On The Origin,Evolution,Spread,and Influence Of Zhuyi(主义) And Its Word Family In China

Globalization has expedited the exchanges between countries and nations all over the world.As a vehicle for cultural dissemination,communication,and dialogue,languages are in constant evolution.Vocabulary forms a crucial part of language,and it quickly and directly reflect the change of language and social culture.This study is based on “the theory of language variation” and “the theory of covariance” in sociolinguistics.Based on the data collected from Beijing Language and Culture University Corpus Centre(BCC),Dacheng Data and Quan Guo Bao Kan Suo Yin(CNBKSY),the author explores zhuyi(主义)and its word family.According to the theory of language variation,language variation happens when the language is used in a certain community,and the variation is closely related to the social and cultural context.The theory of covariance emphasizes the covariant relationship and even the causality between the evolution of language and the change of social culture.Based on these theoretical points,the author described and analyzed the structural features of zhuyi(主义)and its word family,capitalizing on a combination of qualitative research and quantitative research as well as synchronic research and diachronic research.This study outlines the evolution of zhuyi(主义)and its word family in modern Chinese language and Chinese socio-cultural context.According to the study,after zhuyi(主义)entered China,its concept was accepted and absorbed by Chinese intellectuals while new structures containing zhuyi(主义)with Chinese characteristics came into being.Moreover,zhuyi(主义)has undergone semantic and morphological changes in the Chinese context.As an affix with strong derivative power,zhuyi(主义)formed a large number of new terms in various categories,which greatly enriched the Chinese vocabulary.On the other hand,the evolution of zhuyi(主义)and its word family show prominent diachronic characteristics.These newly created terms bear a relationship of mutual influence to each other.Apart from the internal dynamics of vocabulary and terminology,socio-cultural changes constitute a crucial factor that exerted an influence upon the evolution of zhuyi(主义)and its word family.Meanwhile,political,economic,and cultural changes have a huge impact on vocabulary and terminology.When some significant events occur,the phenomenon of variation is particularly obvious.The author systematically investigated the evolution of zhuyi(主义)and its word family.As demonstrated in the study,terminology is subject to variation in the process of its dissemination,which is often affected by the characteristics of the term itself as well as social and cultural changes.The variation of terminology,in turn,affects the social and cultural changes.The study helps to deepen the understanding of the spreading mechanism of terms and of the covariant relationship between words or terms and social culture.