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Chinglish sweeping around the world (2)

(People's Daily Online)    14:44, August 29, 2013
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There are many such examples, British Economist magazine call Chinese bachelors "guanggun" (unmarried men); The New Yorker translates Chinese radical youth into "fenqing"; the English website of CCTV translates overseas Chinese consumers into "chinsumer"…

Foreigners find Chinglish humorous

Another interesting linguistic phenomenon is called Chinese English (Chinglish). The typical example of that is "Long time no see" (Haven't seen you in a while), a Chinglish expression which has been included in English dictionaries.

Some foreigners love Chinglish. A Singaporean student of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, He Zhuanju, can speak both Chinese and English. When hearing "People mountain people sea" (huge crowds of people) the first time, he got its cultural connotation immediately. "When chatting with my friends, I use Chinglish from time to time, it's funny." Although William, a Canadian student of University of Toronto, hasn't learned Chinese, he is often exposed to Chinglish "My Chinese classmates often tell me to 'Good good study, day day up' (study hard and make progress every day). It's catchy; it has become my signature line!"

Global Language Monitor thinks highly of Chinglish in terms of a global vision and the development of English, calling Chinglishs a "delightful mixture".


Linguistic contribution reveals national power

Most of the English words come from other languages, such as Latin, German and French. Now, an increasing number of English words are contributed by China.

"The more civilized, more advanced and more attractive the country is, the more influential the language gets," said Meng Dehong, associate professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University School of Chinese Language and Culture, when talking about the increasing influence of Chinese language.

Languages are not isolated. Vice-president of Institute for International Students Nanjing University Xu Changhuo said: "The surface reason of Chinglish going global is that some Chinese words which reflect social and cultural phenomena in China are non-translatable in English. Perceived at a profound level, it reflects the acceleration of Chinese-foreign language and cultural exchanges. It shows that China is integrated into the process of globalization. And we should be happy to accept it and wait to see what happens, because languages are always changing. "

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(Editor:DuMingming、Chen Lidan)

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