A Preliminary Study of Chinese Brocade Names

Abstract

A brocade is a type of heavy cloth with a raised pattern embroidered in gold or silver silk thread. Chinese brocades are famous for their long history, exquisite patterns, and weaving techniques. This study examines 160 Chinese brocade product names, 31 category names, and 24 subcategory names. The names were extracted from A Complete Guide to Chinese Brocade for the purpose of investigating the onomastic patterns of brocades through lexicological and semantic feature analysis. Our results show that the names of brocade categories were usually formed by at most two lexicological units, while the names of brocade products were commonly composed of three or more lexicological units. The lexicological structure of these brocade names was as follows: [pattern name + jin ‘brocade’]. Most of the brocade names investigated in this study had the following composition: [modifier(s) + the core semantic element jin ‘brocade’], with the modifiers indicating different characteristics of the brocade. In addition to offering a presentation of these findings, this study also explores the socio-cultural implication of these brocade names from a socio-onomastic perspective. Our results show that the Chinese brocade names examined reflect the Chinese people’s pursuit of a happy, wealthy, and healthy life, along with a harmonious relationship with nature and other people.

Keywords

• Chinese
• brocade
• semantic feature
• lexicological feature
• socio-onomastics