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21 - Language Modernization in the Chinese Character Cultural Sphere

China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam

from Part IV - Beyond the National

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Patrick Heinrich
Edited by
Wendy Ayres-Bennett  and
John Bellamy
Wendy Ayres-Bennett
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
John Bellamy
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

This chapter delineates lexical modernization in four states (Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam) where the writing system allowed for modernization and standardization to evolve transculturally. Japan, as the first ever non-Western country to modernize, served in many aspects as a model for how terminological gaps could be filled in the wake of modernization in East Asia. Script played a crucial role therein. Chinese characters have historically been used in all four polities discussed here, and what is more, this script allows for an easy spread of newly coined works due to its morpho-semantic character. The fact that these written terms can then be read differently in each of these four polities also allows these graphic loanwords to appear as original to the language in which they are used. The spread of Sino-Japanese modern terminology in East Asia via Chinese script characters shows that script has repercussions on language modernization. This pleremic script system serves as a transcultural and transnational resource.

Keywords

graphic loanwordstransculturalitymorphosyllabic scriptSino-Xenic readinglanguage modernization
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization , pp. 576 - 596
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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