China Bars English Words In All Publications

[Thaddeus]

... Don`t forget, English speakers! 80% of high English is Roman English (most French).

According to Wikipedia, around 28% of English vocabulary is of French or Oïl language origin...

http://en.wikipedia....nglish_speakers

Ah, but he is talking about High English, it's the equivalent of High German, no slang, verbs conjugated perfectly, no preposition sentence ending etc and nobody uses it ..... except maybe Stephen Fry when he is drunk.

[GuyL]

... Don`t forget, English speakers! 80% of high English is Roman English (most French).

According to Wikipedia, around 28% of English vocabulary is of French or Oïl language origin...

http://en.wikipedia....nglish_speakers

Ah, but he is talking about High English, it's the equivalent of High German, no slang, verbs conjugated perfectly, no preposition sentence ending etc and nobody uses it ..... except maybe Stephen Fry when he is drunk.

I know. I just added an information about English spoken by "commoners"!

[maccaroni man]

Hasn't France been trying to do this for years??

yes , and the french are the only people who visit thailand and expect everyone else to speak there lingo

funny i was at Mk and a table of french sat next to me, i was amussed because they had to order in english

[ScubaBuddha]

This desire to preserve the purity of a language is quite common, and ultimately bumps into reality of concepts that came into existence in the last 100 or 150 years. I once wrote a dictionary of science in another language and had to deal with these issues. Concepts like element are easy enough to replace with an indigenous word, but try aberration, achromatic, aerodynamics, anion, Doppler effect, eutectic, isothermal, photon, X-ray, colloids, ions, electrolysis, etc. Then look up these concepts in multiple and unrelated languages. The practicality is that these are international terms varying only in the tonal qualities of pronunciation across borders.

Then again, what has allowed English to grow as a global language is precisely the tolerance it allows to acquiring additional vocabulary.

Who let this guy on Thavisa. You're way to smart to be posting here.

Our collective IQ's just rose a bit.

(And good post btw)

[jdinasia]

Another stupid repressive reactionary move by the Chinese. No more "loaner words"? Oye Vey!

Next thing you know, they'll lock up a Nobel Laureate, or start executing people by the 1000's annually! (oh wait .....)

[gbswales]

............I shall read labels more closely and ensure I do not buy the products of a country that stands against the language I speak by avoiding their (crappy, unreliable) products.

I take it then you wont be buying an iphone anytime soon - frankly avoiding goods that are made in China or those including components made in China would be pretty much impossible nowadays - and that is far more worrying than their edict on language.

To bring some rationality to the debate I am guessing what they are uptight about is the mixing of language ie using English words in chinese language papers rather than the use of English (for English read "American" in the Chinese mind!) I doubt it is the use of language as such and there will still be english language newspapers and magazines.

I kind of feel that most language "purists" (include in that Canadians, Belgians and the Welsh) have completely lost the plot. Surely the sole purpose of language is to communicate and so the more widely any language is understood (by widely I mean the number of countries that use it)the better communication will be. When words get translated then often the understood meaning is lost - I wonder what the Chinese is for "Human Rights Organisation"!

[animatic]

One of the attributes that has made English a de facto world standard for international communications and business is it's willingness, almost compulsiveness, to incorporate external words, or newly coined words, from anywhere into the language, and make them it's own in short order. Most linguists in UK and more so USA are apt to grasp new words and put them to use as commonly understood by quick-adopters. That the oldsters in any culture are behind the curve with new linguistic usages is understandable and absolutely normal, and their grumpiness at 'not getting it'. is also common.

I see this move by PRC as a way to increasingly limit Chinese from making external comparisons to the west, because now the government has a law to ban English language websites and search engines... This also goes to show how scared and paranoid the Chinese leadership is, with their fringe cultures trying to regain control of their home areas and destinies, and much of that idealism stemming from modern abilities to compare their lot with the West and other more egalitarian Asian counties. And yes, irony intended when I say the communist control structure is less egalitarian than many western ones.

Edited December 24, 2010 by animatic

[animatic]

Another stupid repressive reactionary move by the Chinese. No more "loaner words"? Oye Vey!

Next thing you know, they'll lock up a Nobel Laureate, or start executing people by the 1000's annually! (oh wait .....)

Arch, reactionary, running dog lackys of westerndeomon cultures daring to subvert the restructured Workers Paradise? Using a decadent young language like 'English'! Mao will roll in his hermetically sealed sarcophagus!

Edited December 24, 2010 by animatic

[mca]

China must be taking advice from French Canadians in Quebec.

On how to be complete and utter <deleted>?

[organic]

Hasn't France been trying to do this for years??

yes , and the french are the only people who visit thailand and expect everyone else to speak there lingo

English speakers would never do that, of course.

[GuyL]

...

funny i was at Mk and a table of french sat next to me, i was amussed because they had to order in english

Sure, those Frenchies are often embarrassed to order in English in a restaurant or in a café. Fortunately, if they don't know the English words for apéritif, menu, à la carte, sommelier, entrées, hors-d'oeuvre, crudité, vinaigrette, entremets, omelette, pot-au-feu, plat du jour, sauté, crème brûlée, crèpe, mousse, brioche, éclair, etc., they may use some Italian words (surprisingly, us frog eaters know those too!) and just order a pizza, spaghettis or... macaronis!

[dighambara]

China bars English words

If one believes the theories surrounding language and it's association with cultural growth, then the Chinese have just declared the demise of Chinese society as we know it...

From history, every culture that has 'frozen' their language, has suddenly started to decline.

The theory is that for a culture to grow, it must be adaptable and accept new words.

[optimjim]

This desire to preserve the purity of a language is quite common, and ultimately bumps into reality of concepts that came into existence in the last 100 or 150 years. I once wrote a dictionary of science in another language and had to deal with these issues. Concepts like element are easy enough to replace with an indigenous word, but try aberration, achromatic, aerodynamics, anion, Doppler effect, eutectic, isothermal, photon, X-ray, colloids, ions, electrolysis, etc. Then look up these concepts in multiple and unrelated languages. The practicality is that these are international terms varying only in the tonal qualities of pronunciation across borders.

Then again, what has allowed English to grow as a global language is precisely the tolerance it allows to acquiring additional vocabulary.

[transam]

This desire to preserve the purity of a language is quite common, and ultimately bumps into reality of concepts that came into existence in the last 100 or 150 years. I once wrote a dictionary of science in another language and had to deal with these issues. Concepts like element are easy enough to replace with an indigenous word, but try aberration, achromatic, aerodynamics, anion, Doppler effect, eutectic, isothermal, photon, X-ray, colloids, ions, electrolysis, etc. Then look up these concepts in multiple and unrelated languages. The practicality is that these are international terms varying only in the tonal qualities of pronunciation across borders.

Then again, what has allowed English to grow as a global language is precisely the tolerance it allows to acquiring additional vocabulary.

What ever the language, surely for global integration it is an asset to have one, same as a global currency, bring us all together. It will happen, for sure. When, looooong time, first must sort out the dodgy governments that threaten our lives and their own people, long process but it will happen.

[wichianburi1]

Hasn't France been trying to do this for years??

Some 80 years ago the Germans implemented such rules under the infamous Fuehrer. Although I'm not comparing apples with pears, it is not an encouraging sign.

[transam]

Hasn't France been trying to do this for years??

Some 80 years ago the Germans implemented such rules under the infamous Fuehrer. Although I'm not comparing apples with pears, it is not an encouraging sign.

BUT, Adolf didn't want to litigate everybody.

[gemini81]

a double standard, they allow their people to get an education and travel abroad, and even then return to china as well.

I'm sure their closed-off tendencies and narrowmindedness will once again catch up with them.

[lungmi]

80% of high English is Roman English (most French).

Nah ....... if it was French it would be called Parisian English surely.

No, Willis Franglais.

William the Conqueror (French: Guillaume le Conquérant) (circa 1028^[1] – 9 September 1087), also known as William I of England (Guillaume 1er d'Angleterre) and William II of Normandy (Guillaume II de Normandie), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas, 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard (Guillaume le Bâtard) because of the illegitimacy of his birth.

To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris and Île-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.^[2] His reign, which brought Norman-French culture to England, had an impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. The details of that impact and the extent of the changes have been debated by scholars for centuries. In addition to the obvious change of ruler, his reign also saw a programme of building and fortification, changes to the English language, a shift in the upper levels of society and the church, and adoption of some aspects of continental church reform.

Edited December 24, 2010 by lungmi

[oldsailor35]

How do you say MERRY CHRISTMAS in Chinese?

聖誕快樂 新年快樂 [圣诞快乐 新年快乐 or if you prefer phonetics:

(singdaanjit tùhng sànnìhn faailohk)

恭喜發財 (gùng héi faat chōi) - used at Chinese New Year

(singdaanjit tùhng sànnìhn faailohk)

恭喜發財 (gùng héi faat chōi) - used at Chinese New Year Chinese

(Hakka)聖誕節快樂, 新年快樂 (shin⁵-tan⁵-ziet⁷ kwai⁵-lok⁸, sin¹-ngien² kwai⁵-lok⁸)

恭喜發財 (giung¹ hi³ fat⁷ coi²) - used at Chinese New Year Chinese

(Mandarin)聖誕快樂 新年快樂 [圣诞快乐 新年快乐]

(shèngdàn kuàilè xīnnián kuàilè)

恭喜發財 [恭喜发财] (gōngxǐ fācái) - used at Chinese New Year

Dont really think it is a bad idea not to mix the two languages ! And just see what the Americans have done to the English language just because they were allowed to .

[oldsailor35]

How do you say MERRY CHRISTMAS in Chinese?

Duh ! Melly Clissmas :jap:

Flucuations !!!

[oldsailor35]

I think everyone is missing what is actually being said. They are not banning the use of English words, but they are banning the mixing of any foreign language and Chinese, so an article in Chinese needs to be all in Chinese and not have English or other lanuage words mixed in. Reason behind this is to stop any confusion or purposely using a mix to be vague on a subject.

Please read carefully the following quote from the article.

"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language,"

EXACTLY and thanks for teaching those who cannot read english and interpret the meaning at the same time.

[Thaddeus]

80% of high English is Roman English (most French).

Nah ....... if it was French it would be called Parisian English surely.

No, Willis Franglais.

And thus stemmed the line..... "what you talkin' about Willis"

[richards]

Bugger! Thats my visit to China cancelled!...... How will I ever be able to order sausage,egg & chips with 2 rounds of B& B now???

Borroks!! Velly, velly, Sirry, idea. Chines crackers? I think so.

[richards]

Dont really think it is a bad idea not to mix the two languages ! And just see what the Americans have done to the English language just because they were allowed to .

Sawa howdy crap!

[tropo]

speak there lingo

If you're English making comments on other languages, it would help to be more careful with spelling lol.

[bangon04]

Surely they must realize that this is going to be a ridiculous request. They are just taking orders from some high ranking official who probably is upset with how much English his children are talking these days. But the main point is this: English has radically evolved over the past couple of decades because of computers and the internet. Thousands of new words and abbreviations have been added for the sake of specificity and accuracy. Our language has evolved because of this and for anyone to really understand the internet and what's going on in the world they need to recognize these words. Are they planning on creating new Chinese characters to replace these words?

This is simply wishful thinking of some people who are bewildered by changes they cannot control.

Computers have made English into the most international language and children all over the world are learning English. There really isn't anything anyone can do to stop it short of killing the internet.

If this were a Thai announcement, you might be right in thinking that it is an ill-advised minister talking through his **** as usual.

But this is China , and China usually has a hidden (or not so hidden) alternative agenda in most things it says.

True China alone can't control the universal use of English-isms in modern Yoof culture and techno-babble, but it has the resources to launch a Chinese language alternative to the internet, SMS service, email, twitter, facebook, whatever else, plus the technology to at least partially hold back the likes of google.

Of course the rich families will still send their kids abroad for education, same as in Thailand, but the masses have to be prevented from getting too many ideas above their station.(same as in Thailand).

Spare a thought for the people of Hong Kong, if the Chinese government decides to enforce this rule.

And let us not forget that some elements of Thai society would love to be able to maintain the "purity" of the language, or replace the dominance of English with Chinese language.

It will not succeed in the long run, but could nevertheless be a painful and frustrating process for those affected while this policy is enforced.

[tropo]

I wonder what the CHinese Government would do in reaction to world leaders banning the use of Chinese Language in their countries? There are shop keepers here in Auckland that cannot even speak English to explain a product to me, and only know how to say the numbers (e.g. Two dollar fifty).

Sounds like China is taking Lessons from North Korea.

Now I know why I go to Thailand and spend my tourist dollars, and not China. At least Thais are prized for knowing English, and we are prized for knowing Thai (usually).

I shall read labels more closely and ensure I do not buy the products of a country that stands against the language I speak by avoiding their (crappy, unreliable) products.

You're getting all worked up over absolutely nothing. They're not banning the use of English in China, they're only trying to keep their language intact and pure by banning English words in publications or requiring translations if this cannot be avoided. I also find it irritating in English publications when acronyms I don't know are used without explanation.

There are about 1 billion people who speak Chinese and it is thousands of years old, unlike the comparitively new language of English. I can't see any problem with them trying to preserve it.

I saw a report from 2007 that about 300 million people study English in China, so they're not exactly banning English, are they?

In your country they are trying to resurrect an obsolete language for the sake of cultural pride - in a country of a population of only 4 million where there are no native speakers of Maori. You of all people should not be getting upset.

[tropo]

How do you say MERRY CHRISTMAS in Chinese?

Duh ! Melly Clissmas :jap:

It's get old - people making fun of how non-English speakers prounounce words. How well do you pronounce Chinese?

[canuckamuck]

It's get old - people making fun of how non-English speakers prounounce words. How well do you pronounce Chinese?

Like this:

Chy neez :jap:

[doggie888888]

You're getting all worked up over absolutely nothing. They're not banning the use of English in China, they're only trying to keep their language intact and pure by banning English words in publications or requiring translations if this cannot be avoided. I also find it irritating in English publications when acronyms I don't know are used without explanation.

There are about 1 billion people who speak Chinese and it is thousands of years old, unlike the comparitively new language of English. I can't see any problem with them trying to preserve it.

I saw a report from 2007 that about 300 million people study English in China, so they're not exactly banning English, are they?

In your country they are trying to resurrect an obsolete language for the sake of cultural pride - in a country of a population of only 4 million where there are no native speakers of Maori. You of all people should not be getting upset.

The most intelligent and astute response thus far. Most others did not seem to read the OP in its entirety. As "tropo" say, they are not banning English at all and merely addressing an annoyance at the importation of English words/abbreviations, in Chinese language publications, when these can be avoided. Conversely, say if one is writing a report in English, why import Chinese words when there are perfectly acceptable English words?

Edited December 25, 2010 by doggie888888