Editing Chinese language (section)

=== 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}}