Talk:Wasei-kango

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Article name: How to address the whole phenomenon, including words made in China? edit

Latest comment: 4 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Dear all, I'm very happy to see this article finally created, no longer a mere sub-section about Japanese vocabulary. It remained unnoticed to me for a long time. I've added a link into the template of Japanese language.

The point i'd like to raise is about how to name the phenomenon described here. 和製漢語, "Japanese-made Chinese words", such words exist but belong to a larger lexicon resulting from the translation of western concepts during the 19th century. It is clearly documented in dictionaries as early as 1822 that many such new words were also coined in China with the joint work of missionaries and scholars (精神,行為,言語). Some other words originally existed in Chinese classics but were given new meaning by Japanese scholars (革命,世界,社會). I think that it would be misleading not to mention this other side of the phenomenon. The best way to offer a fair and comprehensive view of it to the reader would be to broaden the scope of this article and rename it accordingly. "Wasei-kango" would be redirected to it.

The issue is to name this overall phenomenon, which includes new words made in Japan and China. A lot of research was made by Michael Lackner, Iwo Amelung and Joachim Kurtz. They use the phrase "New words for new ideas" to refer to this lexicon. This is probably too vague but got currency from the fame of its authors.The fast grown and vividly argued Chinese wiki article names the Chinese counterpart of Wasei-kango as "華製新漢語" (which would be pronounced in Japanese "Wasei-sinkango").

This topic is clearly a field of controversy between Japanese and Chinese culture, each claiming authorship of this so-called "modern vocabulary". Whatever the chosen name, in order to remain impartial it probably shouldn't a romaji nor a pinyi. Naming it means defining the boundaries of the concept. The common feature is the translation of western ideas. These new words were introduced into far eastern languages (Japanese, Chinese mandarin and dialects, Vietnamese and Korean). How about : "Far eastern lexicon for western ideas"? Pardon my writing layout if awkward, I tried to make it readable ;) --Napish (talk) 07:52, 18 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

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