Editing Chinese language (section)

== Vocabulary ==
The entire Chinese character corpus since antiquity comprises well over 50,000 characters, of which only roughly 10,000 are in use and only about 3,000 are frequently used in Chinese media and newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/real_chinese/mini_guides/characters/characters_howmany.shtml |title=Languages – Real Chinese – Mini-guides – Chinese characters |website=BBC}}</ref> However, Chinese characters should not be confused with Chinese words. Because most Chinese words are made up of two or more characters, there are many more Chinese words than characters. A more accurate equivalent for a Chinese character is the morpheme, as characters represent the smallest grammatical units with individual meanings in the Chinese language.

Estimates of the total number of Chinese words and lexicalized phrases vary greatly. The ''[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]'', a compendium of Chinese characters, includes 54,678 head entries for characters, including oracle bone versions. The ''[[Zhonghua Zihai]]'' (1994) contains 85,568 head entries for character definitions and is the largest reference work based purely on character and its literary variants. The [[CC-CEDICT]] project (2010) contains 97,404 contemporary entries including idioms, technology terms, and names of political figures, businesses, and products. The 2009 version of the Webster's Digital Chinese Dictionary (WDCD),<ref>Timothy Uy and Jim Hsia, Editors, ''Webster's Digital Chinese Dictionary – Advanced Reference Edition'', July 2009</ref> based on CC-CEDICT, contains over 84,000 entries.

The most comprehensive pure linguistic Chinese-language dictionary, the 12-volume ''[[Hanyu Da Cidian]]'', records more than 23,000 head Chinese characters and gives over 370,000 definitions. The 1999 revised ''[[Cihai]]'', a multi-volume encyclopedic dictionary reference work, gives 122,836 vocabulary entry definitions under 19,485 Chinese characters, including proper names, phrases, and common zoological, geographical, sociological, scientific, and technical terms.

The 2016 edition of ''[[Xiandai Hanyu Cidian]]'', an authoritative one-volume dictionary on modern standard Chinese language as used in mainland China, has 13,000 head characters and defines 70,000 words.

=== Loanwords ===
Like many other languages, Chinese has absorbed a sizable number of [[loanword]]s from other cultures. Most Chinese words are formed out of native Chinese morphemes, including words describing imported objects and ideas. However, direct phonetic borrowing of foreign words has gone on since ancient times.

Some early Indo-European loanwords in Chinese have been proposed, notably {{zhl|c=蜜|p=mì|l=honey}}, {{zhl|s=狮|t=獅|p=shī|l=lion}}, and perhaps {{zhl|s=马|t=馬|p=mǎ|l=horse}}, {{zhl|s=猪|t=豬|p=zhū|l=pig}}, {{zhl|c=犬|p=quǎn|l=dog}}, and {{zhl|s=鹅|t=鵝|p=é|l=goose}}.<ref>{{multiref| {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Chinese languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-languages |last=Egerod |first=Søren Christian |date=12 April 2024 |quote=Old Chinese vocabulary already contained many words not generally occurring in the other Sino-Tibetan languages. The words for 'honey' and 'lion', and probably also 'horse', 'dog', and 'goose', are connected with Indo-European and were acquired through trade and early contacts. (The nearest known Indo-European languages were Tocharian and Sogdian, a middle Iranian language.) Some words have Austroasiatic cognates and point to early contacts with the ancestral language of Muong–Vietnamese and Mon–Khmer.}} | {{Citation |last=Ulenbrook |first=Jan |title=Einige Übereinstimmungen zwischen dem Chinesischen und dem Indogermanischen |year=1967 |lang=de}} proposes 57 items. | {{Cite journal |last=Chang |first=Tsung-tung |author1-link=Tsung-Tung Chang |year=1988 |title=Indo-European Vocabulary in Old Chinese |url=http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp007_old_chinese.pdf |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers}} }}</ref>
Ancient words borrowed from along the [[Silk Road]] during the Old Chinese period include {{zhl|c=葡萄|p=pútáo|l=grape}}, {{zhl|c=石榴|p=shíliú|l=pomegranate}}, and {{zhl|s=狮子|t=獅子|p=shīzi|l=lion}}. Some words were borrowed from Buddhist scriptures, including {{zhl|c=佛|p=Fó|l=Buddha}} and {{zhl|s=菩萨|t=菩薩|p=Púsà|l=bodhisattva}}. Other words came from nomadic peoples to the north, such as {{zhl|c=胡同|l=[[hutong]]}}. Words borrowed from the peoples along the Silk Road, such as {{zhl|c=葡萄|l=grape}}, generally have Persian etymologies. Buddhist terminology is generally derived from [[Sanskrit]] or [[Pali]], the liturgical languages of northern India. Words borrowed from the nomadic tribes of the [[Gobi]], Mongolian or northeast regions generally have [[Altaic]] etymologies, such as {{zhl|c=琵琶|p=pípá}}, the Chinese lute, or {{zhl|c=酪|p=lào|l=cheese or yogurt}}, but from exactly which source is not always clear.{{sfnp|Kane|2006|p=161}}

=== Modern borrowings ===
{{Excessive examples|section|date=April 2024}}
{{See also|Translation of neologisms into Chinese|Transcription into Chinese characters}}
Modern neologisms are primarily translated into Chinese in one of three ways: free translation ([[calque]]s), phonetic translation (by sound), or [[phono-semantic matching|a combination of the two]]. Today, it is much more common to use existing Chinese morphemes to coin new words to represent imported concepts, such as technical expressions and [[international scientific vocabulary]], wherein the Latin and Greek components are usually converted one-for-one into the corresponding Chinese characters. The word 'telephone' was initially loaned phonetically as {{zhc|s=德律风|t=德律風}} ({{tlit|zh|délǜfēng}}; Shanghainese {{tlit|wuu|télífon}} {{IPA|[təlɪfoŋ]}})—this word was widely used in Shanghai during the 1920s, but the later {{zhc|s=电话|t=電話|p=diànhuà|l=electric speech}}, built out of native Chinese morphemes became prevalent. Other examples include
{| cellpadding="5"
| {{zhc|s=电视|t=電視|p=diànshì|l=electric vision}} || 'television'
|-
| {{zhc|s=电脑|t=電腦|p=diànnǎo|l=electric brain}} || 'computer'
|-
| {{zhc|s=手机|t=手機|p=shǒujī|l=hand machine}} || 'mobile phone'
|-
| {{zhc|s=蓝牙|t=藍牙|p=lányá|l=blue tooth}} || '[[Bluetooth]]'
|-
| {{zhc|s=网志|t=網誌|p=wǎngzhì|l=internet logbook}}{{efn|Hong Kong and Macau Cantonese}} || 'blog'
|}

Occasionally, compromises between the transliteration and translation approaches become accepted, such as {{zhc|s=汉堡包|t=漢堡包|p=hànbǎobāo|l=hamburger}} from {{zhc|s=汉堡|l=Hamburg}} + {{zhc|c=包|l=bun}}. Sometimes translations are designed so that they sound like the original while incorporating Chinese morphemes ([[phono-semantic matching]]), such as {{zhc|s=马利奥|t=馬利奧|p=Mǎlì'ào}} for the video game character '[[Mario]]'. This is often done for commercial purposes, for example {{zhc|s=奔腾|t=奔騰|p=bēnténg|l=dashing-leaping}} for '[[Pentium]]' and {{zhc|s=赛百味|t=賽百味|p=Sàibǎiwèi|l=better-than hundred tastes}} for '[[Subway (restaurant)|Subway]]'.

Foreign words, mainly [[proper noun]]s, continue to enter the Chinese language by transcription according to their pronunciations. This is done by employing Chinese characters with similar pronunciations. For example, 'Israel' becomes {{zhc|c=以色列|p=Yǐsèliè}}, and 'Paris' becomes {{zhc|c=巴黎|p=Bālí}}. A rather small number of direct transliterations have survived as common words, including {{zhc|s=沙发|t=沙發|p=shāfā|l=sofa}}, {{zhc|s=马达|t=馬達|p=mǎdá|l=motor}}, {{zhc|c=幽默|p=yōumò|l=humor}}, {{zhc|s=逻辑|t=邏輯|p=luóji, luójí|l=logic}}, {{zhc|s=时髦|t=時髦|p=shímáo|l=smart (fashionable)}}, and {{zhc|c=歇斯底里|p=xiēsīdǐlǐ|l=hysterics}}. The bulk of these words were originally coined in Shanghai during the early 20th century and later loaned from there into Mandarin, hence their Mandarin pronunciations occasionally being quite divergent from the English. For example, in Shanghainese {{zhc|s=沙发|t=沙發|p=sofa}} and {{zhc|s=马达|t=馬達|l=motor}} sound more like their English counterparts. Cantonese differs from Mandarin with some transliterations, such as {{zhc|c=梳化|j=so1 faa3,2|l=sofa}} and {{zhc|c=摩打|j=mo1 daa2|l=motor}}.

Western foreign words representing Western concepts have influenced Chinese since the 20th century through transcription. From French, {{zhc|c=芭蕾|p=bālěi}} and {{zhc|s=香槟|t=香檳|p=xiāngbīn}} were borrowed for 'ballet' and 'champagne' respectively; {{zhc|c=咖啡|p=kāfēi}} was borrowed from Italian {{lang|it|caffè}} 'coffee'. The influence of English is particularly pronounced: from the early 20th century, many English words were borrowed into Shanghainese, such as {{zhc|s=高尔夫|t=高爾夫|p=gāo'ěrfū|l=golf}} and the aforementioned {{zhc|s=沙发|t=沙發|p=shāfā|l=sofa}}. Later, American [[soft power]] gave rise to {{zhc|c=迪斯科|p=dísīkē|l=disco}}, {{zhc|s=可乐|t=可樂|p=kělè|l=cola}}, and {{zhc|s=迷你裙|p=mínǐqún|l=miniskirt}}. Contemporary colloquial Cantonese has distinct loanwords from English, such as {{zhc|c=卡通|j=kaa1 tung1|l=cartoon}}, {{zhc|c=基佬|j=gei1 lou2|l=gay people}}, {{zhc|c=的士|j=dik1 si6,2|l=taxi}}, and {{zhc|c=巴士|j=baa1 si6,2|l=bus}}. With the rising popularity of the Internet, there is a current vogue in China for coining English transliterations, for example, {{zhc|s=粉丝|t=粉絲|p=fěnsī|l=fans}}, {{zhc|c=黑客|p=hēikè|l=hacker}}, and {{zhc|c=博客|p=bókè|l=blog}}. In Taiwan, some of these transliterations are different, such as {{zhc|c=駭客|p=hàikè|l=hacker}} and {{zhc|c=部落格|p=bùluògé|l=interconnected tribes}} for 'blog'.

Another result of English influence on Chinese is the appearance of so-called {{zhc|s=字母词|t=字母詞|p=zìmǔcí|l=lettered words}} spelled with letters from the English alphabet. These have appeared in colloquial usage, as well as in magazines and newspapers, and on websites and television:
{| cellpadding=5
|{{zhi|s=三G手机}} 'third generation of cell phones' || ← || {{zhc|c=三|p=sān|l=three}} || + || ''G''; 'generation' || + || {{zhc|s=手机|p=shǒujī|l=cell phone}}
|-
|{{zhi|c=IT界}} 'IT circles' || ← || ''IT'' ||+|| {{zhc|c=界|p=jiè|l=industry}}
|-
| {{zhi|s=CIF价}} 'Cost, Insurance, Freight' || ← || ''CIF'' || + || {{zhi|s=价|p=jià|l=price}}
|-
| {{zhi|c=e家庭}} 'e-home' || ← || ''e''; 'electronic' || + || {{zhi|c=家庭|p=jiātíng|l=home}}
|-
| {{zhi|s=W时代}} 'wireless era' || ← || ''W''; 'wireless' || + || {{zhi|s=时代|p=shídài|l=era}}
|-
| {{zhi|c=TV族}} 'TV-watchers' || ← || ''TV''; 'television' || + || {{zhi|c=族|p=TV zú|l=clan}}
|}

Since the 20th century, another source of words has been kanji: Japan re-molded European concepts and inventions into {{langx|ja|和製漢語|[[wasei-kango]]|lit=Japanese-made Chinese|label=none}}, and many of these words have been re-loaned into modern Chinese. Other terms were coined by the Japanese by giving new senses to existing Chinese terms or by referring to expressions used in classical Chinese literature. For example, {{zhi|s=经济|t=經濟|p=jīngjì}}; {{langx|ja|経済|keizai|label=none}} in Japanese, which in the original Chinese meant 'the workings of the state', narrowed to 'economy' in Japanese; this narrowed definition was then re-imported into Chinese. As a result, these terms are virtually indistinguishable from native Chinese words: indeed, there is some dispute over some of these terms as to whether the Japanese or Chinese coined them first. As a result of this loaning, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese share a corpus of linguistic terms describing modern terminology, paralleling the similar corpus of terms built from Greco-Latin and shared among European languages.