Implicit Deconstruction of “Huanjing Baohu” and “Huanbao”: A Linguistic Study of Chinese Abbreviation in the Case of Environmental Protection

 

Zhu Licheng (朱澧澄)

Seton Hall University

 

The aim of this paper is to reconsider the role of the cognitive process in conducting word abbreviations in Mandarin Chinese. Conventional approaches tend to regard Chinese abbreviations as fixed results majorly due to the implementation of certain linguistic rules, especially in face of newly emerged words and phrases, whereas human factors such as word comprehension, knowledge storage and moral values are largely overlooked.

 

In this paper, I critically summarize the three major abbreviation methods for Mandarin Chinese and conclude that the widely adopted explanations for Chinese abbreviations are not capable of expounding recently formed words, as they fail to capture the larger social content behind the characters themselves. In the case of “huanjing baohu” and “huanbao,” I discovered the abbreviated word contains a second underlying meaning of “protective environment” in addition to its commonly perceived meaning of “environmental protection” because of the embedded spirit of Anthropocentrism. By examining the “Explicit Deconstruction” theory of Yanhuang Zhao, I propose the idea of Implicit Deconstruction is able to explain the case of “huanbao” along with a new model for understanding abbreviation procedures in Mandarin Chinese by giving unique considerations to social aspects.