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Abstract:Chinglish is the misshapen, hybrid language that shows the interference or influence of Chinese. It is the use of a native language pattern or rule which leads to an error or inappropriate form in the target language, while China English is not interfered by Chinese language and culture. It is known that China English is used by Chinese people to introduce things peculiar to China to the outside world. Chinese and English are two different languages. As a result, there is a certain expression of differences.
Key words:Chinglish;China English;Chinese-English translation
1 Introduction
Chinglish is the misshapen, hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese and that is described as “English with Chinese characteristics” by Joan Pinkham. It is one of the major problems that affect the quality of Chinese-English translation and its existence influences China’s foreign economic and cultural exchanges and weakens China’s publicities to the outside world. As an interlanguage, it is systematic, with its own features, reflecting the interference of Chinese language. Chinglish, produced by the translators who are interfered by Chinese thought pattern and culture, is not in conformity with English usage and culture, while China English used to express things peculiar to China belongs to normative English and can be accepted by the people of English-speaking countries. Because Chinglish is not idiomatic English, reflects the influence of Chinese language and damages the communication, in order to reduce or avoid it and get a translation come nearer to a higher standard, namely, “faithfulness, smoothness and elegance”, it is necessary for the translators to make a theoretical study of the nature and sources of Chinglish.
2 Literature Review
Chinglish (slang) is a portmanteau of the words Chinese and English and refers to either (a) English interspersed with Chinese language errors common to those Chinese persons who are learning English or (b) Chinese interspersed with English, such as used by westernized Chinese (e.g.American-born Chinese) who are not fluent in Chinese and codeswitch English words into speech when they can’t think of the correct Chinese word. (www.Answers.com\wikipedia)
3 The Main Sources of Chinglish and Possible Solutions to It
Chinglish may be caused by inaccurate understanding of English words. An English word and its correspondent Chinese term don’t always share the same semantic register. For example, 争取运动成绩与精神文明双丰收
A: For a harvest both in sport and morals. (Chinglish)
B: For better athletic records and sportsmanship. (Idiomatic English)
At first glance, version-A seems faithful, but moral also means pure, esp. in matters of sex. Hence, it could be misunderstood. Version-B is better than version-A.
4 Cultural Factors
Owing to different customs and cultural backgrounds of the people speaking the two languages, the same concrete images used in the analogy may lead to different concepts and associations, or something meaningless. The following is an example of literal translation of a Chinese metaphor, which might be quite misleading to average English readers. For example,“胆小如鼠” is translated into “as timid as a mouse” (idiomatic English is chicken-hearted or as timid as a hare). “有时人们放鞭炮是为了庆祝红白喜事”is translated into “Sometimes people set off firecrackers to celebrate the red and white happy things”.(蔡基刚) The idiomatic way is “Sometimes people set off firecrackers to celebrate one’s wedding or funeral” .An English reader is not familiar with Chinese cultural background. So semantic translation is another method of translating a Chinese metaphor. It is of course not as graphic as the original, but at least the meaning is not distorted or misunderstood. The greater the differences in the source and target cultures, the greater the need for adjustments (Nida, 1993).
5 Conclusion
To sum up, Chinglish refers to the misuse of normative English. Chinese learners of English do not fully master English and use English words to express themselves in light of Chinese grammar, sentence pattern or culture. As an interlanguage and with its own features, Chinglish is unavoidable for Chinese learners of English and it is objective and systematic.
Work Cited
[1] Nida A,Eugene &Taber R,Charles.The Theory and Practice of Translation [M]. Leiden: E.J.Brill,1969.
[2] Nida A,Eugene.Language, Culture and Translating [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,1993.
[3] Pinkham Joan.The Translator’s Guide to Chinglish [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,1998.
[4] 蔡基剛.英汉写作对比研究[M].上海:复旦大学出版社,2001.
[5] 李文中.中国英语和中国式英语[J].外语教学与研究,1993(04).
(作者单位:江苏省淮安市浦东实验小学)
Key words:Chinglish;China English;Chinese-English translation
1 Introduction
Chinglish is the misshapen, hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese and that is described as “English with Chinese characteristics” by Joan Pinkham. It is one of the major problems that affect the quality of Chinese-English translation and its existence influences China’s foreign economic and cultural exchanges and weakens China’s publicities to the outside world. As an interlanguage, it is systematic, with its own features, reflecting the interference of Chinese language. Chinglish, produced by the translators who are interfered by Chinese thought pattern and culture, is not in conformity with English usage and culture, while China English used to express things peculiar to China belongs to normative English and can be accepted by the people of English-speaking countries. Because Chinglish is not idiomatic English, reflects the influence of Chinese language and damages the communication, in order to reduce or avoid it and get a translation come nearer to a higher standard, namely, “faithfulness, smoothness and elegance”, it is necessary for the translators to make a theoretical study of the nature and sources of Chinglish.
2 Literature Review
Chinglish (slang) is a portmanteau of the words Chinese and English and refers to either (a) English interspersed with Chinese language errors common to those Chinese persons who are learning English or (b) Chinese interspersed with English, such as used by westernized Chinese (e.g.American-born Chinese) who are not fluent in Chinese and codeswitch English words into speech when they can’t think of the correct Chinese word. (www.Answers.com\wikipedia)
3 The Main Sources of Chinglish and Possible Solutions to It
Chinglish may be caused by inaccurate understanding of English words. An English word and its correspondent Chinese term don’t always share the same semantic register. For example, 争取运动成绩与精神文明双丰收
A: For a harvest both in sport and morals. (Chinglish)
B: For better athletic records and sportsmanship. (Idiomatic English)
At first glance, version-A seems faithful, but moral also means pure, esp. in matters of sex. Hence, it could be misunderstood. Version-B is better than version-A.
4 Cultural Factors
Owing to different customs and cultural backgrounds of the people speaking the two languages, the same concrete images used in the analogy may lead to different concepts and associations, or something meaningless. The following is an example of literal translation of a Chinese metaphor, which might be quite misleading to average English readers. For example,“胆小如鼠” is translated into “as timid as a mouse” (idiomatic English is chicken-hearted or as timid as a hare). “有时人们放鞭炮是为了庆祝红白喜事”is translated into “Sometimes people set off firecrackers to celebrate the red and white happy things”.(蔡基刚) The idiomatic way is “Sometimes people set off firecrackers to celebrate one’s wedding or funeral” .An English reader is not familiar with Chinese cultural background. So semantic translation is another method of translating a Chinese metaphor. It is of course not as graphic as the original, but at least the meaning is not distorted or misunderstood. The greater the differences in the source and target cultures, the greater the need for adjustments (Nida, 1993).
5 Conclusion
To sum up, Chinglish refers to the misuse of normative English. Chinese learners of English do not fully master English and use English words to express themselves in light of Chinese grammar, sentence pattern or culture. As an interlanguage and with its own features, Chinglish is unavoidable for Chinese learners of English and it is objective and systematic.
Work Cited
[1] Nida A,Eugene &Taber R,Charles.The Theory and Practice of Translation [M]. Leiden: E.J.Brill,1969.
[2] Nida A,Eugene.Language, Culture and Translating [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,1993.
[3] Pinkham Joan.The Translator’s Guide to Chinglish [M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,1998.
[4] 蔡基剛.英汉写作对比研究[M].上海:复旦大学出版社,2001.
[5] 李文中.中国英语和中国式英语[J].外语教学与研究,1993(04).
(作者单位:江苏省淮安市浦东实验小学)