As spoken in previous posts, there are lots of regionalist kinds of English. The most important are explained in every blog involved in this project. Chinglish is one of them. As the word indicates, it’s a mix of Chinese grammar and vocabulary with English. As any other derivation of English (like Runglish) some sentences aren’t understandable to us.
It is considered an official derivation of English, although the government and other organizations tried to reduce its spreading during the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Chinglish, n. and a. colloq. (freq. depreciative). Brit. /ˈtʃɪŋglɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈtʃɪŋ(g)lɪʃ/. Forms: 19– Chinglish, 19– Chenglish [rare]. [Blend of Chinese n. and English n. Compare earlier Japlish n., Spanglish n. Compare also Hinglish n.2, Singlish n.2] A. n. A mixture of Chinese and English; esp. a variety of English used by speakers of Chinese or in a bilingual Chinese and English context, typically incorporating some Chinese vocabulary or constructions, or English terms specific to a Chinese context. Also: the vocabulary of, or an individual word from, such a variety. Cf. Singlish n.2 B adj. Of or relating to Chinglish; expressed in Chinglish.(extracted from English version of Wikipedia but it was originally token from the Oxford English Dictionary)
Chinglish had its ups and downs. During some periods of time, it was spreading widely but in other years, it had little usage. But in 1982, when English became the main foreign language in education this, popular derivation of English became to grow, more than it ever did in the past.
Chinglish became so popular that even tourists have a dedicated hotline to ask about miss-spelled signs. Chinglish is close to a translation of Chinese words to English but word by word. Like “Slip carefully”. The words in this warning are in the opposite order. The sign tries to warn us about being careful in a slippery surface but what the words really mean is to people slip, but carefully, so you don’t break the floor.
In Shangai, during the 2010 Expo, a campaign was made to replace signs with correct English sentences. James Fallows says that Chinglish writing errors can be related to the dependency of word by word translators or Chinese-English dictionaries, due to the lack of a correct order in the words of Chinglish sentences.
But remember, Chinglish can be a form of converting a global culture into something more adapted for China, as any other derivation of English. Chinglish as filled several dictionaries with new words, that have different meanings, enriching all the world communication and expression.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Bartolomeu Rodrigues
Nº2
10 CT2
