COMPARISON OF THE TERM “MORPHEME” IN RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LANGUAGE AND THE PROBLEM OF ITS TRANSLATION

Abstract

The concept of a morpheme, which is a universal linguistic unit and one of the most important concepts in linguistics, has more than one translation option in Chinese with a different meaning. The importance of the unambiguous correspondence of the main term of morphemics – morpheme – in Russian and Chinese languages contains the relevance of the article. In order to offer the most accurate translation of the term for modern science, this article examines a problem of variability of the term in the Chinese language through the historical facts of its formation and translation. In this regard, the author solves a number of problems: description of the history of the emergence of this term in two languages; description of the features of different words for expressing the concept of morpheme in Chinese; comparison of the different interpretations and translations of the term morpheme from Russian into Chinese; analysis of the influence of the morphological type of language on the formation of this term. As a result, the Russian-Chinese translation of “morpheme” – “语素” is proposed as the most correct correspondence for modern science. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the proof of the inaccuracy and irrelevance of some translations of the term into Chinese, which are often used now. The theoretical significance lies in an attempt to reveal the main reasons for the appearance of translation options of this term, which are not suitable for modern morpheme study, and that allows avoiding incorrect translation of a morpheme from Russian into Chinese. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the correct use of the basic morphemic term helps to eliminate difficulties in understanding the terms in the international scientific discourse. The results can contribute to the growth of mutual understanding in international scientific exchange in the field of linguistics and can be used in teaching foreign languages, compiling dictionaries, etc.