Non-Sinoxenic pronunciations are vocabularies borrowed from Chinese, but differ from Sinoxenic pronunciations in that:
As such, non-Sinoxenic pronunciations are therefore loanwords in which the corresponding Chinese character is not adopted. These non-Sinoxenic pronunciations are thus most prominent in Asian languages in which cultural exchanges with Chinese culture occurred (e.g. Mongolian, Central Asian or Turkic languages), but the adoption of the Chinese writing system did not occur. This also includes non-Sinitic languages within China (e.g. Tibetan, Uyghur, Hani, Zhuang, Hmong). While the Sinoxenic model has traditionally held the limelight as the most distinctive and influential model for the borrowing of Chinese vocabulary, it is not the only model. For Sinoxenic languages, pronunciations are regarded as non-Sinoxenic if there is a mismatch between the vocabulary and the codified Sinoxenic pronunciation.
Chronologically, Mongolian borrowing of Chinese vocabulary took place later than that of the Sinoxenic languages.[1] In contrast to Sinoxenic vocabulary, Sino-Mongolian vocabulary is not the result of an attempt to adopt Chinese as the literary language or the adoption of the Chinese writing system as a whole. The majority of Mongolian loanwords from Chinese occurred in the last 800 years, sourced from Early, Middle, and Modern Mandarin as spoken in northern China, rather than Classical Chinese, as in the case of Sinospheric cultures.
Modes of borrowing are not uniform. Some vocabulary was borrowed indirectly, such as the term for writing, bichig (Mongolian script: ; Mongolian Cyrillic: бичиг), which appears to have entered from Turkic in ancient times. Bichig derives from biir (; Mongolian Cyrillic: бийр), which was adopted from Tibetan for writing instrument, pir (Tibetan: པིར), which itself is derived from the Chinese word for pen or writing brush .
In more recent times, most words have been borrowed directly. Some are starkly different from the Chinese pronunciation because of the long time for pronunciations to change or because of impressionistic auditory borrowing. One example is the word for window, tsonkh (Mongolian script: ; Mongolian Cyrillic: цонх), from Chinese chuānghu . Similarly, the word for peace, taivang (Mongolian script: ; Mongolian Cyrillic: тайван) is supposedly from Chinese tàipíng, which also means peace. Note that the traditional spelling (which equates to 'taibung') makes no attempt to reproduce the original vowel in 平 'píng'.
Although the traditional Mongolian script often tends to highlight the original Chinese pronunciation, the Cyrillic orthography, which spells words as they are pronounced, obscures the connection with Chinese. For instance, the syllable-final н in the Cyrillic script is pronounced /ŋ/ in Mongolia, thus neutralising the earlier distinction between /ŋ/ and /n/ in this position and further obscuring the regularity of relationships with Chinese. The distinction between /ŋ/ and /n/ is retained in Inner Mongolian dialects.
Note that the following examples are in the context of non-Sinoxenic vocabulary that exist in the Mongolian language.
The Sinoxenic languages of Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese are included for comparative purposes. Words that do not actually occur in the Sinoxenic languages are given in their Sinoxenic reading but are greyed out. The absence of these terms in Sinoxenic languages suggests that the borrowing of Chinese in Mongolian is attributed to a more recent form of a Sinitic language (such as Early Mandarin and Middle Mandarin), rather than Classical Chinese.
| Chinese characters | Chinese pronunciation | Mongolian | Mongolian Script | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brassfounder | 銅匠 | ㄊㄨㄥˊ ㄐㄧㄤˋ tóngjiàng | түнжаан (tünǰaan) | (tünǰiyaŋ) | どうしょう (dōshō) | 동장 (dongjang) | đồng tượng | |
| Carpenter | 木匠 | ㄇㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄤˋ mùjiàng | мужаан (muǰaan) | (muǰiyaŋ) | ぼくしょう (bokushō) or もくしょう (mokushō) | 목장 (mokjang) | mộc tượng | |
| Ironworker | 鐵匠 | ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ tiějiàng | тижаан (tiǰaan) | (tiǰiyaŋ) | てっしょう (tesshō) | 철장 (cheoljang) | thiết tượng | |
| Silversmith | 銀匠 | ㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄤˋ yínjiàng | инжаан (inǰaan) | (inǰiyaŋ) | ぎんしょう (ginshō) | 은장 (eunjang) | ngân tượng | |
| Stonemason | 石匠 | ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄤˋ shíjiàng | шожоон (šoǰoon) | (šoǰiyaŋ) | せきしょう (sekishō) | 석장 (seokjang) | thạch tượng |
| Chinese characters | Chinese pronunciation | Mongolian | Mongolian Script | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gourd | 葫蘆 | ㄏㄨˊ ㄌㄨˊ húlu | хулуу (xuluu) | (xulu) | ころ (koro) | 호로 (horo) | hồ lô |
| Green pepper | 青椒 | ㄑㄧㄥ ㄐㄧㄠ qīngjiāo | чинжүү (činjüü) | (činǰüü) or (čiŋ ǰiyuu) | せいしょう (seishō) | 청초 (cheongcho) | thanh tiêu |
| Peanut | 花生 | ㄏㄨㄚ ㄕㄥ huāshēng | хуасан (xuasan) | (xuwašEŋ) | かせい (kasei) | 화생 (hwasaeng) | hoa sinh |
| Pepper (spice) | 花椒 | ㄏㄨㄚ ㄐㄧㄠ huājiāo | хуажуу (xuaǰuu) | (xuwaǰuu) | かしょう (kashō) | 화초 (hwacho) | hoa tiêu |
| Radish | 蘿蔔 | ㄌㄨㄛˊ ㄅㄨˇ luóbo | лууван (luuvan) | (luubaŋ) | らふく, (rafuku) or らほく (rahoku) | 나복 (nabok) or 라복 (rabok) | la bặc |
| Steamed bread (or dumpling) | 饅頭 | ㄇㄢˊ ㄊㄡˊ mántou | мантуу[2] (mantuu) | (mantau) | まんとう (mantō) | 만두 (mandu) | màn thầu |
| Teapot | 茶壺 | ㄔㄚˊ ㄏㄨˊ cháhú | саахуу (saaxuu) | (saxuu) | ちゃこ (chako) | 차호[3] (chaho) | trà ho, chè ho |
Although Sino-Korean vocabulary dominates the spectrum of borrowed Chinese words, there are non-Sinoxenic words in Korean that are derived from Chinese. In such cases, the corresponding pronunciation for the Chinese character (hanja) does not match the borrowed vocabulary. Such loanwords most likely preserve a slightly different form of a Sinitic language from the one codified in Sino-Korean, thus making such words Chinese borrowings with a non-Sinoxenic pronunciation.
A few native Korean words closely resemble reconstructed pronunciations of Old Chinese that was spoken at least 2000 years ago in China. It is unclear if these words are borrowed from Old Chinese, or if Old Chinese borrowed these words from an ancient Koreanic language, or if these words are borrowed from another language (i.e. both Old Korean and Old Chinese borrowed from another language), or if these words are descended from a common proto-language, or if these words are false cognates by mere chance. These words may not be the case of non-Sinoxenic pronunciations.
Some Sinologists such as Wang Li have attempted to classify words of Chinese origins into at least three categories: old or pre-Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, and nativized Chinese vocabulary. Among the three, only Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary is considered to have a Sino-Xenic pronunciation, borrowed from Classical Chinese. The other two were introduced verbally through colloquial speech and are not as systematic, especially in terms of the lack of consistent correspondence between the tones of Vietnamese tones and the four tones of Middle Chinese. Some dictionaries, such as that of Thiều Chửu, may consider some pre-Sino-Vietnamese syllables to be Sino-Vietnamese.
Consequences of the multiple layers of borrowing are doublets and alternative readings:
| Traditional Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pre-Sino-Vietnamese (non-Sino-Xenic) | Sino-Vietnamese (Sino-Xenic) | Nativized Chinese (non-Sino-Xenic) | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 嫁 | kæH | gả | giá | to marry off | ||
| 價 | kæH | cả | giá | price | ||
| 斧 | pjuX | búa | phủ | hammer | ||
| 符 | bju | bùa | phù | spell; charm | ||
| 佛 | bjut | Bụt | Phật | Buddha | ||
| 夏 | hæH | hè | hạ | summer | ||
| 車 | tsyhæ | xe | xa | wheeled vehicle | ||
| 未 | mjɨjH | Mùi | vị | zodiac goat | ||
| 味 | mjɨjH | mùi | vị | smell; taste | ||
| 為 | hjwe | vị | vì | because | ||
| 類 | lwijH | loại | loài | kind; species | ||
| 外 | ngwajH | ngoại | ngoài | outside | ||
| 鏡 | kjængH | kính | gương | mirror | ||
| 劍 | kjæmH | kiếm | gươm | sword | ||
| 記 | kiH | kí | ghi | to write | ||
| 壁 | pek | bích | vách | wall | ||
| 板 | pænX | bản | ván | plank; board |
Apart from these old borrowings, which are deeply integrated into Vietnamese, there are also phonetic borrowings of Yue or Cantonese origin, such as lì xì, lạp xưởng, xíu mại, xí ngầu, hầm bà lằng, and tả pín lù. These words were also borrowed through the spoken language and, unlike Sino-Vietnamese, also are not systematic. They are especially common in southern Vietnam, which has a significant population of Chinese, known as the Hoa ethnic group. A lot of these pronunciations came from recent Cantonese migration to southern Vietnam during the 17th–20th centuries.[4] Most of the Cantonese eventually settled down in Chợ Lớn,[5] and they introduced their cuisine to Vietnam. Thus, many Cantonese borrowings in Vietnamese are food-related.
| Chinese characters | Cantonese | Teochew | Vietnamese borrowing | Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 豉油 'soy sauce' | si6 jau4 | xì dầu | thị du | ||
| 點心 'dim sum, Cantonese food' | dim2 sam1 | điểm sấm | điểm tâm | ||
| 雲吞, 餛飩 'wonton' | wan4 tan1, wan4 tan4-1 | vằn thắn, hoành thánh | vân thôn, hồn đồn | ||
| 饅頭 'mantou' | maan6 tau4 | màn thầu | man đầu | ||
| 燒賣 'shumai' | siu1 maai6-2 | xíu mại | thiêu mại | ||
| 臘腸 'Chinese sausage; lap cheong' | laap6 coeng4-2 | lạp xưởng | lạp tràng/trường | ||
| 蝦餃 'har gow' | haa1 gaau2 | há cảo | hà giảo | ||
| 水圓 'tangyuan' | seoi2 jyun4 | sủi dìn | thuỷ viên | ||
| 叉燒 'char siu' | caa1 siu1 | xá xíu | xoa thiêu | ||
| 酸梅 'smoked plum' | syun1 mui4 | xí muội | toan mai | ||
| 白小 'white coffee' | baak6 siu2 | bạc xỉu | bạch tiểu | ||
| 咖椰 'coconut jam' | gaa3 je4 | ca dé | ca da | ||
| 豆腐 'douhua' | dau6 fu6 | tàu hủ | đậu hủ | ||
| 清補涼 'ching bo leung' | cing1 bou2 loeng4-2 | sâm bổ lượng | thanh bổ lương | ||
| 芥蘭 'gai lan' | gaai3 laan4-2 | cải làn | giới lan | ||
| 味精 'Monosodium glutamate' | mei6 zing1 | mì chính | vị tinh | ||
| 腩 'flank beef' | naam5 | nạm | nạm | ||
| 香港 'Hong Kong' | hoeng1 gong2 | Hồng Kông | Hương Cảng (dated name) | ||
| 我愛你 'I love you' | ngo5 oi3 nei5 | ngộ ái nị (humorous, is rarely used) | ngã ái nhĩ | ||
| 幸 'lucky' | hang6 | hên | hạnh | ||
| 利市 'red envelope' | lai6 si6 | lì xì | lợi thị | ||
| 馬刀 'machete' | maa5 dou1 | mã tấu | mã đao | ||
| 抵制 'to boycott' | dai2 zai3 | tẩy chay | để chế | ||
| 曬冷 'to let go of all restraints' | saai3 laang5-1 | xả láng | sái lãnh | ||
| 冚唪唥 'mixed; mingled; miscellaneous' | ham6 baang6 laang6 | hầm bà lằng | (no reading) phủng (no reading) | ||
| 死 'to die; ugly; bad' | sei2, si2 | xí (slang) | tử | ||
| 衰鬼 'unlucky' | seoi1 gwai2 | xúi quẩy | suy quỷ | ||
| 食 'to eat' | sik6 | xực (slang) | thực | ||
| 長衫 'cheongsam' | coeng4 saam1 | xường xám | trường sam | ||
| 小 'tiny' | siu2 | xíu | tiểu | ||
| 一 'the best' | jat1 | (số) dách | nhất | ||
| 十四十五 'to cheat' | sap6 sei3 sap6 ng5 | xập xí xập ngầu | thập tứ thập ngũ | ||
| 四五 'die [as in dice]) | sei3 ng5 | xí ngầu | tứ ngũ | ||
| 麻雀 'mahjong' | maa4 zoek3 | mạt chược | ma tước | ||
| 打邊爐 'Chinese hotpot' | daa2 bin1 lou4 | tả pín lù | đả biên lô | ||
| 爐 'hotpot' | lou5 | lẩu | lô | ||
| 薄餅 'popiah' | boh8 bian2 | bò bía | bạc bánh | ||
| 粿條 'kuyteav' | guê2 diou5 | hủ tiếu | quả điều | ||
| 仙草 'grass jelly' | siêng1 cao2 | sương sáo | tiên thảo |
According to Zev Handel, Sino-Zhuang is the term used to describe pronunciations in the Zhuang language that are used to read Chinese characters. These borrowings are borrowed from Old Chinese to present-day Chinese. However, there were no large scale borrowings or formal standardised readings of Chinese characters such as seen during the development of the Sino-xenic languages such as Vietnamese.[6] These readings were unsystematically borrowed.
| 我 | ngaX | ngoh | I; me | |
| 壓 | 'aep | ep | to force | |
| 大 | dajH | daih | big; large | |
| 國 | kwok | guek | country |
The word "radish" in Chinese was attested in various forms since early Old Chinese. This is the source of the terms for "radish" and "turnip" in Sinoxenic languages like Korean (나복, nabok; or 라복, rabok) and it has also been adopted in a non-Sinoxenic way by many other languages in China and elsewhere in Asia. In Mongolian as spoken in Mongolia, its meaning has shifted to refer to a carrot, while radish is referred to as tsagaan luuvan .
| Hmong | Indonesian | Malaysian | Mongolian | Tibetan | Uyghur | Zhuang | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| luóbo | lauj pwm or lwj pwm | lobak | lobak | лууван (luuvan)refers to "carrot" | ལ་ཕུག (la phug) | لوبو (lobo) or لوبۇ (lobu) | lauxbaeg |