinese people have started to integrate English into not only their education system but also their daily lives. For example, Chinese people love using Chinese words that have a similar pronunciation to English words, creating unofficial English-sounding slang terms (some of which we’ll introduce later).
2. Chinglish Examples
Here are some of the most popular Chinglish phrases and vocabulary. You’ll find these words extremely useful as you continue forward in your Chinese studies!
“Bye-bye”
In Chinese: 拜拜
Pinyin: bái bái
“Hello”
In Chinese: 哈喽
Pinyin: hā lou
“Hi”
In Chinese: 嗨
Pinyin: hāi
“Mommy”
In Chinese: 妈咪
Pinyin: mā mi
“Daddy”
In Chinese: 爹地
Pinyin: diē di
“Good morning”
In Chinese: 古德猫宁
Pinyin: gǔ dé māo níng
“You can you up, no can you BB”
In Chinese: 你行你上，不行别BB。
Pinyin: Nǐ xíng nǐ shàng, bù xíng bié bī bi.
Actual meaning in English: “Put up or shut up.”
Usage in context: When someone is complaining that they cannot achieve something, this phrase tells them to take positive action or stop complaining.
“Good good study, day day up”
In Chinese: 好好学习，天天向上。
Pinyin: Hǎo hǎo xué xí, tiān tiān xiàng shàng.
Actual meaning in English: “Study hard and make progress every day.”
Usage in context: This Chinglish slang term can be used to encourage your friends to study hard.
“No zuo no die”
In Chinese: 不作死就不会死。
Pinyin: Bù zuò sǐ jiù bú huì sǐ.
Actual meaning in English: “If you don’t ask for it, you won’t be punished for it.”
Usage in context: You could use this when your friend doesn’t know how to swim and still walks into the water on a beach.
“Add oil”
In Chinese: 加油
Pinyin: jiā yóu
Actual meaning in English: “Go for it.”
Usage in context: You could say this to try encouraging your friend to have faith for a competition.
“People mountain people sea”
In Chinese: 人山人海
Pinyin: rén shān rén hǎi
Actual meaning in English: It describes a situation where there are lots of people.
Usage in context: You could say this when there are a lot of people at a tourist attraction.
3. List of Chinese Loanwords
In addition to the Chinglish jargon we saw above, there are several English loanwords in the Chinese language. Loanwords differ from Chinglish in that a loanword is adapted into the Chinese language while preserving its original English meaning. Here are some useful examples for you, along with their usage in a sentence.
“Bully” – 霸凌 (bà líng)
In Chinese: 这个学校高年级的学生总是霸凌比自己年龄小的孩子。
Pinyin: Zhè gè xué xiào gāo nián jí de xué shēng zǒng shì bà líng bǐ zì jǐ nián líng xiǎo de hái zi.
In English: “The students who are in a higher grade always bully kids who are younger than them.”
“Cool” – 酷 (kù)
In Chinese: 他打篮球的样子很酷。
Pinyin: Tā dǎ lán qiú de yàng zi hěn kù.
In English: “The way he plays basketball looks so cool.”
“Calories” – 卡路里 (kǎ lù lǐ)
In Chinese: 为了减肥，我很少吃卡路里高的食物。
Pinyin: Wèi le jiǎn féi, wǒ hěn shǎo chī kǎ lù lǐ gāo de shí wù.
In English: “I hardly eat food with high calories since I am trying to lose weight.”
“Cartoon” – 卡通 (kǎ tōng)
In Chinese: 小的时候我很喜欢看卡通片。
Pinyin: Xiǎo de shí hou wǒ hěn xǐ huan kàn kǎ tōng piān.
In English: “I loved watching cartoons when I was little.”
“Sofa” – 沙发 (shā fā)
In Chinese: 这个沙发真舒服。
Pinyin: Zhè gè shā fā zhēn shū fu.
In English: “This sofa feels so comfortable.”
“Guitar” – 吉他 (jí ta)
In Chinese: 我曾经学了五年的吉他。
Pinyin: Wǒ céng jīng xué le wǔ nián de jí tā.
In English: “I learned to play the guitar for five years.”
“Ballet” – 芭蕾 (bā léi)
In Chinese: 芭蕾是一项文雅的爱好。
Pinyin: Bā lěi shì yī xiàng wén yǎ de ài hǎo.
In English: “Ballet is an elegant hobby.”
“Party” – 派对 (pài duì)
In Chinese: 我们全家人都很喜欢参加派对。
Pinyin: Wǒ men quán jiā rén dōu hěn xǐ huan cān jiā pài duì.
In English: “My whole family loves going to parties.”
“Mexico” – 墨西哥 (Mò xī gē)
In Chinese: 我曾经去墨西哥旅游过。
Pinyin: Wǒ céng jīng qù Mò xī gē lǚ yóu guo.
In English: “I went to Mexico for a trip.”
“Tank” – 坦克 (tǎn kè)
In Chinese: 坦克是一项伟大的发明。
Pinyin: Tǎn kè shì yī xiàng wěi dà de fā míng.
In English: “The invention of the tank is great.”
4. List of Food-Related Chinese Loanwords
If you happen to love food as much as I do, you gotta learn these!
Food is what makes the world go round, so it should come as no surprise that some of the most popular English words used in Chinese are those related to food. Take a look:
- “Chocolate” – 巧克力 (qiǎo kè lì)
- “Coffee” – 咖啡 (kā fēi)
- “Cheese” – 芝士 (zhī shì)
- “Pizza” – 比萨 (bǐ sà)
- “Curry” – 咖喱 (gā li)
- “Bacon” – 培根 (péi gēn)
- “Hamburger” – 汉堡包 (hàn bǎo bāo)
- “Vitamin” – 维他命 (wéi tā mìng)
- “Pudding” – 布丁 (bù dīng)
- “Salad” – 沙拉 (shā lā)
5. How to Say These Names in Chinese
There are a number of Chinese words ‘borrowed’ from world-famous brand, celebrity, and movie names. How do you pronounce them in Chinese?
Global Brand Names
- “McDonald’s” – 麦当劳 (mài dāng láo)
- “Nike” – 耐克 (nài kè)
- “Walmart” – 沃尔玛 (wò ěr mǎ)
- “IKEA” – 宜家 (yí jiā)
Have you ever tried the famous Swedish meatballs from IKEA?
- “Sephora” – 丝芙兰 (sī fú lán)
- “Coca Cola” – 可口可乐 (kě kǒu kě lè)
- “Disney” – 迪士尼 (dí shì ní)
- “Kentucky Fried Chicken / KFC” – 肯德基 (kěn dé jī)
- “Adidas” – 阿迪达斯 (ā dí dá sī)
- “Häagen-Dazs” – 哈根达斯 (hā gēn dá sī)
- “Starbucks” – 星巴克 (xīng bā kè)
- “Marvel” – 漫威 (màn wēi)
Celebrities/English Names
I’m sure you have a favorite celebrity. Learn how to write his/her name in Chinese!
- “Justin Bieber” – 贾斯汀·比伯 (jiǎ sī tīng·bǐ bó)
- “Taylor Swift” – 泰勒·斯威夫特 (tài lè·sī wēi fū tè)
- “Emma Watson” – 艾玛·沃特森 (ài mǎ · wò tè sēn)
- “Ed Sheeran” – 艾德·希兰 (ài dé · xī lán)
- “Bruno Mars” – 布鲁诺·马尔斯 (bù lǔ nuò ·mǎ ěr sī)
- “Michael Jackson” – 迈克尔·杰克逊 (mài kè ěr · jié kè xùn)
- “Leonardo DiCaprio” – 莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥 (lái áng nà duō · dí kǎ pǔ lǐ ào)
- “Kobe Bryant” – 科比·布莱恩特 (kē bǐ ·bù lái ēn tè)
Popular Movie Names
How can one survive without the entertainment from movies?
- “Harry Potter” – 哈利波特 (hā lì bō tè)
- “Titanic” – 泰坦尼克号 (tài tǎn ní kè hào)
- “Kung Fu Panda” – 功夫熊猫 (gōng fu xióng māo)
- “Mulan” – 木兰 (mù lán)
- “Sherlock” – 神探夏洛克 (shén tàn xià luò kè)
- “Avatar” – 阿凡达 (ā fán dá)
- “Schindler’s List” – 辛德勒的名单 (xīn dé lè de míng dān)
- “Edward Scissorhands” – 剪刀手爱德华 (jiǎn dāo shǒu ài dé huá)
- “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – 本杰明·巴顿奇事 (běn jié míng · bā dùn qí shì)
- “Mickey Mouse” – 米奇老鼠 (mǐ qí lǎo shǔ)
6. English Words Derived from Chinese
This language exchange goes both directions, and there are plenty of English words from Chinese. How many of these do you hear, see, or use each day?
“Kung Fu”
In Chinese: 功夫
Pinyin: gōng fu
What it is: Traditional Chinese martial art.
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 他可真是功夫了得啊。
Pinyin: Tā kě zhēn shì gōng fu liǎo dé a.
In English: “His Kung Fu is excellent.”
“Yin & Yang”
It’s fascinating to see how Yin and Yang complement each other. Do you have a partner who is like Yin and Yang with you?
In Chinese: 阴 &（和） 阳
Pinyin: yīn & (hé) yáng
What it is: An ancient Chinese philosophy that perceives dualism as opposites that are complementary to each other.
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 我们两个的性格就像是阴和阳，可以互补。
Pinyin: Wǒ men liǎng gè de xìng gé jiù xiàng shì yīn hé yáng, kě yǐ hù bǔ.
In English: “Our personalities are just like Yin & Yang, which can complete each other.”
“Chop chop”
In Chinese: 快点快点
Pinyin: kuài diǎn kuài diǎn
What it is: Deriving from Cantonese, it means “hurry” and is of the same origin as the word “chopstick.”
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 快点快点，我们要迟到了。
Pinyin: kuài diǎn kuài diǎn, wǒ men yào chí dào le.
In English: “Chop chop! We are going to be late.”
“Ping pong”
In Chinese: 乒乓
Pinyin: pīng pāng
What it is: A Chinese sport that is like table tennis, where two players hit a lightweight ball on a table back and forth.
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 乒乓球是我最喜欢的运动之一。
Pinyin: Pīng pāng qiú shì wǒ zuì xǐ huan de yùn dòng zhī yī.
In English: “Ping pong is one of my favorite sports.”
“Long time, no see.”
In Chinese: 好久不见
Pinyin: hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn
Actual meaning in English: “It’s been a long time.”
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 好久不见，你又长高了。
Pinyin: Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, nǐ yòu zhǎng gāo le.
In English: “Long time no see, you are getting taller again.”
“Lose face”
In Chinese: 丢脸
Pinyin: diū liǎn
What it is: To suffer humiliation because of a certain behavior, especially in public.
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 那个小偷的父母一定会为自己的孩子感到丢脸的。
Pinyin: Nà gè xiǎo tōu de fù mǔ yī dìng huì wèi zì jǐ de hái zi gǎn dào diū liǎn de.
In English: “The parents of that thief must have felt like they had lost face because of their children.”
“Brainwash”
In Chinese: 洗脑
Pinyin: xǐ nǎo
What it is: To make someone adopt a mentality by imbuing it forcibly.
Usage in a sentence:
In Chinese: 这首歌天天都在商场里播，听得我都被洗脑了。
Pinyin: Zhè shǒu gē tiān tiān dōu zài shāng chǎng lǐ bō, tīng de wǒ dōu bèi xǐ nǎo le.
In English: “This song has been played in the mall over and over again to the point I am almost brainwashed with it.”
7. List of English Words Derived from Chinese Food
As can be expected, some of the most popular Chinese words in English are related to food. Here are just a few examples for you:
- “Ketchup” – 番茄酱 (fān qié jiàng)
- “Wonton” – 云吞 (yún tūn)
- “Tofu” – 豆腐 (dòu fu)
- “Bok Choy” – 小白菜 (xiǎo bái cài)
- “Chow Mein” – 炒面 (chǎo miàn)
- “Dim Sum” – 点心 (diǎn xīn)
- “Hoisin” – 海鲜 (hǎi xiān)
- “Soy” – 酱油 (jiàng yóu)
- “Tea” – 茶 (chá)
8. Conclusion
Isn’t it marvelous how we can draw such similarities between different languages and see that people around the world share so much in common? Now that you’ve learned so many English words in the Chinese language, try to embrace the similarities between the two languages. These similarities are a good place for beginners to start for easy memorization.
If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to learn more Chinese with other fun materials like this on ChineseClass101.com! We will guide you throughout your Chinese learning journey, acting as a beacon and providing you with best-in-class teaching services.
Happy learning!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Loanwords have entered written and spoken Chinese from many sources, including ancient peoples whose descendants now speak Chinese. In addition to phonetic differences, varieties of Chinese such as Cantonese and Shanghainese often have distinct words and phrases left from their original languages which they continue to use in daily life and sometimes even in Mandarin. As a result of long-term direct relationships with northern peoples, starting from the pre-Christ period, there are many exchanges of words. In addition, there were times when northern tribes dominated China. Similarly, northern dialects include relatively greater numbers of loanwords from nearby languages such as Turkic, Mongolian, and Manchu(Tungusic).
Throughout China, Buddhism has also introduced words from Sanskrit and Pali. More recently, foreign invasion and trade since the First and Second Opium Wars of the mid-nineteenth century has led to prolonged contact with English, French, and Japanese. Although politically minded language reform under the Republic and People’s Republic of China have generally preferred to use calques and neologisms in place of loanwords, a growing number – particularly from American English – have become current in modern Chinese. On the mainland, transcription into Chinese characters in official media and publications is directed by the Proper Names and Translation Service of the Xinhua News Agency and its reference work Names of the World’s Peoples.[1]
Since Hong Kong was under British control until 1997, Hong Kong Cantonese borrowed many words from English such as 巴士 (from the word «bus», Mandarin: bāshì, Cantonese: baa1 si2), 的士 (from «taxi», Man.: dīshì, Can.: dik1 si2), 芝士 (from «cheese», Man.: zhīshì, Can.: zi1 si6), and 麥當勞/麦当劳 (from «McDonald’s», Man.: Màidāngláo, Can.: Mak6 dong1 lou4), and such loanwords have been adopted into Mandarin, despite them sounding much less similar to the English words than the Cantonese versions.[2]
Foreign businesses and products are usually free to choose their own transliterations and typically select ones with positive connotations and phonetic similarity to their products: for example, 宜家 (IKEA) is «proper home». Owing to antonomasia and genericization, these can then enter general Chinese usage: for example Coca-Cola’s 可口可乐 Man.: kěkǒu kělè («delicious fun») has led to 可乐 Man.: kělè becoming the common Chinese noun for all colas.
Since the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War, relations between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China had been hostile, thus communication between Taiwan and mainland China became limited. For that reason, many loanwords and proper names became quite different from each other. For example, «cheese» in mainland China is 芝士 zhīshì, while cheese in Taiwan is 起司 qǐsī.
Sanskrit[edit]
| Chinese Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Original Word | Pronunciation | Original Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 剎那 | chànà | instant | क्षण | kṣaṇa | instant |
| 蘋果 | píngguǒ | apple | बिम्बा | bimbā | apple |
| 涅槃 | nièpán | nirvana | निर्वाण | nirvāna | nirvana |
| 舍利子 | shèlìzi | relic | शरीर | śarīra | body |
| 曇花 | tánhuā | epiphyllum | उदुम्बर | udumbara | cluster fig tree |
| 須彌山 | xūmíshān | Mt. Sumeru | सुमेरु | sumeru | Mt. Sumeru |
| 波羅蜜多 | bōluómìduō | Pāramitā | पारमिता | pāramitā | perfection |
Persian[edit]
| Chinese Word | Pronunciation | Meaning | Original Word | Pronunciation | Original Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 巴扎 | bāzhā | bazar (market) | بازار | bāzār | bazar (market) |
| 巴旦木 | bādànmù | almond | بادام | bādām | almond |
| 葡萄 | pútáo | grape | باده or Bactrian *bādāwa | bāde | wine |
| 獅子 | shīzi | lion | شیر | šīr | lion |
| 百里香 | Bǎilǐxiāng | Thyme | آویشن | Avišan | Thyme |
English[edit]
Chinese words of English origin have become more common in mainland China during its reform and opening and resultant increased contact with the West. Note that some of the words below originated in other languages but may have arrived in Chinese via English (for example «pizza/披萨» from Italian). English acronyms are sometimes borrowed into Chinese without any transcription into Chinese characters; for example «IT» (information technology), «PPT» (PowerPoint), «GDP» (Gross domestic product), «APP» (mobile app), «KTV» (karaoke), or «DVD». A rarer occurrence is the blending of the Latin alphabet with Chinese characters, as in «卡拉OK» («karaoke»), “T恤” («T-shirt»), «IP卡» («internet protocol card»).[3] In some instances, the loanwords exists side by side with neologisms that translate the meaning of the concept into existing Chinese morphemes. For instance, while the loanword for ‘penicillin’ is 盘尼西林 (pánníxīlín), a neologism that ‘translates’ the word was later coined, 青霉素 (qīngméisù), which means ‘blue/green mold extract/essence’. In contemporary Chinese, neologisms using native Chinese morphemes tend to be favored over loanwords that are transliterations. In the case of penicillin, the term 青霉素 is used almost exclusively, while 盘尼西林 is viewed as an early 20th century relic. Similarly, ‘science’ is now known as 科学 (kēxué) ‘subject/specialty study’ rather than 赛因斯 (sàiyīnsī), though it should be pointed out that the characters 科学 were actually coined in the late 19th century by the Japanese as a kanji compound.
In the chart below, loanwords in Taiwan will be written in traditional characters and loanwords in mainland China will be written in simplified characters.
| English | Pinyin | Chinese | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amen | āmen | 阿们 | Religion | |
| ammonia | āmóníyà | 阿摩尼亚 | Science | |
| amoeba | āmǐbā | 阿米巴 | Science | |
| amoxicillin | āmòxīlín | 阿莫西林 | Science | |
| ampere | ānpéi | 安培 | Science | |
| amphetamine | ānfēitāmìng | 安非他命 | Science | |
| ampoule | ānbù | 安瓿 | Science | |
| antitrust | fǎntuōlāsī | 反托拉斯 | Business and law | |
| aspartame | āsībātián | 阿斯巴甜 | Food and drink | |
| Aspirin | āsīpílín | 阿斯匹林 | Science | |
| Baccarat | Bǎijiālè | 百家乐 | Arts and entertainment | |
| bacon | péigēn | 培根 | Food and drink | |
| bagel | bèiguǒ | 贝果 | Food and drink | |
| ballet | bālěi | 芭蕾 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bandage | bēngdài | 绷带 | Health | |
| banjo | bānzhuóqín | 班卓琴 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bar | bā | 吧 / 酒吧 | ||
| Baroque | bāluókè | 巴罗克 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bass | bèisī | 贝司 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bassoon | bāsōng | 巴松 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bazooka | bāzǔkǎ | 巴祖卡 | Weapons | |
| beer | píjiǔ | 啤酒 | Food and drink | |
| bikini | bǐjīní | 比基尼 | Clothing | |
| bingo | bīnguǒ | 宾果 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bit (unit of information) | bǐtè | 比特 | Science | |
| blog | bókè | 博客 | Computing | |
| blues | bùlǔsī | 布鲁斯 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bolero | bōláiluó | 波莱罗 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bourgeois | bù’ěrqiáoyà | 布尔乔亚 | Politics | |
| brandy | báilándì | 白兰地 | Food and drink | |
| brownie | bùlǎngní | 布朗尼 | Food and drink | |
| bullying | bàlíng | 霸凌 | ||
| bungee jumping | bèngjí | 蹦极 | Arts & entertainment | |
| bus | bāshì | 巴士 | Transportation | |
| bye-bye | bàibài | 拜拜 | ||
| caffeine | kāfēiyīn | 咖啡因 | Food and drink | |
| calorie | kǎlùlǐ | 卡路里 | Science | |
| cancan | kāngkāngwǔ | 康康舞 | Arts & entertainment | |
| cannon | jiānóngpào | 加农炮 | Weapons | |
| carat | kèlā | 克拉 | Science | |
| carbine | kǎbīnqiāng | 卡宾枪 | Weapons | |
| card | kǎpiàn | 卡片 | As the last element of a compound, kǎ 卡 alone is used, e.g. yínháng kǎ 银行卡 / 銀行卡 «Bank card (ATM card)». | |
| carnival | jiāniánhuá | 嘉年华 | Arts & entertainment | |
| cartel | kǎtè’ěr | 卡特尔 | ||
| cartoon | kǎtōng | 卡通 | Arts & entertainment | |
| cashmere | kāishìmǐ | 开士米 | ||
| celluloid | sàilùluò | 赛璐珞 | Science | |
| cement | shúiméntīng | 水门汀 | Dated in mainland China | |
| cha-cha | qiàqiàwǔ | 恰恰舞 | Arts & entertainment | |
| Champagne | xiāngbīn | 香槟 | Food and drink | |
| cheese | qǐsī/qishì/zhīshì | 起司 / 奇士 / 芝士 | Food and drink | First two loanwords used in Taiwan, last used in mainland China |
| cherry | chēlízi | 车厘子 | Food and drink | Transliterated from plural, exclusively refers to black cherries in mainland China |
| chiffon | xuěfǎng | 雪纺 | Food and drink | |
| chocolate | qiǎokèlì | 巧克力 | Food and drink | |
| cider | xīdá | 西打 | Food and drink | |
| cigar | xuějiā | 雪茄 | ||
| clone | kèlóng | 克隆 | Science | |
| Coca, Coke | kějiā | 可加 | Food and drink | |
| Coca-Cola | kěkǒu kělè | 可口可乐 | Food and drink | |
| cola | kělè | 可乐 | Food and drink | |
| cocaine | kěkǎyīn | 可卡因 | Science | |
| cocoa | kěkě | 可可 | Food and drink | |
| codeine | kědàiyīn | 可待因 | Science | |
| coffee | kāfēi | 咖啡 | Food and drink | |
| cookie | qǔqí | 曲奇 | Food and drink | |
| cool | kù | 酷 | ||
| copy | kǎobèi | 拷贝 | Only used in the context of computers | |
| sofa | shāfā | 沙发 | Housing | |
| coup d’état | kǔdiédǎ | 苦迭打 | Politics | |
| craton | kèlātōng | 克拉通 | ||
| cream | jìlián, qílín | 忌廉／淇淋 | Food and drink | |
| crêpe | kělìbǐng | 可丽饼 | Food and drink | |
| croissant | kěsòng | 可颂 | Food and drink | |
| cumin | kūmíng | 枯茗 | Food and drink | |
| curry | gālí | 咖喱 | Food and drink | |
| cyanide | shān’āi | 山埃 | Science | |
| Dacron | díquèliáng | 的确良 | Science | |
| daddy | diēdì | 爹地 | ||
| didgeridoo | díjílǐdùguǎn | 迪吉里杜管 | Arts & entertainment | |
| disco | dísīkě | 迪斯科 | Arts & entertainment | |
| domino | duōmǐnuò | 多米诺 | Arts & entertainment | |
| drive-thru | déláisù | 得来速 | Food and drink | |
| einsteinium | ài/āi | 鑀 / 锿 | Science | first loanword used in Taiwan, second used in mainland China |
| Eucalyptus | yóujiālì | 尤加利 | Botany | |
| eureka | yóulǐkǎ | 尤里卡 | ||
| fantasy | fàntèxī | 范特西 | Arts & entertainment | |
| fan | fěnsī | 粉丝 | Arts & entertainment | Transliterated from plural, also a term for cellophane noodles |
| fascism | fǎxīsī | 法西斯 | Politics | |
| fillet | fēilì | 菲力 | Food and drink | |
| geek | jíkè | 极客 | Computing | |
| ghetto | gédōu | 隔都 | ||
| go-kart | gāokǎchē | 高卡车 | Arts & entertainment | |
| golf | gāo’ěrfū | 高尔夫 | Arts & entertainment | |
| guitar | jítā | 吉他 | Arts & entertainment | |
| hacker | hēikè | 黑客 | Computing | |
| hallelujah | hālìlùyà | 哈利路亚 | Religion | |
| hamburger | hànbǎobāo | 汉堡包 | Food and drink | |
| hello | hālóu | 哈喽 | ||
| heroin | hǎiluòyīn | 海洛因 | Narcotics | |
| hippie | xīpí | 嘻皮 | Culture and society | |
| honey | hāní | 哈尼 | Slang | As a term of endearment |
| hysteria | xiēsīdǐlǐ | 歇斯底里 | Science | |
| humour | yōumò | 幽默 | ||
| ice cream | bīngqílín | 冰淇淋 | Food and drink | |
| Internet Protocol Card | ip kǎ (āipīkǎ) | IP卡 | Science | |
| jacket | jiākè | 夹克 | Clothing | |
| jazz | juéshìwǔ | 爵士舞 | Arts & entertainment | |
| Jeep | jípǔchē | 吉普车 | Transportation / organizations | |
| jitterbug | jítèbā | 吉特巴 | ||
| karaoke | kǎlā ok (kǎlāōukēi) | 卡拉OK | Arts & entertainment | |
| ketamine | kètāmìng | 克他命 | Science | |
| khaki | kǎqí | 卡其 | Clothing | |
| koala | kǎolā | 考拉 | Animals | |
| lace | lěisī | 蕾丝 | Clothing | |
| lacquer | làkè | 腊克 | ||
| laser | léishè | 镭射 | Science | |
| latte | nátiě | 拿铁 | Food and drink | |
| lemon | níngméng | 柠檬 | Food and drink | |
| limbo | língbōwǔ | 凌波舞 | Arts and entertainment | |
| liquor | lìkǒujiǔ | 利口酒 | Food and drink | |
| logic | luóji | 逻辑 | Science | |
| lottery | lètòu | 乐透 | Arts & entertainment | |
| mankini | nánjīní | 男基尼 | Clothing | |
| marathon | mǎlāsōng | 马拉松 | Arts & entertainment | |
| margarine | màiqílín | 麦淇淋 | Food and drink | |
| marker | mǎkèbǐ | 马克笔 | ||
| massage | mǎshājī | 马杀鸡 | rarely used in mainland China | |
| metre | mǐ | 米 | ||
| meme | míyīn | 迷因 | Arts & entertainment | |
| mini | mǐnǐ | 迷你 | ||
| microphone | màikèfēng | 麦克风 | Science | |
| model | mótèr | 模特儿 | Arts & entertainment | |
| modern | módēng | 摩登 | ||
| mohair | mǎhǎimáo | 马海毛 | ||
| mommy | māmi | 妈咪 | ||
| montage (film) | méngtàiqí | 蒙太奇 | Arts & entertainment | |
| mosaic | mǎsàikè | 马赛克 | ||
| motif | mǔtǐ, mú | 母体，模 | Arts & entertainment | |
| motor | mǎdá | 马达 | ||
| motorcycle | mótuōchē | 摩托车 | Transportation | |
| mousse | mùsī | 慕斯 | Food and drink | |
| mozzarella | mòzālǐlā, mǎsūlǐlā | 莫扎里拉，马苏里拉 | Food and drink | |
| muffin | mǎfēn | 玛芬 | Food and drink | |
| mug | mǎkèbēi | 马克杯 | ||
| mummy | mùnǎiyī | 木乃伊 | ||
| Nazi | Nàcuì | 纳粹 | Organizations / politics | |
| neon | níhóng | 霓虹 | ||
| nicotine | nígǔdīng | 尼古丁 | ||
| Nylon | nílóng | 尼龙 | ||
| ohm | ōumǔ | 欧姆 | Science | |
| Olympics | Àolínpǐkè | 奥林匹克 | Organizations | |
| opium | yāpiàn | 鸦片 | Narcotics | |
| parfait | bāfēi | 芭菲 | Food and drink | |
| parka | pàikè dàyī | 派克大衣 | Clothing | |
| party | pàiduì | 派对 | ||
| penicillin | pánníxīlín | 盘尼西林 | Science | Dated in mainland China |
| Pharaoh | fǎlǎo | 法老 | ||
| pickup truck | píkǎ | 皮卡 | Transportation | |
| pie | pài | 派 | Food and drink | |
| pizza | pīsà/bǐsà | 披萨／比萨 | Food and drink | |
| plutonium | bù/bù | 鈽 / 钚 | Science | |
| poker | pūkè | 扑克 | Arts & entertainment | |
| polka | bō’ěrkǎ | 波尔卡 | Arts & entertainment | |
| pudding | bùdīng | 布丁 | Food and drink | |
| pump | bèng | 泵 | ||
| punk | péngkè | 朋克 | Arts & entertainment | |
| rabbi | lābǐ | 拉比 | Religion | |
| radar | léidá | 雷达 | Science | |
| roller | luólā | 罗拉 | ||
| romance | luómànshǐ, làngmàn | 罗曼史，浪漫 | ||
| rum | lǎngmǔjiu | 朗姆酒 | Food and drink | |
| rumba | lúnbā | 伦巴 | Arts & entertainment | |
| salad | shālà, shalǜ | 沙拉，沙律 | Food and drink | |
| salmon | sānwényú | 三文鱼 | Food and drink | |
| salon | shālóng | 沙龙 | Health | |
| sandwich | sānmíngzhì | 三明治 | Food and drink | |
| sardine | shādīngyú | 沙丁鱼 | Food and drink | |
| sauna | sāngná | 桑拿 | Health | |
| saxophone | sàkèsī(fēng) | 萨克斯，萨克斯风 | Arts & entertainment | |
| scooter | sùkèdá | 速克达 | Transportation | |
| shampoo | xiāngbō | 香波 | Health | |
| sherry | xuělìjiǔ | 雪利酒 | Food and drink | |
| shock | xīukè | 休克 | Medicine | |
| sirloin | shālǎng | 沙朗 | Food and drink | |
| snooker | sīnuòkè | 斯诺克 | ||
| sonar | shēngnà | 声呐 | ||
| soda | sūdá | 苏打 | Food and drink | |
| strawberry | shìduōpílí | 士多啤梨 | Food and drink | |
| Soviet | sūwéi’āi | 苏维埃 | ||
| sundae | shèngdài, xīndì | 圣代，新地 | Food and drink | |
| talk show | tuōkǒuxiù | 脱口秀 | ||
| tango | tàngē | 探戈 | Arts & entertainment | |
| tank | tǎnkè | 坦克 | Transportation | |
| tannic acid | dānníngsuān | 单宁酸 | ||
| taxi | dīshì | 的士 | Transportation | |
| tarot | tǎluó | 塔罗 | ||
| Teflon | tèfùlóng | 特富龙 | ||
| T-shirt | t xù (tīxù) | T恤 | Clothing | |
| telephone | délǜfēng | 德律风 | rarely used in mainland China | |
| ten-pin bowling | bǎolíngqiú | 保龄球 | Arts & entertainment | |
| TOEFL | tuōfú | 托福 | ||
| toffee | tàifēitáng | 太妃糖 | Food and drink | |
| toast | tǔsī | 土司 | Food and drink | |
| tuna | tūnnáyú | 吞拿鱼 | Food and drink | |
| turquoise | tǔ’ěrqíshí | 土耳其石 | Color | |
| USB flash drive | u pán (yóupán) | U盘 | Technology | |
| valve | fá | 阀 | Mechanics | |
| Vaseline | fánshìlín | 凡士林 | Health | |
| vitamin | wéitāmìng | 维他命 | Food and drink | |
| vodka | fútéjiā | 伏特加 | Food and drink | |
| waltz | huá’ěrzī | 华尔兹 | Arts & entertainment | |
| watt | wǎtè | 瓦特 | Science | |
| whisky | wēishìjì | 威士忌 | Food and drink | |
| X-ray | x guāng (àikésīguāng) | X光 | Medicine | |
| yoga | yújiā | 瑜伽 | Arts & entertainment | |
| yogurt | yōugé | 优格 | Food and drink | |
| yo-yo | yōuyōuqiú | 悠悠球 | Arts & entertainment | |
| yuppie | yǎpíshì | 雅皮士 | Culture and society |
Malay[edit]
These words are only used in Singapore and Malaysia.
| Malay | Pinyin | Chinese | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tolong | duōlóng | 多隆 | help | |
| kampung | gānbǎng | 甘榜 | village | |
| sagu | xīgǔmǐ | 西谷米 | sago (starch) | sagu+米 (mǐ, ‘grain’) |
| tumpang | lóngbāng | 隆帮 | to stay with somebody | |
| tanjung | dānróng | 丹戎 | cape |
See also[edit]
- List of English words of Chinese origin
- List of English words of Japanese origin
- List of Spanish words of Chinese origin
- List of English words of Cantonese origin
- Chinglish
- Gairaigo
- Sino-Japanese vocabulary
Further reading[edit]
- Daniel Kane (15 September 2006). The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 162–166. ISBN 978-0-8048-3853-5. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- Robert S. Bauer; Paul K. Benedict (1997). Modern Cantonese Phonology. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 347–405. ISBN 978-3-11-014893-0. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- Wendy Yeun-wen Pao (1983). A Study of English Loanwords in Chinese Through Chinese Newswriting. South Dakota State University. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- Janet Zhiqun Xing (30 March 2006). Teaching And Learning Chinese As a Foreign Language: A Pedagogical Grammar. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 120–124. ISBN 978-962-209-763-6. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- 胡兆云 (2001). Language contact and lexical borrowing of English and Chinese: A comprehensive study. Shandong University Press. ISBN 978-7-5607-2382-2. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- Kate Parry; Xiaojun Su (3 April 1998). Culture, literacy, and learning English: voices from the Chinese classroom. Boynton/Cook Publishers. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-86709-448-0. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- Martin Haspelmath; Uri Tadmor (22 December 2009). Loanwords in the World’s Languages: A Comparative Handbook. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 576–580. ISBN 9783110218442. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
References[edit]
- ^ Xinhua News Agency. Names of the World’s Peoples: a Comprehensive Dictionary of Names in Roman-Chinese [世界人名翻译大辞典, Shìjiè Rénmíng Fānyì Dà Cídiǎn].
- ^ «8 Chinese Words Borrowed From English That Will Finally Make Sense to You». www.yoyochinese.com. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
- ^ Zuo, X. (2005). Language planning with respect to English into China. Terminology, 11(2), 283-292.
This volume accounts for the motives for contemporary lexical borrowing from English, using a comparative approach and a broad cross-cultural perspective. It investigates the processes involved in the penetration of English vocabulary into new environments and the extent of their integration into twelve languages representing several language families, including Icelandic, Dutch, French, Russian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, Persian, Japanese, Taiwan Chinese, and several languages spoken in southern India. Some of these languages are studied here in the context of borrowing for the first time ever. All in all, this volume suggests that the English lexical ‘invasion’, as it is often referred to, is a natural and inevitable process. It is driven by psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, and socio-historical factors, of which the primary determinants of variability are associated with ethnic and linguistic diversity. REVIEWS «[This] book is a welcome addition to the literature on the global impact of English and to the research on lexical borrowing. … [T]he overall value of this excellent book as a solid contribution to the systematization of the ongoing global process of lexical borrowing from English in the contemporary world and as a basis for enquiries concerning other languages to test and develop the model further.» Päivi Pahta, World Englishes 30 (2011), 160. «This book compares the use and impact of English lexical items in a dozen other languages around the world. The goal is to determine which items are taken in and why, noting as appropriate secondary effects such as the introduction of new phonemes or syntactic patterns. The common term for such a phenomenon is borrowing… This volume is a good introduction to the diversity of linguistic situations concerning this phenomenon.» Douglas A. Kibbee, The Modern Language Journal 95 (2011): 149. “… [T]his volume provides a substantial and important contribution to the research of language borrowing side by side with many adjacent fields, such as the global status of the English language, language policy and planning and historical-linguistic research. A reader unfamiliar with linguistic-theoretical conceptualization may face difficulties with several parts of the book, but undoubtedly would highly benefit from the sociolinguistic aspects that are presented usually in an accessible and thought-provoking manner.” Dafna Yitzhaki, Israel Studies in Language and Society 2 (2009), 135. “As a whole, the general theoretical outline of this book is novel, particularly the discussion on mechanism of adoption which have not been dealt earlier, and here is its great uniqueness. … This edited volume offers its readers a great deal of material and insightful distinctions that one must rely on in order to develop a balanced opinion on the eco-linguistic state of affaires of world languages, our language included. Every linguist and those who deal with languages contact in particular, but also scholars in other disciplines interested in the cultural phenomenon of the English impact on global culture and languages, would benefit from perusing this great wealth that only little of it was reviewed here.” Y. Newman, Helkat Lashon: A Journal for Theoretical and Applied Linguistics 41 (2009-10), 195.
Chinese Reading Center
Foreign words and concepts are adopted into the Chinese language in either of
two ways. One way is to create a new compound word that actually
translate the concept behind the word. For example, a computer
is known as a diannao (電腦) or electronic brain, while a telephone
is dianhua (電話), or electric voice. Another way is for the foreign
word to be transliterated into Chinese. Unfortunately, this approach
has a number of drawbacks. One is that since the Chinese characters
were not designed to represent sound, the result is usually just a rough approximation of the
original sound. Moreover, since the characters may be pronounced
very differently under various dialects, what is a close approximation
under one dialect may not be under another. Hence, it is not
unusual for the same foreign word to have multiple Chinese transliterations
based on the dialect. Another
disadvantage of transliterated words is that since every Chinese
character has a meaning, a transliterated word is nonsensical
unless one immediately recognizes that one should read just the
sound and ignore the meaning of the underlying characters. This
can be very confusing for beginning Chinese readers.
Increasing globalization means that foreign loan words are likely to increase
the Chinese language. In Hong Kong, where residents
freely insert English words into their
Cantonese dialect, they tend to have more transliterated English
words than other Chinese speakers.
| English Source | 繁體 Trad ↔ 简体 Simp | Alternate Chinese Equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| Baby | 啤啤* | 婴儿 |
| Bar | 酒吧 | |
| Bowling | 保龄球 | 滚木球 |
| Brandy | 白兰地酒 | |
| Buffet | 蒲飞* | 自助餐 |
| Bus | 巴士 | 公共汔车 |
| Bye Bye | 拜拜 | |
| Calorie | 卡路里 | 量单位 |
| Cartoon | 卡通 | 漫画, 动画 |
| Cheese | 芝士 | 奶酪 |
| Cherry | 车厘子* | 樱桃 |
| Cocoa | 可可 | 谷咕* |
| Coffee | 咖啡 | |
| Chocolate | 克力 | 朱古力 |
| Curry | 咖喱 | |
| Cyanide | 山埃* | 氰化物 |
| Disco | 迪斯可 | * |
| Fashion | 样 | 臣* |
| Film | 菲林* | 胶卷 |
| Gallon | 加仑 | |
| Golf | 尔夫球 | |
| Guitar | 他 | 结他* |
| Hamburger | 汉堡 | |
| Jelly | 者喱 | 果子冻 |
| Mile | 米 | 英里 |
| Morphine | 吗啡 | |
| Motor | 摩托 | 电动机 |
| Ounce | 盎斯 | 安士 |
| Pudding | 布丁 | 布甸 |
| Salad | 拉 | |
| Sandwich | 明治 | |
| Sardines | 丁鱼 | 甸鱼* |
| Salmon | 鱼* | 鲑鱼 |
| Sauna | 桑拿* | 气浴 |
| Sofa | 发 | 梳化 |
| Strawberry | 多啤梨* | 草莓 |
| Sundae | 新地 | 水果奶油, 冰淇淋 |
| Taxi | 的士 | 出租车, 计程车 |
| Tips | 贴士* | 小费, 提示 |
| Toast | 多士 | 吐司, 烤面包 |
| Toffee | 太妃糖 | 拖肥* |
| Vitamin | 维他命 | 维生素 |
| Vodka | 伏特加酒 | |
| Whisky | 威士忌酒 |
*Cantonese
See also
- Lost in Translation
- Chinese Loan Words in the English Language
When I was in high school, I studied German just because I fancied myself a non-conformist and wanted to be different from everybody else who was learning French or Spanish.
German class was great. I got to make silly exclamations like, “Mein taschenrechner ist kaputt!” — My calculator is broken! It was so funny to my sixteen-year-old self that I still remember it 20 years later.
I also remember it because 3 of the 4 words sound a lot like their English equivalents. Thanks to the roots shared between English and German, picking up new vocabulary in German class often required little effort.
In contrast, my first semester of Chinese in college only revealed two words that sounded anything like English: 咖啡 (kā fēi) — coffee, and 拜拜 (bāi bāi or bái bái) — bye bye.
Learning vocabulary in Chinese was an entirely different experience. There were zero connections to English other than the few transliterations or “loanwords” that came from English.
Confusing common loanwords
One day in Chinese class, we were learning how to say various methods of transportation. I was surprised to learn how many different words there are for “bus” and “taxi” in Chinese.
For bus, we learned 公共汽车 (gōng gòng qì chē), 公交车 (gōng jiāo chē), and 巴士 (bā shì).
For taxi, there was 出租车 (chū zū chē), 计程车 (jì chéng chē — mostly used in Taiwan), and 的士 (dī shì).
The terms 巴士 (bā shì) and 的士 (dī shì), I was told, were borrowed from the English language. They were translated phonetically into Chinese. “Don’t they sound like the English words?” the teacher asked.
“Well, sort of, I guess,” I thought. I could kind of see “bā shì” as being similar to “bus”, but why not say “bā sì?” And as for “dī shì”, well, that sounded nothing like the English word for “taxi” to me.
Finally figuring out «bus» and «taxi»
After a decade in Mainland China and a recent move to Hong Kong, I found myself pondering the various words for common modes of transportation again.
1. The Chinese «bus» explained
In mainland China, the word 巴士 (bā shì) wasn’t used as much as the other words for “bus”, and when it was used, it usually referred to a kind of coach bus used for tour groups, not a public bus.
(Although you do see those two characters a lot on the green taxis in Shanghai. This confused me at first until I realized it meant that the green taxis were managed by a company called 巴士.)
But here in Hong Kong, 巴士 (bā shì) is used for all kinds of buses: public city buses, tour buses, school buses, they’re all “bā shì” here.
But the interesting thing is, when pronounced in Cantonese, 巴士 sounds much more similar to the English word for “bus”.
Take a listen to 巴士 (bā shì) spoken in Mandarin here: 
And now compare to how it sounds in Cantonese here:
The Cantonese pronunciation leads me to believe that the word 巴士 (bā shì) most likely made its way into Mandarin via Cantonese. That would explain why 士 (shì) is used rather than 斯 (sī), which is normally used when translating foreign words that contain an “s” sound into Mandarin.
Cantonese (and many other southern Chinese dialects) doesn’t have the strong retroflex sounds that exist in Mandarin: namely the “zh”, “ch”, “sh”, and “r” initials. These sounds require you to put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth toward the back.
So a word like “shi” is pronounced more like “si” in southern dialects and accented Mandarin.
Watch our in-depth guide to pronouncing «zh», «ch», «sh», and «r» sounds in this lesson.
It felt so great figuring out the most probable reason why “bus” was transliterated as “bā shì”!
2. Solving the «taxi» problem
I got an even bigger sense of satisfaction when I learned how the word 的士 (dī shì) is pronounced in Cantonese.
I don’t hear the word used all that much in Mainland China, although people do say 打的 (dǎ dī) — get/hail/take a taxi — all the time. Here in Canto-land, though, 的士 seems to be the primary word for “taxi.”
Listen to how 的士 (dī shì) sounds in Mandarin:
And now listen to how it sounds when pronounced in Cantonese:
的士 makes so much more sense when pronounced in Cantonese!
And since it’s used much more in Hong Kong than in Mainland China, I think it’s safe to assume that this loan word also made its way into Mandarin by way of Cantonese.
Different types of loanwords
1. Direct translations from English found only in Cantonese
People in Hong Kong actually use some other English loanwords that did NOT make their way into Mandarin.
For instance, the other day I was looking at a menu in a restaurant and noticed that you can get ice cream in the “士多啤梨” flavor. I had no idea what that meant until I said it out loud a couple of times in Mandarin: “shì dūo pí lí.” — strawberry!
It’s a completely phonetic translation that’s not used in Mandarin. In Mandarin, strawberry is 草莓 (cǎo méi).
2. Different characters used in Cantonese and Mandarin loanwords
There are also some loanwords that use a different character in Cantonese compared to Mandarin.
Take a look at these examples (note: all pinyin for Cantonese recordings is written as pronounced in Mandarin).
Sofa
Mandarin: 沙发 (shā fā)
Cantonese: 梳发 (shū fā)
Sandwich
Mandarin: 三明治 (sān míng zhì)
Cantonese: 三文治 (sān wén zhì)
Salad
Mandarin: 沙拉 (shā lā)
Cantonese: 沙律 (shā lǜ)
Chocolate
Mandarin has 2 options: 巧克力 (qiǎo kè lì) or 朱古力 (zhū gǔ lì)
Cantonese uses the characters 朱古力, but compare the pronunciation:
3. Same characters, different pronunciation
Speaking of food, there are two other words borrowed from English that I suspect also entered the Chinese lexicon via Cantonese. Take a listen and see what you think:
Salmon
(Note that the phonetic translation of “salmon” is followed by the word 鱼 (yú) — fish.)
Mandarin: 三文鱼 (sān wén yú)
Cantonese: 三文鱼
Cheese
(Note that there is another way to say “cheese” in Mandarin that’s not a phonetic translation: 奶酪 (nǎi lào). I see both versions used frequently in Mainland China.)
Mandarin: 芝士 (zhī shì)
Cantonese: 芝士
Both “salmon” and “cheese” sound much more like the English version when pronounced in Cantonese, right?
4. Imperfect transliterations
There are other loanwords in Mandarin that are still a bit of a question mark for me. For example, why is “party» in Mandarin (派对) pronounced «pài duì» instead of something like “pā tì”?
Other imperfect transliterations are more understandable. The word for “bikini” is 比基尼 (bǐ jī ní) . It uses ‘jī” as the second syllable because there is no “ki” sound in Mandarin.
There are also plenty of English words that were phonetically translated into Mandarin that sound very close to the English pronunciation, such as:
Many roads to the same destination
English loanwords made their way into Chinese in many different ways.
Some came to be part of the Mandarin lexicon via Cantonese or other dialects like Shanghainese. Others came from Taiwan or even Japan.
A professor who teaches Cantonese recently told me that some loanwords even originated in Japan, then were picked up in Taiwan, then started being used in Hong Kong, and finally made their way into Mandarin.
So with some words borrowed from English having made such a long journey to their home in the Mandarin language, it’s no wonder many of them sound so different from the original English pronunciation.
When it comes to learning Chinese as a foreign language, occasionally coming across a word that sounds like English can be a relief. I’m happy every time I come across a word in Chinese that has even a slightly similar pronunciation to its English counterpart. For me, any sort of hint when learning new Chinese vocabulary is a big help!
But some people actually find it more confusing to learn these words. For instance, they can never remember that the two ways to say “chocolate” start with “zhū” and “qiǎo,” because all they can think of is “chā.”
How about you? Do you find English loanwords in Chinese easier or harder to learn?
There are two directions you mentioned:
- transliteration or romanisation using Wade-Giles (
Taofor道) or Pinyin (Daofor道) to write/spell/pronounce chinese characters/words (see Taoism VS Daoism). This facilitates the usage of Chinese words in English language (e.g. Beijing). - loan words or using English words in Chinese language
You are asking for the latter.
How to choose characters?
For the selection of matching chinese characters there is always the trade-off between phonetic (sound) as well as semantic (meaning) similarity.
Some are just resembling phonetic:
For example 打的 (dadi) means (to go by) taxi. It’s colloquial although there are «original» chinese idioms for that, e.g. 出租车 (chuzuche) meaning taxi (or rental-car in Taiwanese).
Difficult to reflect both, sound and meaning:
Especially foreign businesses are smartly applying creativity to give there brands recognizable chinese names (easy to associate and remember).
That effort leads for example to IKEA translated to 宜家 (yijia) literally proper-home, or Cola to 可乐 (kele) literally amusing/entertaining.
Localised Foreign Brand Names
Since you are asking especially for the «translation» of brand names, there are further aspects for selecting the right characters/words:
- cultural fit
- socioeconomic and psychological associations
- historical and traditional reflections
Above factors are essential for designing brands, not only for translating their names.
The difficulty in selecting a suitable chinese brand name may even include visual (stylish) aspects: aesthetic and beauty of the characters, since they should appeal visually to the target audience:
The translation from English brand to Chinese brand involves issues of “translating a name from a letters -and- phonemes-based phonographic language (i.e. English) to a visual-character-based logographic language (i.e. Chinese)” (Schmitt & Zhang, 2012, p.656).
Refer to examples where the name was selected to incorporate such aspects, although neither matching phonetically nor semantically:
- Poison (a luxury fragrance) was retranslated to
百爱神(Bai Ai Shen), which means everyone will love it. So that people would like to purchase it, rather than they would if it has a negative connotation like its original name and meaning.
Further Reading
Branding in China is covered by many Studies and Research Papers, published at Universities by sinologists and economists alike:
- Shi, H. (2017). Translation Strategies from Target Culture Perspective: An Analysis of English and Chinese Brands Names. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 5 (1), 15-22.
- Berende, B. (2012) : What’s in a Name? A study on the success factors of brand naming in China. Master Thesis, Jönköping International Business School