A Study on the Transcriptions of Western Personal Names and Place Names in Nüjie Zhong from the Late Qing Dynasty

This study examine the transliterated loanwords of Western personal and place names found in the late Qing Dynasty’s Nüjie Zhong (女界钟), focusing on the transliteration methods, language sources, phonetic forms, and Chinese character representations. It also analyzes their impact on the vocabulary system of modern Chinese. The research reveals that transliteration was primarily used at the time, with English as the main source language, along with German, French, and other Western languages. In terms of Chinese character usage, there was a noticeable prevalence of obscure characters. While some transliterated personal and place names from Nüjie Zhong have persisted to this day, many underwent adjustments and changes over time. Additionally, the transliterations were mostly three- or four-syllable words, which contributed to the process of polysyllabification in the Chinese lexicon. However, due to the simplicity and directness of the transliteration methods, the phonetic representation of these words often appeared arbitrary, and the use of obscure Chinese characters made some transliterations difficult to understand. There were also instances of homophones and mistranslations, reflecting the limited understanding of Western languages in China at the time. Nevertheless, some transliterated words continue to be used today, becoming an integral part of the modern Chinese vocabulary. Through the study of Nüjie Zhong’s transliterated words, this paper highlights the significant role of transliterations in the development of the Chinese lexicon and provides valuable insights into the linguistic characteristics of foreign personal and place names during the late Qing period.