漢語
Chinese[edit]
| Han people | speech; language; dialect | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (漢語) | 漢 | 語 | |
| simp. (汉语) | 汉 | 语 | |
| Literally: “Han speech”. | |||
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
漢語
- the Chinese language (usually spoken Chinese)
Usage notes[edit]
漢語／汉语 (Hànyǔ) usually refers to spoken Chinese, however since 古代漢語／古代汉语 (gǔdài hànyǔ, “Old Chinese”) is only accessible to modern people in the written form, it can also refer to written Chinese depending on context. 漢語／汉语 (Hànyǔ) can also imply 普通話／普通话 (pǔtōnghuà, “Standard Mandarin Chinese”), especially in the term 現代漢語／现代汉语 (xiàndài hànyǔ, “Modern Chinese”). Ethnic minorities in China often refer to Standard Mandarin as 漢語／汉语 (Hànyǔ) in order to contrast it with their respective ethnic languages.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Japanese[edit]
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 漢 | 語 |
| かん Grade: 3 |
ご Grade: 2 |
| on’yomi | |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 漢語 (kyūjitai) |
Etymology[edit]
From Middle Chinese 漢語 (MC xanH ngjoX, “Han, Chinese + speech, language”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
- kango, a Japanese word of Chinese origin, or a Japanese word coined along Chinese lines (a Sino-Japanese word)
- Antonym: (Japanese word of native Japanese origin) 和語 (wago)
- (less commonly) the Chinese language
- Synonym: 中国語 (Chūgokugo)
- the ancient Chinese language, the language of the Han (漢／汉 (hàn)) ethnicity
Usage notes[edit]
Kango are usually written in kanji, and read with the on'yomi (音読み). Contrast with wago (和語), which may be written in kanji read with the kun'yomi (訓読み) or in kana only.
Kango are derived from Classical Chinese. They are composed of words that:
- retained their original meanings in Classical Chinese, such as 天 (ten, “heaven”), 天下 (tenka, “the world”) or 菩薩 (bosatsu, “bodhisattva”)
- were repurposed to translate Western concepts, such as 社会 (shakai, “society”), 文化 (bunka, “culture”), 過渡 (kato, “transition”) or 博士 (hakushi, “doctor”)
- were newly coined from Classical Chinese syllables, morphemes or graphemes, such as 出超 (shutchō, “trade surplus”) or 腺 (sen, “gland”), where words coined from more than one syllable are called wasei kango (和製漢語) and coined kanji are called kokuji (国字)
Note that some words of Chinese origin are not considered kango, such as 北京 (Pekin, “Beijing”)(a gairaigo (外来語) borrowed from a modern Chinese language), 銭 (zeni, “money”) or 博士 (hakase, “doctor”) (both of which have undergone irregular shifts from their original Chinese pronunciation).
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Korean[edit]
| Hanja in this term | |
|---|---|
| 漢 | 語 |
Noun[edit]
Vietnamese[edit]
| chữ Hán Nôm in this term | |
|---|---|
| 漢 | 語 |
Noun[edit]
漢語
- Mandarin terms with audio links
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