A Research On Loanwords And Their Translation During May 4^th Period

The research on loanwords in China has undergone a long period of time.Most scholars focus their attention on classification and lexicography of loanwords with less study on loanwords of a particular period.Taking May 4th Period as research time background,this thesis conducts a study on classifications,features,translation techniques and reasons of translation of loanwords collected from newspaper and magazines during this period.This thesis consists of six parts.The first part is introduction,explaining research object,research objective,methodology and significance of the study.This thesis carries out a descriptive research on a certain amount of loanwords from newspaper and magazines during May 4th Period.Loanword is an indispensable part of modern Chinese language as well as a carrier of foreign culture.Study on introduction and translation of loanwords could help us understand the role they play in modern Chinese language development and the process of cultural communication between China and foreign countries.The thesis also benefits researches in translation study,lexicology and cross-cultural communication.Chapter Two is literature review.It introduces relevant previous studies,including research on vocabulary of May 4th Period,terms of loanwords and research on loanwords from social and cultural perspective.Then it depicts an overview of loanwords selected from newspaper and magazines.We find that the sources of these loanwords are mainly European and Japanese,covering almost every aspect of society:politics,military,science and technology,medicine,culture,art,law,proper name and daily life.Translation techniques of them include transliteration,transliteration with modifier,transliteration and free translation,free translation and shape-borrowed Japanese.Chapter Three introduces the theoretical framework of this thesis:polysystem theory,including its main content and several key terms concerning this theory.Chapter Four describes the complex social context of China during May 4th Period.Great changes have occurred in China's politics,thoughts and culture and social life in this period.It is such change that creates necessary condition for China to embrace floods of foreign thoughts.Loanwords play an important role in filling Chinese vocabulary vacancy,Chinese morphology and writing system.Chapter Five conducts a causal analysis on loanwords translation during May 4th Period by applying polysystem theory.Affected by the turbulence of society during May 4th Period,Chinese literary polysystem becomes so unstable that translated literature get to push its way to the center of this polysystem and the translation of loanwords becomes popular.In addition,the requirement of modern Chinese language's growth is another cause of translation of loanwords.For instance,both lexical system and writing system of Chinese need renewal,and the translation of loanwords meets just the requirement of both.Chapter Six concludes what has been discussed above.