A Study Of Lexical Features Of China English From The Perspective Of Language Contact

With the progress of globalization and the development of science and technology,English as an international language has undergone great changes in its role as the carrier of British and American culture.As a result,the concept of “World Englishes” has come into existence,including the different variations of English in different countries or regions.Nowadays,English has been integrated into the social,cultural and political life of some non-English speaking countries,like Japan,Indonesia and China.Under these circumstances,new variations of English have been generated after absorbing the national characteristics of non-English speaking countries.China English as a new variation of the English language has come into being and is getting more and more mature to be accepted with the rise of China's international status,which is an important tool for China to communicate with other countries.However,there also exist some doubts about the recognition and popularity of China English and a systematic analysis from the aspect of lexical features based on the Language Contact Theory has not been done yet.Therefore,under the guidance of the Language Contact Theory,it is necessary to make a further study of the lexical features of China English with its data from China Daily as well as the factors to such a kind of phenomenon,which is both a theoretical and practical research topic.Different from other data sources,China Daily is the most authoritative and representative English newspaper containing numerous lexis and expressions of China English,which is an important access to expressing Chinese unique things and elements covered in many different fields to the whole world.Language Contact Theory is divided into natural contact and non-natural contact,where cultural contact plays a pivotal role.In addition,it clarifies contact-induced change both in internal and external causes as well as lexical borrowings and semantic change as the main outcomes of language contact.Thus,it is reasonable to closely combine language contact with the analysis of lexical features of China English respectively from its formation,semantic change and factors to make an in-depth study for the transmission of China English and strengthening of its international status.Generally speaking,this research mainly focuses on three questions.Firstly,what is the formation of China English Lexicon? Secondly,how does China English change in its lexical meaning? Thirdly,what are the factors that contribute to the lexical features of China English from the aspect of the Language Contact Theory?China English Lexicon(hereafter referred to as CEL)is collected from China Daily within recent two years,some of which are still selected as the data of the research though they were referred to but still keep coming up in specific contexts.The whole study is conducted through the following procedures.The author will start with the lexical collection and some typical examples selected from China Daily to find out how CEL is formed from the aspect of the Language Contact.Then,based on a detailed analysis of the lexical features of China English,the semantic change will be elaborated and analyzed.Lastly,some possible factors in both internal and external aspects that contribute to the lexical features of China English will be proposed and summarized.Based on the study,the thesis draws the following conclusions:(1)The formation of CEL is mainly concerned with three aspects: Chinese borrowings,loan translations and creations.For Chinese borrowings,Standard Mandarin,Cantonese words and Min loan words are three main sources;then pure loanwords and loan blend are also concerned in part or in total form.For loan translations,the features in structure,form and content are analyzed.In structure,nominal group is the main type to construct CEL,including supplementary and modified compound words;in form,the proper use of figures and parallelism are concerned;in content,CEL is specifically reflected in China's culture,politics and economy as well as social life.For creations,abbreviations in three kinds are concerned: one is abbreviated from English-based words in form and the second is from Chinese pinyin to create new words by way of acronyms and the last is the hybridized abbreviation of English-based words and Chinese pinyin.In addition,pure English creations,hybrid creations and only Chinese morphemes in creations are also analyzed.(2)As for the semantic changes of CEL,its denotative meaning,connotative meaning and transfer of meaning change in range,including restriction of meaning and extension of meaning;the change in evaluation,including the degradation of meaning and elevation of meaning;and lastly transference of meaning.For transference of meaning,it is mainly reflected in figures of speech,including metaphor,metonymy,hyperbole and personification.(3)While analyzing the formation and semantic change of CEL,one also needs to look into the factors that affect the lexical features of China English,including both external and internal factors.External factors include the contacts between the Chinese and English language and social factors,such as politics,economy and culture as well as personal factor like Chinese people's positive attitude towards the new change.Internal factors include language inherent change,degree of language integration and dynamic development of language mechanism,which are all responsible for the formation of lexical features of China English.The development of China English is inseparable from the contact of language and culture and learning China English can better inherit and transmit Chinese culture.Therefore,a full grasp of CEL is a basic and necessary learning process,which also enriches the diversity of World Englishes and strengthens the cultural exchange between China and the world.