The Impact of English on Chinese - Report Example

THE IMPACT OF ENGLISH ON CHINESE By Insert Presented to Location Due Introduction The world has been constantly changing due to the increasing influence of the Western culture and globalization. As a result of these, a majority of people from different nations come into contact with new languages, culture and civilization that are unfamiliar. One such nation is China whose language has been influenced in a number of ways by the English language. Mandarin and Cantonese have been influenced by the English language over the years in vocabulary, words and syntax. The English language has also been a major concern to the Chinese citizens. A majority of the Chinese citizens desperately want to learn and master the English language by fluency in speaking it so that they can associate with the Western culture. In regard to the influence of English on the Chinese language, a number of areas will be tackled in the essay which shows these effects. For instance, one of the most salient ways in which English has influenced Chinese language is by expanding the Chinese vocabulary. Loanwords also represent one of the primary ways through which English has influenced Chinese, a phenomenon necessitated by the lack of words or names. With the increased interaction of English speakers and Chinese speakers over time, the syntax of Mandarin has slowly been eroded from its traditional form and adopted a number of aspects from the English syntax. Transliteration occurs through phonetic transcription of aword into the recipient language. Here, the phonetic patterns of the borrowed English word are reproduced with Chinese characters in such a manner as to retain/replicate or simulate the original pronunciation.In addition, through the influence of English on Chinese, calquing has been seen to affect Mandarin. Calquing is a borrowing phenomenon whereby a word in the recipient language is translated by meaning.English is also responsible for influencing Chinese pronunciation. Perhaps due to the prevalence use of English as a second language in Hong Kong, English has had a particular influence on Cantonese. Lastly, one of the not so pleasant consequences of English on Chinese is language pollution. Language pollution is a term that has been used to characterize blatant errors in translation of English to Chinese which results in misunderstandings. Background of the languages English as an alphabetic language has a medium bias that is peculiar to the phonetic alphabet. The English alphabet is not an innocent tool in codifying, organizing and transmitting information. Regardless of what an individual reads, an effect is produced. The English alphabet predisposes individuals at a subliminal level and calls into being a sequential, lineal, analytic and rational habit of the mind. As a building block in the Western writing system, the English language and its alphabet have contributed to shaping majority of the contours of Western civilization. The English language has deep roots dating back to the periods when England colonized many states to the present where the language is being used in communication to spearhead globalization. As such, the language has had considerable effect on Mandarin and Cantonese languages over the years. The Chinese language, on the other hand, uses characters known as pictographs. The Chinese orthograpghy on the other hand can be regarded as phono-logographic and multivalent. In other terms, it can serve as pleremic and cenemic simultaneously. The Chinese language has a lexical tone. Moreover, the language has a lexical representation of of all syllables in every word with the information of what tone the word carries. Mandarin has four lexical tones and few sandhi rules. In addition, there are only four tones for the stressed syllables namely; high-bā, rising-bá, dipping-bǎ and falling-bà. Unstressed syllables have neutral tones. The pitch on an unstressed syllable is determined by the tone of a preceding syllable. In the Pinyin spelling system, these unstressed syllables do not have any tone diacritic. English as a multinational tool has had a significant and profound effect on language policies in Asia with China included. In addition, the effect of the language is also felt on the patterns of language and its use as well the educational systems. Never before has the English language education become widespread and penetrated the Chinese society as since the adoption of reform policy and open door after the Cultural Revolution. The effect of the English language on the mandarin language has not only affected the language itself but also led to the surge of English being taught in schools. Several external factors in the intercourse between English and Chinese are essential impetus in language borrowing. Such borrowing occurs as an influence of these external factors which may include politics, economics, geographic neighborhoods and culture. In the recent times, the spread of the English language has caused increased controversy in regard its impact in local languages. In Mainland China, for example, some individuals are worried about the adverse effects of learning English. Entry of New Words into Chinese One of the most salient ways in which English has influenced Chinese language is by expanding the Chinese vocabulary. While not all changes are directly attributable to English, it has had a significant role by being the default language for naming and articulating new items and objects. This is particularly in reference to technology and innovations within the field, which will usually be named in English. The topic on the entry of new words into the Chinese constitutes the major point of discussion. The reason for this is that the adoption of new words into the Chinese lexicon is the most tangible means through which the English influence on Chinese has manifested itself (Bauer & Benedict, 1997). The various ways in which English has contributed to an expansion of Chinese vocabulary are now discussed. Loanwords The reform and opening of China’s policies to the outside world is responsible for the sharp increase in the loaning of words from English. On one hand, this loaning demonstrates the soft power that has been booming in China while on another hand, it shows the language pollution that is a result of the non-standard use of loan words. Language pollution will be tackled at length in another section of the paper. Loanwords represent one of the primary ways through which English has influenced Chinese, a phenomenon necessitated by the lack of words or names. Perhaps the most imperative reason why loanwords have to be used in Chinese language is lexical vacancies within Chinese language (Chen, 2013). Where there are no names or words in a particular language, such a language is usually compelled to borrow from other languages where the words exist (Xiao-yan, 2013). Chinese language uses a character system rather than an alphabet system but such a system is inadequate in recording “incessant new things and concepts in a concise, direct and effective way” (Xia, 2010, p. 24). This is one of the most significant shortcomings that borrowing of words attempts to overcome. Loan words in the Chinese context refer to “the words that have been borrowed from other languages both according to the sound and meaning; after long Chineselization, they have been accepted and become known as Chinese loan words” (HE, 2011, p. 23). Chinese language has borrowed from many different languages and over a long period. Chen (2013) outlines three periods which have occasioned the most intensive borrowing in Chinese language. The first period involved borrowing of words and expressions from Central Asian languages and Sanskrit. This period occurred from the western Han period to the Song dynasty period. In the second period, borrowing arose due to the arrival of Jesuit missionaries and Dominicans as well as Franciscans. The ongoing translations during this period led to many neologisms. The third and most recent period of borrowing commenced during China’s reform and opening-up during the 1980s(Chen 2013). The resumption of normal relations with foreign nations has facilitated intensive borrowing. Once words are borrowed, there are various ways they can be turned into Chinese. For discussion purposes, the language from which a word is borrowed will be referred to as the donor language and the borrowed word the model. The borrowing language on the other hand will be referred to as the recipient and the borrowed word the replica (Chen, 2013). One of those ways is through translation.Translation of borrowed words can occur in two ways. The first according to (Xiao-yan, 2013) is translation by meaning (calquing) while the second is translation by sound, referred to as transliteration. There are various guidelines that govern the transliteration of these words. First, such borrowing must occur in accordance with the cognitive habits and thinking modes of Chinese people. Moreover, the transliterated words must also develop within Chinese system of pronunciation, semantic and meaning (Xiao-yan, 2013). The addition of English words to Chinese language and the subsequent change in meaning is now discussed with reference to suitable examples. As a result of borrowing words from the English language, these loan words gain use and acceptance in nearly all aspects of social life which include literature, arts, politics, economics, culture, sports, religion, law, military communication, foreign affairs and communication to mention but a few. Influence on Syntax (Grammar) In the traditional study of languages, syntax is the study of the arrangements of units in linguistic expressions. Currently, the scientific view of syntax in regards to language is that syntax is mainly a generative procedure that occurs in the minds of human beings and takes into account the lexical items as inputs which produce output in a sentence. With the increased interaction of English speakers and Chinese speakers over time, the syntax of Mandarin has slowly been eroded from its traditional form and adopted a number of aspects from the English syntax. For instance, the word order in Mandarin and English are quite similar in a number of ways. The basic word order in Mandarin is subject, verb and object (SVO) which compares to the word order in English. However, there are a number of important differences. For instance, the idea of having a “subject” in Mandarin is not as clear as it is in the English language. The subject is often omitted in mandarin with focus being dedicated to the topic of the sentence. As such the language is topic prominent. The Mandarin language has also borrowed the use of auxiliary verbs which are helpers. English is also full of these, In the Mandarin language, the auxiliary verbs come before the main verb just as they do in the English language. When it comes to negation, the English language is a bit funny. In English, verbs are hardly negated. So in the event that there is no auxiliary verb, an auxiliary verb will be used and it’s the auxiliary verb will be negated instead. In Mandarin, however, the main verbs are negated. Negation in the English language occurs after what is being negated whereas in Mandarin, the negation comes before. Modifiers in Chinese precede what they modify in a sentence. Complements have also been adopted by Mandarin due to influence from the English language. However, in word order, they occur after a verb. In mandarin, the complements are quite tricky. As such, the language uses a few complements which are placed after the verb. These complements include degree, directional, potential and result. Modes of Transliteration Transliteration may occur through phonetic transcription of the word into the recipient language. Here, the phonetic patterns of the borrowed word are reproduced with Chinese characters in such a manner as to retain/replicate or simulate the original pronunciation (Chen, 2013). Such loanwords are referred to as phonemic loans. An example of a phonemic loan is the Chinese word 巴士which is the replica word for the English word bus. Its pronunciation “Bāshì” is designed to be close to the pronunciation of bus. Other examples of such words include sofa, salon radar and tank (Yan & Deng, 2009). All of these words are transliterated in such a manner that the pronunciation is as close to that of the model word as possible. The translator may also include a note which is intended to supply additional informational about the translated word in an effort to attach the meaning of the model word (Chen, 2013). Such a note is usually attached as a Chinese morpheme either at the end or the beginning of a replica. Chen refers to this category of transliterations as annotated transliterations(2013). For example, the Chinese word for rumba is 仑巴舞 which is pronounced Lún bā wǔ. The replica phoneme is Lún bā, whose pronunciation is meant to match that of rumba. The attached morpheme is wǔ, which means dance, and is therefore meant to convey to the reader or audience to interpret rumba in the context of a dance. In effect, the word Rumba is introduced into the Chinese language through the formation of a phonetic replica with an extra morpheme for contextual purposes. Another way in which words may be transliterated is by semi-transliteration. In this method both phonetic and semantic aspects of the model word are utilized in the formation of the replica word (Yan & Deng, 2009). The effect is that the replica comprises two parts, one that is phonetically similar to the model word and another that is a “morpheme-for-morpheme rendition” (Chen, 2013, p. 3) of the model word. Such words are referred to as loanblends. Examples of loanblends include 登革热 the Chinese word for Dengue fever. It is pronounced Dēnggé rè. Dēnggé is a transliterated equivalent that is meant to be pronounced in a similar way as its model word Dengue, while rè is intended to be semantically equivalent to fever. Transliteration Effects on Meaning Through transliteration, English words have found themselves into the Chinese language, with such words experiencing ramifications in their meaning. For some words, such ramifications have been through expansion in meaning. The extension in meaning of words results in the words covering a less definite but broader concept (Zhang, 1999). An appropriate example, provided by Xiao-yan is bar (2013). In its original meaning, the word bar refers to a place where alcohol is served. However, in the Chinese context, the word bar has been extended to mean a place for relaxation. The transliterated word is Ba, written “吧” in Chinese (Xiao-yan, 2013). The authors point to various phrases which have the morpheme “吧” such as “玩具吧” (toy bar) , “迪吧” (disco bar), “网吧” (Internet bar), and “书吧” (book bar). As such, the word “bar” has been transliterated and adopted into Chinese leading to the development of new phrases. Such transliterated words may also be narrowed in meaning. During narrowing, other meanings associated with a word are dropped and only the meaning required for the context in question is retained. This can perhaps be associated with the existence of Chinese wordsconveying the other meanings expressed by the word. An example of a word whose meaning has been narrowed during transliteration is “tank”. Its transliterated Chinese equivalent is“坦克”. While the word tank is homographic in English, its Chinese equivalent only refers to a heavily armored military vehicle with guns and that moves on treads. Here, through transliteration, the word tank is incorporated into Chinese language with a loss of some of its original meanings. Calquing Calquing is a borrowing phenomenon whereby a word in the recipient language is translated by meaning. In the context of borrowing, calquing is thus analogous to transliteration. Examples of calques include chuzuqiche which translated literally means rent out automobile’, and is the Chinese equivalent of ‘taxi’ (Gao, 2000). Apart from words, calquing has also introduced new compound words such as篮球lánqiú which is Chinese for ‘basketball’ (Zuckermann G. , 2003). It consists of篮lán‘basket’ and球qiú ‘ball’ leading to the formation of the compound Chinese word as 篮球lánqiú. With calquing, the meaning is thus implicit and directly implied in the replica word. Introduction of Lettered words to Chinese Apart from transliteration, there are various other ways through which words have been incorporated into Chinese. Such methods have a more tangible effect on Chinese due to the fact that they introduce lettered words into Chinese language, which usually uses characters (Xia, 2010). Direct transfer is one of these avenues of English word assimilation into Chinese. Direct transfer can involve unchanged letter words of two types, English abbreviated words and English words. Abbreviations and Acronyms English abbreviated words are those made up of English letters which serve the purpose of expressing the full meanings that are associated with their respective full names (Liu, 2002). Abbreviated words can either be acronyms or abbreviations. Acronyms are constructed in three principle ways. First, there are those which use all words in a phrase (Xia, 2010), such as CNN (Cable News Network) and WHO (World Health Organization). Secondly, acronyms can be constructed only using all the notional words in a phrase, for example FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). Finally, acronyms may also be formed by combining the initial of the former word with the complete word (Xia, 2010), for example E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce). Abbreviations on the other hand involve the selection of a few representative words from a word or phrase to form the abbreviated word. Appropriate examples include Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity). In both of these cases, the lack of Chinese characters to develop the equivalent Chinese phrases necessitates the adoption of the acronyms or abbreviations as they are. Unchanged Words In addition to abbreviations and acronyms, there are also unchanged English words adopted into Chinese. This words or phrases are used directly in Chinese without any change. Such words may be daily expressions or they may be jargons and proper nouns. Some daily expressions include copy, flash and cool while examples of the latter are such as Microsoft Office (Xia, 2010). Similarly to abbreviations, the use of the full form of these words is necessitated by a lack of them in Chinese, though Xia indicates the use of certain lettered words, for example copy, prevails even in the presence of a Chinese equivalent (2010). A probable explanation for continued use is the prevalence of media influences or the place of such words as daily expressions. Complex-lettered Words Apart from this unchanged words, lettered words have also entered Chinese language through particular modifications. An appropriate example is complex lettered words which are a combination of both English letters and Chinese characters. Such words express complete meanings and according to Xia, the Chinese characters serve flexible roles such as definition, direction and semantic supplementation (2010). Xia further indicates four ways these words can be formed. The first combination involves the use of English letters from abbreviations and Chinese characters. There are three ways to do this. Abbreviated initials such as e 时代 (electronic era). Then there is the use of number + representative letters, for example “4A 革命 (FA: factory automation, OA: office automation, HA: household automation, AA: agricultural automation)” (Xia, 2010, p. 25). Finally, there is the use of initial syllables such as Doc (document). Another method in which complex words are formed is through the use of letter shapes to portray things. For example T 恤衫 means T-shirt whereby T-shirt is in the shape of “T” with “恤衫” being similar in meaning to “shirt”. Thirdly, words can be formed using letters expressing particular traits for example order, type or place. An appropriate example is A型血 which means type A blood (Xia, 2010). Finally complete English words and Chinese characters may also be used to form words. For example Call 机 means call machine. Self-formed Lettered Words The above examples illustrate the more direct effects that English language and particularly, its words have had on Chinese words. There are also indirect influences through which English has influenced Chinese word formation. For example, in English, acronyms are formed in the three ways described above with the mode of abbreviation also being indicated. These modes have perforated Chinese language resulting in Self-created Chinese lettered words. Such words usually convey meanings of items characteristic to Chinese people or they refer to items created, and first used by Chinese people (Xia, 2010). This category of lettered words differs significantly from the previously described word in that their development in Chinese language does not arise out of a lack of such items in indigenous Chinese culture. The first set of this category of lettered words are those formed from Chinese phonetic alphabets owing to an underlying similarity with English letters. For example, there are those formed from the initial of every syllable such as RMB (Renminbi) while others derive from the initial letters of every word, for example PSC (Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi) (Xia, 2010). The lettered words are pronounced as English letters despite being composed out of Chinese onsets. A second method involves translating Chinese items into English and then using each word’s initial to form an abbreviated word, for example CCTV (China Central Television). The examples described above represent some of the more basic influences that English has had on Chinese. The influences can also be complex depending on a particular field. For example, within technical fields, the influence may be greater involving the use of a combination of English abbreviations and numbers. Moreover, such words may even arise out of a complex combination involving alphanumeric, symbol, punctuation and Chinese character combinations (Xia, 2010). Thus, the English influence on Chinese language can be understood as arising out of a combination of factors including the entry of English itself, as well as advances within other fields such as technology leading to formation of novel terminologies. Influence on Cantonese Pronunciation English has also influenced Chinese pronunciation. Perhaps due to the prevalence use of English as a second language in Hong Kong, English has had a particular influence onCantonese. This is particularly when it comes to the use of rising intonations in questions. Where the question particle is present, there is usually no need for a rise in pitch of the interrogative. Due to English influence, Cantonese interrogatives use a rising intonation at the end of the utterance usually to express echo questions. According to Ding, such an influence is discernable in the speech of young Hong Kong people (2010). This set of individuals has an “augmenting frequency for applying a rising intonation to interrogatives” (Ding, 2010, p. 211). This is illustrated by the following sentence 你食飯未? Nej sik fan mej You eat rice yet “Have you eaten yet?” (Ding, 2010, p. 213). The consequence is that a rising intonation is used in encoding questions, whereby conservative speakers would normally apply an interrogative participle. Rising intonations are usually used for echo questions but in the case of younger generations, the tendency is to use a rising intonation even for non-echo questions. Language Pollution One of the not so pleasant consequences of English on Chinese is language pollution. Language pollution is a term that has been used to characterize blatant errors in translation of English to Chinese which results in misunderstandings (Hung, 2002). On their part,Yan & Deng refer to language pollution as “he incorrect or non-standard usage of foreign language which may bring about misunderstanding and inconvenience in the native language” (2009, p.36). Language pollution can therefore be understood as the incorrect use of foreign language resulting in detrimental effects such as erosion of meaning of the recipient language. There are several ways in which English language has resulted in Chinese language pollution. One of the basic ways is the use of a mixture of English and Chinese, where English words are incorporated within a text of Chinese characters (Bauer & Benedict, 1997). Yang and Deng point out six ways in which English has polluted Chinese language (2009). The first is a non-standard pronunciation of loan words. Secondly, some transliterations of loan words lack meaning and thus cannot be identified clearly. There is also an excessive pursuit of western names, terms and tendencies of language formation. The prevalent use of abbreviations is cited as a point in case with Yang and Deng indicating an instance where a passenger incorrectly misunderstood the abbreviation (PVG) thus missing his flight (2009). This clearly illustrates language pollution. Perhaps a more intrusive means of language pollution is the use of taboo words or joking words that are not common in Chinese. One such word is shit which is frequently appearing in modern movies and novels. Language pollution also occurs where individuals incorrectly use English words to indicate that they are socially well off. Here, language pollution occurs because the use of English is incorrectly associated with a sense of affluence or style, thereby relegating Chinese to embers of distastefulness. Consequently, the view of Chinese is degraded by English. Finally, there is Chinglish, also referred to as Chinese English and China English.Gil & Adamson provide a vivid description of Chinglish and differentiate from the more intelligible China English (2011). They assert that Chinglish is a variant of English which is commonly used in China but one which is heavily influenced by Chinese phrases. China English on the other hand is an english variety used by individuals of a lingusitic and cultural chinese background and that exhibits Chinese features (Gil & Adamson, 2011). Language pollution will occur where a word or phrase used in the Chinese context of English is similar to another used in normative English, but the meanings of the two differ. An example of Chinglish is “Adult Shop” which in the Chinese context does not refer to an outlet dealing with pornographic items but in Chinese refers to a shop selling sex health-care products (Yan & Deng, 2009). There are many other instances whose consequence usually results in misunderstanding. From the above discourse, it is evident that there is a salient pollution effect of English on Chinese. Such pollution has varied effects on Chinese language. Worse still such language pollution results in varied effects in the everyday lives of Chinese language users, learners as well as non-Chinese users. For starters, it results in degradation of the quality and view of Chinese language. According to Zhang, the increased focus on English learning has reduced enthusiasm in learning Chinese and has also led to reduced proficiency in mother-tongue(2007). Moreover, it can result in economic or opportunity losses owing to misunderstandings between individuals. Language pollution can also result in embarrassment due to differences in conveyance and interpretation of meaning. Conclusion English and Chinese are two of the most widely used languages globally with both possessing significant proportions of native and non-native speakers. Chinese is predominantly spoken by native users while English has a majority of its usersas non-native speakers with different mother tongues. Due to influences such as globalization and technological innovation, English has been able to spread and is the language used by default in many technical fields. As a result, English has transcended regional boundaries and its use has proliferated all over the world. The spread of English has many associated effects on the indigenous languages of the areas in which it is adopted. The case is not different for Chinese. One of the most salient impacts that English has had on Chinese is the adoption of new words into the Chinese lexicons. These words, referred to as loanwords, have been adopted either through transliteration or calquing. English has also introduced lettered words and the lettered system into the Chinese language, which primarily utilizes characters/logographs. This is through direct transfer of English letters, words or phrases, in part or in full into the Chinese language. Moreover, in other instances, Chinese word formation using English rules has led to the emergence of lettered words derived from words of Chinese origins. One of the negative ways in which English has impacted Chinese is language pollution, which occurs as a consequence of misuse or overuse of English words or phrases, resulting in misunderstandings or degradation of Chinese. The effect of the interaction between English and Chinese has evidently impacted Chinese language. It remains to be seen how far this interaction will go, and what the consequences will be, though the current indication is the emergence of a new variety of English, China English. With the increased interaction of English speakers and Chinese speakers over time, the syntax of Mandarin has slowly been eroded from its traditional form and adopted a number of aspects from the English syntax. The basic word order in Mandarin is subject, verb and object (SVO) which compares to the word order in English. There are, however, a number of important differences. For instance, the idea of having a “subject” in Mandarin is not as clear as it is in the English language. The subject is often omitted in mandarin with focus being dedicated to the topic of the sentence. The Mandarin language has also borrowed the use of auxiliary verbs which are helpers. English is also full of these, In the Mandarin language, the auxiliary verbs come before the main verb just as they do in the English language. Lastly, in the recent times, the spread of the English language has causes increased controversy in regard to its impact on local languages. In Mainland China, for example, some individuals are worried about the adverse effects of learning English. The fear of these individuals is that the increased learning of English by the Chinese people will result to reduced enthusiasm in learning of Mandarin. References Bauer, R. S., & Benedict, P. K. (1997). Modern Cantonese Phonology. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Chen, Y. (2013). On Lexical Borrowing from English into Chinese via Transliteration. English Language and Literature Studies, 3 (4), 1-6. Ding, P. S. (2010). 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