Lexical innovations in China English

Abstract

Abstract: The literature on China English available seems to focus mostly on the attitudes toward English, the use of English, or the EFL industry in this country. Lexical borrowing as part of nativization has rarely been investigated. This paper presents a data-based analysis of 59 borrowed lexical items as found in 84 articles from two English newspapers in China, including both loanwords and loan translations. On the whole these items do not seem to be in widespread use. Additionally, the findings show that the loanwords tend to be culture-specific lexical items, nonce borrowings, and necessary borrowings. The loan translations may be more foreign than they appear, because of the underlying facets of Chinese culture. Also discussed in the paper are two linguistic factors that may decide if a lexical item may be borrowed as a loanword or a loan translation, as well as the existence of pairs and sets of synonymous loanwords and/or loan translations, found among Chinese-English bilingual communities in and outside China.