A list of popular new Chinese words published on Thursday
revealed the hottest topics, varying from public health to
international politics, that have been covered by Chinese press in
2005.
The top five new Chinese words on the list are "entering UN
Security Council," "Fuwa," "EU Constitution," "Streptococcus suis"
and "Lien-Hu Meeting," according to research results of the City University of
Hong Kong.
The five new words have been used most frequently over the year
by Chinese press in the four cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong
and Taipei, showed the university's research conducted with a
computer software.
"Entering UN Security Council" refers to Japan's drive for a
permanent seat in the UN Security Council, which has drawn concerns
from readers of the four Chinese cities, said the university on its
website.
"Fuwa" is the Chinese name of Beijing
Olympic mascots, five dolls bearing English names as the
Friendlies. The popularity of the word has shown the public's keen
interest in the coming Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in
2008.
The Chinese word "EU Constitution" came from the European
Union's controversial trial to become a political body from the
current economic one.
"Streptococcus suis" is the name of the pig pathogen affecting
human health in China's Sichuan Province earlier this year.
"Lien-Hu Meeting" refers to the historical meeting between Hu
Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China, and the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party
chief Lien Chan, who made the first trip as a KMT chairman to the
mainland since 1949 when the mainland and Taiwan split after a
civil war.
"These new words reveal once more hot topics in the individual
cities and those shared among them," said the university.
The Language Information Sciences Research Center of the
university has started to collect new Chinese words appearing on
Chinese press in China and Chinese-spoken countries such as
Singapore since last year.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2005)