A Corpus Based Study of the Role of Chinese Buddhist Loanwords in Teaching Chinese in South Asia

Abstract

Chinese language has borrowed a large number of Indic loanwords through Buddhist sūtra translation from Sanskrit and Prakrit languages. Buddhist sūtra translation is a major pillar in the evolution of Chinese translation theory and philosophy and it has expanded the terminologies of many spheres in China including literature, art, politics and law. These words constitute the strongest linguistic relationship between East and South Asian languages since most Indo-Aryan languages were derived from Classical Sanskrit. Although much research has been conducted on Buddhist loanwords in Chinese, their linguistic relationship with the Indo-Aryan languages and how it could be utilized to develop the pedagogical implications for teaching Chinese in South Asia have been less addressed. The present study is a corpus based study which examines the prospects of utilizing phonological and lexical similarities between Buddhist loanwords in Indo Aryan languages and Chinese for teaching Chinese in the South Asian region. An algorithm has been employed to measure the similarity levels of phonological features at segmental level and it is recommended that words of higher similarity level be utilized in teaching Chinese phonetics. An amalgamated approach of intuitive-imitative and analytic-linguistic methods is perceived as most appropriate for teaching phonetics using Buddhist loanwords. Word formation strategies in Chinese language could be taught to students by using the most productive phono-semantic matchings of Buddhist loanwords in Chinese language. Culture-sensitivity is perceived as the 8 core of cross-cultural translation and knowledge of Buddhist loanwords is an essential component of translating Chinese texts into South Asian languages and vice versa.