{"title":"Words of Chinese Origin in the OED: Misinformation and Attestation","authors":"Ai Zhong","doi":"10.1093/ijl/ecad034","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Recent decades have seen small batches of Chinese loanwords and words from Chinese English entering the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Meanwhile, a muddle of misinformation on the dictionary’s inclusion of certain Chinese-origin words has occurred again and again in various Chinese media forms. The present study examines the extent to which these uninformed news stories are associated with prominent features of the OED. In order to assess the possibility of including the words mentioned in the pieces of misinformation, the study explores the current treatment of Chinese-origin words in the OED and adopts Diamond’s (2016) four criteria for entry, namely evidence of usage, longevity, naturalization, and lexicographical significance. Although the words examined are inadequate in meeting all criteria for inclusion, the misinformed new stories attest to an awareness of Chinese influence on the English lexicon and evidence the reception and reputation of the OED in Chinese media and culture. Moreover, the bits of false news reports expose lexicographers to new knowledge of some prospective candidates for lexicographical inclusion.","PeriodicalId":45657,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Lexicography","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Lexicography","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecad034","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent decades have seen small batches of Chinese loanwords and words from Chinese English entering the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Meanwhile, a muddle of misinformation on the dictionary’s inclusion of certain Chinese-origin words has occurred again and again in various Chinese media forms. The present study examines the extent to which these uninformed news stories are associated with prominent features of the OED. In order to assess the possibility of including the words mentioned in the pieces of misinformation, the study explores the current treatment of Chinese-origin words in the OED and adopts Diamond’s (2016) four criteria for entry, namely evidence of usage, longevity, naturalization, and lexicographical significance. Although the words examined are inadequate in meeting all criteria for inclusion, the misinformed new stories attest to an awareness of Chinese influence on the English lexicon and evidence the reception and reputation of the OED in Chinese media and culture. Moreover, the bits of false news reports expose lexicographers to new knowledge of some prospective candidates for lexicographical inclusion.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Lexicography was launched in 1988. Interdisciplinary as well as international, it is concerned with all aspects of lexicography, including issues of design, compilation and use, and with dictionaries of all languages, though the chief focus is on dictionaries of the major European languages - monolingual and bilingual, synchronic and diachronic, pedagogical and encyclopedic. The Journal recognizes the vital role of lexicographical theory and research, and of developments in related fields such as computational linguistics, and welcomes contributions in these areas.