The Language Situation in China: Volume 3 2009–2010 9781501503146, 9781501511103

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The Language Situation in China Volume 3

Language Policies and Practices in China

Edited by Li Wei (李嵬)

Volume 3

The Language Situation in China Volume 3. 2009–2010

Editor-in-Chief: Li Yuming (李宇明) Associate Editors: Guo Xi (郭熙), Zhou Hongbo (周洪波), Zhou Qingsheng (周庆生) English Editor: Li Wei (李嵬) Editorial Assistants: Xu Xiaoying (许小颖), Dai Wenying (戴文颖) Translation Advisors: Zhao Shouhui (赵守辉), Yao Xiaoping (姚小平), Rudolf Salzlechner (师鲁道)

The Commercial Press

ISBN 978-1-5015-1110-3 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-5015-0314-6 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0298-9 ISSN 2195-9838 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. 6 2015 Walter de Gruyter, Inc., Boston/Berlin and the Commercial Press, Beijing, China Typesetting: RoyalStandard, Hong Kong Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com

Li Yuming (李宇明)

Language issues in China’s urbanization process in the context of globalization Foreword to The Language Situation in China: Vol. 3 Language is one of the basic components of human society. It gives impetus to the spiritual and material civilizations and bears the results of social development, which in turn exercises influence on language change and gives rise to various problems of language. Language researchers, social administrators, and other persons interested in the relationship between language and society, being capable of comprehending a society through its language, should pay attention to the power of major social change through language in order to solve the problems of the latter and possible consequent social problems by means of scientific planning so that a healthy development of the society is guaranteed. In contemporary China, urbanization ranks among the most prominent social changes. The urbanization rate is 48% and is expected to reach 50%, roughly parallel to the estimated 50% of the world level. This change is swift when compared with the early years of New China, which was stuck on very low rates: 11.2% in 1950 and 17.92% in 1978, with a yearly increase of approximately 0.23%. Since the 1980s, rapid advances were witnessed through the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy: 19.4% (1980), 30.42% (1998), 45.68% (2008), and 47% (2009), with an annual growth rate of over 1.3%. The Central Economic Conference held at the end of 2009 commanded a further coordination of development between cities and towns and the relaxation of restrictions on household registers in small and medium-sized cities as well as in towns. A system of residence permits on a national scale is being considered by some departments for the convenience of gradually moving the agricultural population into towns. It is predicted that the urbanization in China will develop at full speed and exceed 70% prior to 2050, closer to that of developed countries, which started this process much earlier. Apart from its general features, urbanization in China has been happening against the background of the world’s economic integration, the rapid utilization of the Internet, and China’s going global; all are bound to exercise some influence on this process. Urbanization transforms farmers into city dwellers or rural migrant workers, and villages into cities and towns; it makes big cities and city amalgamations. Against the background of globalization, it further facilitates the rural and urban

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flows of population, of information and economic benefits, both at home and abroad. This in turn will bring about profound changes in the Chinese society and have a significant impact on its language life. Therefore, measures corresponding to what happened in the process of urbanization seem necessary in language planning. To begin with, language training and instruction should be reinforced in cities. There is a big difference in language life between farmers and townspeople. When farmers become townspeople, or new townspeople, the change lies not solely in their sociocultural identity, but also in their language life. They have to learn and adapt to the principal language of the towns and/or cities they live in, learn new vocabulary, update the mode of information access, and change their oral communicative skills. Such adaptations often require special guidance and should be placed in the overall planning of urban construction. A great proportion of these new townsfolk are middle-aged or old, and slow to adapt to a new language environment. They may have a deteriorating language ability and therefore special attention concerning language use should be given to them. Urbanization also attracts hundreds of millions of job seeking villagers into towns. These villagers work as workers and live an urban life, but are treated as a special group of farmers. Dignified work and life in towns and cities requires them to be an integral part of urban life and development and therefore it is indispensable that they receive language training and guidance. Compared with the townspeople, these migrant laborers display several new characteristics in language: (1) Their demand is urgent. The townspeople have to adapt to their new cities or towns; they grow with their towns and gradually get accustomed to the urbanizing process. The migrant laborers far away from their home villages, however, find themselves on an isolated island in cities because of a break from their old language life styles. Therefore, the pressing need of bridging two modes of life should be met through timely training in language. (2) The migrant workers have a wider range of urban language to learn and need a deeper understanding of it in order to survive in the cities, including the language for work, for daily life, for their rights and interests, and for efficient and effective communication with the communities around them. (3) They have to consider the education of their children, no matter whether they bring them along or leave them behind at home. And this will present the language professional with a number of new challenges that require in-depth investigation. Secondly, urban language planning should be emphasized. A scientific urban construction scheme guarantees the process of urbanization and language planning as an integral component. In the present situation, the following aspects should be taken into account in the ensuing language policy: (1) the

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principal language(s) of urban life, including the one(s) adopted by governments in delivering information and conducting official business, the one(s) of public media for broadcasting, and the one(s) used in the public service; (2) language instruction for both old and new city dwellers, including the forms and channels of language training and directions for the new inhabitants and migrant workers, the ways to provide directions of new language life for the old dwellers, e.g. how to adapt to the modern global language life of information, and how to treat the new inhabitants and migrant workers as far as language and the concept of language are concerned; (3) language service for special communities, including those who do not understand Putonghua, those who are mentally and/or physically handicapped, and particularly foreigners from different parts of the world, who come to China for different purposes, with different beliefs and varying language life demands; and (4) cultural features, a key issue in urban planning, reflecting the outlook of the local culture in urban construction on the basis of the local language or vernacular and various customs, folklore, legends, arts, etc., reflecting the styles of architecture of museums, centers, theaters, network stations and other cultural facilities, including the names of places, streets, and buildings. It is an important measure in urban planning to give full consideration to language and its cultural features in order to be different and provide rich local flavors. Due to the large rural population flow into cities, the eastward population flow from China’s west, and many foreigners coming to China, there is an increase of language problems in these areas, and this should be fully considered in devising an urban language policy. Statistics revealed that in the present circumstances of population migration, more effort should be made to promote Putonghua in cities since this common standard language was spoken less well in the rural areas than in the cities and the same disparity was found between China’s west and east. Another factor should never be overlooked in planning, i.e. the minority national languages. The minority ethnic groups in China are mainly found in the west. With their eastward migration, especially into cities, their national languages should be added to the service list. A scientific treatment should also be given to the relationship of Chinese with the minority languages, and social workers understanding these languages should be trained with this purpose in mind. In addition, a foreign language service should be available in community administration as well: public signs of urban activities should be translated if necessary, and both channels and sites of information and entertainment should be arranged for foreign staff. Thirdly, new strategies are called for in Putonghua promotion. It is foreseeable that Putonghua will spread to every corner of the country faster than expected because: (1) it has shown a trend of rapid expansion with the astonish-

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ingly quick development of vehicular traffic, telecommunications, and mass media, the popularization of education, and the great progress of science, technology and culture; (2) Putonghua is widely appreciated, a case in point being the expectation of the residents in both minority and southern dialect areas and of migrant workers that their children learn it well. Furthermore, the world-wide wave of enthusiasm for learning Chinese has effectively improved its reputation at home; and (3) it is further boosted by the prevalent use of the Internet, mobile phones and other new media where Pinyin is the preferred input method. From this basis emerges the speeding-up of urbanization, which serves as the prime mover of language unification, targeting a unified market and industrialization. The general direction of urban languages in China is shown to be dominated by Putonghua, which is and will be learned by the new townspeople, the migrant workers from the countryside, also by a considerable proportion of old citizens who do not understand it, and by foreigners coming to China. Putonghua promotion is witnessing a historic turning point of qualitative significance. This means that it is time corresponding strategic adjustments are made. Firstly, in cities as well as in east China where the promotion of Putonghua has been more successful, the level of achievement has to be further raised, language services should be made more widely available, and the relationship between languages and dialects must be harmonized. Particular attention should be given to speakers’ feelings for their dialects, for otherwise they might be transformed into a social problem hindering Putonghua popularization. Secondly, the focus of the national effort should be turned to the countryside, the western areas, and the minority ethnic regions. Thirdly, the application of Putonghua in such important fields as official duties, education, science and technology, mass media, and public service should be emphasized; particular importance should be placed on the Putonghua teaching in compulsory education because the dream of language unification cannot be realized until students have, from the start, a mastery of Putonghua, which improves the quality of citizens’ lives. Lastly, better conditions should be created for foreigners coming to China to learn Putonghua, and that language education services of different degrees are offered in various ways, for example, by using language partners, intensive programs, preparatory courses, and sinological education, etc. Fourthly, efforts ought to be made to maintain the present linguistic atlas. With the rapid changes in the maps of towns and villages, China’s linguistic atlas is bound to change greatly very soon. While this rewriting has its active social meaning, it might also result in the shrinking or even disappearance of some minority ethnic languages and Chinese dialects. The fundamental role language plays is communication. However, language does not merely serve as a tool of communication, it is also a resource, for it embodies culture imbued

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with feelings. The reduction and extinction of some languages or dialects involve the loss of Chinese linguistic and cultural resources and cause anxiety in some people. Of course, languages have their own laws to follow and their destiny is not determined by human will alone. In other words, the large-scale revision of the Chinese linguistic atlas will be considered and evaluated in various ways, but it is beyond human control. However, this does not necessarily mean that nothing can be done about it. To begin with, multimedia technology can be employed to record the linguistic forms of modern languages, to maintain the outline of today’s linguistic atlas, and to construct a corpus of oral languages is another way of preventing languages from disappearing. Secondly, attention should be given to the planning for the countryside in order to preserve rural languages and to incorporate the language conservation into intangible cultural heritage. In the meantime, greater efforts should be made to protect indigenous language and culture, and attention be given to the construction of museums for languages and cultures with the aim of spreading the knowledge wrapped in these languages. Thirdly, some problems in language policy-making have to be carefully considered. Attempts should be made to strengthen the vitality of some languages and dialects by advocating “bilingualism with diglossia”, and in some regions exploring education for language conservation. Finally, to the maintenance of languages in cyberspace. The development of the Internet and urbanization are an interactive process. For this reason, the virtual language life created by the Internet cannot be neglected when language problems are discussed in the process of urbanization. Now that the concept of Smart Earth has grown prevalent, the concept of an Internet of Things (IOT) and Cloud Computing has become reality, and mobile networks are becoming more ubiquitous, it is quite obvious that the Internet is undergoing a revolutionary change. Accordingly, the virtual language life will certainly be richer, more active and more colorful, and it is bound to have a more profound and powerful influence on actual language life. There are 500 million urban netizens, and their virtual language life calls for immediate attention from the following perspectives: (1) The cyberspace of virtual language life in China should be designed to suit the habits of its people, and in particular, encourage the maximum use of the Chinese language and writing (e.g. the current convention of writing all email addresses in English is inconvenient for the Chinese). Therefore, various types of hardware, software and linguistic information technology should be designed, requiring more rights for the intellectual property of information technology and also corresponding international agreements. (2) The quality of the virtual language life of Chinese should be constantly improved. Seen from a developmental point, it ought to be the life of the majority that generally benefits

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from these changes. Therefore, more people should be ushered into cyberspace to reduce the size of information-marginalized communities. Potential modes and types of virtual language life may be conceived and developed systematically. A reasonable order should be set up for virtual language life, to ensure its quality and its extension outward as a manifestation of the world. (3) Virtual language life is based on the enrichment and development of actual language life. Nowadays, both physical and virtual forms of language life should interact with each other, help each other and encourage mutual promotion. In short, because of the rapid progress of urbanization against the background of world globalization, careful consideration should be given to such questions as how the Chinese language outlook will be influenced, what language problems will have to be settled, which special groups of people demand special language assistance, and how to guarantee the success of urbanization by means of a scientific policy and effective action of language. In the 21st century, building a harmonious language life has become a novel concept of language work. A language life in harmony consists of the dialectical unity of subjectivity and diversity with various languages and their variants in their proper places, playing their respective roles serving different purposes, and supplementing one another. This new concept will surely contribute to overcoming various language problems created by the process of urbanization, and it is to be continually improved in practice. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

Contents Li Yuming (李宇明) Language issues in China’s urbanization process in the context of globalization v Foreword to The Language Situation in China: Vol. 3

Part I: Language Work

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Cai Changhong (蔡长虹), Hao Aqing (郝阿庆), Li Xulian (李旭练), Pei Yajun (裴亚军), Rong Hong (容宏), Wang Qi (王奇), Wei Dan (魏丹), Yuan Wei (袁伟), Yin Jing (尹静), Zhang Yan (张艳), Zhang Yingchuan (张映川), and Zhou Daojuan (周道娟) An update on the use and management of standard spoken and written 3 Chinese Cai Changhong (蔡长虹), Hao Aqing (郝阿庆), Li Xulian (李旭练), Pei Yajun (裴亚军), Rong Hong (容宏), Wang Qi (王奇), Wei Dan (魏丹), Yuan Wei (袁伟), Yin Jing (尹静), Zhang Yan (张艳), Zhang Yingchuan (张映川), and Zhou Daojuan (周道娟) Current situation of the management of spoken and written 15 languages

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Li Xulian (李旭练) Present situation of the work concerning ethnic languages

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Xie Junying (谢俊英) & Chen Zhangtai (陈章太) Sixty years’ work with spoken and written languages

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Part II: Special Research 5

Luo Feng (骆峰) The global spread of the Chinese language

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Chen Hui (陈慧) Development of the language information industry in China

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Ni Lan (倪兰) The use of sign language and related issues

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Zhang Jun (张军) The language of Chinese films and TV series

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Qu Yanbin (曲彦斌) Folk cant and folk life

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Zheng Mengjuan (郑梦娟), Huang Xiaoshan (黄小珊), and Fan Henghui (凡恒慧) 10 The development of an international language environment in 107 Beijing

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Dong Jie (董洁) The Beijing migrant children’s language and identity

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Sun Chunying (孙春颖) & Yang Shujun (杨书俊) 12 Language barrier and assistance during the earthquake relief operations in 123 Yushu, Qinghai Province Bai Ping (白萍) 13 A survey of the Russian language use in Inner Mongolia’s Ergun 137 City Zhou Hongbo (周洪波) & Zhao Chunyan (赵春燕) 14 Compilation of dictionaries of the Chinese language Zheng Mengjuan (郑梦娟) 15 Chinglish at the crossroads

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Li Qiao (李俏) 16 The academic community on language life

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Part III: Language Focuses He Rui (何瑞) 17 Chinese characters: Traditional versus simplified debate

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He Rui (何瑞) 18 Debate on The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters Liu Jingwen (刘靖文) 19 A heated discussion on the “crisis in writing Chinese characters”

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Qu Shaobing (屈哨兵) 20 Reflections on the incident of the “Preservation of Cantonese” in 211 Guangzhou Wang Lei (汪磊) 21 The phenomenon of the Martian language

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Li Qiao (李俏) 22 Chinese Internet buzzwords and catchphrases of 2009

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Yang Erhong (杨尔弘) 23 Comparisons of Chinese characters, words and phrases used in the media 247 (2005–2009) Hou Min (侯敏) & Teng Yonglin (滕永林) 24 Chinese neologisms of the year (2009–2010)

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Yang Erhong (杨尔弘) 25 A survey of annual catchwords in the media (2009–2010)

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Chan Shui Duen (陈瑞端) 26 Changes in biliteracy and trilingualism in the Hong Kong education 289 sector Huang Yi (黄翊) 27 Survey of “Yuanxingdi” as street name in Macau Yu Guilin (余桂林) 28 Language situation in Taiwan (2009–2010)

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Special Ji Chuanbo (汲传波) 29 Social responses spurred on by the Report on the Language Situation 335 in China

Appendix 1

Wang Zhijuan (王志娟) & Zhao Xiaobing (赵小兵) Newspapers in written Chinese minority languages

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Mao Liqun (毛力群) A record of major Chinese language events (2009)

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Contents

Mao Liqun (毛力群) & Mao Xiaojing (毛筱静) A record of major Chinese language events (2010) Contents (Chinese version 2009)

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Contents (Chinese version 2011)

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Postscript

Editorial Teams of the English Edition Index

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I Language Work

Cai Changhong (蔡长虹), Hao Aqing (郝阿庆), Li Xulian (李旭练), Pei Yajun (裴亚军), Rong Hong (容宏), Wang Qi (王奇), Wei Dan (魏丹), Yuan Wei (袁伟), Yin Jing (尹静), Zhang Yan (张艳), Zhang Yingchuan (张映川), and Zhou Daojuan (周道娟)

1 An update on the use and management of standard spoken and written Chinese Keywords: Putonghua Proficiency Test, State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), print media, minority language, mainland China, Taiwan, standardization, State Language Commission, Chinese characters. Between 2009 and 2010, China’s language authorities have achieved a lot in the area of language management. The National Medium- and Long-Term Language Work Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) was drafted. Several projects were consequently implemented, including the Urban Language Assessment, the Putonghua Proficiency Test, a Survey on Foreign Language Use in Cities, and the Supervision of Language Use in Advertisements. New regulations were issued on the usage of foreign language words in Chinese. A joint program of dictionary making, in collaboration with Taiwanese scholars, was initiated. The National Research Center for Sign Language and Braille was founded, and the standardization work of language use on radio, television and in publications was strengthened. Ethnic minority language publication projects were funded as well.

1 The National Medium- and Long-Term Language Work Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) In October 2008, The National Medium- and Long-Term Language Work Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) was drafted. Since then, fifteen tasks concerning language management have been conducted. Thirty-eight national symposia and one special workshop were organized while institutions of higher learning and government departments in different provinces and cities held also

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other meetings. The State Language Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) plenary meeting and other conferences of language study solicited comments and suggestions extensively. A written survey was sent to 139 national and local language commissions, as well as to colleges and universities for comment and suggestions. Accordingly, The National Medium- and Long-Term Language Work Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) draft (hereafter referred to as the Outline) has been revised over fifty times before it was finalized. The Outline was developed around the theme of “building a harmonious language life,” and it established the following principles: Speed up the spread of Putonghua, enhance language ability, promote Chinese culture, and serve the nation harmoniously. Moreover, it proposed the work agenda, national language reform and tasks for language development for a number of decades to come. The Outline takes the Commission’s responsibilities as its basis and prioritizes the listing of many tasks including some work with ethnic minority languages, standardizing written and spoken Chinese in international Chinese education, particularly the Chinese language education in Southeast Asia. Special languages, such as the Chinese sign language and Braille, were added to the Outline. Above all, it advocates the statements “emphasizing dialectical unity of diversity” and “building a harmonious language life” as the guideline and principles for the language work.

2 The assessment of urban language 2.1 Urban language work in 2009 In 2009, the assessment of urban language continued and proceeded in a steady and orderly manner. By the end of 2009, 32 first-tier cities, 191 second-tier cities and 240 third-tier cities in China had formulated a set of standards, accounting for approximately 89%, 57% and 11% of each tier’s total. The urban language assessment promoted the language work further. As a result, eight urban language organizations were established and eight new administrative positions created. 1.49 million RMB were invested or added to the existing funding and the budget for the assessment was increased by 13.11 million RMB. 173 cities have made the Putonghua Proficiency Test available for their civil servants to take. In 176 cities, 219,607 people from different walks of life took the Putonghua Proficiency Test.

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2.2 Urban language work in 2010 The year 2010 saw remarkable achievements in the assessment of urban language, with the first-tier cities, Xining City, Qinghai Province, 35 second-tier cities and 119 third-tier cities reaching the set standard. Tianjin City and Jiangsu Province completed the assessment in all its districts and cities and the results showed that all the assessed districts and cities passed the standard. By the end of 2010, 33 first-tier cities, 226 second-tier cities and 359 third-tier cities in China had reached the set standard, approximately accounting for 92%, 68% and 17% of the total in each tier. The assessment further promoted the language work as a profession. Twentythree urban language organizations were established, and twenty-three administrative posts and five public service positions were created. 2.72 million RMB was invested or added to the existing funding and the budget for the special assessment was increased by 4.22 million RMB. In more than 160 cities, 391,500 civil servants took the Putonghua Proficiency Test, while another 192,000 people took tests for specific occupations.

3 New regulations for the usage of foreign language words In order to standardize Chinese character use in official documents of state administrative organizations and to conduct the censorship of the usage of foreign language words, the Secretariat of the General Office of the State Council (SGOSC) issued the Notification of Strengthening the Work of Examining and Verifying the Use of Foreign Language Words in Official Documents of State Administrative Organizations (hereafter referred to as File No. 14 [2010]) on April 16, and later the General Office of the Ministry of Education (GOMOE) issued a notification (hereafter referred to as File No. 2 [2010]) from the Ministry of Education’s Languages Application Administration, to forward the Notification to the relevant departments and organizations in the nation. File No. 14 [2010] requires: (1) state administrative organizations should raise the awareness of using Standard Spoken and Written Chinese, and since they are serving as national models they should adopt standard Chinese characters when issuing official documents; (2) administrative authorities at various levels must strictly implement all relevant provisions and shall not use foreign language words in official documents; if foreign language words are really necessary, they must be used along with Chinese translations in brackets when they

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are first used in the text, and approval must be sought from a department under the supervision of the State Council or other relevant departments; (3) the department in charge of the usage of spoken and written languages under the State Council and other relevant departments must jointly make rules for foreign language word translation and spelling, provide a translation of emerging foreign language words in a timely manner, and their standard translations and Chinese abbreviations must be announced regularly to the public; (4) all relevant departments should strengthen the censorship of foreign language word usage in official documents. The inappropriate use of foreign language words should be corrected promptly. File No. 2 [2010] issued by GOMOE requires: (1) File No. 14 [2010] issued by SGOSC must be forwarded to all relevant departments and offices that may take the opportunity to further promote the enforcement of language laws and regulations in China as well as raise the awareness of using the standard Chinese language in conformity with the legal provisions, and all relevant authorities and personnel should practice a cautious use of foreign language words; (2) each department and office should conduct self-examination and self-correction to establish regulations which standardize the use of foreign language words in official documents in order to meet the requirements of the document issued by SGOSC; (3) education offices and commissions at all levels should effectively fulfill their administrative responsibilities of language management when organizing any public events to strengthen the guidance, supervision and inspection of language use. Schools, the media and other public service agencies should do the same when organizing any public activities or campaigns to make sure of the appropriate use of foreign language words according to the instruction of File No. 14 [2010] issued by SGOSC.

4 Putonghua Proficiency Test In January 2007, a computer-based system was officially adopted for the Putonghua Proficiency Test. Since then, a pilot group of nineteen provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities has administered the test. These cities and provinces are Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Gansu. In 2010, 1,637,000 people have taken the test by using the computer-based test system. In the same year, 4,179,800 people participated in the national Putonghua Proficiency Test, including 178,500 civil servants, 413,600 teachers, 3,355,000

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students, 4,400 staff members of radio and television stations, and 228,300 other testees. By the end of 2010, 35,224,600 people had taken the test throughout the country in 1,462 testing centers, of which 419 were municipal testing centers, 997 college testing centers, and 46 testing centers were for various service trades. Currently, there are 1,283 test inspectors and 47,600 Putonghua Proficiency Testers, of whom 4,300 are national level testers.

5 Survey of foreign language use in cities In recent years, complaints about the misuse of foreign languages in China have been filed continuously in the motions and bills by the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Meanwhile, people from different walks of life have called for the effective management of foreign language use. For a better understanding of foreign language use in our social life, a survey of foreign language usage was conducted between December 2008 and March 2009 by MOELAA. The survey was conducted to investigate foreign language use in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and sixteen other large and medium-sized cities in ten provinces as well as autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, such as Heilongjiang, Shandong, Gansu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Guangxi. The survey involved nine areas including the CCP and government offices, radio and television stations, newspapers and journals, schools, urban streets, brand names and product instruction manuals, scenic spots, hotels and restaurants, and public transport facilities. The 2,700 participants were from 1,240 departments, offices, and various employers. The survey covered the following aspects: the current situation of foreign language use, the effect on the learning and use of the speakers’ mother tongue, especially the impact on the future social life (after 2020), and what measures should be taken. The results showed that: (1) by 2009, foreign languages were commonly used in various fields in Chinese social life and the average usage ratio had reached 31%; (2) factors affecting foreign language use in China vary and are complex because of its economic and social development, the society’s openness, official management of foreign language usage, social attitudes, opportunities created by urban development, and emotional ties with the Chinese language; (3) English has become the dominant foreign language and is only second to Chinese, accounting for 82.77% of all foreign language use; (4) foreign languages are mainly used along with the Chinese language in social communication; (5)

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without an explicit national policy of foreign language usage, many regulations made by different relevant state departments and regions diverge and even conflict with one another; (6) the national foreign language proficiency is not good enough. Therefore, an explicit state-level macro policy should be devised while the management of foreign language use is emphasized in practice.

6 Joint efforts in compiling dictionaries in mainland China and Taiwan In 2010, the State Language Commission initiated a collaborative project of compiling Chinese reference books by scholars from both mainland China and Taiwan. The following four work groups were set up with corresponding Taiwanese counterparts: Dictionary Compilation, Information and Technology, Comparing Terms in Science and Technology in mainland China and Taiwan, and Organization and Coordination. Higher Education Press was designated as the publisher for the dictionaries in mainland China. After several rounds of talks, the following important consensuses were reached: (1) The Chinese Cross-Strait Dictionary of Commonly Used Words, a small-sized Chinese reference book, shall be compiled within a year or two, and shall be published by the end of 2011. (2) The Chinese Language Dictionary, a medium-sized Chinese reference book, shall be compiled and completed within three to five years. (3) The Chinese Language Knowledge Base is to be developed as a cloud database that includes the above-mentioned two co-compiled dictionaries and the comparative terms of all sciences and technology used in mainland China and Taiwan, serving Chinese language users worldwide. The cloud database was to have been put in use by the end of 2011; (4) The projects of comparing the terms of sciences and technology in mainland China and Taiwan shall continue and be extended to more disciplines. As a result, The Chinese Dictionary of Science and Technology and The Chinese Cross-Strait Dictionary of Commonly Used Scientific and Technical Terms are to be compiled and published. The two Dictionary Compilation Groups in mainland China and Taiwan have discussed and agreed on the dictionary format and work principles. The vocabulary collection has been decided, a sample draft was provided, and sample word items were exchanged. Currently, they are working extensively on word entry collection. The Information and Technology Group has set up a website called

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The Chinese Language, which is the prototype of The Chinese Language Knowledge Database. The group focused on studying and sorting out the problems and difficulties of cloud database development, and on providing technical support for the Dictionary Compilation Group. The Comparative Terms of Science and Technology Group has started compiling The Chinese Dictionary of Science and Technology and a working schedule has been agreed upon by both groups in mainland China and Taiwan. The Organization and Coordination Group has contacted and communicated with the Department of Industry and Information Technology and other departments for a favorable policy and technical support.

7 The National Research Center for Sign Language and Braille On 16 July 2009, the National Research Center for Sign Language and Braille was co-founded by MOE, the State Language Commission and China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF). It was inaugurated at Beijing Normal University. The use of sign language and Braille affects the well-being of thirty million blind and deaf Chinese. At the inauguration, Li Weihong (李卫红), Deputy Minister of MOE, stated that the State Language Commission and education departments at various levels must incorporate sign language and Braille into the language work to accelerate the development of sign language and Braille under different local contexts. The work should be well-planned and innovative, integrating with all other work. It is very important to show great concern and care for people with disabilities, and develop special education in an innovative way to standardize and promote sign language and Braille.

8 Task Force on Censorship of the Language in Advertisements The Notification of Inspection of Language Use in Advertisements (hereafter referred to as the Notification) was issued by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) in September (File No. 181 [2010]). It requires the Departments of Industry and Commerce at all levels to highlight the importance of standardizing the language used in advertisements. The Law of the People’s Republic of China for the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (hereinafter referred to as the Language Law) is going to mark its 10th anniversary, which

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should be a good opportunity to change and correct inappropriate language usage in advertising. The inspection focused on the following inappropriate use of language in advertising: (1) advertisements that only use Pinyin; (2) foreign languages are used in advertisements in violation of state language regulations; (3) miswritten Chinese characters, traditional Chinese characters that are only allowed to be used in the prescribed contexts, variant Chinese characters, simplified Chinese characters and printed fonts that have been abolished but are used in advertisements; (4) non-standard idioms used in advertisements, which may mislead the public and have a negative impact on society; (5) other non-standard use of language in advertisements. The Notification also requires: (1) All appropriate departments should take language use in advertising seriously and make greater efforts in the inspection and supervision of language use according to the relevant provisions in the Advertising Law, Language Law, Advertising Management Regulations, Enforcement Rules of Advertising Management Regulations, and Interim Advertising Language Management Regulations. The advertisements with a non-standard usage of language must be corrected and mandated to be rectified immediately. As for illegal and problematic advertisements, they must be eliminated immediately. The responsible people should receive punishment and a penalty according to the laws and regulations. (2) When censoring the language in advertisements, the law enforcement should be integrated with law education, providing administrative guidance and supervision to the advertisers, advertising agents and publishers to make sure that they learn and understand the Advertising Law, Language Law and other laws and regulations. Awareness should be raised for using standard and appropriate language.

9 Using standard language on radio and television 9.1 Language use in film, radio and television The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) notified radio, film and television stations to standardize their language use according to the Notification of Strengthening the Censorship of Foreign Language Words in Official Documents of State Administrative Organizations (File No. 14 [2010]) issued by SGOSC (see Collection of Management Provisions on Foreign Language Use at State Level and Relevant Departments in the Appendix). The channels whose

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working language is not a foreign language are not allowed to use foreign languages for broadcasting news, conduct interviews, or play captioned films and TV programs. When a foreign language is really necessary, Chinese subtitle explanations must be provided. The Notification is not confined to the Sports channel, which means that English abbreviations such as NBA (National Basketball Association), GDP (gross domestic product), WTO (the World Trade Organization), and CPI (consumer price index) should be avoided.

9.2 Four documents of language use on radio and television still valid On 12 November 2009, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued the Notification of the Valid Catalog of Regulations and Normative Documents for Radio, Film and Television Departments, which stated that upon the request of the Notification of Issues on Reviewing and Revising Regulations (File No. 28 [2010] issued by SGOSC), a complete review has been made on the existing regulations and normative documents on radio, film and television. The following documents are still valid and effective: Notification of Further Promoting the Quality of TV Talk Shows (File No. 616 [2000] issued by SARFT), SARFT’s Notification of Strengthening the Broadcasting Management of TV Program Subtitles (File No. 338 [2005] issued by SARFT), SARFT’s Notification of Reiterating the Use of Standard Language in TV Series (File No. 560 [2005] issued by SARFT), and SARFT’s Notification of Strictly Limiting the Use of Dialects in TV Series (File No. 116 [2009] issued by the General Office of SARFT).

10 Standardization of language use in publication and funding the projects of ethnic minority languages 10.1 Notification of Further Standardizing Language Use in Publication The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) issued its Notification of Further Standardizing Language Use in Publication on 23 November (File No. 11 [2010]). The Notification specifically requires: regulations concerning the standardization of the Chinese language must be strictly enforced. All print

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media and publishers must take effective measures to ensure the implementation of Article 5 in Regulations on the Management of Chinese Character Use in Publication, which states, “Standard written Chinese characters must be used in mastheads (or names), titles, covers (including front and back covers), spines, etc., of newspapers, journals, books, audio-visual products and other publications as well as on the packaging decorations and in advertisements. Non-standard characters are totally prohibited. The same is applicable to publications including texts, abstracts, contents and other supplementary information like copyright records.” Other relevant provisions should be followed as well. We should promote the standardization of language usage and ensure the healthy development of the Chinese language with an appropriate language use and resist the tendency toward a cultural decline. The Notification also emphasizes the importance of standardizing the use of foreign languages. It requires that all print media and publishers should further strengthen the standardization of the use of foreign languages, and respect and follow the rules of the language structure, word formation and grammar of the Chinese languages as well as foreign languages. Chinese publications are banned from blending foreign languages with English words, abbreviations and coinages with vague meanings. Misuses of language such as arbitrary word spellings with several letters added or deleted and random word order reversals should be eliminated. If foreign languages are needed in a Chinese publication, Chinese explanations should be provided as annotations. Foreign language translations should follow the fundamental principles and practices of translation. Proper nouns like names of persons and places as well as terms for science and technology are translated into standard Chinese in accordance with the relevant regulations. Administrative departments of press and publication should, at all levels, further enhance the management and inspection of language use and quality of publications. All print media, publishers and related administrative departments should further raise awareness and promote the importance of using the standard Chinese language.

10.2 Special fund for publications in ethnic minority languages The Interim Measures to Manage the Ethnic Minority Script Publication Project Aided by a Special Fund (hereinafter referred to as Interim Measures) was coissued by GAPP and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on 28 May 2009. The Interim Measures emphasize the standard procedure for publication projects in Ethnic Minority Scripts including proposals, applications, approvals, completions, and evaluations for the Special Fund. All projects applying for the special fund

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subsidies must comply with all state laws, publication regulations, guidelines and policies for ethnic minorities made by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Publications should show the fine culture of ethnic minorities and provide ethnic minority people with advanced knowledge of science and culture. Applications for a book series or sub-project may be regarded as a package of one project. Local publishers who mainly publish and produce books, journals, audio-visual products, CPC newspapers and journals in ethnic minority scripts are eligible to apply for technical reform and equipment-renewal subsidies. Provincial administrative departments of press and publication must provide a clear description of the number of trainees, training methods, costs and training content when applying for professional training programs.1 Translated by Zhan Ju (战菊) Jilin University, China [email protected]

1 GAPP and MOF’s Notification of Issuing ‘Interim Measures to Manage the Ethnic Minority Script Publication Project Aided by a Special Fund’, GAPP (website), http://www.gapp.gov.cn/cms/ html/21/508/201006/700310.html, 22 June 2010.

Cai Changhong (蔡长虹), Hao Aqing (郝阿庆), Li Xulian (李旭练), Pei Yajun (裴亚军), Rong Hong (容宏), Wang Qi (王奇), Wei Dan (魏丹), Yuan Wei (袁伟), Yin Jing (尹静), Zhang Yan (张艳), Zhang Yingchuan (张映川), and Zhou Daojuan (周道娟)

2 Current situation of the management of spoken and written languages Keywords: State Language Commission, language standard, character component, spoken language, Chinese character, China National Committee for Terms in Science and Technology, Chinese Proficiency Test. Between 2009 and 2010, the State Language Commission in China focused mainly on the information management of spoken and written languages through issuing four documents of standards, including The Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components. The Commission also issued four other documents of regulations, among them Criteria of Spoken and Written Language Assessment on Machine Translation Systems (Draft) and the Assessment Criteria for the Graded Chinese Syllables, Characters and Words for Application in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages. It also revised four national standards like the General Rules for Punctuation, developed the Chinese Language Audio Resources Database, and drew up policies on the Chinese Proficiency Test for professional purposes. Besides, the Chinese National Evaluation Committee for Scientific and Technological Terms also completed a number of projects.

1 Four documents of codes and standards issued by the State Language Commission Four documents concerning codes and standards were issued by the State Language Commission, namely The Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components, Criteria for Identifying Components of the GB13000.1 Chinese Character Set, Criteria of Common Modern Chinese Character Components and Component Names, and the Criteria of the Indecomposable Characters Frequently Used in Modern Chinese. The Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components was developed on the basis of the Table of Standard Radicals for Chinese Characters (Draft) (referred

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to as Draft), which was first issued in 1983 by the China Written Language Reform Committee and General Administration of Press and Publication. The Draft was revised with supplements relating to the identification of character components and sub-components, and the order of character components and indexing rules. The Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components provides a list of Chinese character components, including 201 main character components, the same as those in the Draft, and 100 character sub-components, together with an indexing rule. With a general consideration of the development and current practical needs of Chinese characters, Specifications for Identifying Components of GB13000.1 Chinese Character Set provides general principles and rules for identifying components of the GB13000.1 Chinese Character Set and lists a table of components to identify 20,902 Chinese characters. The document of the Criteria for Common Modern Chinese Character Components and Component Names specifies the identification rules of common modern Chinese characters, components and their names. It also provides The Table of Common Modern Chinese Character Components and The Table of Common Character Main Components, with two appendices, The Table of Common Chinese Character Component Character-Formation Frequency and The Table of Stroke Order Indexing of Common Modern Chinese Character Components. The indecomposable characters frequently used in modern Chinese were defined in the document, which provides The Table of the Indecomposable Characters Commonly Used in Modern Chinese, with an index table in alphabetical order. It is of crucial significance to release and implement the above four documents for enforcing the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and for promoting the standardization of spoken and written Chinese in dictionary compilation, Chinese character education and the information processing of Chinese characters.

2 Six draft documents released Four draft documents are included in Language Situation in China, Volume 2. They are Criteria of the Pronunciation of Chinese Characters in Japanese (Draft), Spoken and Written Language Assessment Criteria of TTS and ASR Systems (Draft), Spoken and Written Language Assessment Criteria of Machine Translation Systems (Draft), Criteria of Spoken and Written Language Assessment on Corpus Systems (Draft), Criteria of Metadata in the Modern Chinese Corpus (Draft), and Annotation Criteria of the Conceptual Sentence Structure Corpus Based on Conceptual Hierarchies (Draft).

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3 Documents released on teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages Two documents were issued on 19 October 2010 that took effect on 1 February 2011, and were approved by China’s Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission. They are The Graded Chinese Syllables, Characters and Words for Application in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, and Grading Standards and Testing Guidelines of Spoken Chinese Proficiency. In the former, Chinese syllables, characters and words are graded and tables of graded syllables, Chinese characters and vocabularies are provided. It will be widely used in teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages and for compiling textbooks, instructions, testing, compiling reference books, and creating a syllable and word corpus, as well as for the teaching of Chinese to ethnic minorities within China. The latter sets standards and testing guidelines on daily spoken Chinese proficiency for non-native Chinese speakers and Overseas Chinese. Both documents are language standards designed to teach Chinese to speakers of other languages. Their release will help standardize the teaching of Chinese to speakers of other languages and aid non-native Chinese speakers and Overseas Chinese to learn the Chinese language, thereby having a far-reaching impact on promoting the Chinese language internationally.

4 Four national standards revised Four national standards were revised, including General Rules for Punctuation, General Rules for Numbers in Publications, Basic Rules for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Orthography and The Chinese Phonetic Spelling Rules for Chinese Names. As they are extensively used, the four standards have a profound impact on the standardization of spoken and written languages in such areas as press and publication, culture and education, as well as in Chinese information processing.

5 Development of the Chinese Language Audio Resources Database The first pilot project for the Chinese Language Audio Resources Database in Jiangsu Province was successfully completed and the second one has been

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initiated. The questionnaire to survey Chinese dialects and its research design were revised and finalized. An action plan was made for developing the Chinese Language Audio Resources Database. In addition, the pilot project for the Chinese Ethnic Minority Languages Audio Resources Database was also launched. Other related projects were completed as well, including the Publication Catalog of Chinese Dialects, Criteria of the Present Publications on Chinese Dialects, Chinese Dialects Questionnaire and Survey Design, Ethnic Minority Languages Questionnaire and Survey Design, Regulations for Developing a Chinese Language Audio Resources Database, and Criteria of Phonetic Recording and Phonetic Annotation.

6 Policies regarding the Professional Chinese Proficiency Test were formulated The Notification on the Release of Assessment Criteria of Occupational Proficiency Training (Trial) (No. 11) [2007], referred to as Criteria, was issued by the Occupational Skill Testing Authority of China’s Ministry of Labor and Social Security. It states that “seven modules for occupational language proficiency are developed by specialists to enhance the overall quality. The modules consist of training assessment criteria for interpersonal communication, digital application, information processing, team work, problem solving, self-improvement and innovative ability.” The Occupational Skill Testing Authority of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security developed the Assessment Criteria of Occupational Language Proficiency Training (Trial). (People’s Press, 2007 Edition) The Criteria aims to achieve an ability-oriented and employment-driven educational goal. It proposes skill requirements and training assessment instruction for achieving basic occupational proficiency, making the training and assessment of language proficiency more manageable and feasible. The Professional Chinese Proficiency Test was first enacted nationwide in 2004, targeting job applicants and in-service employees with a senior high school diploma or above. Its purpose is to widely serve government, private enterprises, public institutions, schools and a variety of human resource development and training programs. The Test, which is administered each year, consists of two parts, namely reading comprehension and writing. Those who pass the Test will receive a Certificate of Professional Language Proficiency, issued by the Occupational Skill Testing Authority of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (formerly the Ministry of Labor and Social Security).

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The full score of the Test is 1,000 points, ranked by elementary, intermediate and advanced levels.

7 Terms in science and technology 7.1 Improving the standardization of terms in science and technology China’s National Committee for Terms in Science and Technology either set up or re-elected ten disciplinary subcommittees, working in various fields to standardize all terms in science and technology. Fifty subject disciplines were involved in this endeavor in 2010, and books and a dictionary of terms were published, reaching a record high in both quantity and quality.

7.2 Promoting standard terms The development of the Regulations for the Management of Terms in Science and Technology was supported by the Bureau of Planning and Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Science and guided by the Department of Policies and Law of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and law experts were constantly consulted. Later on the Secretariat Bureau of the General Office of the State Council announced the Notification for Strengthening the Censorship of Foreign Language Words in Government Documents. Meanwhile, Guangming Daily issued a special edition “Indigenization of Foreign Language Words in China,” which included, among other articles, the article Don’t Let Foreign Language Words Spoil the Chinese Language Environment, an interview with Sun Shoushan, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Press and Publication. Supported by the General Administration of Press and Publication, training courses continue to be offered on using standard scientific and technological terms in publications. A dictionary editorial office was set up to facilitate the project of comparing terms in science and technology used on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as to further promote the standardization of terms. A strategic cooperation was also initiated with Baidu Encyclopedia.

7.3 Academic research, exchanges and cooperation China’s National Committee for Terms in Science and Technology asked experts and specialists to compile and publish Research and Exploration of Terminology (Anthology). The Committee also organized a symposium on Translation-oriented Terminology Research. Moreover, it collaborated with the State Language Com-

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mission, the Institute of Linguistics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Shanghai Dictionary Press and the Institute of Place Name Research of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in carrying out standardization efforts like The General Table of Standardized Chinese Characters, The Use of Foreign Language Words, Regulations on Managing Spoken and Written Foreign Languages and Naming Places of the Moon, Polar Regions and the Seafloor. There were also academic exchanges with the terminology communities in Russia and Austria. These ongoing academic activities enhanced the terminology research in China.

7.4 Comparing and unifying terms in science and technology in mainland China and Taiwan China’s National Committee for Terms in Science and Technology has so far devoted a lot of effort on comparing and standardizing terms in science and technology across the Taiwan Strait in nearly twenty disciplines and has organized nine meetings in its endeavor to achieve consensus. In addition, upon the request of Taiwan’s Affairs Office of the State Council, it conducted several rounds of negotiations with Taiwan and geared up for the compilation of the Dictionary of Corresponding Terms in Science and Technology across the Taiwan Strait, thereby contributing to a further exchange in culture, technology, business and trade between both sides of the Strait, as well as to the peaceful reunification of China.

7.5 Initiatives on a database and website for terms The China National Committee for Terms in Science and Technology has made a variety of efforts in developing a database and website. Firstly, it received national funding for a project that studies the creation of automatic retrieval software and gives supplementary definitions of new terms in science and technology, with the aim of providing a new approach to collecting new terms and serving as a disciplinary pilot program for designing a database of terms in science and technology. Secondly, to attract more readers, the Committee kept promoting its website by releasing and introducing new terms in a timely manner. It will also start an online censoring procedure for scientific and technological terms. Translated by Zhan Ju (战菊) Jilin University, China [email protected]

Li Xulian (李旭练)

3 Present situation of the work concerning ethnic languages Keywords: The State Ethnic Affairs Commission, technical term, ethnic language, propagation, State Council, harmonious socialist society, bilingual education, digitization, standardization.

1 Provisions of policies on the development of ethnic languages issued by the State Council On July 5, 2009, the State Council issued Some Opinions of the State Council about the Further Promotion and Development of the Cultural Undertakings of Ethnic Minorities (guofa No. 29, 2009), which put forward a number of suggestions and measures to be taken concerning the flourishing and development of the cultural undertakings of ethnic minorities. These measures cover five aspects: its importance, guiding ideology, basic principles and target tasks, policies and concrete measures to be taken, further improvement of the system and mechanisms, and the strengthening of the leadership in the cultural work. Many parts of the document involve pertinent policies on the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities.

1.1 Promotion and development of the news and publication industry of ethnic minorities The support to the news and publication industry of ethnic minorities should be enhanced, the rejuvenation and reform of relevant equipment and technology stepped up, the level of digitization and the capacity of publicity propagation raised, and the coverage and scope of benefits extended. Key support should be given to major propagation and dissemination efforts concerning ethnic affairs and to important publication projects in ethnic languages. Publications such as books, newspapers, and audiovisual products should gradually be donated to the general public of ethnic minorities and grassroots institutions, so that the major political policies can get disseminated, the socialist core values better promoted and knowledge of science, culture and technology further spread. The

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translation and publication of ethnic languages should be boosted, and both the quantity and quality of bidirectional translations of fine works in Chinese, foreign languages, and ethnic languages raised. Aid should be given to key news websites for ethnic minorities; support should be given to the well planned development of websites of ethnic languages and newly emerging modes of dissemination, and their administration and guidance should be strengthened. Publishing ethnic minority authors should be treated as a part of the cultural infrastructure for public welfare, therefore, the central and local financing should intensify and fund input to such ethnic publishing establishments, gradually increasing financial aid to publishing in ethnic languages. (Official website of the Central Government 2009)

1.2 Vigorous development of the radio, film and television industry for ethnic minorities The production capacity of radio, film and television programs in ethnic languages should be enhanced, and the translation of fine works of radio, film and television boosted. The ratio of self-management of radio and television stations in ethnic regions should be raised as well. Conditions of film projections in ethnic regions, especially in remote farming and pastoral areas, have been improved, and both the content and showing time of films also got better.

1.3 Respecting, continuing, and further developing the fine traditional culture of ethnic minorities More vigorous propagation should be carried out and more guidance be given to the creation of a social atmosphere of respect so as to carry forward the fine traditional culture of ethnic minorities. The state guarantees all ethnic groups the freedom to use and develop their spoken and written languages and it also encourages citizens of different ethnic groups to respect each other and learn each other’s language. The law of the development of the languages should be respected and the standardization and digitization process of ethnic languages encouraged as well. (Official website of the Central Government 2009)

1.4 More commitment to ethnic culture promotion in border areas More support should be given to the development of ethnic language and publications in border areas so as to increase products of public interest, especially the effective supply of products of ethnic languages and culture in border areas.

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(Official website of the Central Government 2009) The State Ethnic Affairs Commission formulated and issued Some Opinions of the State Council about the Further Promotion and Development of Ethnic Culture Programs, aiming to improve the understanding between all cultures and put into effect the ideas of the State Council to further boost and develop ethnic cultural activities.1

2 Work concerning ethnic language standardization and digitization 2.1 Establishment of the working committee for the standardization of technical terms of the Yi language On November 15, 2009, the meeting to celebrate the establishment of the National Working Committee on the Standardization of Technical Terms in the Yi Language was held in the Southwest University for Nationalities. Mr. Zhang Zuoha (张作哈), deputy governor of Sichuan Province and director of the Sichuan Provincial Working Committee of the Work Concerning Ethnic Languages, pointed out at the meeting that the establishment of the new committee was a major event that would further speed up the process of comprehensive standardization, normalization and information processing in the areas inhabited by the Yi people in the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, so as to timely propagate and implement the general and specific policies of the Party and the state to, on one hand, speed up the healthy development of the Yi language, and on the other, promote the Yi culture and push forward the social and economic well-being of these areas. Mr. Wang Tiekun (王铁琨), deputy director of the Department of Language and Information Management of the Ministry of Education, expressed his sincere hope that with the support of the relevant ethnic language departments, the National Working Committee for the Standardization of Technical Terms in the Yi Language would shoulder its duty of organization and coordination, as well as continue the tradition of cooperation between the four provinces and autonomous regions. Playing an important role in standardizing technical terms in the Yi language and the usage of the Yi script, the National Working Committee will make an important contribution to the maintenance of the Yi language and the social and economic development of the Yi areas. Mr. Shama Layi (沙马拉毅), chairman of the newly established committee, said they would do the work concerning the standardization of technical terms in the Yi language in an earnest 1 For more information about Guidance Reader, see the official website of the Central Government. http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2009-09/19/content_1421274.htm, 19 September 2009.

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manner, in order to achieve the standardization of the Yi language and the development of the Yi culture in due course.

2.2 Phonetic parameter database for the languages of the Tibetan, Uyghur and Yi ethnic groups The meeting of the appraisal of the “phonetic database of the vocabulary of the Chinese-Tibetan language family” was held and a number of other projects concerning the standardization of ethnic languages and their information processing was completed on May 13, and the conclusion of the “phonetic parameter database of the Tibetan, Uyghur and the Yi language” project took place at the same time. The project, which was completed jointly by the Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Working Committee of the Languages of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Xinjiang University, and Southwest University for Nationalities, established the phonetic database of the vocabulary of the Tibetan, Uyghur and the Yi language. The database is very large and of a high standard and meets the advanced international level. It has established a unified platform of parameter bank and management software, and thus provides a reliable basis for the popularization of its achievement of in-depth research on phonetics. The result of this project also provides effective and supportive data for the popularization of the standard of the Tibetan, Uyghur and Yi languages. The significance of the project also manifests in a number of other domains, such as in the enhancement of the protection and development of language resources, and is of benefit to the research on the phonetic system, phonetics teaching, the research of language computerization, and the correction of pathological speech. It is an important basic information resource that furthers the country’s digitization commitments.

3 Protection of ancient classical works in ethnic languages The Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the General Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine jointly issued the Circular for Enhancing the Protection of Ancient Books in Tibet (Wenshefa 44, 2009) on November 6, 2009. In order to carry out the implementation of the circular, the Ministry of Culture con-

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vened a forum, on December 11 of the same year, on the protection of ancient books in Tibet. The work to implement The Plan for the Protection of Ancient Books in Tibet was also launched with the aim of comprehensively pushing forward the ministry’s cultural and language objectives. Not long after the General Office of the State Council issued Opinions on the Further Protection of Ancient Books (guabanfa, No. 6, 2007) on January 19, 2007, the Directory of Precious Ancient Books of the Nation and the list of key institutions for the protection of ancient books were issued. The former includes 337 ancient books in ethnic languages, which are kept in 77 institutions in the five ethnic autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. Among the key institutions listed for the protection of ancient books, there are six institutions that have collections of ancient books in ethnic languages, including the library of the Central Minzu University. From 2007 to the present, the National Ancient Books Center has trained 247 persons of ethnic minority groups from 154 institutions in ethnic areas. 66 people from 36 institutions joined the 8th training course held in Xinjiang. In its three terms, the training course on the authentication and protection of ancient books in ethnic languages, run by the Center, enrolled a total of 158 people from 130 institutions.2

4 Resources of ethnic cultures and languages Important progress has been made in rescuing and protecting ancient books in ethnic languages. The number of publications of ancient books in ethnic languages has reached over five thousand copies. The third working conference on the protection of ancient books in ethnic languages was held from the 14th to the 15th of December in Beijing. Mr. Yang Jing (杨晶), Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, emphasized in his speech delivered at the conference that to do a good job in the protection, study and utilization of ancient books in ethnic languages is an important part of the construction of socialist culture, and vital in all activities concerning ethnic affairs. As a strategic project, it has great contemporary significance and a profound historical significance as well. Yang Jing pointed out that from now on we must do conscientious work in the general survey of ancient books in ethnic languages for a fairly long period. We should strive to fastidiously carry out key projects like The Précis of the General Catalog of Ancient Books in Ethnic Languages, and seize the hour in our effort to rescue masters who have inherited and continued fine oral ancient works and 2 See website of the Ministry of Culture. http://www.ccnt.gov.cn/xxfb/xwzx/whxw/200912/ t20091215_75676.html, 15 December 2009.

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train their successors, thus promoting the construction of a system for the protection of ancient books in ethnic languages. (Website of the State Commission for Ethnic Affairs 2010)

5 Issuing of Opinions on the Improvement of the Administration of the Work of Ethnic Languages On May 4, 2010, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission issued Opinions on the Improvement of the Administration of the Work Concerning Ethnic Languages (minweifa No. 53, 2010). It is an important document giving guidance to the work concerning ethnic languages, and mentions the following aspects: the significance of ethnic languages, the Commission’s guiding ideology, basic principles, main tasks, relevant policies and measures, and a control mechanism.

References Official website of the Central Government. 2009. Some opinions of the State Council about the further promotion and development of the cultural undertakings of ethnic minorities (国务 院关于进一步繁荣发展少数民族文化事业的若干意见). http://www.gov.cn/test/200908/13/content_1390565.htm, 13 August 2009. Website of the State Commission for Ethnic Affairs. 2010. The third meeting of work concerning ancient books in ethnic languages held in Beijing (第三次全国少数民族古籍工作会议在 北京召开). http://www.seac.gov.cn/gjmw/xwzx/2010-12-16/1292202119179556.htm, 16 December 2010.

Appendix Opinions on the Improvement of the Administration of the Work of Ethnic Languages (minweifa No. 53, 2010) issued by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission Source: website of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission http://www.seac.gov.cn/gjmw/zwgk2010-06-18/1276764065074843.htm, 14 May 2010 Departments or commissions of ethnic (religious) affairs of all provinces, autonomous regions, and Xinjiang production and construction corps, commissions (offices) of the autonomous regions of Guangxi, Tibet, Xinjiang and Yunnan Province.

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In order to carry out policies, and to implement laws and regulations of the Party and the state on ethnic affairs and promote the unity of all ethnic groups, we propose the following opinions and suggestions according to existing laws and relevant regulations of the State Commission of Ethnic Affairs:

1 The importance of doing a good job in the administration of ethnic languages (1) Our country is a unified nation of multiple ethnic groups, and parts of the ethnic population are still using their own spoken and written languages, which are not only important tools of communication in their production activities and daily life, but also serve as carriers of ethnic cultures. They serve as emotional links between different ethnic groups and are thus valuable resources of the nation. (2) Ever since the founding of the People’s Republic, the Party and the government have attached great importance to the administration of ethnic languages and established administration networks and formed cross-provincial and cross-regional coordination systems for ethnic languages at the national, provincial or autonomous regional, prefectural, and county levels. Laws and regulations concerning ethnic languages have been improved; bilingual education in both the Chinese language and ethnic languages are in fairly good shape; a great number of professionals have been trained, which has strengthened the contingent of workers in ethnic languages. Ethnic groups with a traditional written script have seen unprecedented development in the fields of translation, publication, education, journalism, radio, film and television, the sorting of ancient books, as well as in information processing. A lot has been achieved in raising the level of standardization and the healthy development of their languages. (3) With the arrival of economic globalization and the progress of reform at home, ethnic language cultivation now enters a new phase. Some new problems have emerged in the maintenance of ethnic languages, so there are new challenges as well as opportunities for the use of ethnic languages as the modern communication technologies, like new IT and the Internet, develop rapidly. This phenomenon reflects the progress made by people of ethnic origin – many of them have learned and mastered the common language of the nation. However, the number of people using ethnic languages is decreasing, and a few such languages are on the verge of extinction and need protection. Bilingual education must be strengthened. The

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struggle between infiltration and non-infiltration, between the affirmation and renunciation of ethnic languages deserves our great attention. (4) Policies on ethnic languages are important components of China’s policy concerning ethnic affairs, and ethnic language work is a vital part of it. An effective administration of the ethnic language endeavor is of great importance for ensuring equal rights for ethnic minorities. The maintenance and continuation of traditional ethnic cultures increases China’s soft power and safeguards the cultural security of the nation; it also promotes the unity of all ethnic groups and the economic development of ethnic regions.

2 Guiding ideologies, basic principles, and main tasks of administrative work concerning ethnic languages (5) Guiding ideology: We should hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and take Deng Xiaoping theory and the theory of the “three represents” as the guiding ideology. Furthermore, we should put into effect the scientific view of development and comprehensively implement the policies, rules and regulations issued by the Party and the state concerning ethnic languages, safeguarding the rights of ethnic people to use and develop their own languages. Accordingly, we should carry out ethnic language work in an active and reliable way, so as to serve the equality and unity of different ethnic groups and their joint development, and build a harmonious socialist society. (6) Basic principles: Persisting in administering and handling relevant affairs in accordance with the law; promoting the enrichment and development of the standard of the nation’s common spoken and written language; protecting, using and developing ethnic languages; upholding the principle of people foremost and respecting the aspiration of the masses and ensuring the freedom of citizens of different ethnic groups to learn and use the language(s) of their choice; persisting in seeking truth in facts and giving instructions according to the actual situation to promote development in a more scientific way in the ethnic language enterprise; continuing to encourage people of different ethnic groups to learn each other’s language so as to promote the harmonious development of ethnic relations. (7) Main tasks: Propagating the principles and policies set by the Party and the state concerning ethnic languages; expanding the legal framework concern-

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ing ethnic languages; doing a good job in the standardization and information processing of ethnic languages; promoting the translation, publication, and education in ethnic languages, as well as ethnic journalism, radio, film and television, and the sorting of ancient books; boosting academic research, cooperation and exchange, and personnel training in ethnic languages; and encouraging people of different ethnic groups to learn each other’s language.

3 Policies and measures for improving the administration of ethnic language work (8) Intensifying the propagation and implementation of the relevant articles concerning ethnic languages as stipulated in laws such as The Constitution and The Law of Ethnic Autonomy in order to build a fine social atmosphere for people of different ethnic groups. Encouraging them to learn each other’s language, thus promoting harmonious coexistence and a healthy development of the languages of different ethnic groups. (9) Protecting the use of ethnic languages in appropriate settings according to the law. Departments of ethnic languages in autonomous regions should implement laws, rules and regulations set up by the state for the administration of ethnic languages and safeguard their legitimate use. Providing public services like translation for citizens who do not speak the national common language; printing and making ID cards and qualification certificates for ethnic citizens in both standard Chinese and local ethnic languages through coordinating all relevant departments according to the law; normalizing the use of the language(s) in public spheres; doing a solid job in the area of journalism, publication, radio, film and television using ethnic languages, and raising the capacity of the production, translation and broadcasting of radio, film and television programs; giving support to the orderly development of networks and other communication media using ethnic languages. (10) Participating in bilingual education, and steadily pushing it forward through the coordination of the relevant departments. Bringing preschool bilingual education into the range of compulsory education so as to expand its coverage; training bilingual teachers; compiling bilingual textbooks and after-class readers that suit local conditions; establishing rational linkup systems for bilingual education and choosing an effective bilingual education mode according to actual situations.

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(11) Encouraging ethnic citizens to learn each other’s language. Coordinating the appropriate departments to formulate calming mechanisms in ethnic regions. Learning and using two languages and planning the grassroots training of bilingual civil servants. Encouraging the practice that gives preference to bilingual persons who speak both the nation’s common language and a local ethnic language in the recruitment and selection of civil servants and staff of public institutions. (12) Enhancing translation and publication in ethnic languages. Attaching great value to the translation of ethnic languages and training qualified translators. Finding ways of establishing systems of authentication of the qualification and proficiency certificate exams for ethnic language translators. Organizing the compilation and translation of bilingual readers on current affairs and politics, laws and regulations, the popularization of science and culture, constantly raising both the quantity and quality of bidirectional translations between fine publications in the nation’s common language, foreign languages and ethnic languages, so as to provide society with a translation service in ethnic languages. (13) Doing a good job in the standardization of ethnic languages and their development. All institutions in charge of ethnic language work at different levels should see it as an important part of their job. Coordinating relevant departments to enhance the research and establishment of standards and norms of ethnic languages. Promoting the setup of relevant standards and technical norms in ethnic languages, and deciding the criteria for the transfer of place names and personal names in ethnic script into Chinese and the Latin alphabet. Establishing a system of examining, finalizing and releasing technical terms in ethnic languages and regularly issuing pertinent announcements to the public. Doing a good job in the dissemination and service standard of ethnic languages in order to raise the level of public awareness and application. (14) Doing a good job in processing information in ethnic languages. Coordinating relevant departments to carry out basic research in this field and in the development of relevant software; supporting the setup of a unified platform of ethnic languages and raising the level and profit of software products; establishing a databank of ethnic languages that contains multiple languages, scripts and usages. Moreover, doing a good job in the popularization and application of digital products in ethnic languages; intensifying the monitoring of software products in ethnic languages to defend the information security of the country. (15) Carrying out more vigorous rescue and protection of ethnic languages that are on the verge of extinction and work out relevant plans and measures.

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Using modern techniques in surveying, collecting, examining, sorting out and preserving any material in ethnic languages that is on the verge of extinction. (16) Strengthening the research of ethnic languages. Organizing and supporting relevant institutions of research and higher education as well as scholars, to carry out research on the basic theories and application of ethnic languages. Making surveys on the current situation of ethnic language use, and carrying out research on relevant laws and regulations, applications, translation studies, and law of the development of ethnic languages. Training researchers of ethnic languages mainly propped up by institutions of higher learning, and forming a contingent of researchers of ethnic languages consisting of experts of both the Han and ethnic groups, of linguists and experts in the appropriate fields, and of the seniors, the middle-aged, and the young. (17) Fostering cross-provincial and cross-regional cooperation in the work concerning ethnic languages. The establishment of organizations of crossprovincial and cross-regional cooperation on ethnic language matters and their working bodies, as well as their concrete cooperation, should be decided through negotiations between all affected provinces and regions (cities). Promoting the sustainable development of their work on the basis of consultation on an equal footing, cooperation of their own accord, mutual benefit and reciprocity, and a shared development by bringing to full play the cooperation of organizations for promoting the sustainable development of inter-provincial and inter-regional cooperation in all ethnic language affairs. The State Commission of Ethnic Affairs should provide general guidance and necessary support. (18) Carrying out foreign exchange and cooperation in the work concerning ethnic languages in an active but reliable way, and reinforcing it in border areas with the necessary focus.

4 Improving the supportive mechanism for the administration of ethnic languages (19) Establishing and consolidating working organizations of ethnic languages. Establishing task organizations of ethnic languages according to actual needs and developing a structural pattern with overall planning and coordination by the government and the administration of all involved departments. Various ethnic language organizations of all levels should carry out

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in-depth studies on the current trend and characteristics of the development of ethnic languages, putting forward policy-related suggestions and initiatives, as well as formulate and carry out practical working plans, and conscientiously fulfill their administrative duty of ethnic language issues. Convening regular meetings on ethnic language matters for the selection and study of praiseworthy models, both collectively and individually. (20) Intensifying the financial support for all ethnic language work. Further improving the guarantee mechanism of its funds so as to ensure the sustainable development of ethnic languages. (21) Enhancing the supervision and examination of the work concerning ethnic languages. Departmental offices in charge of ethnic affairs and ethnic languages should strive to supervise and examine all relevant institutions in their implementation of the laws and regulations concerning ethnic languages issued by the Party and the state. They should timely correct violations in order to better serve the nation’s interests and also meet the needs of different ethnic groups. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Xie Junying (谢俊英) & Chen Zhangtai (陈章太)

4 Sixty years’ work with spoken and written languages Keywords: language standardization, character simplification, sixty years, language management, Putonghua promotion, Romanization, minority language, language work, language situation, reform and opening up.

1 General situation Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China sixty years ago, brilliant achievements have been made in the field of spoken and written languages (hereafter the language work). According to the data issued in December 2004 by the Leading Group Office of the Language Situation Survey in China, 53.06% of the population was able to speak Putonghua and in urban areas it was 66.03%, more than 10% higher. 95.25% usually wrote simplified Chinese characters, 68.32% could read and spell Chinese Pinyin, and those who could speak minority national languages were merely 5.46%. (Leading Group Office of the Language Situation Survey in China 2006) These data show that Putonghua is spoken by the overwhelming majority of the population, particularly in cities and towns. Simplified Chinese characters were used dominantly by the majority of the population and the application of Chinese Pinyin was being expanded. However, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province and other minority ethnic areas, native language speakers were high in proportion. In the past six decades, the following major events were accomplished in the field of national language management: The formulation and implementation of the fundamental policies of the national language and writing system, including the equality and co-existence of all ethnic languages; all ethnic groups are entitled to the freedom of applying and developing their own languages; the national promotion of Putonghua for general use and the simplification of Chinese characters; the modernization and standardization of Chinese characters; the formulation and promotion of Chinese Pinyin; and the further standardization of contemporary Chinese as well as the maintenance of minority national languages. The year 1955 witnessed the National Conference of the Chinese Writing System Reform and the Symposium on the Standardization of Contemporary

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Chinese. The two big events laid the foundation of language work and marked the beginning of Putonghua, including Chinese character simplification, the character Romanization, and the standardization of contemporary Chinese. The Constitution promulgated in 1982 defines the freedom of all ethnic groups across the country to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and encourages the national promotion of Putonghua for general purposes. These stipulations constituted the foundation of the fundamental national language policies. The popularization of Putonghua was for the first time drawn up in the Constitution and thus its legal status was fixed permanently in the fundamental law. The National Language Work Conference in 1986 explicitly reiterated the active and steady progress of the language effort and determined the working policy and mission for the new era: strengthening the standardization of the spoken and written languages and furthering the popularization of Putonghua; Chinese character information processing was also focused on. In the 1997 National Conference on Language Work, a set of specific targets was brought forward to continue the institutionalization, legalization, and digitization of language work. The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (hereafter the Law) was published in 2000. It legally guarantees the status, function, promotion and application of Putonghua, as well as the simplified Chinese characters and Pinyin. The legal definition of the function and relationship of the standard Chinese language with minority national languages and Chinese dialects is of great importance in building a dynamic and harmonious society. In the past sixty years, China has been very successful in language work and made a significant contribution to the stability of the national development and the progress of social reform. The current language situation is characteristic of the harmonious development, and diversity has become an important mode of language planning and language life, drawing praise and attention from both at home and abroad.

2 Progress 2.1 Chinese character reform and rectification At the very beginning of the New China, the reform of Chinese characters was an expansion of the ideas and achievements of the New Culture Movement1. The

1 Around 4 May 1919.

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new government set the character simplification as a primary task. This was an important measure adopted by the Communist Party of China and the government in an effort of improving the educational level of the nation in the shortest possible time. The People’s Republic of China was founded with an 80% illiterate population, with more than 80% of the school age children unable to go to school, and junior middle school enrollment at merely 6%. After six years of preparation, the State Council passed the Scheme for Simplifying Chinese Characters and put it into practice in a consecutive manner. The number of characters and the number of strokes in some characters were reduced so that they were easier to read and write. In 1964, the Committee for Reforming the Chinese Written Language published A General List of Simplified Chinese Characters, which proved to be well received by the public, and it was particularly welcomed by the press, media educators and teachers. The language work during the ten years of the Cultural Revolution2 achieved little except for the drafting of the Second Scheme of Simplified Chinese Characters that was published in 1977. It was put into trial use in primary and middle schools in 1978 and formally abolished in 1986. Since then, the simplification of the Chinese characters has never again become a core issue in the agenda of language planning.

2.2 The spread of Putonghua Since the founding of New China, the Putonghua promotion was carried out on the basis of the previous work done by the Society of National Language Study and the Preparatory Commission of Pronunciation Unification. It was carried through as an important commitment of language work. In the past sixty years, great achievements have been made: the standards of Putonghua were clearly defined in the 1950s, the popularization of Putonghua was written into the Constitution in the 1980s, and Putonghua was established in the Law as the nation’s common language at the turn of the new century. In the practice of Putonghua promotion, generations of language workers have made constant efforts in exploring various measures and a great deal of experience was accumulated. For instance, setting examples to follow, guidance through propaganda, concentration on crucial points, adjustment in policies, formulation of standards, dictionary compilation, training programs, and testing and evaluation. Putonghua plays a key role in the current sociolinguistic life. It is the language of education, of the public media, the teaching of Chinese as a second language, and 2 From 1966 to 1976.

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Xie Junying (谢俊英) & Chen Zhangtai (陈章太)

serves as the common language among communities speaking different languages and/or different dialects across the country.

2.3 Formulation and promotion of the Chinese Phonetic System The formulation and implementation of the Chinese Phonetic System is an important program of language management in the country. It took over sixty years from the alphabetization movement at the end of the 19th century to the 5th National People’s Congress in 1958 that formally approved the scheme, demonstrating a strong connection between the efforts of different periods. Since then, the scheme has been playing an increasingly important role in people’s daily lives. It proves to be very effective in the education and teaching of both Chinese characters and the Chinese language. It not only serves well in traditional domains like publication and post and telecommunication, but also exhibits powerful potential in Chinese information processing, and with the prevalence of computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices, Pinyin has become an indispensable tool for linguistic communication. In the 1980s, the system was officially accepted as the international standard in transliterating Chinese proper names, serving as a bridge of cultural exchange between China and other countries.

2.4 Unification of contemporary Chinese It should be said that the unification of contemporary Chinese has always drawn a lot of attention in the language work at the national level, but the focus varied in different periods. The foundations were laid in the 1950s. A leading article in the People’s Daily in 1951, entitled “Using the national language correctly and striving for its purity and health”, marked the launch of language planning. The article was followed by a series of papers on grammar and rhetoric, which helped arouse the awareness of the whole society, thereby promoting the knowledge of contemporary Chinese. Much has been done in the following years by generations of linguists in the research, formulation and implementation of the standards of contemporary Chinese. For example, establishing standards of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar of Putonghua, carrying out surveys on the dialects of contemporary Chinese and the basic vocabulary of Putonghua, compiling contemporary Chinese dictionaries and glossaries, setting norms for the social use of Chinese characters, drawing up character standards for print-

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ing, publication and information processing, improving the Chinese phonetic scheme, regulating the usage of punctuation and numerals, and so on.

2.5 Minority national language management Over the past sixty years, the language planning ventures for the ethnic minorities were carried out under the principle of equality and freedom in application and development. In the 1950s and 1960s, the core task was to define their status and their rights, and surveys were conducted to identify ethnic languages. In addition, a number of scripts was either improved or newly devised for some languages. After the economic reform and opening up, the focus was turned to the in-depth study of these languages. A great deal of work has been done in terms of language standardization and computerization, including the reinforcement of language function and vitality, the protection of ethnic languages of disadvantaged minorities, and the maintenance of endangered languages.

2.6 The importance of the social use of languages and linguistic harmony creation In the information age, it is the direction and target of language management to pay attention to the application of languages for social harmony. For this reason, the State Language Commission launched a research project to examine Putonghua, Chinese dialects, national languages, Chinese characters, Chinese Pinyin, and written minority ethnic languages by way of a questionnaire survey during 1998-2004. Its findings became the empirical evidence for the future language policy implementation. The State Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center was established in 2004 and releases monitoring results and data to the public on a regular basis. The Report on the Language Situation in China, started in 2005, provided scientific evidence and important references to the state and society, helping to understand the situation of spoken and written languages, including language planning and standardization, linguistic research and education, and other related work. The contests in Chinese classics chanting and calligraphy practice held since 2007, have been playing their roles in promoting traditional Chinese cultural education, and in addition have helped improve the people’s linguistic performance and expanded the space for language planning.

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3 Reflections While the Putonghua promotion, the Chinese character simplification and standardization, and the contemporary Chinese unification constituted the main tasks of language work in the past six decades, the work with minority ethnic languages occupied an important place, too. The core of language policy consists of language equality, the human right of language, the popularization of Putonghua as the standard national language, the application and development of minority ethnic languages, and the bilingual education in autonomous regions populated by minorities. However, language policies and planning were readjusted according to the conditions of social development and the changes in languages per se in different periods.

3.1 Successful experience Looking back, language work has been a successful experience. To begin with, the correct language policies and general target are an important guarantee for the active, steady and healthy development of language work. Secondly, in order to adapt itself to changing circumstances, the language work was carried out according to the given needs and adjusted according to the changes in the social development and language concept. In different periods, there were different emphases in language policy, and the main targets as well as the conceptions were readjusted accordingly. Thirdly, the institutional measures were appropriate. The government’s close attention and great support, the intimate cooperation between specialists and the government, as well as the emphasis on the active participation of the people ensured that the language management could be conducted in an authoritative, scientific, and participative manner. Lastly, the attention to fundamental research and social demands also contributed to the success. The large-scale investigation into Chinese dialects and minority national languages in the 1950s provided scientific evidence for the national policies and guidelines for spoken and written languages. The language management also greatly benefitted from the study of the social use of popular expressions in the 1980s, from the inquiry into basic dialect vocabulary in the 1990s, the investigation of endangered languages and dialects, and the linguistic corpus construction and monitoring of language use.

3.2 Problems and challenges There were certainly problems and deficiencies in the sixty years of language work. The main problems in the early period were reflected in the underestimation of the complexity and difficulty of the task. For example, due to the

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uncritical assumptions about Chinese characters and the future direction, some professionals miscalculated that Chinese would soon be alphabetized. Apart from that, some inadequate scientific research and theoretical groundwork occurred as well. For instance, the Scheme for Simplifying Chinese Characters is on the whole scientific, reasonable and effective, but from the perspective of certain simplified characters and the simplifying process, problems existed with overgeneralization, the lack of systematic considerations, and homophone replacement. During this period, some ethnic language policies, affected by the former Soviet Union, led to ignoring the continuity and conventionality in devising and renovating written languages, therefore the results were unsatisfactory and some discarded scripts had to be resumed. After entering the period of economic reform and opening up at the end of the 1970s, the target of language work was somewhat radicalized. For example, the proposal that by the end of the 20th century Putonghua should be the language for education, work, the press and media, as well as for communication was overambitious without the implementation of adequate measures. Furthermore, the systematic nature and universalization were sometimes overemphasized so that the social convenience and conventionality of language were frequently overlooked, thus several standards were less rigorously applied, e.g., some words in Putonghua have variant pronunciations but are not well disambiguated, and the regulation of numeral words in publications is immature. The language planning organizations were readjusted or amalgamated in the new century. Facing the reality of public value diversification and the multiple purpose of language applications in an age characterized by dealing with things through legislation and information technology, the language planners have to keep abreast with the latest developments. On the other hand, the sudden rise of China and the change in the international environment have created an urgent demand for the Chinese language and it is crucial that the state language decision makers have a new perspective and clear direction.

References Leading Group Office of the Language Situation Survey in China (中国语言文字使用情况调查 领导小组办公室). 2006. The survey data of language situation in China (中国语言文字使 用情况调查资料). Beijing: Language and Literature Press, pp. 25–26, 87, 89; also see the commendation conference of China’s language situation survey was held in Beijing, 26 December 2004. http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/89/info8989.htm. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

II Special Research

Luo Feng (骆峰)

5 The global spread of the Chinese language 1 Basic facts 1.1 Confucius Institutes By December 2010, a total of 322 Confucius Institutes and 369 Confucius Classrooms have been put in place in 96 countries and regions around the globe. In the year 2010 alone, about 40 Confucius Institutes and 97 Confucius Classrooms (for primary and secondary schools) have been established, an increase of 56% compared to 2009, involving 360,000 registered students in total. The Confucius Institute Online has launched channels in nine languages, with 100,000 registered users. Such efforts have greatly facilitated learning Chinese for the people in the host countries. The number of teachers at Confucius Institutes/Classrooms, part-time and full-time together, has reached 4,000 in 2010, a net increase of 1,000. Among them, half are from China and half from the host countries. About 3,000 people have participated in the training programs organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (hereafter Confucius Institute HQ). Nine sets of Chinese language teaching materials and reference books in 45 languages have been published and more than 400,000 books have been donated to Confucius Institutes worldwide. In 2010, about 300 university presidents and 2,000 Confucius Institute directors and teachers were invited to visit the Shanghai World Expo to get a first-hand feel of the worldwide harmonious coexistence of multiculturalism. Some university presidents from Asia also visited the Guangzhou Asian Games. (Liu 2010) The Confucius Institute HQ was awarded the “Public Affairs Award” at the “You Bring Charm to the World” Awards Ceremony (2009– 2010), for its dedication to promoting Chinese culture and language and enhancing friendly exchanges and communication between China and the rest of the world.

1.2 Chinese language education Chinese language education acts as a key component in the global spread of the Chinese language. In 2010, the Chinese Language and Cultural Education Foundation of China allocated a teaching assistance fund of RMB5.8 million to 58

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model schools of Chinese education overseas, which were selected by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China. This earmarked fund sponsored a number of activities and events, ranging from training programs of Chinese teachers, Chinese culture-themed learning camps overseas, to Chinabased international youth summer camps and winter camps. (Website of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council 2010b) Chinese organizations overseas have been actively seeking cooperation with the Chinese mainland to promote Chinese education. In November 2011, the Huachiew Chalermprakiet University of Thailand established the country’s first college of Chinese language and culture, offering one bachelor degree program in Chinese Language and four master degree programs in Chinese Literature, Business Chinese, Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, and Sinology. More programs have been offered by this university since 2013. (Website of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council 2010a)

1.3 International students in China In 2010, the number of international students studying in China has exceeded 260,000 for the first time. Statistics suggest that in 2010, international students in China came from 194 countries and they studied in 620 universities, research institutes and other teaching institutions located in China’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities (excluding the Taiwan region, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macau Special Administrative Region). Among the 260,000 international students were 22,390 awardees of Chinese government scholarships, an increase of 22.72% compared to 2009. The majority were Asian students, accounting for 66.32% of the total. The top three home countries of international students were the Republic of Korea, the U.S.A, and Japan. The number of home countries of international students in China, and of Chinese scholarship awardees, have both reached a record high in the past half century. (Chinanews.Com 2011)

1.4 New Chinese Proficiency Test In an attempt to enhance the quality of international Chinese language education, the new Chinese Proficiency Test (abbreviated HSK in Chinese Pinyin) and the new Chinese test for primary and secondary school teachers (named Youth Chinese Test and abbreviated YCT) were launched globally in 2010. In March 2010, the new HSK and YCT made their debut in testing centers in China and

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overseas. In June 2010, HSK online testing was successfully administered in Beijing. In November 2010, the first HSK online test was held in the Confucius Institute at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Canada.

2 Development of Confucius Institutes 2.1 Horizontal cooperation At the early stage of the Confucius Institutes, they were jointly built by Chinese and overseas higher education institutions. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have also participated in establishing Confucius Institutes overseas. May 2009 saw the unveiling of the Confucius Institute at Pace University in the US, sponsored by Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing Media Group. The international channel of China Central Television (CCTV-4) launched a new peak-time program, “Happy Chinese”, on August 3, 2009. The program is in the form of situational plays, in an attempt to enhance the listening and speaking skills of Chinese language learners and to present the real life scenarios of contemporary China. In cooperation with China Radio International, which broadcasts live to over 50 countries, Confucius Institute HQ broadcasts Chinese learning programs to twelve countries, including Japan, Russia, and Kenya, as part of its longdistance multimedia teaching framework. To promote contemporary Chinese culture to the world, China’s Ministry of Culture and culture professionals have facilitated cultural exchanges via the platform of the Confucius Institutes. On November 27, 2009, Ms. Tie Ning, president of China Writers Association, and six other writers gave a talk at the Confucius Institute at Université Paris Diderot in France, interacting face to face with French students on traditional Chinese culture and philosophy. In addition to contemporary Chinese literature and literary schools, the talk also included copyright protection and Chinese writers’ creative writing processes and practices. The Confucius Institute HQ in Beijing held the 1st National Confucius Institute Meeting and the 5th session of the Confucius Institute Conference in December 2010. The 1st National Confucius Institute Meeting stressed the need to build up a high-quality teaching faculty and full-time director teams, to be closely integrated into the local communities, and called for improving the management quality of international Chinese language education and its promotion. The 5th session of the Confucius Institute Conference had the sustainable development of Confucius Institutes as its theme, convening 1,400 university presidents and representatives from across 96 countries and regions.

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In addition to the above efforts, Confucius Institute HQ held the regional joint meetings consecutively in 2009 and 2010, to promote cross-regional cooperation and resource sharing between the seven regions of the world.

2.2 New journals and new network The bimonthly journal Confucius Institute, edited by Confucius Institute HQ, was launched in January 2009. With columns such as “Special Report”, “Academic Community”, “Cultural Exhibition”, “Impressions of China”, “Chinese Learning”, and “Information Update”, Confucius Institute serves not only as a bridge for Confucius Institutes worldwide to exchange their experiences and information, but also as a teacher and friend for Chinese learners in their learning of the language and understanding of Chinese culture. In March 2009, the secretariat of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching published Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue Xuehui Tongxun, which provides updates for the international Chinese teaching and development across the globe. It has emerged as a new platform for insiders to exchange information and Chinese teaching experience. This electronic journal is a key venue for Chinese language teaching and research. To expand the teaching and communication range, Confucius Institute HQ has supplied over 230 Confucius Institutes with the software “Chinese Culture Experience Center” and hardware facilities, and the online courseware “The Great Wall Chinese”. In November 2009, the new edition of Confucius Institutes Online has been launched, where over 10,000 documents, audio and video materials of various kinds were uploaded, ranging from Chinese learning courseware to the introduction of cultural elements. Its beneficiary population amounted to 10 million in 149 countries. (People.cn 2009)

2.3 Multi-level teaching In recent years, the educational level of the worldwide Confucius Institutes has improved a lot. On November 6, 2009, China’s National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, in collaboration with Binghamton University in the US, established the first Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera in the world, offering programs and subjects on Chinese culture and Chinese opera to American students. Statistics suggest that 220 Confucius Institutes have launched worldwide programs or credit-awarding subjects on the Chinese language. For instance, the Confucius Institute at the University of Liege in Belgium offered the first

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master’s degree in Sinology in the French-speaking region. The Confucius Institute at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary helped recruit researchers on Tibet for preparing the bachelor degree program in Tibetan Studies. The Confucius Institute at Soonchunhyang University, Korea, offered Business Chinese as a credit-bearing subject to 600 students and teachers in its business school. (Hao 2010) The Confucius Institute HQ in Beijing held two sessions of Chinese learning training programs for international diplomats working in China in 2010. In the U.K., six primary and secondary schools have introduced traditional Chinese medical science. The Confucius Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine (London) has offered 51 classes to over 3,500 students on Chinese medicine and health, together with Chinese language learning. In 2011, the U.K. government has given approval to Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine to offer subjects leading to a master’s degree in acupuncture in the Confucius Institute for Traditional Chinese Medicine (London). (Chinese Education News Website 2010)

2.4 Language and cultural exchanges In collaboration with Russia and Spain, China celebrated the “Chinese Language Year” in 2010. Confucius Institutes in Russia and Spain played a key role in promoting language and cultural exchanges by means of over 600 events that attracted over 300,000 participants. (Liu 2010) Meanwhile, many Chinese publishing companies have been seeking opportunities to participate in book fairs and language and cultural exhibitions organized outside China. For instance, they participated in the 28th edition of Expolangues in Paris, the 25th Singaporean Book Fair, the 62nd Frankfurt Book Fair, the Language Show in London, 2010, and the 23rd Expolingua in Berlin. China’s Ministry of Culture and relevant departments have organized a number of international cultural events and established a few Chinese cultural centers overseas in cities such as Ulan Bator, Madrid, Moscow, Singapore, and Bangkok. In addition, the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students and the 3rd “Chinese Bridge” Proficiency Competition for Foreign Students in China were held successfully in 2010.

2.5 The development of Chinese teaching resources Subsequent to the approval of Confucius Institute HQ, the Center of Teaching Resources Research and Development for the International Promotion of Chinese

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was unveiled at Wuhan University on January 5, 2010. The Center is primarily responsible for developing Chinese teaching resource databases and Internet sharing platforms as well as much-needed multimedia teaching products in international Chinese language education. It also manages the updating of integrated technologies for online Chinese teaching resources and the development of evaluative systems of Chinese teaching. Moreover, it provides professional consultancy for inquiries and is responsible for the creation of global Chinese teaching resources. On September 6, China’s Northeastern Base of Chinese International Education was officially unveiled, consisting of four higher education institutions in the region: Jinlin University, Liaoning University, Heilongjiang University and Yanbian University. This base aims at providing Chinese teaching support – i.e. tailor-made and localized Chinese teaching resources as well as teacher and volunteer training and research output – to five neighboring countries of China: Japan, Republic of Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Russia.

2.6 Teacher education in Chinese language pedagogy Since 2007, China’s Ministry of Education has given approval to 24 universities to offer master degree programs in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL), for the training of professionals to teach Chinese as a foreign language. Chinese universities that offer master degree programs in TCSOL have increased by 39 in 2009 to reach a total of 63. The bases for the international promotion of the Chinese language have increased from ten to fifteen. The five new bases were established respectively at Wuhan University, Nankai University, Sun Yat-sen University, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, and at Hainan Normal University. In 2009, China has selected 1,600 university graduates to be trained for 26 non-English foreign languages. 800 graduates would study in China and the other 800 would study in Confucius Institutes overseas where they would be teaching Chinese while learning the local language. (Chinanews.Com 2009) Confucius Institute HQ has organized pre-job training sessions for numerous Chinese language teachers and volunteers, in collaboration with selected universities. In summer 2009, Jilin University provided pre-service training for teachers leaving for Mongolia. Dalian University of Foreign Languages trained pre-service volunteers leaving for Europe and America. In the second half of 2009, Confucius Institute HQ initiated in-service training of Chinese language teachers at Confucius Institutes worldwide. Between July and October, nineteen consecutive sessions of in-service training were conducted at universities in Beijing, Tianjin, Jilin, Shanghai, Fujian, and Hubei.

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Over 1,800 trainees attended these sessions, including directors of overseas Confucius Institutes, project managers, local Chinese language teachers in their home countries, in-service Chinese directors of overseas Confucius Institutes, in-service dispatched Chinese language teachers, departing Chinese directors of overseas Confucius Institutes and departing dispatched Chinese language teachers. (Confucius Institute Online 2010) Confucius Institute HQ also assessed and selected outstanding textbooks and trained Chinese language teachers on how to use textbooks. Confucius Institute HQ also provided teacher training for both dispatched Chinese teachers and international teacher trainees in China, in addition to textbook promotions. Identical training projects have been organized in countries such as the UK, Singapore, France, the US, Australia, Japan, and Germany. In November 2010, Confucius Institute HQ organized the first “Inviting Over” textbook training for international teachers of Chinese, attended by over 2,000 university, secondary and primary teachers and educational officers from 77 countries. (Overseas Chinese Language and Culture Education Online 2010)

2.7 Localization of Chinese language teachers To assist locals of overseas communities in Chinese language teaching, Confucius Institute HQ has launched a scholarship program for international teachers of the Chinese language. This scholarship intends to help qualified foreign teachers who are devoted to Chinese teaching to study subjects that may lead to a master’s degree in TCSOL. This scholarship project was officially launched in June 2009, with initially 1,021 international teachers admitted to 50 universities in China. (Ministry of Education 2009) In addition, the localization of teachers of Chinese is actualized by admitting international university students to study Chinese in China via joint-programs in teacher education with institutions overseas, as well as through the recruitment of local Chinese language teachers overseas. In 2009, 61,000 teachers of Chinese from local communities in almost 80 countries were trained, either by training them in China or by dispatching experts and trainers abroad. (People.cn 2009)

2.8 Establishment of programs in TCSOL The number of qualified Chinese universities offering bachelor degree programs in TCSOL has increased from four at the beginning to 285 in 2010, attracting an annual enrolment of 15,000 students. (National CFL Web 2010) The year 2010

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witnessed a net increase of nineteen universities being granted the conferring right of master degrees in TCSOL, expanding the number of such universities to a record high of 82. (MTCSOL 2010)

3 Overseas Chinese language education 3.1 New circumstances The Chinese language is a shared identity of all Chinese communities across the world. Despite having its roots in China, the Chinese language has spread to many other parts of the world via Chinese emigrants. Overseas Chinese language teaching of various types and at different levels has boomed. Both the scale and the influence of overseas Chinese language teaching have expanded significantly. Teachers and researchers of the Chinese language, at home and abroad, have strengthened their contacts via a myriad of activities, and the spread of the Chinese language has accelerated. The global “Chinese Craze” has created new demands for existing Chinese teaching practices, making scattered workshop teaching obsolete. (Zhang 2009) To tap the wisdom and strength of various circles inside and outside China and to promote overseas Chinese language teaching, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China and the China Overseas Exchange Association decided to jointly hold the World Congress of Chinese Education biannually, it used to be an irregular convention before. The First World Congress of Chinese Education was held in Chengdu on October 20, 2009, where over 400 delegates from 35 countries discussed current issues of overseas Chinese education. Specifically, the Congress covered the following topics: how overseas Chinese education model schools can seize opportunities for better development; how universities hosting overseas Chinese teaching bases can make full use of their resources to promote overseas Chinese language teaching; new characteristics and changes of overseas Chinese language teaching; challenges and problems of overseas Chinese language teaching; how Chinese mainland and Taiwan can cooperate in overseas Chinese language teaching; how overseas Chinese societies can increase their support for overseas Chinese language teaching. (Yang 2009) The World Congress of Chinese Language Education, formerly known as the International Seminar of Chinese Education, has been held five times since 1990 by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and related departments. (Han, Kong & Li 2009)

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3.2 New changes There have been important demographic changes among Chinese-learning students in recent years, such as in age and cultural background. Besides the traditional communities of overseas students, there have been an increasing number of adopted Chinese children and non-Chinese ethnic students, as well as children of the new emigrants. On the other hand, students who learn Chinese overseas are in many cases second or third generation offspring of Chinese emigrants. They know little about Chinese culture and have a limited Chinese proficiency. Learners in today’s Chinese language classrooms overseas are also much younger. These factors are all drivers of pedagogical reforms in teaching Chinese. In the meantime, there are also changes in the makeup of the teaching staff, noticeably an influx of Chinese students who study overseas. Over the years, overseas Chinese language teaching has been greatly diversified, having evolved from the classic form of weekend classes of young learners only, to varied teaching modes. Aiming at enhancing the quality of Chinese language teachers and preparing teachers for the future, the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China has organized and implemented a number of projects in 2010, e.g., Sino-US long distance teacher education, China-Indonesia long distance teacher education, training of teachers for Southeast Asian countries, scholarships for associate degree students at Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College, scholarships for undergraduates in TCSOL and in overseas Chinese language teaching at the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University (Guangzhou). These projects have boosted the development of overseas Chinese language teaching.

3.3 Understanding overseas Chinese and Chinese language education Over the past years, overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese language education have attracted the increasing attention of scholars and practitioners. In 2009, the Global Mandarin Forum and the 8th Southeast Asian Chinese Language Teaching Convention were attended by researchers in overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese education. Academic conferences as such have yielded fruitful research outputs. The 2nd Global Mandarin Forum was held at the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University on November 16–17, 2009, attracting approximately 40 researchers from countries and regions such as the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, the US, and Malaysia. Themed “The Spread of the Chinese Language in Global Contexts”,

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the Forum examined issues ranging from the status quo of Chinese language use, Chinese language variation and development, strategies for promoting the Chinese language, to Chinese pedagogy and language testing. The 1st Global Mandarin Forum was a special forum, co-organized by a group of research institutes and associations of Chinese teaching in and outside China. Themed “Chinese, Chinese language and Chinese teaching”, the Global Mandarin Forum was held on April 16–17, 2008, at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, co-sponsored by the Overseas Chinese Research Center of Jinan University. Participants discussed various issues such as global language policies, global language planning, language standardization, teaching Chinese as a second language, as well as facts, developments and prospects of Chinese media overseas. Prof. Li Yuming, deputy director of China’s State Language Commission, maintained that the issue of the reconstruction of Chinese as a mother tongue is different in practice from teaching Chinese as a second language. He expressed the hope that educational institutions inside and outside China would work hand in hand for the cause of promoting Chinese culture in both Chinese-speaking and non-Chinese-speaking regions. Prof. Li Yuming also stressed that in teaching and researching the Chinese language, it was essential to pay attention to the spread of the Chinese language across communities and to set appropriate language standards. It was also imperative to develop Chinese textbooks for students with varied proficiencies and to improve pedagogy. There has been increasing consensus that regional variations of overseas Chinese are well justified by their unique backgrounds and basis. Given that the Chinese language is the common heritage of all Chinese communities around the globe, it is important to bear the interest of all Chinese people in mind. It is equally important to preserve, develop and tap into the Chinese language as a valuable resource. Differences in learners lead to the distinction between overseas Chinese language teaching and teaching Chinese as a second language. The former is often for Chinese emigrants overseas and their offspring, making Chinese a de facto first language teaching, while the latter targets foreign students (usually ethnic non-Chinese) who learn Chinese as a foreign language. In other words, overseas Chinese language teaching and teaching Chinese as second language bear differences in teaching objectives, teaching contents and testing. Many scholars have noted that at least 70% of today’s overseas Chinese learners are Chinese emigrants and their offspring, who are much more motivated than ethnic non-Chinese learners. Teaching Chinese as a second language aims at enabling students to engage in everyday communication in Chinese. However, overseas Chinese language teaching for Chinese emigrants and their offspring should aim at three aspects: 1) national identification, 2) ethnic and

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cultural identification, and 3) learning the language as a means of communication. Overseas Chinese language teaching concerns primarily the last two parts. Although Chinese emigrants and their offspring do not physically live in China, they are expected to identify with their own ethnic background and cultural roots. In the case of ethnic non-Chinese learners, they are expected to have a good understanding of Chinese culture while learning the language, but this kind of understanding is meant for minimizing cross-cultural misunderstanding and conflicts in their future intercultural communication experience. As such, the nature and purposes of these two types of Chinese language education are not the same, leading to a reasonable difference between their teaching contents. Confusion of the two may lead to two mistakes: 1) treating all overseas Chinese language teaching as teaching Chinese as a second language, and 2) treating all teaching Chinese as a second language as Chinese language teaching that requires ethnic and cultural identification. In the second case, it is close to being cultural aggression. If we are able to tease out the fundamental differences between the two modes of Chinese language teaching, allegations such as “cultural aggression” and “threatening China” collapse from within. (Lu 2009)

3.4 Regional integration of overseas Chinese teaching The 8th Southeast Asian Chinese Language Teaching Convention was held on December 18, 2009, in Manila, the Philippines, joined by about 300 delegates from eight Southeast Asian countries. The conference theme was “Review of Chinese Teaching Developments in Southeast Asian Countries”. There were eight topics for discussion: Chinese teaching in Southeast Asian countries, Chinese culture and culture of Chinese emigrants, ontology of Chinese language teaching, localization of textbooks, teacher education and development, modern teaching approaches in Chinese teaching practice, functions and promotion of distance learning of Chinese, and evaluation of Chinese teaching. The biannual Southeast Asian Chinese Language Teaching Convention has been held seven times since 1995, in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, and Indonesia. The convention has become a bridge in exchanging experiences across the region, as development of Chinese language teaching is by no means balanced in Southeast Asian countries, due to their varied historical and social situations. Progress in reform and management in this field can be shared across the region. In this sense, the 8th Southeast Asian Chinese Language Teaching Convention helped in promoting regional exchanges in Chinese language teaching and integrating regional teaching resources.

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3.5 Cultivation of talents To provide a platform for postgraduates to exchange, discuss and share their research output and to foster new Chinese teaching personnel, Jinan University, the World Chinese Language Association, and Nanyang Technological University have co-organized three sessions of the World Chinese Language Symposium for Postgraduate Students. The 1st and 2nd symposia were respectively held at Jinan University and National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan, in 2008. The 3rd World Chinese Language Symposium for Postgraduate Students was held at Shanghai Normal University on November 28–29, 2009. The conference theme was “Overseas Chinese Language Research and Teaching in a Global Context”. About 100 students from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia participated and discussed the status quo of Chinese language teaching worldwide. As an increasing number of postgraduates showed their enthusiasm in conference participation, the conference had greater influence and contributed to the cultivation of new teaching personnel. The World Chinese Language Symposium for Postgraduate Students is a recognized success through the joint collaboration and co-organization by “four cross-straits regions” (Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau).

3.6 Big events in the global spread of the Chinese language (2009) March 7: The launch of China Today, Argentina’s first Chinese-language radio program, co-produced with China Radio International. March 12: Mutual agreements signed between the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University and Misamis Chinese High School, the Philippines. On June 9, the experimental school of the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University was set up. Ties of cooperation between Hanhua Chinese School Hamburg, Germany, and the Australian Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education were established in September and November respectively. March 16: The establishment of Yunnan College of Chinese Language and Culture, the first overseas-focused Chinese language teaching college in Yunnan province, specialized in Chinese language teaching for Hong Kong, Macau and overseas students. April 3: The launching of the International Research Base for Chinese Language Teaching at Beijing Language and Culture University.

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April 13: The opening of the First Conference on Overseas Chinese Language Education for the Chinese Community in Italy, in Rome, Italy. April 20: The establishment of the London branch of Sinolingua Publishing, with the focus on the new “Kuaile Hanyu” textbook series for secondary school students in the UK. May 30: The official approval of Radio Mandarin d’Europe by Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel of France on May 26, broadcast before the 2010 Chinese New Year. June 22: Graduation ceremony of the first cohort of overseas Chinese education students at the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University, the first graduates of this major in China. July 17: Celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Chinese-language radio for overseas in Beijing. August: The publishing of the “Chinese for Children” textbook series by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, tailor-made for pupils of overseas primary schools and international schools in China. September: The publishing of the Overseas Chinese Teacher Training Course book by Beijing Normal University Press, which was edited by the Department of Teaching Chinese as a Second or Foreign Language, College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University. October: The “Chinese” (junior high school) textbook made its debut at the World Congress of Chinese Education. October: The birth of the journal TCSOL Studies, evolved from the Journal of College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University, was approved by the National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China. It is the only journal in China on Chinese teaching and research with an official ISSN. November 17: The unveiling of China Radio International’s broadcasting studio at Jinan University. December: The publishing of the book series “Traditional Stories for Overseas Chinese Children” in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, consisting of five books: Classical Chinese Poems, Stories of Chinese Idioms, Chinese Fairy Tales, Stories of Liang Qichao, and Stories of Situ Meitang. December 13: The closing ceremony of the “Overseas Chinese Teacher Training Workshop 2009”, organized by the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Qingdao University, from which 115 Chinese teachers from Malaysia graduated.

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December 23: The opening of winter camp 2009 for Malaysian and Bruneian Chinese students at the College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University. The same day witnessed the opening of the winter camp for young Chinese students from South America and the South Pacific regions at Hainan Normal University. Camp members included 94 young Chinese emigrants from Mauritius, Madagascar, Mexico, Chile and Panama.

4 International academic exchanges in international Chinese language education (2010) 4.1 Teaching resources development and pedagogical innovation The annual conference of the Association Recherche et Enseignement du Chinois (AREC) in France was held in Paris in June 2010, on the theme of Chinese language textbooks and teaching in France. In the same month, the Ohio State University in the US hosted the 6th International Conference on Technology and Chinese Language Teaching (TCLT) during which computer-assisted overseas Chinese language teaching was examined. In October, an international symposium on the problems of Chinese language pedagogy was held in Vladivostok, Russia, investigating Russia’s Chinese language pedagogy, textbooks, curriculum development and teacher training. In August, the 10th International Conference on Chinese Language Teaching was held in Shenyang, themed “New Teaching Materials and Teaching Techniques for International Chinese Language Teaching”. There were nine conference topics, such as pedagogical innovation and textbook compilation for Chinese language teaching.

4.2 Teaching Chinese for specific purposes The International Conference on Teaching Business Chinese in a Global Context, held in March 2010 at the London School of Economics and Political Science, discussed issues ranging from global contexts, ontology of the Chinese language, cultural associations, to teaching approaches and textbook making. In August, the National Seminar of Teaching Chinese for Medical Purposes: Creative Teaching and Teacher Education was held in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, to explore both the progress and problems of teaching Chinese

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for medical purposes in terms of curriculum design, pedagogy, teaching outcomes and teacher education.

4.3 Teaching Chinese for specific groups The Confucius Institute at Ritsumeikan University, Japan, held a seminar on Chinese pedagogy for Japanese children in January 2010, investigating characteristics and methods of teaching Chinese to Japanese children. The International Conference on Teaching Chinese as a Second Language was held at Tianjin Polytechnic University in December 2010, extending discussions on current situations, problems and solutions concerning teaching Chinese as a second language. The conference also probed new ideas, new perspectives and new measures in this field.

4.4 Regional cooperation and development of international Chinese language education The First International Conference on Teaching Chinese in Central Asia was held at Xinjiang Normal University in June 2010. The theme of the conference was “Cooperating in the Development of Chinese International Education”. The conference centered on what the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region can do in the exchange and cooperation with neighboring countries in central Asia for promoting the course of international Chinese language education.

References Chinese Education News Website. 2010. The 1st Confucius Institute of Chinese Medicine will have its 1st intake for master’s degree (全球首家中医孔子学院将首次招收硕士研究生). http://www.jyb.cn/world/hytg/201011/t20101130_402833.html, 30 November 2010. Confucius Institute Online. 2010. Training all the staff in Confucius Institutes wins warm applause (孔子学院全员研修培训反响). http://www.chinese.cn/college/article/2010-11/ 15/content_190988.htm, 15 November 2010. Han, Yongxian (韩永先), Kong, Junbin (孔俊彬) and Li, Hao (李豪). 2009. Emerging global Chinese education (全球华文教育方兴未艾). People’s Daily (overseas edition). http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64093/82429/83083/10287780.html, 30 October 2009. Hao, Ping (郝平). 2010. Concluding address on the 5th Conference of Confucius Institutes (在第 五届全球孔子学院大会上的总结讲话). Baidu Collections. http://wenku.baidu.com/view/ fd32e63f0912a21614792952.html, 12 December 2010.

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Liu, Yiandong (刘延东). 2010. On sustainable development of Confucius Institutes, keynote speech on the 5th Conference of Confucius Institute, Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) (携手促进孔子学院可持续发展—在第五届孔子学院大会上的主旨演讲). http://www.hanban.org/article/2010-12/11/content_207731.htm, 11 December 2010. Lu, Xiaobin (鲁小彬). 2009. A cultural perspective of the “Chinese boom” overseas (文化视野 中的海外“汉语热”). Chinese Social Sciences Today. http://sspress.cass.cn/paper/6177. htm, 4 December 2009. Chinanews.Com. 2009. The 4th Conference of Confucius Institutes gathers ideas for possible diverse development (第四届孔子学院大会开幕 集思广益探多元发展). http://www. chinanews.com.cn/hwjy/news/2009/12-11/2014151.shtml, 11 December 2009. Chinanews.Com. 2011. Over 260 thousand foreign exchange students in China in 2010 (2010年在华学习外国留学人员总数突破26万人). http://www.chinanews.com/edu/2011/ 03-03/2881137.shtml, 3 March 2011. Ministry of Education. 2009. Liu Yandong delivers address at the opening ceremony for scholarship awards to foreign Chinese teachers (刘延东在外国汉语教师奖学金生开学典 礼上致辞). http://www.edu.cn/yu_wen_dong_tai_480/20091112/t20091112_420609. shtml, 12 November 2009. MTCSOL. 2010. On MTCSOL program [关于MTCSOL (汉语国际教育硕士专业学位)]. http:// www.mtcsol.org/node_11243.htm. National CFL Web. 2010. 200 experts gather in Beijing to discuss the three difficult issues for teaching Chinese as a foreign language (对外汉语“三教”成难题 200专家聚首北京破 迷局). http://www.hanyuwang.cn/index.php?o=article-show&artsid=4313, 10 December 2010. Overseas Chinese Language and Culture Education Online. 2010. Two thousand foreign Chinese teachers come to China’s universities to learn Chinese (全球两千本土汉语教师走进中国 10所高校学汉语). http://www.hwjyw.com/info/content/2010/11/23/13121.shtml, 23 November 2010. People.cn. 2009. Surging global needs to study Chinese led to the establishment of 282 Confucius Institutes (全球学汉语需求激增世界各国建282所孔子学院). http://www. chinanews.com.cn/hwjy/news/2009/12-07/2003090.shtml, 7 December 2009. Website of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council. 2010a. Huachiew Chalermprakiet University Thailand established the 1st Faculty of Chinese Language and Culture in the region (泰国华侨崇圣大学创建当地首家汉语言文化学院). http://www.gqb.gov.cn/ news/2010/1118/21171.shtml, 18 November 2010. Website of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council. 2010b. Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China benefits tens of thousands of overseas Chinese teachers and students (中国华文教育基金会全年惠及近万名海外华裔师生). http:// www.gqb.gov.cn/news/2010/1228/21615.shtml, 28 December 2010. Yang, Ziyan (杨子岩). 2009. Increasing global Sino-mania creates a good time to develop Chinese education (世界范围“中国热”升温发展华文教育正当时). Chinese Education Website. http://www.hwjyw.com/info/news/200910/t20091022_32909.shtml, 22 October 2009. Zhang, Dongdong (张冬冬). 2009. Issues and challenges to be tackled by Chinese education overseas (海外华文教育遭遇软肋诸多难题有待解决). China News. http://www. chinanews.com.cn/hr/news/2009/10-16/1913439.shtml, 16 October 2009.

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Appendix The first batch of overseas Chinese language education model schools (58 schools in 22 countries) approved by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China and China Overseas Exchange Association: Philippines: Chiang Kai Shek College; Philippines Cultural College; Sacred Heart School of the Society of Jesus of Cebu; Bacolod Tay Tung High School Laos: Ecole Chinoise Lieutou, Vientiane; Savannakhet Chung Teak Chinese School; Pakse Chinese School Mongolia: Mongolian-Chinese Friendship School Japan: Yokohama Yamate Chinese School; Kobe Chinese School Thailand: Puayhua School, Samut Prakan Province; Srinakorn Foundation School; Yu Hua Chinese School; Ratwittaya School, Amphor Maesot Tak Myanmar: Oriental Language and Business Center; Fuxing Language and Computer School; Fuqing School Brunei: Chunghwa Chinese School Republic of Korea: Seoul Chinese Primary School; Daegu Chinese Primary School Austria: Chinesische Schule Wien (Vienna Chinese School); Bildungszentrum für chinesische Sprache in Wien (Vienna Chinese Education Center) Denmark: Danish-Chinese Association (Den-Kinesiske Forenig) School; Mermaid Chinese Culture School The Netherlands: Algemene Chinese School Utrecht; Eindhoven Chinese School The Kingdom of Spain: Madrid Chinese School The United Kingdom: Birmingham Chinese School; London Mandarin School; Huaxia Chinese School Italy: Centro Multicultura dell’ Associazione d’Amiciziadeicinesi di Prato; Milan Chinese School Canada: Ecole Jia Hua de Montreal; Chinese Academy; Georges Vanier Chinese School; Bayview Saturday Chinese School; Vancouver Beijing Chinese School The United States of America: Hope Chinese School; Nam Kue School in San Francisco; San Diego Hua Xia Chinese School; Irvine Chinese School; Houston Hua Xia Chinese School; Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy; Huaxia Chinese School; Xilin Asia Community Center

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Australia: Chinese International Promotion Center; Southern Australian Chinese Association School; Miao Miao Chinese School; Brisbane Chinese School New Zealand: Rewi Alley Chinese School, Christchurch; Auckland Modern Chinese School Mauritius: Luyi Gang Xinhua Xuexiao (Xinhua Chinese School) Brazil: Santa Paula Catholic Chinese School; Yuan Aiping Chinese Culture Center The Republic of Suriname: Guang Yi Tang Chinese School France: Chinese Association School, Chiu Chow Association Chinese School; The European Times Cultural Center’s Chinese School Translated by Doreen Dongying Wu (吴东英) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University [email protected]

Chen Hui (陈慧)

6 Development of the language information industry in China Keywords: high-tech, Chinese characters, Chinese character input, photo-composition, intellectual property, machine translation, information technology.

1 An overview The introduction of personal computers to China in the late 1970s and the early 1980s gave rise to a myriad of high-tech companies and products proliferating all over the country, those in the Chinese information industry in particular. As China steps into the information age, a newly developed industry with a broad prospect has emerged – the language information industry. The past 20 years have witnessed new focuses on the language information industry because of the rapid development and spread of modern telecommunication technologies such as computer networks and mobile phones. In addition to the continuous updates and upgrades in applied technologies that generated an amazing array of new products, such as those occurring in Chinese-language storage, display, language input, and laser typesetting that were commercialized in the early stages, new applications such as machine translation, search engine service and text-to-speech conversion have been mushrooming, ushering in an unprecedented era for the language information industry that has built upon this accumulation over the past 60 years.

2 Development 2.1 Chinese character input methods 2.1.1 From the Wubi Input Method to Wangma Group When the computer first came into being, words and sentences were entered into the machines by using the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet, but how to input Chinese characters, of which there are tens of thousands, remained problematic. Some people believed that Chinese characters had “come to a dead

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end” and should “come to their natural demise”, and thought “the computer is the gravedigger of Chinese characters and the midwife of the alphabetic writing”. (Chen 1980) Hence, to enable computers to recognize and process Chinese characters became the persistent aspiration of tens of thousands of assiduous Chinese computer users as well as of those working in the science and technology fields in China. The early search for solutions and most attempts made in this regard were along the line of “inventing a Chinese keyboard”. Professor Wang Yongmin, one of the pioneers, started to conduct research in the area and developed a Chinese character input method in 1978. The ensuing five years saw the number of keys on the Chinese keyboard being drastically reduced from 188 to 26. In August 1993, the 26-key input method passed the appraisal by China’s Henan Provincial Commission of Science and Technology. For the first time, this input method enabled an input rate of 100 Chinese characters per minute into the “live script”. In the spring of 1984, Xinhua News Agency claimed that the Wubi Input Method had been one of the greatest inventions in the history of Chinese culture, “the significance of which is comparable to that of the woodblock printing”. (Guangming Daily 2008) The Wubi Input Method thus became the most influential Chinese character input method. However, the industrialization of the Wubi Input Method was no less difficult than the invention of the method itself. In 1986, the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from the US, the then second largest computer giant in the world, bought the right to use the Wubi Input Method for tens of thousands of US dollars. In 1987 and 1988, China’s State Commission for Science & Technology and the Commission of Science, Technology & Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) issued a document to popularize the Wubi Input Method. In the years that followed, the Wangma Group, founded by Professor Wang Yongmin in 1990, went from strength to strength and its annual revenue totaled tens of millions of Yuan at its peak. As Zhu Lilan, President of China Association for Inventions, announced at the time, “The Wubi Input Method is the classic example of a successful promotion and application of a science and high-tech product since the founding of new China!”

2.1.2 From the Lenovo Hanka (Chinese character input card) to Lenovo Group In 1985, Lenovo, then known as New Technology Developer Inc. of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, took the lead in releasing the associative Chinese character input system, the Lenovo Hanka, which began to play a vital role in scientific

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management and office automation in all walks of life in China. It made a significant contribution to the development of the national economy by considerably improving the efficiency and effectiveness as well as enhancing the quality of work. In the years that followed, the Lenovo Hanka was successfully promoted to Chinese organizations in other countries and to the United Nations, as well as to overseas markets in Asia, Europe, and America. It became the designated Chinese character input system for the Asian Games held in Beijing (1990), and for the 6th and 7th National Games. In November 1989, Liu Chuanzhi, founder of the company, announced at the founding ceremony of Lenovo Group that “a total of 20,000 Lenovo Hankas have been sold over the past three years, with a total revenue of 60 million Yuan”. The Lenovo Hanka had realized the aspiration of the founders to “turn technology into financial wealth” and created a legend in the history of the computerization development in China. (Wu 2009)

2.1.3 The Stone Typewriter and Stone Group Holdings Ltd In the 1980s, the office automation in China did not start with either personal computer or photocopier. Rather, it started with the first generation of the MS word processor developed in China – the MS-2400 Stone Typewriter, an indigenous product developed in China. The total revenue of the product reached 9 million Yuan in the first year it was released. In the years that followed, the manufacturer, Stone Group, took the opportunity that came with the successful release of the MS series word processors to build a national network of sales and service in various parts of the country, thus the company scaled new heights. The Stone Group increased its share in the domestic word processor market to more than 85 percent at the time and made a significant contribution to the advance of office automation in China. Assisted by this competitive core product, Stone Group was expanding at the amazingly high growth rate of 300 percent each year in the 1980s and into the early 1990s. At one stage, the company was the largest private company in the high-tech industry, achieving an annual net profit of 400 million Yuan.

2.1.4 Other Chinese character input schemes Following the Wubi Method, the Lenovo Hanka and the Stone typewriters, new products sprung up in the 1990s. It is roughly estimated that there are over 1,600 Chinese character input methods (Editorial board of the documentary Five thousand years’ history of Chinese characters 2009), an increasing number of

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which are standardized and easy to use. For example, the PJS Standard Chinese Character Input System, the Standardized Chinese Character Input System, the Cognitive Method, the Zhengma Method and their derivatives all contributed significantly to the social and economic proficiency at the time. With the rapid popularization of computers, the increasing office automation, and more importantly, the fast upgrading of the industry, Chinese character input cards and Chinese typewriters were pushed into the background while the Chinese character input industry is witnessing new trends of development and changed financial dividends. Over the past two years, companies with their core business in web portals, search engine services and instant messaging have been entering the Chinese Pinyin input market. Google, Sohu and Tencent have all released Chinese character input products for the new generation of computers. The Chinese character input industry has recognized the trend of moving towards marketization, network integration, individualization and highend product orientation. According to the Report on the Desktop Software Development Industry in China (2008-2009) released by iResearch1, the Sogo Pinyin Input Method, released by Sohu, accounted for nearly 80 percent of the Chinese character input market and over 50 percent of users use the Sogo Input Method most frequently. This percentage is much higher than for any other input method. Additionally, Sogo was the first to introduce the concept of network input, which ushered in a new phase of development for the input method industry, contributing positively to the innovation of Chinese character input methods.

2.1.5 Chinese character input methods for mobile phones The quality of the Chinese character input software installed in the mobile phones is critical to the successful promotion of the mobile phone handsets. However, it has been an embarrassment that, in contrast to the software for standard keyboard input or for hand-writing input in computers developed by Chinese companies, indigenous Chinese character input methods for mobile phones only account for 10 percent of the domestic market in China. The good news is that Guangdong Guobi Science and Technology Ltd piloted the patented Guobi Input Method, which enables the input of entire sentences in Chinese on mobile phones. Currently, scores of mobile phone manufacturers including Microsoft, Motorola, Skyworth and Gionee are using the Guobi Input Method for hundreds of their handset models. 1 Source: http://irs.iresearch.com.cn/.

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2.2 The shorthand input industry To meet the ever increasing demand for shorthand typing since the rapid spread of computers in China, Tang Yawei, an expert in stenography, invented the first shorthand Chinese character machine in 1993 by combining the traditional shorthand hand-writing method with modern information processing. The Yawei Shorthand Machine, the machine he invented, could edit the information input into a computer at high speed and print it instantly. This became the prelude to the shorthand input industry in China, bringing with it tremendous economic and social benefits to the country. The Yawei Shorthand Machine was a historic breakthrough from shorthand handwriting to shorthand machine input, thus giving birth to the shorthand input industry and the shorthand input specialist profession in China. In 2003, the then Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China issued a document adding Shorthand Input Specialist as a new profession. The new profession includes people using a shorthand input machine to collect information and then creating electronic versions of it. Currently, shorthand input is being extensively used in all walks of life and at various important conferences, forums, court hearings, journalist interviews and live broadcasts. It has also become a new discipline in many tertiary educational institutions in China. Apart from the shorthand input specialist training, shorthand skills have been taught in Secretary Courses from the beginning. In the qualification examinations for professional secretaries, “shorthand typing and shorthand input technique” has been listed as one of the required subjects. At present, there is a severe shortage of qualified shorthand professionals due to the bottleneck confronting the shorthand input industry in China. The ratio between supply and demand stands currently at 1:1,000. In Guangzhou, there are only 4-5 shorthand input companies and the potential for growth are huge for the industry. Furthermore, qualified shorthand input specialists capable of inputting foreign languages are rare. Factors contributing to the shortage are many. Firstly, there is a lack of understanding of the profession among the general public. Secondly, the system for training shorthand professionals has not been well established. The majority of the shorthand input professionals have only secondary educational backgrounds and the emphasis of the shorthand input training has been incorrectly placed on the speed of the character input. In the United States, there are 5 million shorthand input specialists and the shorthand input skill is one of the required skills for secretarial staff. In Japan, shorthand input specialists are widely used in law courts, in the diet as well as

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in business meetings. In Germany, France and South Korea, shorthand input specialists are high-income earners. Judging by the standard of highly developed countries, the shorthand input industry in China has still a long way to go.

2.3 The Chinese character laser photo-composition industry By the 1970s, many countries had embraced the 4th generation printing that led to fundamental changes in the printing industry. However, the printing industry in China was still struggling “in the jungle” of Chinese characters. The big gap prompted companies from Japan, the UK and the US to rush to China in an attempt to gain a foothold in this huge market for printing equipment, in which Monotype from the UK had become the first mover. Almost at the same time, a great Chinese invention triggered a technological revolution that completely changed the destiny of the printing industry in China – the precision laser photo-composition system for Chinese character typesetting developed by Wang Xuan. On 27 July 1979, the Research Center of Chinese Character Information Processing Technology printed for the first time the prototype of a Chinese newspaper using the laser photo-composition technology. In 1987, the laser photocomposition system invented by Wang Xuan was used to produce an entire page of a Chinese newspaper – the first of its kind in the world – thus concluding the era of “lead and fire”. Lead had been used in hot metal typesetting that had dominated the printing industry in the past, but it has given way to the new era of “lasers and electronics”. The laser photo-composition system for Chinese characters suited the state of development in China at the time and better met the domestic needs both in quality and in price. It has been widely used in various press publications and exported to other countries, including developed countries such as Japan and the United States, making a great contribution to the Chinese language information industry.

2.4 Chinese lexicon industry Lexicon software includes computer applications that turn Chinese characters into digits. At present, there are 421 Chinese lexicon applications on the mainland, 106 in Hong Kong, and 296 in Taiwan. In Japan, there are as many as 2,893, lots of which use Chinese characters, apart from scores of Katakana and Hiragana.

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In the 1990s, the Chinese lexicon industry reached its peak with scores of manufacturers in China, large and small, producing more than 400 versions of Chinese lexicon applications. The Chinese language system used in the Microsoft Windows operation systems is from Zhongyi Electronic Ltd, whose customers include Ericsson and Nokia. China-produced lexicon applications, however, have been marred by a limited choice of fonts, poor font quality and out-dated technology. Over the past five to six years, the Chinese lexicon industry has shrunk dramatically and the industry has seen an exodus of talents exiting into other industries. One of the principal culprits is the large number of pirated products that have flooded the market. According to managers of some Chinese lexicon software companies, their companies would survive if only 5 percent of the software users were using patented products. The support and safeguarding of the legal rights of the software provided by the current legal system for high-tech products and inventions is inadequate. In order to further develop the font industry and protect intellectual property, protection of legal rights as well as public education is required to enlist greater attention and support from the wider community.

2.5 The machine translation industry In the information age, a machine translation system is highly desirable for information transmission between and among countries. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, research in machine translation began to flourish. The “KY-1” English-Chinese Translation System (later renamed “Star Translator”), developed by the Academy of Military Science of the People’s Liberation Army, was the first of its kind in China to commercialize machine translation systems. In December 1991, the Intelligent English-Chinese Machine Translation System IMT/EC, developed by Chen Zhaoxiong, was rated the best system of its kind in the world and it broke the record of all the computer projects set in the “863 Plan” in terms of foreign exchange earnings. In 1995, the “IMT/EC863” English-Chinese translation system, developed by the Institute of Computer Science and Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, won the first prize of National Science and Technological Progress and reaped considerable economic benefits from the invention. (Zong, Cao & Yu 2009) Since the early 21st century, the world has seen a rapid development of the statistics-based methods used in large-scale language inventory being applied to natural language processing, and a rapid rise of corpus linguistics, which in turn gives a great impetus to the rapid development of the natural language processing technology. Statistics-based machine translation has gradually become the mainstream of international studies on machine translation.

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The Institute of Computer Science and Technology, the Institute of Automation and the Institute of Software under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Harbin Institute of Technology and Xiamen University respectively carried out very fruitful research and development in statistics-based machine translation. A lot of pioneering work in speech transliteration was also done by the Institute of Automation under the China Academy of Sciences, leading to the successful development of PC/PDA/mobile phone-based Chinese-English and ChineseJapanese two-way speech transliteration systems. The development of machine translation has provided a great boost to the multilingual information service. The Multilingual Artificial Intelligence Information Service Network System for the Olympic Games, spearheaded by the Capital Information Development Ltd in collaboration with scores of other Chinese companies and research institutions, took six years in research and development before their products were accepted by the Organizing Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, tens of thousands of athletes, people from the sports circle and from the press, over 2.9 million spectators and more than 300,000 registered personnel and visitors from home and abroad enjoyed the multilingual information services enabled by the system during the Olympic Games in various Chinese cities – a first in the history of the International Olympic Games. It demonstrated to the world the level and the achievements of the information technology in China, greatly enhancing the image of the Beijing Olympic Games and winning wide international acclaim. (Ji 2007) After the Beijing Olympic Games, the Multilingual Technology and Application Service was applied to the Shanghai Expo and other large-scale international sports, cultural and commercial events and it has become a platform for exchanges between various Chinese provinces, cities, and other countries. The value of the language information industry and its prospects for development are now widely recognized by local governments at various levels. Chengdu, Wuhan, Dalian and many other cities have begun to establish local multilingual information service centers, among which the Chengdu Global Multilingual Information Processing Center, founded in April 2009, became the first multilingual information service center spearheaded by the government.

2.6 The search engine industry Historically, web portals provided search engine services since their inception. Yahoo was one of the first web portals and became well-known for its search engine service. However, the search engine service was not reinforced or furthered

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either at home or abroad until 1998, when two PhD students at Stanford University founded Google – a turning point after which search engine services started to surge. Over the past decade, as a result of the rapid development and popularization of the Internet technology throughout the world, China’s domestic market has witnessed a rise of search engine systems specialized in computer network information. Among these systems, Beijing TRS Information Technology, Baidu, and Zhong Sou are some of the shining stars in the information technology industry. At present, professional search engine service providers have succeeded in making profits through their competitive pricing. It is said that the revenue from the search engine service accounted for 80 percent of the total revenue for Baidu2. Web portals, on the other hand, are trying to expand their search engine services into niche markets to differentiate their services. Consequently, the search engine markets have now become more differentiated and specialized. For example, some services are oriented towards searching for information in sports while others aim towards comparing prices for shopping, MP3 downloads, or intelligent interactive searches (e.g. the ”iask” services provided by Sina.com). However, the existing amount of network information and its accumulation in China is still far from satisfactory in meeting the domestic demand, which has not fully asserted itself yet. The large quantity of information behind a search engine is the starting point for the public to use search engine services. Therefore, the business opportunities lie in the full utilization of the large quantity of information that sits behind the search engines.

3 Problems and reflections 3.1 Insufficient patented domestic products The world’s information and technology giants, such as Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Fujitsu, and Motorola, have all made Chinese information processing technology a top priority in their R & D. In contrast, only a few patented products are owned by Chinese companies and serve as their core technologies. Fortunately, Chinese information processing has been earmarked in the National Medium- and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology Development in China, and Chinese information processing is regarded as one of the frontier sciences in which research meets the strategic needs of China. As one 2 Source: http://www.qysem.com/SEO/Tigao/134940.html.

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of the national strategic initiatives in the national development of science and technology, such research should accordingly receive support and protection from the Chinese government so that intellectual property rights with Chinese characteristics can be established.

3.2 Protection of related intellectual properties Ownership of intellectual properties, once patented, require legal protection. Currently, encroachments on intellectual properties in the language information industry occur quite frequently in China. Take the Chinese character input methods for mobile phones for example. In July 2000, Motorola (China) Ltd and Ericsson (China) Ltd were sued by a Chinese company for encroaching on its patented stroke input method. In December 2006, a number of mobile phone manufacturers were accused of encroaching on the patent right of the T9 Stroke Input Method and were sued by its inventor, Professor He Ergong. In 2007, Google was suspected of pirating the lexicon of the Sogo Pinyin Input Method developed by Sohu. In January 2008, Microsoft was sued for encroachment on intellectual property rights by the inventor of the Zhengma Input Method. Later, Microsoft in turn sued the Beijing Patent Committee for granting the patent to the owner without ensuring the standards for patent rights were met. In November 2008, the court ruled that Microsoft had lost the case. The lack or insufficiency of standards is the fundamental cause of such intellectual property encroachments as the above. Currently, there are no standards to be followed when the most vital and the most fundamental issues arise in the Chinese language information industry. In the information age, international and national standards are critically important. In order to promote the healthy growth of the Chinese character input methods, state regulations and national standards need to be put in place as soon as possible to provide guidance to companies in their efforts to develop standardized and state-of-the-art digital input method software. On 20 October 2006, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology conducted a consultation in Beijing on the General Requirements for Chinese Input Method Technology Using Numeric Keyboards, which aimed to establish a national standard in this area. At the consultation, entrepreneurs and experts exigently called for a national industry policy that lends strong support to the indigenous enterprises so that technologies with intellectual property rights and their standards can be established and promoted. In March 2007, Chen Duo, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

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(CPPCC), submitted the Proposal to Expedite Implementation of the National Standards on Chinese Character Input Methods at the 5th Session of the 10th National Committee of the CPPCC, calling for an end to the status quo where the Chinese character input methods for mobile phones were controlled by foreign companies. The relevant government departments should attach great importance to this issue and take effective measures to address it.

References Chen, Mingyuan (陈明远). 1980. Computers and the reform of Chinese characters (电子计算机 和汉字改革). Modernization of Language (语文现代化), 1. Editorial board of the documentary Five thousand years’ history of Chinese characters (纪录片 《汉字五千年》编委会). 2009. “Reincarnation of Chinese characters” (浴火重生), Episode 7 of the eight-episode documentary “Five thousand years’ history of Chinese characters” (八集人文纪录片《汉字五千年》之第七集). Newstar Press. Guangming Daily (光明日报). 2008. “Wubi” won the State Technological Invention Award “ ( 五笔字型”获国家技术发明奖). Guangming Daily, 13 January 2008, p. 6. Ji, Hongmei (计红梅). 2007. Rebuilding Babel: An overview of multilingual service technologies at the Olympics (重建“巴别塔”—奥运多语言服务技术扫描). Science Times (科学时报), 2 August 2007, p. A3. Wuyou (无忧). 2009. Eight things to remember in the development of China’s information industry (60年中国信息产业发展不可忘怀的八件事). Science & Technology Industry Parks (中国高新区), 9. Zong, Chengqing (宗成庆), Cao, Youqi (曹右琦), & Yu, Shiwen (俞士汶). 2009. The history of sixty years of Chinese language information processing (中文信息处理60年). Applied Linguistics (语言文字应用), 4. Translated by Doreen Wu (吴东英) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University [email protected]

Ni Lan (倪兰)

7 The use of sign language and related issues Keywords: sign language, sign language interpreter, deaf-mute, disabled person, hearing impaired, gesture, vocabulary, recognition, Beijing system, Shanghai system.

1 Basic situation 1.1 Users of sign language Based on the data of the second national sample survey of disabled persons conducted in 2006, the total population of disabled people in the whole country is 82.96 million, of whom 20.04 million are hearing impaired, accounting for 22.48% of the total.1 The figures for Beijing are respectively 0.999 million, 0.227 million, and 22.74%,2 and the figures for Shanghai are 0.942 million, 0.259 million, and 27.49%3. Some of the hearing impaired people do not use, or simply do not know how to use sign language because they lost their hearing ability only after growing up or even in their middle or senior age. So they do not belong to those who use sign language as their mother tongue and lost their hearing ability in early childhood or were born deaf. Therefore, the hearing impaired can be roughly categorized into three groups. Those in the first category have studied in ordinary full-time schools after undergoing language training either by using hearing aids or artificial cochlear implants. They have merged with the people with normal hearing ability. Their 1 Office of the second national sample survey of disabled people in China and the State Bureau of Statistics: Communiqué of the Main Data of the Second National Sample Survey of Disabled People in China, see: http://temp07.cdpj.cn/gzh/2007-01/25/content_7647.htm. 2 Communiqué of the Main Data of Beijing Municipality in the Second National Sample Survey of Disabled People in China in 2006, please see the website of Window on the Capital: http://www. beijing.gov.cn/zfzx/sjtj/tjgb/t711675.htm. 3 Communiqué of the Main Data of Shanghai Municipality in the Second National Sample Survey of Disabled People in China in 2006, please see the website of the People’s Government of Shanghai Municipality: http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/shanghai/node2314/node2319/node12344/ userobject26ai9414.html.

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Chinese explanation

The Chinese Sign Language

Shanghai sign language

生活 (shenghuo) life p. 116页

利用 (liyong) utilize p. 312

理解 (lijie) understand p. 197

可惜 (kexi) pity p. 227

开会 (kaihui) meeting p. 145

Figure 1: Comparison between the vocabularies listed in The Chinese Sign Language and the Shanghai sign language Sources: The Chinese Sign Language compiled by the China Association of the Hearing Impaired, Hua Xia Publishing House, 2003. Studies on the Directivity of Verbs in Chinese Sign Language, by Ni Lan, Fudan University doctoral dissertation of 2007

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mother tongue is not the sign language, and their acquisition of sign language happens at a later phase of their life. Those in the second category are mainly persons of advanced age, who have not undergone language training or studied in special schools. They can neither read nor use sign language. People in the third category communicate with others mainly by using sign language. The majority of them have studied in schools for the deaf-mute, and most family members of the hearing impaired of this category – the ratio is as high as 90% – have normal hearing ability. There is another category of people who also have to use sign language, namely family members of the hearing impaired, such as their parents and children who have normal hearing ability. They learn the sign language only because there is a hearing impaired person in the family. Besides, this category also includes teachers in schools for deaf-mutes and people whose duty it is to deal with the hearing impaired.

1.2 Regional differences of sign language As they are scattered and usually do not have much schooling, hearing impaired people have more problems in communication due to their location and low educational level. The sign language used in different places varies to a certain degree, mainly manifested in the vocabulary. The two most influential systems of sign language in China, namely the Southern Chinese and Northern Chinese systems, are respectively represented by that of Shanghai and that of Beijing. The sign language used in Hong Kong belongs to the former system, but has some new variants of its own. The sign language used in Taiwan is somewhat complicated and can be classified into a southern and a northern branch, perhaps because the former is mainly derived from the Shanghai system while the latter has been influenced greatly by that of Japan. However, “the core hand gestures used in different regions are relatively identical. The degree of their mutual understandability is similar to that between northern and southern dialects of the Chinese language”. (Gong 2005, Gong 2009) There is no serious communication barrier for the hearing impaired people of different places, only the differences between the north and the south, represented by the Beijing and Shanghai systems, are fairly obvious. There is also some difference between the sign language used by people of different age groups. Students in schools for the deaf-mutes tend to use some gestures not used by the seniors.4 And there are also differences between sign languages 4 The Chinese Sign Language. 2003. Huaxia Publishing House.

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used in different places; the local sign languages are quite different from the standard one officially promoted as The Chinese Sign Language. 1.2.1 Differences in the vocabulary There are many differences in the vocabularies used by the hearing impaired in different regions and those listed in The Chinese Sign Language compiled by the China Association of the Hearing Impaired. In most cases the vocabulary in the handbook uses finger letters, whereas the local sign language in actual use contains more visual gestures. It can be seen from the comparison of the above listed verbs that the vocabulary in The Chinese Sign Language adopts more finger spelling and is somewhat longer than that in local sign languages. For example, shenghuo (生活, meaning “life”) consists of the initial letters “sh” plus the gesture meaning “lively”, while the Shanghai sign language uses the gesture expressing “from sunrise to sunset”. 1.2.2 Grammatical differences There are no remarkable differences between the sign languages used in different regions. For example, the gesture for the verb jie (借, meaning “borrow from”) is one of the K-shaped fingers moving from the borrower to the lender.

Figure 2-1: jie (借) 1: I borrow from him

Figure 2-2: jie (借) 2: He borrows from me

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The hand shape of the word jie (借) in the Wuhan sign language is formed by the thumb touching the middle finger while the other three fingers stretch out, like the letter “t”. The hand moves from the lender to the borrower, identical with the direction in which the object to be borrowed moves, as is shown in Figures 2–3 and 2–4.

Figure 2-3 jie (借) 3: I borrow from him

Figure 2-4: jie (借) 4: He borrows from me

The gestures for jie (借) in the sign language in Shanghai and in Wuhan differ not only in the shape the hand forms, but also in the direction of the finger movement.

1.3 Training and testing of sign language interpreters According to the directive issued by the former Ministry of Labor and Social Security, sign language interpreter is a new type of job and has a series of professional standards, titles, and assessment systems for training. But as the establishment of the occupation of sign language interpreter is comparatively slow, there are at present relatively few sign language interpreters of senior title. A lot needs to be done in order to improve and standardize the profession. 1.3.1 Number of sign language interpreters and their employment Article 28 of The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Disabled Persons (revised and adopted on April 24, 2008 and implemented on July 1 of the

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same year) stipulates: “Teachers of special education and sign language interpreters enjoy special education subsidies”.5 At present, most sign language interpreters are working in the associations for the blind and deaf-mute or in public institutions (as part-time interpreters) at various levels. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently about thirty thousand professional or part-time sign language interpreters, including teachers at deaf-mute schools, workers for disabled persons, as well as family members of the deaf-mute and devoted amateurs. In China, there are special sign language interpreters of different levels not only in welfare enterprises and associations of the disabled, but also likely on buses, in public security bureaus, museums, etc. However, most of them are voluntary rather than professional, and mainly children with normal hearing ability from families of the deaf-mute, who learned sign language in their childhood. Some former teachers from schools for the deaf-mute are also still active.

1.3.2 Training institutions of sign language interpreters Since the 1980s, the Disabled Persons’ Federation of China and the Association of the Deaf-Mute have conducted four national training classes for sign language interpreters and trained hundreds of them. At the same time, associations of the disabled have at different levels also run training classes for sign language interpreters of various ranks and have trained a fairly large number of them. The first training class of sign language interpreters at the state level was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, in 2004. Nearly 90 people, including leaders from the Federation of the Disabled from twenty-nine provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as well as sign language interpreters and teachers from a number of schools for the deaf-mute undertook the training. This laid the foundation for the training of sign language interpreters at the state level and for the personnel of the national talent bank. The relevant departments in Shanghai have attached much importance to the function of sign language interpreters for a long time and, consequently, a research project on professionalism and training programs was launched. The training of sign language interpreters for medical workers began in Shanghai in 2005. In September 2006, the first batch of fifty sign language interpreters who had undergone professional training and attestation became the first batch of sign language interpreters with a national-level qualification. 5 See http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2008-04/24/content_953439.htm.

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The Boyingtong Sign Language Training Center in Beijing and the Oriental International Sign Language Education School in Shanghai were the two earliest institutions of sign language training. Besides, there are also sign language training organizations and institutes in other regions, most of which operate for the public welfare.

1.3.3 Test and assessment for sign language interpreters The evaluation of the employability of sign language professionals is open to personnel from all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. It was run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) and the China Association of Employment Promotion (CAEP), and it conducted the first exam in April 2007. All those sitting the exam, including teachers of special education, service personnel for the disabled, professional and volunteer sign language interpreters were all qualified to take the exam. The exam has been held four times annually, in January, April, July, and October respectively. Those who pass the exam will be awarded the certificate for employment as sign language interpreter issued by the CAEP. Another type of certificate for qualified professional sign language interpreters is issued by the MHRSS.

1.4 The centers and projects for bilingual and bicultural education for deaf-mute children China has the largest population of hearing impaired people. Of the over 20 million Chinese deaf-mute persons and amblykusis sufferers, 0.8 million are hearing impaired or deaf children of preschool age. The bilingual and bicultural education adopts the teaching method of “Letting them speak if they can, and letting them use sign language if they can, or a combination of both”, according to the individual conditions. This approach enables the deaf-mute children to master two important communication skills, namely speaking and sign language, so that they can receive more education and learn more skills afterwards. It will also help them raise their cultural caliber and strengthen their self-confidence so they can merge with the rest of society more easily. An experimental project of bilingual and bicultural education was jointly launched in 2002 by the Tianjin Rehabilitation and Training Center for the Hearing Impaired Children and the Tianjin Municipal Deaf-Mute School with the support of the UNICEF. In 2004, the Special Education Center in Shangqiu

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City of Henan Province was named an experimental base of the bilingual and bicultural education project of the UNICEF. Then the Guangdong center of bilingual and bicultural education of the UNICEF kicked off on July 31, 2007. The years 2006–2010 witnessed the second round of the bilingual and bicultural education project of the UNICEF. The midterm assessment organized in 2008 showed that the project had obtained fine results. (Wu 2008) The Signo, a fund for the public welfare of the hearing impaired in Norway, China’s Amity fund, and the Committee of Special Education of Jiangsu Province jointly developed the SigAm, an international collaborative project of special education, which was completed in 2009. The project proposed the following concepts: 1) Regard sign language as the first language for deaf-mute children and the Chinese language as their second language; 2) Hearing impaired children should receive normal education in an equal manner; and 3) Promote the multiplicity of language and culture in society. Deaf-mute schools in Nanjing, Suzhou, Yangzhou and Changzhou and the special education center of Zhenjiang – five schools in Jiangsu Province – were denoted as partners of the project by China. Four more deaf-mute schools in China’s Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces also joined the project in 2006. Five years of experimentation proved that participating children achieved great progress in their skills of language use, cognition and social intercourse. These skills could hardly be achieved by the previous oral teaching approaches. (Cheng 2009)

1.5 Use of sign language in the media and on the Internet 1.5.1 Television stations and channels that broadcast in sign language in China Article 43 of the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons states: “The government and society take measures to enrich the cultural life of the disabled”, and the third measure is “Establish television programs in sign language and special radio programs for the disabled, promote the practice of adding subtitles and explanations to television columns, films and television products”.6 The Outline of China’s Cause for the Disabled in the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001) approved the comments by the State Council, requiring: “Develop barrier-free information and communication. Add subtitles to TV news, films, and TV dramas step by step; people engaged in the service industry should learn and master basic sign

6 Please see http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2008-04/24/content_953439.htm.

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language.” “Provincial capitals and medium-sized cities with sufficient means should strive for broadcasting news programs in sign language.”7 The Beijing Television Station (BTV) started its weekly program “Weekly News Review in Sign Language” on May 7, 1989, by inviting teachers from schools for the deaf-mute to act as sign language interpreters. “We Go Together”, China’s first comprehensive TV program in sign language, started its broadcast by Tianjin TV Station in 1994. TV stations in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, Wuhan of Hubei Province, Chengdu of Sichuan Province, Shanghai and some cities of the Guangdong Province respectively, started sign language news programs with sign language interpreters as hosts. On March 23, 2006, the World Meteorology Day of that year, the Ningxia meteorological observatory formally started its sign language weather forecast program in the general channel of the Ningxia TV station in the peak hours. By 2009, the Central Television Station (CCTV), the majority of provincial TV stations and TV stations of prefectures and cities throughout the country with the appropriate facilities, had all started news broadcasts in sign language.

1.5.2 Computer-assisted learning of sign language and websites of sign language in China The Vocabulary of Sign Language, Computer Sign Language, and Daily Conversations in Chinese Sign Language, products of the series Sign Language Video Software for the Deaf-Mute developed by the Baike Information Service Company in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, passed the appraisal by experts organized by the Department of Education and Employment under the Disabled Persons’ Federation of China on May 30, 2006. At the end of 2006, Sign Language Video Software was listed in the Key Electronic Publications of the State in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan by the State Press and Publication Administration.8 After years of development, China’s on-line sign language site (http://www.china-shouyu.cn) now boasts thirteen sign language e-courses, including Sign Language Vocabulary, Computer Sign Language, Daily Conversations in Chinese Sign Language, and Experimental Training Textbook for Special Schools (vols. 1–4). The teaching system of common expressions in sign language for the Olympics, developed by the Institute of Computing Techniques of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was

7 See the official website of China’s Central Government. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/ 2001/content_60808.htm. 8 See: http://www.chinalrbk.com/syxx/syzxjj.html.

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formally released in Beijing, on the website “Window on the Capital”, on the eve of the Beijing Olympic Games. In addition, discussions on sign language learning and related issues opened on websites of the Disabled Persons’ Federation of China and disabled persons’ federations and associations of the deaf-mute in various regions, and on the following websites: http://www.2000888.com (service network for Chinese disabled persons), http://www.shhsndicapped.gov.cn (network of the Shanghai Federation of Disabled Persons), http://www.speedu.net (network of China’s special education), http://www.chinalrbk.com (Baike network for the deafmute), http://www.my33er.com (network for China’s hearing impaired children), http://www.deafedu.com (network for the education of the deaf-mute), http:// bbs.deafstar.net (the forum of deaf-mute stars), http://www.52shouyu.com (network of ‘I love sign language’), http://www.longyou.net (network of friends of the deaf-mute), http://www.deafchina.com (network for the recovery of deafmutes), and http://www.cndeaf.com (on-line deaf-mute), etc.

1.6 Recognition and synthesization of sign language by computer “Recognition of sign language by computer” refers to the following process: collect the data of the sign language used by the deaf-mute by using the special apps of the computer, obtain their meaning through pattern recognition algorithms in accordance with the context, and then convert them into sounds that can be understood by normal people who do not understand the sign language. Synthesization of sign language refers to the reverse process: use the computer to convert the sounds made by normal people to express themselves into sign language to convey the information to the deaf-mute; they can then understand the sounds by seeing them. The project of developing the recognition and synthesization of sign language took the research group at the Institute of Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences eight years, from 2000–2008. The researchers successfully developed an advanced technique that regards “person-computer-person” interaction as the key factor, stressing the transformation between the sign language used by the deaf-mute and the spoken language of normal people. The project processed 5,177 words of the Chinese sign language vocabulary, and the recognition rate for single words reaches 95%, while the recognition rate of the running text of sign language is 91.5%. At present, there are still a number of difficulties to overcome before the technique can be put to practical use. A breakthrough in the proper understanding of natural sign language is essential.

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2 Existing problems 2.1 Improvement of The Chinese Sign Language As the dictionary of Chinese sign language most extensively used by deaf-mute people, The Chinese Sign Language provides the common vocabulary for deafmutes in different regions of China to communicate with each other. The common vocabulary it provides for deaf-mute people in China is the equivalent of the common vocabulary of Putonghua. This vocabulary collection is of no particular dialect, but is a mixed vocabulary mainly based on the sign language used in Beijing and Shanghai. (Gong 2005, Gong 2009) “These series of vocabulary are compiled on the basis of investigations on the grassroots level and through intensive discussions with the old generation of the deaf-mute people and workers engaged in education for the deaf-mute. Therefore, it is a collection of common vocabulary, which has proved to be irreplaceable.”9 But The Chinese Sign Language has some shortcomings still and thus continuous revisions and expansion are needed for future improvement. For example, the gestures in it contain too much finger spelling. Besides, it only provides the standard vocabulary but fails to introduce the grammar of the sign language. How to enable deaf-mute people from different regions to communicate with each other without any barriers is an important issue facing the standardization of the Chinese sign language.

2.2 The lack of in-depth study of sign language To establish the status of linguistics of sign language and standardize the sign language of different regions, it is necessary to investigate the Chinese sign language more thoroughly. A number of linguistic aspects of such a research, such as word order, basic grammar, segmentation of part of speech of the Chinese sign language, need further collaborative research of professionals in the area of education for deaf-mute people with a hearing disability, and linguists.

2.3 Training of sign language interpreters Currently, the available number of sign language interpreters in China is far from enough to help over 20 million hearing impaired people to communicate 9 Office of the second national sample survey of disabled people in China and the State Bureau of Statistics: Communiqué of the Main Data of the Second National Sample Survey of Disabled People in China, see: http://temp07.cdpj.cn/gzh/2007-01/25/content_7647.htm.

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without barriers. This is also why the vocation of the sign language interpreter has been formally recognized by the state and has been listed in the nation’s list of professions. The shortage of sign language interpreters at senior levels is a common phenomenon across the whole country. There are many more qualified interpreters who “can interpret a communication with foreigners than are interpreters acclaimed by deaf-mute people for their deft use of sign language”. “Sign language interpretation as an occupation is at present in its budding stage in China. Right now sign language interpreters are basically teachers from schools for the deaf-mute or workers in associations of disabled persons, who practice sign language interpretation as part-time jobs. Their number is limited and is far from enough to meet the need of the over 20 million deaf-mute population. Because they do the work as part-time volunteers, and because there is neither incentive mechanism nor are there professional appraisal criteria for sign language interpreters, it is a fact that the standard of sign language interpretation is sometimes not advanced enough.” (Li 2007) It is not rare that sign language interpreters would come up with gestures created by themselves that do not exist in the standard sign language. The lack of sign language interpreters makes it hard for hearing impaired persons to communicate effectively with people in sectors of culture, medicine, social security, sports, trade, and social services, etc.

2.4 How were TV programs in sign language received? With the initial broadcasting of TV programs in sign language in many regions in succession, deaf-mute people have got a new channel to access information. But surveys showed they usually prefer to watch the news and TV dramas with subtitles. Many of them said they could not understand the gestures of the sign language interpreters because: firstly, the gestures made by sign language interpreters are basically derived from the standard set in Chinese Sign Language, and they are often not identical with local sign languages; secondly, the gestures are often too fast to be synchronized with the news broadcasting and sometimes omit too much, so deaf-mute people are not fast enough to see them clearly; and thirdly, sign language interpreters usually do not show any facial expressions or body postures to help deaf-mute people understand their gestures. Moreover, the image showing the interpreter in the TV news is usually too small to be seen clearly.

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Acknowledgment This report has been funded by the Youth Project of the State for Social Sciences: Study on the Investigation of Verbs in Chinese Sign Language and Their Classification.

References Cheng, Yiji (程益基). 2009. The final report of the SigAm Project of China and Norway concerning experimental bilingual education (中挪SigAm双语聋教育实验项目终期报告). Special Education in China (中国特殊教育), No. 4. Gong, Qunhu (龚群虎). 2005. Problems in the language of China’s deaf-mute people and their education (中国聋人语言与语言教育问题). Theory and practice of the language used by deaf-mute people in China and their language education (双语聋教育的理论与实践), edited by Shen, Yulin (沈玉林), Wu, An’an (吴安安) and Zhu, Chaoyu (褚朝禹). Huaxia Publishing House, pp. 61–89. Gong, Qunhu (龚群虎). 2009. Linguistic analysis of the sign language and Chinese in education for the deaf-mute people in China (聋教育中手语和汉语问题的语言学分析). Special Education in China (中国特殊教育), No. 3. Li, Hui (李慧). 2007. Perspective of the three major issues concerning the profession of sign language interpretation (透视手语翻译行业三大问题). Guangming Daily, p. 7, March 23, 2007. Wu, Ling (吴铃). 2008. Midterm assessment report on the ‘Bilingual and Bicultural Project’ of the UNICEF (联合国儿童基金会“聋儿双语双文化项目”中期评估报告). Special Education in China (中国特殊教育), No. 12. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Zhang Jun (张军)

8 The language of Chinese films and TV series Keywords: films and TV series, subtitles, broadcasting, simultaneous recording, box office revenues, Chinese dialects, Putonghua promotion, State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, ethnic minority languages. The language of film and TV usually refers to the words spoken and used in dialogues, voice-overs and subtitles of films and TV series. Carefully crafted by their creators, cinematic and TV language appears to be artistic and often has a rich flavor of real life. Language as such not only manifests individual people’s linguistic life, but exerts a certain influence on the language use of the general public. The past few years have witnessed a surge in the production and consumption of film and TV series in China. A large number of works have gained tremendous popularity among their audience, with the language of leading characters sometimes so vivid and lively that they create buzzwords in social life. This report examines the language of China-produced feature films and TV series between the years 2007–2009.

1 Overview The domestic production of films and TV series in China has recently made outstanding progress both in quantity and quality. According to statistics from China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China produced 402 feature films in 2007, 406 in 2008, and 456 in 2009, and from 2007–2009 over 100 digital films for TV screening were made. During the same period, over 470 TV series (i.e., over 42,000 episodes) were produced by permission each year. Many of them have earned considerable revenue and a favorable audience feedback, as evidenced in the record increase of both their ratings and box office revenue, and in the international awards they have won. The popularity of these Chinese films and TV series results from the collaboration of various parties. Actors and actresses in Hong Kong and Taiwan played an active part in the production teams of mainland China. Privately-owned

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enterprises and independent producers also contributed to the success. Thanks to these joint efforts particular characteristics have been emerging, both in the form and content of Chinese films and TV series, and in the increasing hybridization of Hong Kong and Taiwanese elements, as well as in their regional and ethnic characteristics including the linguistic aspects of Chinese films and TV series. This report describes the status quo of language use in Chinese films and TV series from four aspects: the use of Putonghua, the use of dialects, Chinese subtitles, and the use of ethnic minority languages.

2 The use of Mandarin Ever since China’s launch of its Putonghua promotion strategy in the 1950s, various broadcasts, films and TV series have served as direct tools and key battlefields in promoting Putonghua across the nation. Using Putonghua in films and TV series was stipulated by law and was actualized and perfected in practice. The Notice on Implementing State Council’s Issuance of the Promotion of Putonghua by the Ministry of Culture in 1956, stipulated that “films shot in the Chinese language (including scientific, educational films and documentaries narrated in Chinese) must be produced in Putonghua. Close attention should be paid to the standard of the grammar and rhetoric of Putonghua in dialogues or voice-overs.” The State Language Commission and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television jointly promulgated the official notice, Several Provisions on Language Use in Radio, Film and Television in 1987, specifying that “films and TV series (except for regional opera films) should use Putonghua and refrain from overusing dialects. Actors playing the roles of political leaders are generally required to speak Putonghua.” In a similar vein, the National Universal Language Law promulgated in 2000 defined that films and broadcasts on television and radio should use the national universal language as the primary language. (Research Team of Putonghua Promotion Strategies in the New Era 2005) Thanks to the continuous efforts of media producers and language professionals, the status of Putonghua in films and TV series has gained prominence and stability. At present, Chinese films and TV series are primarily produced in Putonghua. Prior to the advent of simultaneous recording technologies, Putonghua-speaking dubbing professionals usually dubbed films and TV series. Simultaneous recording technologies enabled actors’ “real body and real voice” to be recorded together at the time of shooting, making cinematic and TV language more lively,

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Table 1: Language use in Chinese feature films with box office revenues over RMB100 million, 2007–2009 (unit: hundred million RMB) Title

Debut in

Box office revenues

The Warlords (投名状)

2007

1.99

Assembly (集结号)

2007

2.50

CJ7 (长江七号)

2008

2.03

Kung Fu Dunk (大灌篮)

2008

1.13

The Forbidden Kingdom (功夫之王)

2008

1.88

Supporting language(s) used1

English

Red Cliff (1) (赤壁-上)

2008

3.21

Painted Skin (画皮)

2008

2.32

Forever Enthralled (梅兰芳)

2008

1.17

English, Japanese

IP Man (叶问)

2008

1.03

Cantonese, Japanese

If You Are The One (非诚勿扰)

2008

3.40

Japanese, Sichuan dialect

The Founding of a Republic (建国大业)

2009

4.20

Zhejiang dialect, Cantonese, Tianjin dialect, Hebei dialect

Red Cliff (2) (赤壁-下)

2009

2.60

A Simple Noodle Story (三枪拍案惊奇)

2009

2.56

Northeastern dialect, Shaanxi dialect

Bodyguards and Assassins (十月围城)

2009

2.74

Cantonese

The Message (风声)

2009

2.25

Shandong dialect, Japanese

City of Life and Death (南京!南京!)

2009

1.72

Nanjing dialect

Silver Medalist (疯狂的赛车)

2009

1.10

Hokkien (Southern Fujian dialect), Qingdao dialect, Xi’an dialect

Look for A Star (游龙戏凤)

2009

1.13

On His Majesty’s Secret Service (大内密探灵灵狗)

2009

1.27

Mulan (花木兰)

2009

1.10

Sophie’s Revenge (非常完美)

2009

1.00

Notes to Table 1: (1) Box office revenues are calculated until the end of the year (2) “Supporting language” means the language used occasionally in dialogues Source: http://www.entgroup.cn 1 In contrast to the supporting language, primary language refers to the lines major characters speak in most cases in films. In films produced with the simultaneous recording of “real body and real voice”, some characters’ dialogues are spoken with the actors’ personal accents. Actors

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personalized and close to real life. Generally speaking, the majority of producers adopt Putonghua as their first language choice. The overwhelming use of Putonghua is characteristic in all films and TV series, particularly in block busters. In the case of popular films with box office revenues over RMB100 million, these films all adopt Putonghua as their primary language. The use of dialects or foreign languages found in a few films occurs because of special needs. For example, Cantonese is used in films to be distributed in Hong Kong, such as “Bodyguards and Assassins” (十月围城), “Look for a Star” (游龙戏凤) and “On His Majesty’s Secret Service” (大内密探灵灵狗).

3 The use of Chinese dialects In recent years, there has been an increasing use of Chinese dialects in films and TV series as many playwrights and directors regard the use of dialects as an effective means of shaping characters and presenting their lives. There even emerged TV series where dialects are spoken during the entire show – they are called “dialect TV series”. Another change is the increase of works that portray political leaders as Putonghua speakers. In the past, political leaders in revolution-themed films and TV series tended to speak with certain accents, thus, in one way or another, creating a stereotyped linguistic image in the minds of the audience.

3.1 The “dialect show” in films and TV series There seems to be an upward surge of using dialects in films and TV series in recent years. In contrast to the status of dialects as a supporting and embellishing element in the past, dialects in recent films and TV series have in fact served as a selling point to attract a larger audience. Take TV series screened during peak hours (6 pm to 12 pm) in 2007 for example, and four out of ten feature a constant use of dialects, namely “Soldier Sortie” (士兵突击), “Home with Kids” from Hong Kong and Taiwan speak Mandarin with Cantonese or Hokkien accents, heavy or light, as evidenced in pronunciation, speed and intonation. For example, in films such as “The Warlords”, “CJ7”, “Kung Fu Dunk”, “The Forbidden Kingdom”, “Painted Skin”, “IP Man” and “Red Cliff” (1) and (2), where mainland Chinese actors work in collaboration with their Hong Kong and Taiwanese colleagues, the dialogues in Putonghua are in fact “local Putonghua” (Putonghua with regional accents), rather than standard Putonghua.

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Table 2: Top 10 TV series (by audience rating in 80 cities during 2007) and their use of dialects Title

Number of TV channels broadcasting the series

Frequency of dialect use

Soldier Sortie (士兵突击)

21

Very frequently

Home with Kids (家有儿女)

20

Frequently

Home with Kids II (家有儿女II)

19

Frequently

Euphoria Flower (狼毒花)

16

Jiang Men Feng Yun (Ups and Downs of the General and His Family) (将门风云)

14

Yu Qing (玉卿嫂)

13

Shengsi Jie (生死劫)

12

My Own Swordsman (武林外传)

12

Group VI of Fatal Case II (重案六组II)

12

The Past Stories of Western Hunan (湘西往事)

11

Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (新上海滩)

11

Frequently

Source: CCTV-CSM media research. Cited from: Analysis of national TV series screenings and rating in 2007, in Wang Lanzhu (Eds.) China’s TV Rating Yearbook 2008, p. 108. Beijing: Press of Communication University of China.

(家有儿女), “Home with Kids II” (家有儿女II), and “My Own Swordsman” (武林 外传). For instance, in the megahit TV series “Soldier Sortie” each main character speaks a regional Chinese dialect, representative of the actors’ identities: Xu Sanduo (by Wang Baoqiang) speaks Henan dialect with a Handan accent, and his father Xu Baishun (by Luo Jingmin) speaks standard Henan dialect. Wu Liuyi (by Xing Jiadong), although he is claimed to be the hometown fellow of Xu Sanduo, speaks Putonghua with a northeastern accent. Additionally, other characters vary dramatically in their choice of language, such as Shi Jin and Gao Cheng speaking northeastern dialect, Wang Qingrui speaking Wuhan dialect, Bai Tiejun speaking Tangshan dialect, Xue Lin speaking Beijing dialect and Gan Xiaoning speaking Shaanxi dialect. The myriad of dialects make “Soldier Sortie” like a show of dialects for the sake of dialects. Similarly, another super-popular TV series, “My Own Swordsman”, is labeled a show of dialects with over 50 characters speaking some dialect or Putonghua with distinctive accents. It is said to contain over 20 identifiable regional dialects. (Baidu Post 2005) Dialect-laden TV series as such manifest the life of

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ordinary people and are characteristic of a particular locality, grassroots themes and they use light comedy. Characters who speak an appropriate number of dialects are in some cases able to provide the audience with a sense of freshness, authenticity and closeness. For instance, Tong Zhi (by Zhang Guoli) in the TV series “Gold Marriage” (金婚), code-switches quite naturally, speaking Putonghua in the workplace and on social occasions, then switching to Sichuan dialect when talking to his mother. Code switching provides a more vivid, real and lively image of the character.

3.2 Dialect films and TV series Dialect films and TV series refer to those shot using dialects only, which is a rarity in Chinese cinematic history. In the 1960s, there used to be a film called “Forced Military Recruitment” (抓壮丁), dubbed in Sichuan dialect. However, against the backdrop of Putonghua promotion then and afterwards, dialect films have died out. Three decades later, “The Story of Qiu Ju” (秋菊打官司), directed by Zhang Yimou, is a narrative story about a village in northwestern China. All characters in the film (including professional actors and figurants) speak Shaanxi dialect – the use of dialects has become a key means of storytelling in the folk context. A low-cost film, “Crazy Stone” (疯狂的石头), achieved handsome box office revenues in 2006 and gained superb popularity, drawing again producers’ attention to the smart use of dialects. Several leading characters in “Crazy Stone” speak Chongqing dialect, Henan dialect, Wuhan dialect and Yunnan dialect respectively. Other films and TV series featuring the use of dialects have also become big hits, such as “Luxury Car” (江城夏日, 2006, Wuhan dialect), “One Foot off the Ground” (鸡犬不宁, 2006, Henan dialect), “The Road” (芳香之旅, 2006, Yunnan dialect), “Still Life” (三峡好人, 2006, Shanxi dialect), and “A Big Potato” (别拿自己不当干部, 2007, Tianjin dialect). Likewise, dialect TV series that reflect social and cultural life in particular regions are on the rise. The most representative TV series must be the northeastern Chinese village life-themed “Liu Laogen” (刘老根), “Ma Dashuai” (马大帅) and “Country Love Story” (乡村爱情), all produced and acted in by the wellknown comedian Zhao Benshan. TV series as such often manifest village life in northeastern China and portray diverse images of farmers with unique personalities. Given that their actors come primarily from northeastern China, it is natural and reasonable that they speak northeastern dialect. Some dialect TV series have achieved satisfactory rating records, such as “Porters in Mountainous Chongqing” (山城棒棒军) in Chongqing dialect and

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“In-Laws, Out-Laws” (外地媳妇本地郎) in Cantonese. A few local TV stations even adopt local dialects to dub TV series produced in Putonghua. For instance, subsequent to the popular screenings of “Lurk” (潜伏) in 2009, one TV station in Sichuan Province dubbed the entire TV series in various dialects of the province. Both the leading actor Yu Zecheng (by Sun Honglei) and the leading actress Zuo Lan speak Chengdu dialect (capital city of Sichuan Province), Cui Ping speaks Zhongjiang dialect and Wu Jingzhong speaks Zigong dialect. Such humorous dialect TV series can only survive in areas where these dialects are spoken.

3.3 Dialects spoken by political leaders in films and TV series Political leaders occupy the key roles in revolution-themed films and TV series. Over the past few decades, there has been a strong emphasis on the faithful portrayal of key political leaders, stressing the actors’ resemblance to the leaders not only in physical appearance but also in spirit. Actors were expected to speak the original dialects of political leaders. Therefore, the most popular in those works were the portrayals of Chairman Mao Zedong speaking Hunan dialect, Premier Zhou Enlai speaking northern Jiangsu dialect, and Zhu De and Deng Xiaoping speaking Sichuan dialect. In many screenplays, the dialect became the identification mark of the political leader. Dialect-speaking political leaders were common in films and TV series produced before 2005, as evidenced, for instance, in the 1989 “Founding Ceremony of the P. R. of China” (开国大典) and the 1991 “Decisive Engagement” (大决战). However, recently produced films and TV series feature an increasing number of Putonghua-speaking political leaders. For example, Chairman Mao, acted by Tang Guoqiang, usually speaks Putonghua and is nicknamed the “Putonghua version Chairman Mao”. The 60th anniversary memorial film of the PRC’s establishment, “Founding of a Republic” (建国大业), is also illustrative. Made in 2009, all political figures in it speak Putonghua rather than their own representative dialects. Despite the occasional use of dialects by a few figurant actors, political figures in the 2008 TV series “Liberation” (解放) and “Guarding Communist Yan’an” (保卫延安) do not speak any dialects at all.

3.4 Choice of dialects and audience attitudes towards dialects The choice of dialects in films and TV series is never arbitrary, but rather based on an evaluation of the content, targeted audiences and dialects. If dialects are chosen for dialogues, they are usually close to Putonghua, spoken by a large

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Figure 1: Survey results of audience attitudes towards dialects spoken in films and TV series – from www.china.com.cn ( July 16, 2009) Source: http://www.china.com.cn/culture/txt/2009-07/16/contnt_18145708.htm

population, or have a high prestige, to ensure maximum comprehensibility. Additionally, the local context where stories take place is also considered. On the whole, dialects from the north of China tend to be spoken more often in films and TV series, as their speaking areas are much wider. If any type of southern dialect, for example Cantonese and dialects in Fujian, Shanghai or Jiangxi, are used, the films or TV series can only be broadcast in areas where they are spoken. Audience attitudes towards certain dialects also vary. According to a survey in July 2009 about audience attitudes towards dialect films and TV series, 36.9% of the interviewees loved to watch the TV series “My Own Swordsman”, another 36% preferred “Crazy Stone”, 34.9% liked “My Brother Who is Called Shunliu” (我的兄弟叫顺溜), another 18.5% professed they liked “Country Love Story”, 13.5% went for “Soldier Sortie”, 12.2% for “My Chief and My Regiment” (我的团 长我的团), 12.2% for “Happy Life of Yangguang” (杨光的快乐生活), 10.4% for “Grand Living” (大生活) and only 4.4% expressed a preference for “Gao Xing”

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(高兴). In terms of the choice of dialects, 58.2% of interviewees prioritize northeastern dialects, followed by a 44.8% preference for the Sichuan dialect, and 23% go for Cantonese. The remaining portion includes the Shaanxi dialect, and the Henan, Shandong, and Tianjin dialects.2 (Wang & Shi 2009)

4 Chinese subtitles In general, Chinese subtitles are provided for all films and TV series. In this report, subtitles refer to the record of (linguistic) dialogues only, spoken by all characters. As the Regulation of Subtitles in National Films of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in 2003 stipulated, if films include operas, Chinese dialects, ethnic minority languages and foreign languages, they should be accompanied with corresponding Chinese subtitles. (State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of The People’s Republic of China 2003) Although subtitling technologies have become more accessible recently, mistakes in subtitle contents have increased. Common problems are typos because of homophony. For example, in Episode 29 of “Lurk”, in the subtitle “心率有点不齐”, “心率” was mistaken for “心律”. Another example of homophony is in “气势如宏”, where “宏” was mistaken for “虹” in Episode 1 of “My Brother Who is Called Shunliu”. Again in “Struggle” (奋斗), “势利” was wrongly written as “势力”. Apart from homophony, grammatical mistakes are also common, such as the confusion between mood particles and auxiliary verbs in Chinese, as evidenced by the fact that many subtitles do not distinguish between “吗” and “嘛”, or “的”, “地” and “得”.3

5 The use of ethnic minority languages In addition to the majority Han people, there are 55 recognized ethnic minority groups in China, almost each having its own language and some with their own orthography. The use of ethnic minority languages occurs primarily in translations from Chinese. To date, China has established ten film translation centers for ethnic minority languages. The Chinese government funds the annual copyright purchase of dozens of films and thousands of TV series for free broadcasting in translated ethnic minority languages. (Xinhua News 2009b) Dubbing and 2 The Social Survey Center of the Chinese Youth Newspaper has done a survey of 55,557 people through Chinese Public Opinion Network and the news community of Sohu.com. 3 For additional information, see http://blog.sina.com.cn/jinjingminzhizi.

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subtitling by the film translation centers in ethnic minority languages have not only made entertainment more accessible to ethnic minority groups, but have also promoted ethnic minority cultures and languages in the media. At present, films and TV series produced in Chinese are mostly translated into ethnic minority languages of larger populations that have a writing system, such as Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Kazakh and Korean. The rarity of films and TV series in ethnic minority languages of smaller populations and without a writing system is also evident. It has been reported that since the establishment of the Kash Administration of Radio, Film and Television in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region two decades ago, over 20,000 films and TV series have been translated. The translation of the TV series “Drawing Sword” (亮剑) into Uyghur has been broadcast many times in the region, making the work the first-prize winner of translated TV series in an ethnic minority language. (Xinhua News 2009a) In 2007, a total of 564 Chinese films and 500 hours (equal to 639 episodes) of Chinese TV series were translated into Tibetan by Tibetan TV Station, which has ensured that at least 25 newly translated films could be shown to residents in farming and pastoral areas of Tibet. (Xinhua News 2008) In 2009, the Film Translation Center of Ethnic Minority Languages of Qinghai Province, in collaboration with Salar Autonomous County, translated the film “Hands Up” (举起手来). Not only were the theme song and dialogues all translated into Salar, but the Salar language appeared for the first time in subtitles. Thus a significant step toward translating films and TV series into ethnic minority languages was taken. (People.cn 2008)

References Baidu Post. 2005. Who has done statistics on the dialects used in My Own Swordsman 《 ( 武林外传》中有好多方言呀，谁统计过). http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=169315330. People.cn. 2008. Hands Up ready for its show as the first movie translated from language of Salar (首部撒拉语电影译制片《举起手来》将与观众见面). http://society.people.com. cn/GB/41158/8327482.html, 12 November 2008. Research Team of Putonghua Promotion Strategies in the New Era (《新时期推广普通话方略研 究》课题组编) (eds.). 2005. Collection of documents for promoting Putonghua (推广普通 话文件资料汇编). Beijing: China Economy Press. State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of The People’s Republic of China. 2003. Notice on the Regulations and Rules on Subtitling Movies Made in China (关于印发《国产电影片字幕管理规定》的通知). http://www.sarft.gov.cn/articles/2007/ 09/08/20070908140236320075.html. Wang, Congcong (王聪聪) & Shi, Xiaoning (史小宁). 2009. TV plays and movies cause dialect craze, 58.2% of respondents favor Northeastern dialect most (影视剧掀起方言热，58.2％ 的人认为东北话最火). Chinese Youth Newspaper. http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2009-07/ 16/content_2759646.htm, 16 July 2009.

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Xinhua News. 2008. Article on the protection and development of Tibetan culture released by the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China (国务院新闻办公 室《西藏文化的保护与发展》). http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-09/25/ content_10108554_1.htm, 25 September 2008. Xinhua News. 2009a. Drawing Sword in Uyghur wins first prize for movies translated from China’s minority groups (维吾尔语《亮剑》获全国少数民族语言影视剧译制片一等奖). http://bt.xinhuanet.com/2009-01/08/content_15396051.htm, 8 January 2009. Xinhua News. 2009b. Great development of language, press and publication of China’s minor ethnic groups (我国少数民族语言文字、新闻出版事业取得大发展). http://news. xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-07/21/content_11745931.htm, 21 July 2009. Translated by Doreen Dongying Wu (吴东英) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University [email protected]

Qu Yanbin (曲彦斌)

9 Folk cant and folk life Keywords: folk cant, secret language, hidden language, catchphrase, business culture, Huizong, coded language, law breaker, cultural heritage, entertainment industry. Folk cant (“in people’s interstices hidden language”) is a closed or semi-closed folk language subsystem, created and used by some communities to protect their interests and coordinate their internal relationships. Also called “secret language”, “hidden language”, “jargon”, “market language”, “split verbalisation”, “spring point” (春点, roughly homophonic with ‘lip book’, another version of this name), “brocade language” (锦语), “mixed talk”, “black talk”, etc., folk cant is a lingo-cultural phenomenon and was a linguistic practice throughout history, across all ranks of social life, and in nearly every language all over the world. In other words, folk cant is a social variety of language.

1 “Split verbalisation” (Huizong Language) in folk life Over the past few years, various local media have repeatedly reported the existence of a hidden language such as “split verbalisation” [Huizong (徽宗) language]. There is a not-so-big village named Majunchi (“horse army pond”) in a township called Hejian (“join gully”), Linzhou (“woods prefecture”), in Henan Province. In this village, there survives a unique way of speaking which the villagers call zhuai-yu (literally “waddle language”). According to Jin Caifa, a senior villager fluent in this “language”, its uniqueness lies in the splitting of every zi (spoken or written Chinese character) into two syllables, e.g., zhong is articulated as zhuai gong, hua as huai gua, ren as rai geng, min as mie jing, lin as lie ling and zhou as zhai gou, etc. (Zhong-hua means “Chinese”, ren-min “the people”, and Lin-zhou is the prefecture the village belongs to.) (Wang 2007) It is said that there is another mysterious language called Fu language in Linzhou. According to the locals, the Fu language was used in the 1950s and 60s and it is named Fu because the small number of its speakers made those

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who could speak it look very “fu” (admirable). Some say that it was occupationrelated talk among folk artisans, and others say it was originally the coded language used by emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty during his imprisonment. (Zhang 2007) Nowadays, however, very few can still use this cant. To protect such language culture handed down from ancient times, Linzhou founded an office to implement the Folk Cultural Heritage Rescue Project, one of whose tasks is to rescue the Fu language and research its origin, development and protection. In a town named Gubeikou (“ancient north mouth”) in Miyun County, Beijing, there is an ancient language form called lu-bafen (“reveal eight tenths”). (Beijing Morning Post & Beijing Evening News 2008) It is said to have originated in a period of transition from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty and is also a kind of word play to create a humorous effect. With only a dozen of local seniors being able to use it, lu-bafen is virtually on the verge of extinction. Lu-bafen is usually a four-character idiom or phrase with the last character omitted, but the omitted character is actually the one that carries what the speaker intended to convey, i.e., only three out of four characters are articulated, thus revealing about eight tenths of the phrase. Experts and researchers have yet to explore whether lu-bafen derives from some form of trading jargon and when it took shape. Some scholars believe that lu-bafen bears the characteristics of a folk cant and is an important part of Hui business culture (the Hui nationality is an Islamic ethnic group in China). It has served Hui businesses for over two centuries and it has demonstrated the Hui cultural features and the Hui traders’ distinction in doing business. By adding the appropriate vowel(s) to the consonant(s) and appropriate consonant(s) to the vowel(s) of a chosen Chinese syllable, this special language splits one syllable into two that will spell the chosen zi (character) through traditional fanqie (“back split”) spelling. This kind of spelling game is characterized by the utilization of local pronunciation. (Li 2008) A story in Beijing Morning of August 20, 2008, titled “Old man’s ‘Alien Language’ not understood in the past 70 years” received an enthusiastic response from readers. Various interpretations were offered by people from different places and these guesses about the “Alien Language” fall into five categories: (1) children’s game, (2) jargon prevailing among traders in non-official discourse, (3) Huizong language, (4) a form of argot, (5) slang used by Hong Kong secondary school girls, etc. Experts proposed three possible explanations, saying that it is either a type of argot, or a children’s spelling game used by home-based private tutors prior to the founding of the PR of China, or a group-lect deriving from fanqie.

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Folk split verbalisation is part of a sub-culture which is valuable for folklore studies even without practical use.

2 Folk cant as a catchphrase Black talk (heihua, “黑话”) among gangsters started for the sake of confidentiality. Once leaked by its legitimate users, it was then picked up by curious adventurelovers, and some expressions even became catchphrases. Nowadays, however, there are still some black talk expressions that have become catchphrases. In the 1980s, some roguish expressions originating from gangs have gained popularity among youngsters, such as fangxie (“release blood”), feile (“disuse, give up, or disable”), zuole (“done”), miele (“extinguished”), etc. Fangxie is to make someone bleed by stabbing. Feile is to cripple someone by beating. Zuole originally means to murder, and later gets the meaning of to entrap someone through underhanded means. Miele means to “bring somebody down a notch”. To be captured by the police or put into prison is zhe-jinqu (“fall into”), shele (“broken”), or jin-juzi (“enter cop-house”), and to be captured a second time is er-jingong (“enter palace twice”, which is a title of a Beijing Opera classic). Someone with a criminal record is dier-chao (“bottom damp”). Such expressions originated as black talk among organized gangsters, and for the novelty that probably arises from their secrecy, they were picked up by street fight-loving youngsters. Similar catchphrases from the black market of foreign currency are heard in youngsters’ daily language, such as leizi (“thunder stuff”) for policepersons, youzi (“oil stuff” and usually denoting “someone extremely experienced”) for an experienced hard-to-cheat foreign currency client, and miangua (“soft pumpkin”) for incautious, dumb, cowardly and easily-cheated clients. Meizi (“beautiful stuff” – mei is the first character in the transliteration of “America”) for US dollars, Gangzhi (“harbor paper”, Gang is for Kong in Hong Kong) for Hong Kong dollars, Laori (“old sun” – ri is ‘sun’, as in Riben, the translation of “Japan”, which literally means “sun root” in both Chinese and Japanese) for Yen, xiale (“down already”) for underpaying a client, chouzhang (“draw sheet”) for the method of underpaying, xing (“wake”) for underpayment being discovered, zha (“explode”) for going desperate and breaking out after “wake already” – it also applies to a group of lawbreakers scattering or “exploding shelter”, etc. Some coded expressions from some special trades have also become catchphrases, like money terms of some private traders – “a cent” is used for one Yuan, “a sheet” for 10 Yuan, “a stem” or “one (full) figure” for a hundred Yuan,

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“a ton” or “a pile” for a thousand Yuan, “a square/cubic” for a myriad of Yuan. (Huang 2008) These linguistic phenomena are still in use and will continue to exist. In recent years, hidden language expressions like dawan er (“big wrist” or “big vine”, referring to a superpower in a certain field), zouxue (“walk around”, meaning the performance of professional actors is a kind of moonlight income), tuo er (“holder”, referring to someone acting as fake buyer or user, aiming to arouse the bystanders’ or potential buyers’ desire to buy), and xing (“smelly”), became catchphrases gradually. Dozens of such entries appear in Modern Catchprases in Beijing (Zhou 1992), Dictionary of Catchphrases in Shanghai Dialect (Ruan & Wu 1994), and Dictionary of Beijing Local Expressions (Xu 1990). Quite a few originally black talk expressions have been accepted into the lexicon of contemporary Chinese, for example, caidian er (“tread spot”, meaning to explore a venue for future criminal behavior), guacai (“hang colorful fabric”, originally referring to celebrating the hanging up of colorful fabrics and later meaning to get wounded), fanshui (“reverse water”, meaning to betray), bangpiao (“bind ticket”, meaning to kidnap for ransom), chuxie (“blood letting”, meaning to pay excessively), sipiao (“tear ticket”, meaning to kill the hostage), shangshou (“upon hand”, meaning to get started), dawaner, zouxue, dingfengshang (“top wind up”, meaning “go against the wind”), tiaocao (“jump feeding trough”, meaning to resign for a better paid job), yanxianer (“eye line”, meaning informers), chedan (“pulling and bland”, meaning talking nonsense), shifeng (“lose wind”, meaning to go wrong), bifengtou (“shun head wind”, meaning to stay away until the risk is over), etc.

3 Double language in literary works and Internet games Double language appears to have become prevalent again over recent years. Nearly every social circle now has some coded expressions, and in some emerging occupations more coded expressions are created. As societies become more group based and terminology-oriented, literary works are showing a greater interest in the representation of such double language or black talk. In Chuang Guandong (“Brave the Journey to the Northeast”), a TV play that had many scenes portraying a bandit’s life, coded expressions were massively used. The Internet novel Gui Chui Deng (“Ghost Blows Lamp”) created a new breed of coded language, and the vivid coded expressions are one of the factors that make the novel popular among readers.

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In the game Silk Road Online (SRO), more professional-level black talk can be found. Players do often virtual robberies and need to cover up their true purpose, and therefore, they have developed a system of occupation-based talk used across servers. What follows are some of these expressions: – jinxian (“gold line”) and yinxian (“silver line”) – the former is the trade route between Chang’an, Dunhuang and Hetian and the latter the route between Constantinople and Samarkand; – heizi (“black character”) and baizi (“white character”) refer to thieves in the Tang Empire and Roman Empire respectively; – haiqing (“sea blue”), tiewan (“iron vine”), yinpian (“silver piece”), huating (“flower stiff”), and yangxian (“ocean string”) are respective names for broadsword, spear, knife, dagger, and crossbow. Splitting mouth is a term for “weapons are great in number”, and it covers all weapons in the two empires. Moreover, thieves in the game call traders yanggao (“sheep cub”), trade caravans are yangqun (“sheep flock”), guards are dulang (“lonely wolves”), and the articles they plan to rob are huo (“goods”). Huo can be either honghuo (“red goods”), heihuo (“black goods”) or sanhuo (“unpacked goods”) and are graded into five classes – liu (“flow”), yue (“moon”), wang (“deep-broad”), ze (“model”) and zhong (“middle”). (Renmin Network 2007)

4 Coded language in the entertainment industry With the entertainment industry booming, places of entertainment (such as recreation centers, hotels, bars, dancing halls, night clubs, etc.) attract great numbers of people and are often frequented by various lawbreakers. Many of these people haunt such places and often tend to conduct their secret business by using some form of hidden language. (Ye 2005) Hidden language used in the entertainment industry and entertainment venues displays a multiplicity of origins, has very complex forms, and a multitude of functions. In the entertainment business where sexual services are offered, diantai (“order platform”) is to order a “xiaojie” (“little sister”, meaning “girl”); panzi (“plate”) is a deceived client; xiuwu (“show dance”) is for girls performing a sexy dance for clients; daizhi (“replacement pay”) is fee; qi (“brick-laying”) is intercourse; jiezhong (“street clock”) is the accompanying fee; taizhong (“platform clock”) is payment for an escort; and chujie (“out street”) is taking the

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service provider away from the entertainment site. Through conversations using such expressions, clients can quickly find out whether sexual services are available, and obtain all information about service availability, prices and safety. Such jargon can also help service providers find out the true intentions and sexual orientation of a client and whether it is a regular client, and thus they can choose to respond in an appropriate way. The use of hidden language causes big concern to public security institutions in crime control and it often serves as a clue in learning to uncover crimes. However, language recognition, speech identification and the utilization of cant clues in criminal investigations has proved no easy job. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of coded expressions prevalent in entertainment establishments, and recognition of the features of language will help to discover and understand new criminal characteristics and tendencies. Furthermore, familiarity with this kind of hidden language will also shed new light on today’s pop culture.

5 Concluding remarks As a peculiar linguistic-cultural phenomenon, folk cant is actually a cultural heritage calling for active maintenance and protection. The observation and study of folk cant serves as a unique approach in investigating China’s social and linguistic culture. It appears that we ought to conduct more empirical studies on folk cant in order to analyze its impact on the social psyche and to guide or even regularize its use.

References Beijing Morning Post (北京晨报). 2008. Page 4 of May 21 and of August 19, Page 5 of August 21 and 22. Also in Beijing Evening News (北京晚报). 2008. Page 4 of May 26. Unique language lu-bafen found in ancient town in Miyun, Beijing (北京密云古镇发现独特语言 露八分). Huang, Tao (黄涛). 2004. Catch Phrases and Pop Culture (流行语与社会时尚文化). Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House. pp. 13–15. See also in Huang Tao’s blog on PhoenixNet, http://blog.ifeng.com/article/1889496.html. Li, Zhengqing (李正清). 2008. Section 4 of Chapter 10 in History of Hui Culture in Zhaotong (昭通回族文化史). Yunnan University Press. Renmin Network (人民网). 2007. Comments by netizen players of Silk Road Online, play thief and use black talk (罗马远征玩家扮盗贼，惊现黑话切口). http://game.people.com.cn/ GB/48644/48661/5953698.html, 5th July 2007.

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Ruan, Huanhui (阮恒辉) & Wu, Jiping (吴继平). 1994. Dictionary of Catchphrases in Shanghai Dialect (上海话流行语辞典). Hanyu Dacidian (Grand Chinese Dictionary) Publishing House. Wang, Ruiqi (王瑞琪). 2007. Secret language circulating in Majunchi (马军池流传神秘语言). Linzhou News Online, http://www.lzsw.com.cn/Html/2007/0305/3544.asp, 6 March 2007. Xu, Shirong (徐世荣). 1990. Dictionary of Beijing Local Expressions (北京土语辞典). Beijing Press. Ye, Jianming (叶建明). 2005. Features of cant in today’s places of entertainment (当前娱乐场 所隐语的特点). Journal of Beijing People’s Police College (北京人民警察学院学报), 6th issue. Zhang, Zhili (张志立). 2007. Linzhou tries to rescue mysterious Fu language (林州紧急抢救神 秘“襥语”). Dahe Daily (大河报), 10 April 2007. Zhou, Yimin (周一民). 1992. Modern Catchprases in Beijing (北京现代流行语). Beijing Yanshan Publishing House. Translated by Zhao Deyu (赵德玉) Ocean University of China [email protected]

Zheng Mengjuan (郑梦娟), Huang Xiaoshan (黄小珊), and Fan Henghui (凡恒慧)

10 The development of an international language environment in Beijing Keywords: language environment, street signage, international city, road name, multilingual, Beijing, Romanization, tourist, Korea, Foreign Affairs Office. Guided by the municipal leadership and the wide participation of people from all walks of life, the development of Beijing’s international language environment involves many municipal agencies and officials in different disciplines. In 2010, the Organizing Committee of Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages (the City Organizing Committee, for short) issued the city’s five-year Plan for the Capital’s International Language Environment Development (2011–2015). It calls for public input and is hereafter referred to as the Language Environment Creation Plan. Similarly, the Beijing Municipal Language Commission (aka the City Language Commission) formulated its strategic goals in the 2010 Work Priorities of the Beijing Language Commission (the 2010 Work Priorities, for short). (Anonymous 2010)

1 The status quo The level of services provided by the government, business, and service sectors is a critical indicator of the internationalization of a city. Through increasing foreign language training for its employees, the municipality of Beijing has improved their ability to speak a foreign language and enhanced the overall quality of city services by adding multilingual services in its public information system, and by standardizing the bilingual signage1 in public places.

1.1 Employee training in foreign languages Since the 2008 Olympics, the Beijingers have considerably improved their foreign language skills, evidenced by the increased number of people who speak foreign 1 The expression “bilingual signage” refers to signs in both Chinese and in one or more foreign languages.

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languages, the noticeable improvement of the foreign language skills of the employees who work in the hospitality industry (who are more exposed to foreign tourists and visitors than others), and the overall enhancement of the city’s capacity in providing services for foreigners. For example, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Beijing Municipal Government (City Foreign Office, for short) organized the two 2010 campaigns “Seeking Excellence in Foreign Language Services for Tourism” and the “Beijing City-wide Foreign Language Learning of All Foreign Affairs Officials”. Stimulated by these educational campaigns, a total of 12,000 employees from the tourist industry and 1,100 foreign affairs officials have attended various training courses in a foreign language. The contest of the “Capital Foreign Language Service Employees vs. Foreign Affairs Officials” was well received by people from all walks of life and favorably reflected these employees’ achievements from their foreign language learning activities. (City Organizing Committee 2011)

1.2 The Multilingual Public Information Service System In order to help overseas Chinese from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the foreign visitors and workers understand the information published by the government, most of the major government agencies run their official websites in both traditional Chinese characters and English in addition to a simplified Chinese version. Some agencies also provide services in other foreign languages, as indicated in Table 1. Since the trial operation of the multilingual emergency call system in April 2010, approximately 258 student volunteers, selected and trained at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, served as operators of the public hot lines 110, 120, and 999, their main duty being to translate incoming calls in eight foreign languages, such as English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean. As of October 2010, these multilingual services have received a total of 121 calls on 110, 73 calls on 120, and eight calls on 999. These volunteer operators have provided a large total of over 15,000 hours of incoming call translation services. (City Organizing Committee 2010) Furthermore, the public bilingual signage continues to follow the Guidelines on the English Translation of Public Signs published by the municipal government in 2006. In 2009 an online local place name correction system was also created to engage and encourage the wide participation of the city residents.

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Z Z

Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (“City Ed Commission”)

Z

Z

Beijing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office (“City Foreign Office”)

Z

Beijing Municipal Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (“City OC Office”)

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Z

Russian

Z

Z

German

Z

Beijing Municipal Security Bureau (“City Security Bureau”)

Korean

Beijing Tourism

Spanish

Z

Arabic

English

Z

Japanese

Traditional Chinese

Z

Beijing-China

French

Simplified Chinese

Table 1: Languages used on the websites of some municipal government agencies

Z

Z

Note: “Z” indicates the language used on the website. Beijing-China is a web portal offering Beijing municipal government (and non-government) information Sources: Beijing-China is at www.beijing.gov.cn, Beijing Tourism at www.bjta.gov.cn, Beijing Public Security Bureau at www.bjgaj.gov.cn/web, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education at www.bjedu.gov.cn, Beijing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office at www.bjfao.gov.cn, and Beijing Municipal Overseas Chinese Affairs Office at www.bjqb.gov.cn

2 Major issues Although Beijing was ranked 15th in the 2010 Global Cities Index for its comprehensive impact factors, and domestically ranked on top of the Chinese mainland cities, (Shen 2010) there are issues that demand the city’s immediate attention in order to accomplish its schedule of creating an international language environment.

2.1 Insufficient feasibility study for the planning Since the publication of the 2010 Language Environment Creation Plan, which stirred extensive public discussions, the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office has received over 160 suggestions from people from all walks of life and at all levels. (Beijing Daily Website 2010) Most parts of the Plan were received positively by

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the public, but numerous questions were raised about the “plan to promote a kindergarten-to-college foreign language teaching system” and the “goal to have 10% of the municipal employees pass the BETS (Beijing English Testing System) test in five years by mastering the basic daily oral English and by doing simple transactions in English”. Some Internet users also questioned, “How can a child learn a foreign language before mastering his/her own mother tongue?” Professor Zhao Xiaoguang from the Communication University of China proposed that conditions and opportunities be created for foreigners to learn Chinese in Beijing. (Beijing Daily Website 2010) It has been noticed that the studies of the past three years have shown a lack of in-depth and all-round investigations into the foreign language uses and instructions in Beijing, the use of standardized spoken and written Chinese, and the use of Chinese as a means in global communication. Overall, the Plan failed to achieve the collaboration of many involved government agencies and thus its feasibility and authority are questionable.

2.2 Lack of variety in the foreign language services For a long time, the predominant use of English by the municipal hospitality industry, educational institutions, and public media has led to the monolithic status of the foreign language services in Beijing, a direct result of the lack of strategic research in politics and foreign language services. It is worth noting that in 2009 the foreign tourists in China included a large number of Japanese (462,000) and Koreans (352,000) in addition to the majority Americans (579,000). (Beijing Statistics Bureau and Beijing Section of State Statistics Bureau) This shows that the origin of foreign tourists is becoming diversified. Around the Wangjing area of Beijing, the population of Korean residents has exceeded 60,000, forming a small but growing “Korean town”. (Huang 2008) These facts are not reflected in the road and traffic sign designs, however. The foreign language signage in most public places, other than the airport and a few other tourist areas, is prominently in English, but rarely in Japanese or Korean. The foreign language on radio and TV programs is also limited to English with almost no language options offered for Japanese or Korean audiences. It is obvious that the foreign language services provided by the municipal government are primarily English language services.

The development of an international language environment in Beijing

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Source: Photos of street signs taken by Huang Xiaoshan and Fan Henghui in the vicinity of Beijing Xizhimen Avenue on March 13, 2011, are examples of the street signs mentioned in Table 1

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2.3 Confusing forms of Romanization for road and street names Tremendous efforts were made previously to rectify the non-standard forms of place and road names in Beijing. Nonetheless, the ways road and street signs are Romanized remain messy and confusing. Some examples are given below, illustrating the inconsistency of the city’s street and traffic signs and how street names are used on the English websites of some foreign embassies. Zhou Qingsheng, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that two systems were adopted for making street signage in Beijing, resulting in the appearance of “two names and two spellings for the same street”. (Zhou 2005) A recent survey of the street signs has shown that the situation remains largely unchanged. One system adopts the Chinese Pinyin (CP) for street and road signage (mainly by the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau), while the other uses a combination of “Pinyin and English” (PE) for traffic signage (primarily by the Municipal Traffic Control Bureau). For instance, “西直门外大街” is transcribed as both “XIZHIMENWAI DAJIE (the CP form) and “XIZHIMEN Outer St.” (the PE form). Differing from the above “compliance with the international practice” approaches to Romanization, the US and a few other embassies in Beijing use exclusively Pinyin for the name of the street, without the district where it is located, following strictly the rule of “one name one spelling” for one single Romanization, which is in line with the CP form used by the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau. See Table 2. “Multiple names for one street” is no longer a small matter of Romanization or translation only, because it causes confusion among foreign visitors and reflects a lack of consideration for standardization in the municipality’s policy on the use of foreign languages. Moreover, there is also the issue of how the country exercises its authority over its language sovereignty to be dealt with.

3 Conclusion With the increasing influence of Beijing in the world, it is urgent that people in all walks of life ponder how to seize the current moment to promote the development of a multilingual life and environment after the Beijing Olympics in order to further advance Beijing from a growing international metropolis to a truly global city. The ultimate goal of the municipality in its planning for the creation of an international language environment is to create both an internal

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Table 2: Romanization of place and street names on the webpages of four foreign embassies Organization

British Embassy

US Embassy

French Embassy

Spanish Embassy

Chinese address

光华路11号 建国门外

北京安家楼路 55号

北京市朝阳区三 里屯东三街3号

北京市朝阳区三 里屯路九号

PY address

11 Guang Hua Lu Jian Guo Men Wai Beijing 100600

No. 55 An Jia Lou Lu 100600

Chaoyang Qu. Sanlitun Lu, 9. 100600 Pekin (Beijing).

Web

http://ukinchina. fco.gov.uk/en/ about-us/ourembassy/contact

http://beijing. usembassychina.org.cn/ contact.html

3 Sanlitun Dongsanjie, Chaoyang District, 100600, Beijing. http://www. consulfrancepekin.org/ Adresse-ethoraires.html? lang=fr

http://www. maec.es/ subwebs/ Embajadas/ Pekin/es/home/ Paginas/Home. aspx

Note: All above embassies but the UK (it uses three lines each for their Chinese and English addresses), write their Chinese and English street addresses in one straight line Sources: The official websites of these embassies listed in the above table (verified March 13, 2011)

environment for multilingual and multi-dialectal harmony – thereby furthering the harmonious coexistence of all national languages – and an external environment for international mobility and growth. It calls on everyone to support and guarantee the realization of the city’s long-term goal to become a global city.

References Anonymous. 2010. http://www.beijing-language.gov.cn/article.asp?id=766, 7 April 2010. Beijing Daily Website. 2010. Seeking feedback on the language environment planning, no requirement for kindergarteners to take foreign language lessons (语言环境规划征集意见结束 幼儿园不会强开外语课). http://www.bjd.com.cn/ 10bjxwss201008t20100811_632179.html, 11 August 2010. Beijing Statistics Bureau and Beijing Section of the State Statistics Bureau (北京市统计局、 国家统计局北京调查总队) (ed.). 2010. 2010 Beijing Statistical Yearbook (2010北京统计 年鉴). Beijing: China Statistics Press, p. 365. City Organizing Committee. 2010. The Municipal Foreign Affairs Office investigates the development of a multilingual emergency call service system (市政府外办调研我市多语 言电话应急服务系统建设). http://www.bjenglish.com.cnnewscentercontent12258.htm, 6 December 2010.

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City Organizing Committee. 2011. The 2010 Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Excellence Award Ceremony (“2010北京市民讲外语创优先锋颁奖盛典”举行). http://www.bjenglish.com. cn/newscentercontent12523.htm, 21 February 2011. Huang, Yongming (黄永明). 2008. Beijing, are you internationalized now? (北京，你国际化了吗？). China National Geography (中国国家地理), No. 8. See http://www.dili360.com/cng/mag/ detail/88.htm, 30 July 2008. Shen, Yanqi (沈衍琪). 2010. Beijing rises to the 15th rank in the Global Cities Index and ranks on top of the Chinese mainland cities (北京跻身全球大城市第15位 位列中国内地城市 之首). http://www.gmw.cn/content20100819content_1220634.htm, 19 August 2010. Zhou, Qingsheng (周庆生). 2005. It’s time to stop the Beijing changing ‘Jie-to-St.’ conversion project. (北京“街改St.”工程应叫停). China Society News (中国社会报), Section 005, 13 July 2005. Translated by Sun Dajin (孙大进) Yale University [email protected]

Dong Jie (董洁)

11 The Beijing migrant children’s language and identity 1 Introduction Since the 1990s, along with the country’s economic reform and urbanization, China has witnessed a massive rural urban migration within its national borders. In 2005, the migrant population reached 140 million, accounting for about 10% of the country’s total population. (National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China 2006) Migrant workers accounted for 20% of the population in Beijing, with an annual increase of 40%. (Beijing Statistical Information Net 2005) In 2004, the proportion of admissions for migrant and local children in Shanghai was 2:5 in primary schools and junior high schools. Migrant workers became the main labor force in the urban development, and their children’s education opportunities and living conditions in urban areas were of increasing concern. Many studies show that migrant workers have little communication with local citizens because of language barriers; many migrant workers require their children to speak Putonghua; migrant children leave their home cultures, but have difficulties in adapting to urban life, and hence become “marginalized people” in the city. (Li 2003, Xia 2007) Large-scale survey data present a general picture of migrant workers’ language use. We need more in-depth case studies in order to better understand their actual language life. Migrant children are in the sensitive period of socialization and identity formation, and their development is influenced by the interactions with local children, the school, and the bigger social environment. It is difficult to quantify complex communication and language use, which involves a variety of social factors, and thus we need more multi-faceted, multi-level, multi-angle studies to tackle the complicated social issues. In order to understand migrant children and their language use in communicating with Beijing local people, we did an ethnographic study in two schools; one was a local public elementary school in Beijing, and the other was a private migrant school. In the one-year ethnographic fieldwork, we were actively involved in the lives of students.

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2 The migrant school case: Distance creates misunderstandings The migrant school was founded in the 1990s and is recognized by the District Education Bureau. More and more migrant workers stayed for a prolonged period and brought or set up their families in the city. To obtain formal and quality education for their children, migrant parents often had to pay higher urban public school fees than the children of local hukou-holders. The higher fees were often unaffordable for migrant workers. Privately-run migrant schools emerged to meet the surging demand of schooling for migrant children. The facilities and teaching in such schools were generally poor. The schools offered language, mathematics, English, music, sports and other programs, but teachers often had to wear many hats. Students were aged between six (first grade) to fifteen years (ninth grade), but because of the frequent moving of homes and other reasons, some students were older, occasionally we saw seventeen-yearold ninth-grade students. Most school students were born in Beijing or came to Beijing when they were very little. The language of instruction was Putonghua, but students used provincial dialects among themselves after class. Most students believed that their Putonghua was not good enough. They used dialects in the home and with people who came from the same region. Teachers believed that their students’ Putonghua was standard, sometimes with local accents, which was due to the influence of dialects used at home. Dialects facilitate a hometown identity, which in turn enables close relationships where communication with each other becomes smooth and effective. Putonghua was able to establish an urban identity, and compared to the hometown identity, the urban identity was more fashionable, providing them with more opportunities and confidence for their survival and development in the metropolis. Most students did not identify themselves as Beijing people, they saw themselves as outsiders.

Case 1: Taotao is a “vegetable seller” Taotao was smart; he respected his teacher and was a good friend to other students, but his academic achievement was low. In order to encourage him to learn, the teacher appointed him to be a class representative. Taotao did not disappoint the teacher; the class was in good order. After a long period of participant observation and in-depth interviews, we learned that Taotao’s parents were vegetable sellers in the nearby market, and Taotao had to help them after

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school every day, and because the parents were very busy, Taotao had to do housework as well and had therefore little time to study in the evening. More importantly, Taotao believed that schooling could not change his fate; he only wanted to finish middle school quickly and find a job, so that he could earn money which would help his family. “. . . So many things have happened, who can still concentrate on learning? The teacher was changed, students fought in the dorm, and my family was in trouble, too. My dad had to go back to our hometown. He left, and I and my mom had to look after the vegetable stall. A few days ago, my dad had a fall. Anyway, there are always more things happening. In our class, the good students have all gone, the ones who are still here are those who do not study. . . . Our local dialect is very vulgar. I did not feel it when I was in my hometown, but when I came here, I felt it. . . . I am going to finish middle school and then go to find a job, make some money. . . . I do not want to go home, at home I have to do all sorts of chores, cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes. In comparison to my hometown, I prefer Beijing, but I do not have a Beijing friend. If I were in a public school, I might have a chance to make friends with Beijing children. Once the local public school organized an activity “true friends”, where local children came and made friends with us, shook hands and exchanged gifts. I did not go there, it was nonsense. I think I am a half Henan, half Beijing person. Our position is lower than that of Beijing’s children, they despise outsiders. I have not encountered such a thing myself, I only heard about it, but there are so many people saying it, so I think it’s true. . . .”

From Taotao’s interview, we can conclude that three aspects – school, family and community – will affect the children of migrant workers in their language attitudes and identity. First, at the school level, teachers are very mobile and frequent replacement of teachers has a strong impact upon the students’ learning attitude. Students also have an impact on each other: the few achievers opt for leaving the migrant schools for public schools, and those who remain are underachievers. These migrant children have few opportunities to get to know local Beijing children, despite the efforts of organizing networking events. Second, regarding the family, his parents are busy and have no time to help Taotao with his study. Compared to urban children, Taotao is very independent and is capable of disciplining and taking care of himself. We have seen that Taotao has to do most housework and also help his mother with the vegetable business when his father was not at home. On top of the household labor, Taotao has to manage all school work without the help of his parents. Finally, the impact of the social dimension is obvious. Although he was not directly affected by discrimination, the social discourse inevitably penetrates into the private world of a child, and repeats and intensifies the negative influences on the child’s identity formation.

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In terms of language attitude, Taotao indicated that his dialect sounds “vulgar”. He did not feel that way when he lived in his hometown and thought it was natural. After coming to Beijing, Putonghua had become the “default” language, and his dialect became “alien”. It can be concluded that Taotao is not proud of his home dialect, which is a major part of his identity. While growing up in Beijing, he did not identify himself as a Beijing child. But he does not identify himself with his hometown either, as he has been away from his hometown for a long time. Similar to many people whose “life is elsewhere”, Taotao expresses an “elsewhere” identity – when he is in Beijing he is an outsider, and in his hometown he is seen as a “Beijing child”.

Case 2: Teacher Liang’s opinion Teacher Liang is an English teacher at the school. She graduated from a Teachers College. She has a rich teaching experience, a strong sense of responsibility, and she can speak standard Putonghua. In an in-depth interview, Liang expressed her opinion of the students’ language use and identity. “. . . about children’s accents, I generally can tell by whether or not they can make the ‘r’ sound. Once in a language lesson, I arranged that they express themselves in their local tongues and they all thought it was great fun. They basically use dialects in the home because their parents speak in dialect. Sometimes, when their parents come to the school, they speak in dialects that I do not understand. Some children speak authentic Beijing tone, but they don’t feel close to Beijing people, because in their living environment most people are migrant workers. They do not have a good impression of Beijing people and always feel that they are outsiders because they do not have much chance to get in touch with Beijing children. This school is the school of migrant children only, and does not provide an opportunity for the children to get to know Beijingers. So we find it difficult to integrate them. They are after all children, and if they had more chance to get to know Beijing people, I think, it should be much easier for them to get along with the local adults. They are very sensitive to what Beijing people say and do to them. If we say something, they are probably not offended, but if Beijingers say it, they are particularly sensitive. Subconsciously, they know they are not from Beijing. . . .”

Liang comments on the migrant children’s language and identity from the teacher’s point of view. She taught language classes, and so she pays more attention to students’ accents than other teachers. According to her observation, the students from the south had bigger difficulties in learning Putonghua. In contrast, the students who came from the north found it easier to learn Putonghua. At a Chinese language class, Liang asked the students to use their own dialects to tell their own stories. Students all thought that the dialects were very funny. Considering a language or dialect “funny” is a value loaded judgment; few people would think Putonghua “funny”. Putonghua is just “normal.”

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In terms of identity, though some students spoke standard Putonghua, they still felt distanced from Beijing people. This was mainly because they had very few chances to communicate with locals. They were exposed to teachers and students who came from different provinces and all of them considered themselves migrants. Their ideas of Beijing people were mostly impressionistic, and therefore led to misunderstandings. They tended to take Beijing people’s speeches or acts as discrimination against them.

3 The public school case: Between ideal and reality The school under study is located in a narrow and old lane of central Beijing. The area used to be inhabited by only local people, but gradually many of them had moved to newly built complexes on the outskirts of Beijing because the property prices in the central Beijing area kept rising and the old single storey houses were uncomfortable and inconvenient (usually without such facilities as private bathrooms, washrooms, and running water). The area is now largely occupied by both urban low-income households who originally lived here, and migrant families who rent rooms from those who moved out. Migrant families rent rooms or flats in the area often because they do low skilled jobs or offer services in the neighbourhood, working as cleaners hired by the neighbourhood committee ( juweihui), or as fruit and vegetable sellers in the nearby markets. The rent may be less on the outskirts of the city, but the transport costs are considerable, and many of their jobs require an early start (for the vegetable sellers the day begins at around two in the morning). The children of migrant families who rent rooms or flats in the neighbourhood are admitted to Beili School, which is subsidised and managed by the district educational authority (qu jiaowei). Many migrant children’s education is often hampered in cities; the Beili School is, however, an exception and receives financial support from the local educational authority for admitting migrant pupils who do not possess a local hukou. This school, therefore, offers a rare fieldwork site of observing linguistic interactions between the migrant pupils and their local Beijing counterparts, as well as of obtaining the evaluative remarks on migrant pupils’ linguistic features and identities from the local teachers and the local pupils. There are around 200 pupils in the school, of which about half are migrant children. They were mostly born and raised in Beijing, although none of them managed to obtain a Beijing

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hukou. I observed that the migrant pupils almost always used Putonghua in school, sometimes with a Beijing local accent.

Case 3: “We are all Chinese!” The setting was a drawing class; the pupils were asked to draw their friends in groups of three or four. I joined one of the groups and a pupil of that group drew me, but another one commented that what she drew didn’t look like me because of the hair style – it was the hair style of countryside girls and mine was not. The girl who drew me was not pleased with this comment, and said: ‘So what? We are all from the countryside. Aren’t you a rural girl too? Don’t forget you came from the same place as me.’ I felt the debate heating up, and in an attempt to ease the tension I interrupted them and asked: ‘Is there any difference between the countryside and city?’ The pupil who had drawn me replied: ‘Isn’t it enough that we are all Chinese? See, we all speak Putonghua’ (with a clear emphasis on the words ‘Chinese’ and ‘Putonghua’). Then we changed the topic and commented on the drawings. The pupil who drew me was one of the migrant pupils, and the other pupil who commented on the hair style came from the same province. They were both about ten years old. It was amazing to see a ten-year-old being offended by identity comments and articulating a clear discourse on language and identity. The girl who commented on the drawing distinguished me from the rural population and ascribed me an urban identity. Here the ways people dress, move, and talk served as collective identity markers. The comment was made in a friendly and innocent way, but it triggered the dialectical practice of establishing group and individual identities. The pupil who drew me reacted with a series of provocative questions with no need of an answer. Her questions pointed to an awareness of the rural-urban divide – that the pupil who drew as well as the pupil who commented were from a rural area that ranked lower in relation to Beijing, whereas I, the fieldworker, was someone from ‘here’. From a talk with their teacher at the beginning of my fieldwork, I learned that the school and teachers tried to create an egalitarian atmosphere of not differentiating between the migrant and the local, in order to protect the migrant children from being alienated or discriminated against. As a consequence, the teacher concluded, the students had no knowledge on who were urban and who were not. To neutralize the ruralurban divide is well-intentioned, but such a divide is a social construct and schools (pupils and teachers alike) by no means function in a social vacuum. From this episode it was clear that pupils as young as ten had a good understanding of their identity categorisation: first, they were of rural origin, and second

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that rural people immigrated to cities; both identities (i.e., the identity of being of rural origin and their migrant identity) were stigmatised and stigmatising. It was clear that the pupil who drew me was aware of her rural origin and most probably also aware of the negative image such an identity projected. However, she overlaid this migrant identity with a national identity. These two identity categories, the migrant identity and ethnolinguistic national identity, were neither contradictory nor exclusive of each other, rather, they functioned at different levels. The migrant identity, discouraged (by the school and the teachers) from being mentioned was obscured, if not erased (by the migrant pupil), functioned at the level of rural-urban contrast; the ethnolinguistic identity functioned at the level of collective membership in a community. Through jumping to this level, by using and emphasising the national identity, the migrant pupil bypassed the stigmatised ‘migrant identity’.

4 Reflections: Equality in education These cases show that private schools for migrant children can compensate for the lack of supply in urban public education and can provide basic education for migrant children. In the migrant school, migrant children have little chance to communicate with local children and have, therefore, a sense of distance from their Beijing counterparts. They are not satisfied with their Putoghua skills and identify themselves as outsiders of the city. They often feel inferior to native Beijingers and think that they are neither part of the city, nor members of their hometowns. The most urgent issue they have to face is their education opportunities in the city they live in. Restricted by their lack of a household registration, they cannot attend high school in Beijing where they sit the National University Entrance Examination. Academically excellent students tend to return to their household registration location for high school education, therefore some need a few academic years longer for the transition. What is more, many migrant children believe that there is no hope in pursuing academic success and they try to finish school as soon as possible to begin earning money. Compared to children at the migrant school, migrant children who are at a public school have more exposure to local people, and their Putonghua is closer to the local Beijing pronunciation. In terms of identity, many migrant children at the public school identify with the locals and do not see much difference between themselves and the local students. They are aware of the fact that they come from rural areas, but the migrant identity does not lead to a negative impact on their self-perception. In everyday school life, migrant children and

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local students have more opportunities to interact with each other, thus reducing the possibilities of misunderstandings. Moreover, the appropriate guidance of teachers is important for both local and migrant children to get to know and understand each other in everyday interactions. This does not mean that public schools have no problems in educating migrant children. The core problem faced by the migrant children in public schools is the same as that at the migrant schools, namely, education equity. In other words, they also have to go back to their hometowns for the high school and National University Entrance Examinations. If they don’t, they have to attend under-achieving schools in the city because of their household registration limits. Private migrant schools help ease the migrant children’s demand for education in the city, but in practice, migrant schools do not offer many opportunities for interaction between migrant children and their local counterparts. The migrant children’s integration into the urban public school system is an important step to promote the harmonious development of Chinese society. Beijing’s efforts in this regard have achieved remarkable results. With the ongoing “baby boom” in Beijing, the measures we can take to accommodate both local and migrant children are rather challenging to policy makers as well as educators.

References Beijing Statistical Information Net (北京统计信息网). 2005. Migrant workers become important force in the economic development of Beijing (农民工已成为北京市经济建设中不可缺少 的力量). http://www.bjstats.gov.cn/rdht/bxgz/200606/t20060609_43926.htm, 6 June 2005. Li, Hanlin (李汉林). 2003. Strength of social network and imagined community – A perspective of studies on migrant workers (关系强度与虚拟社区—农民工研究的一种视角). In Li, Peilin (李培林) (ed.) Migrant Workers – A Socioeconomic Analysis on Chinese Rural-urban Migration (农民工—中国进城农民工的经济社会分析). Social Sciences Press, p. 57. National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China (国家统计局). 2006. National Survey Data Based on 1% Sample Report 2005 (2005年全国1%人口抽样调查主要数据 公报). http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20060316_402310923.htm, 16 March 2006. Xia, Li (夏历). 2007. Migrant workers’ language use (农民工语言状况). In Report of China Language Situation 2006 [中国语言生活状况报告 (2006)]. The Commercial Press, p. 110. Translated by Dong Jie (董洁) Tsinghua University [email protected]

Sun Chunying (孙春颖) & Yang Shujun (杨书俊)

12 Language barrier and assistance during the earthquake relief operations in Yushu, Qinghai Province A magnitude 7.1 earthquake, with a depth of 33 kilometers, rocked Yushu County, in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, at 7:49 a.m. on April 14, 2010. This shallow and strong earthquake, with its epicenter close to densely populated cities and towns, caused great destruction. The earthquake afflicted a total area of 35,800 square kilometers, with 4,000 square kilometers being hit hard and 1,000 square kilometers the hardest hit. A total of 2,698 people were killed and 270 others remained missing, with direct economic losses estimated at 22.8 billion yuan. (CPCNews 2010) The earthquake has pushed the once mysterious Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture into public view and made it an instant focus of attention for the whole nation and even the entire world.

1 A keenly felt language barrier As the rescue, relief and reconstruction operation unfolded, the language barrier was keenly felt by the PLA military rescuers, civilian volunteers and media professionals, since the involved personnel were not capable of communicating in the local Tibetan language. By comparison, language did not cause so much trouble in the rescue and reconstruction efforts following the deadly earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, in May 2008, though that earthquake had caused much greater damage. Tibetans account for 94 percent of the population in Yushu, (PhoenixNews 2010) and most of the local Tibetan residents do not understand the Chinese language and speak with a peculiar local accent, (Sina Net 2010) which is linguistically known as Khams Tibetan (康巴藏语) and is vastly different from other dialects in the Tibetan region, like Amdo Tibetan (安多藏语) for instance. Tibetans who speak different dialects have considerable difficulties in communicating even among themselves. (China National Geography Net 2010) In Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, ethnic Han and minority nationalities, such as Hui, Tu, Salar, Miao, Bouyei, Zhuang, Manchu, and Korean, account for only 4.7 percent of its total population. Most people of these ethnic groups have only a

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smattering command of the Tibetan language, and some Tibetans and other ethnic minorities can understand some spoken Chinese. However, at this critical moment, it was also a major concern of the millions who watched the drama on TV, the rescuers who had rushed to the disaster area were unexpectedly handicapped, not by altitude sickness or lack of supplies or technical and psychological difficulties as generally expected, but by a language barrier that made it nearly impossible for rescuers to communicate with the victims and even created problems among the rescuers themselves. The fact that local Tibetans mostly live scattered and rescuers had to carry out their duty separately made their mission even more difficult. According to Chinese media reports at that time, language had become a challenging issue and it was extremely difficult to offer or ask for first-aid. The language barrier between rescuers and the victims was more keenly felt during the post-quake rescue and relief operations. This barrier was not confined to difficulties rescuers encountered in asking for the way and seeking information, it had its consequences on the entire rescue and relief operation. According to many rescuers, medical professionals, psychological counselors, drivers, and reporters who rushed from inland regions to the afflicted areas immediately after the quake, they had to look for Tibetan soldiers or students to serve as their temporary interpreters or guides all the time during their rescue operation in Yushu. Without their help, they would have faced insurmountable hindrances like:

1.1 Hindrance to obtaining accurate information about search and rescue During their search and rescue operation in a hotel in Gyegu Township, a rescue team from Jiangsu Province had to ask some local police officers to serve as interpreters before they managed to communicate with the local Tibetan monks. (Rednet 2010) After being told that four monks were trapped under the rubble, the rescuers from the China International Search & Rescue Team came to the scene, only to find that eight rescuers were digging for survivors already, but the language barrier kept them from making sure whether someone was really trapped there. After they worked with a search dog and life detector for more than 20 minutes, they learned from a local medical worker that the four monks were dug up four days before. He Hongwei (何红卫), one of the team members, said that they would often hear victims call and shout, but were unable to figure out what they meant. (Southern Metropolitan Daily 2010)

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The first 72 hours after a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, are recognized a golden time for search and rescue by international experts. All lives trapped under rubble are equally precious, and a prompt rescue is of utmost importance in any emergency. Rescuers need to gather information from survivors about other victims and learn more about what happened earlier at the scene, so that they can carry out an appropriate search and rescue operation. Otherwise, they would miss the best chance to save lives. During the rescue operations in Yushu, however, rescuers were often unable to obtain accurate information about their mission.

1.2 Hindrance to smoothly executing treatment of the injured and sick The injuries of many severely wounded people required that they be transferred to hospitals with better facilities in other regions for treatment. The six hospitals in Lanzhou had taken 128 injured victims from Yushu, with 80% of them being unable to communicate in Chinese. (People’s Daily Online 2010) As most of the medical personnel in these hospitals cannot speak the Tibetan language, the doctors had great difficulty in communicating with their patients verbally, and had to rely on their own experience in treating their patients. Treating the injured is an equally urgent task as searching for survivors. But the language barrier hindered an efficient search and rescue operation and timely treatment. This, to say the least, made it difficult for medical personnel to provide treatment that best suited the symptoms and to seize the best chance for treatment, or endanger the lives of the injured in the worst scenario.

1.3 Hindrance to offering psychological aid Kunsum (更松), an 11-year-old Tibetan girl and the second child in her family, survived the earthquake with her elder brother and their three younger sisters and a toddler younger brother. Her elder brother had left home long ago to become a monk. As they had lost both parents and other directly related family members in the disaster, they were sent to an orphanage in Yushu. Many volunteers showed great sympathy for them and wished to bring them happiness, but gripped by depression, the children seldom said a word. (China Ethnic News 2010b) “Similarly, some of the victims who were sent to other places for rehabilitation had remained silent most of the time, with bemused expressions and a dull look in their eyes. Others were shivering with fear, indicating that they all needed more care.”

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After the earthquake, the injured and those who lost their dearest ones in the disaster had to suffer from not only physical pain but psychic trauma as well, which often left them volatile emotionally. They were vulnerable to sorrow, anxiety, short temper and other psychological ailments. Some of the victims would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood disorder (including depressive episodes), and bereavement disorder as well. Persistent depression would lead to substance dependence, such as excessive drinking, and other mental disorders. In the worst case scenarios, victims might harm themselves intentionally or even commit suicide. To their disappointment, psychological assistance professionals found through their conversation with the local Tibetans that many of them could only say a few simple words in Chinese, and many children could hardly understand such simple daily greetings as “Ni Hao” (你好) (Hello) and “Laoshi Hao” (Hello, Teacher) (老师好). Professor Wang Zhe (王哲), Director of the Clinic Psychiatry Teaching and Research Section at the First Hospital of China Medical University, said that the language barrier had been the biggest problem in counseling and training. (Commercial Times 2010) His observation was shared by Shen Zhenming (沈振明), Deputy Director of Tangshan No. 5 Hospital, who noted that the language barrier had made psychological assistance very difficult as many locals could not speak Putonghua, and differences in customs and ways of doing things also tended to cause friction between rescuers and local Tibetans who had been in a volatile mood. (Inewsweek 2010)

1.4 Hindrance to ensuring prompt delivery of relief supplies Once a reporter wanted to go to Yushu No. 1 Minzu Secondary School. When he managed to explain to the driver of the van he was travelling on to stop in front of the government of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the driver kept saying something as if to ask what he could do to help, but they could not communicate at all. When rescuers, being total strangers in Yushu, wanted to ask the local Tibetans to act as guides, the language barrier often kept them from understanding each other. This often caused delays in the delivery of relief supplies.

1.5 Hindrance to carrying out post-quake reconstruction Reconstruction projects are impossible without the help of people with bilingual proficiency in both the Chinese and Tibetan languages. Without good translators, disaster relief workers cannot understand what the earthquake victims have on

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their minds, nor can the victims figure out the relief workers’ intentions. Therefore, the language barrier posed as the paramount challenge for post-quake reconstruction endeavors.

2 The implementation of language assistance In the relief operation in Yushu, language assistance, which generally is needed only in international relief efforts, turned out to be a major issue, setting a precedent in the history of China’s earthquake relief. The relevant government agencies and non-governmental groups had made vigorous efforts to help tackle the language barrier during the earthquake relief operations, with people who can speak both the Chinese and Tibetan languages playing a vital role.

2.1 A growing contingent of volunteers for language assistance As the language barrier caused increasing difficulties, a sizable contingent of volunteers for language assistance had been formed. Among them were college students, local residents who were just rescued, including many primary school pupils. All of them joined the ranks of language volunteers of their own will.

2.1.1 Teachers and students from universities for ethnic minorities The State Ethnic Affairs Commission sent a 500-member team of Tibetan-Chinese interpreters. They were composed of able-bodied teachers and students with a good command of the Tibetan language and recruited from six universities for ethnic minorities. Some of the students were natives of Yushu. These universities included Central Minzu University, South-Central University for Nationalities, Southwest University for Nationalities, Northwest University for Nationalities, Beifang University of Nationalities, and the Dalian Nationalities University. (Tencent 2010) In addition, Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics, and Lanzhou University had also sent their Tibetan students to hospitals to offer language assistance. Thanks to the coordinating efforts made by the Qinghai Provincial Commission of Ethnic and Religious Affairs and the provincial department of health, 170 students who speak both the Chinese and Tibetan languages were chosen from Qinghai University of Nationalities (China Ethnic News 2010b)

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and sent to seventeen first-class hospitals in the provincial capital of Xining to offer language assistance to injured Tibetan victims. The provincial committee of the Communist Youth League in Sichuan acted promptly to recruit more than 100 volunteers and sent them to earthquake-stricken areas in Yushu to offer Tibetan-Chinese language assistance. (People’s Daily Overseas Edition 2010) These volunteers played a major role in the search and rescue operations there. In addition to rendering interpretation services in disaster areas and hospitals, they also volunteered to do psychological counseling and take care of the wounded and sick. The 40 Tibetan teachers and students from Northwest University for Nationalities who volunteered to serve as interpreters were highly praised after they arrived at the earthquake-stricken areas in Yushu. Yeshe Drolma (伊西卓玛), a Tibetan girl in the second year at her college, brought great joy and fun to the five brothers and sisters of Kunsum by telling stories and singing children’s songs in Tibetan. Pedma Yangkyi (白玛央吉), a senior college student, apart from doing interpretation to help doctors and patients communicate with each other, also helped patients wash their faces and chatted with their family members to provide comfort and put them at ease. When patients arrived at the emergency buildings of each hospital, volunteers would come to serve as interpreters for the doctors, asking about the patients’ condition, including name, age and medical history. As many patients were left penniless and unable to take care of themselves, volunteers had to provide for their daily necessities. The No. 1 Hospital affiliated with Lanzhou University organized a training class for post-disaster emergency counseling with a view to making volunteers capable of conducting psychological counseling. (NetEase 2010a) The Education and Guidance Center for Students’ Mental Health at the Northwest University for Nationalities, together with the university’s Tibetan Language and Culture College, offered training sessions in psychological aid and language assistance in Yushu’s disaster areas. (The Student Affairs Department at the Northwest University for Nationalities 2010) Tseten Dorje (才旦多杰) and Kyithar Tsering (吉太才让) were two instructors who managed to translate into Tibetan the guidelines and major principles concerning earthquake relief and post-disaster reconstruction, issued by the Party Central Committee and the central government, and had them broadcast over and over again via public announcement vehicles. This helped to spread the fundamental policies of the Party and the central government concerning postdisaster reconstruction, ethnic and religious affairs, outstanding contributions of the officers and men of the PLA and armed police in the search and rescue operations and their fine deeds in the disaster relief work, and good examples

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of upholding national unity, far and wide among the local Tibetan residents in Yushu.

2.1.2 The rescued victims in Yushu County Another group of volunteers came from bilingual local residents who survived the earthquake without injuries, or suffered only minor injuries or those who had already recovered from their injuries. These people became the backbone of the language assistance volunteers. Kunsum Drolkar (更松卓尕), a local Tibetan resident, joined the volunteers immediately after he was rescued from under the rubble. Putting his bilingual ability to best use, he served as an interpreter for various medical teams inside Yushu stadium. (NetEase 2010b) Trinley Thashi (成林扎西), 26, is a Tibetan police officer. He did not return to his hometown after he received medical treatment in No. 1 Hospital affiliated with Xi’an Jiaotong University. Instead, he stayed in the hospital to work as a volunteer. (NetEase 2010c) By the end of April, the Office of Ethnic Languages in Yushu Prefecture also sent 67 ethnic language workers to the disaster area to offer language assistance. (China Ethnic News 2010b) In Yushu, some primary school pupils, mostly third to sixth graders, offered a helping hand, too. Trinley Dorje (成林多杰), a 14-year-old sixth grader in No. 1 Complete Primary School of Yushu County, had served as an interpreter in areas near Gyegu Township since mid-April. They would help reporters do interviews with the local Tibetan victims, telling them where to find the interviewees and the basic information about them. As Yushu natives familiar with the place, its people, its local customs and dialect, the local militias in Yushu divided themselves into different groups to serve as guides and interpreters as soon as the PLA troops and professional rescue teams arrived. They briefed the rescuers on how the local population was distributed, the damage caused by the quake and also about the condition of the trapped victims to help the rescuing troops with the search and rescue operation. (Ministry of National Defense Website 2010)

2.1.3 The Tibetan servicemen As many Tibetans serve in the PLA units, the PLA military commanders promptly sent their Tibetan servicemen to Yushu to offer language assistance. A PLA group army under Lanzhou Military Command selected six servicemen, includ-

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Sun Chunying (孙春颖) & Yang Shujun (杨书俊)

ing Shobgyal (夏吾加), a Tibetan from Qinghai, and two other Tibetans, and sent them via air force transport plane to Yushu. (Chinanews.Com 2010c)

2.1.4 Volunteers who came to disaster areas by themselves In response to the appeal of the news media, some language assistance volunteers came to Yushu by themselves. Godcho (尕曲), Drolma (卓玛) and Tsekyi (才文吉) are students in the selfeducation class of Lanzhou University. As Yushu natives, they spontaneously organized all students from Yushu into a volunteer group and came to the hospitals to help. “We just want to serve as volunteers and offer as much help as we can”, they said. After some training, they all became language assistance volunteers. (Chinanews.Com 2010c) All students capable of speaking Khams Tibetan, from various colleges and universities in Xining, the provincial capital, had thrown themselves into TibetanChinese interpretation in various hospitals in the city, helping Tibetan patients communicate with the medical personnel. In addition, many migrant workers in the city also offered a helping hand in language assistance. (China National Geography Net 2010) Buddhists from all over the country, especially local Tibetan Buddhists, contributed a great deal to the psychological counseling of the earthquake victims. Master Xinyuan, a renowned Chinese Buddhist from Hebei Province, made a trip from Gyegu to Shalshul (下拉秀) in a van. When the Tibetan driver noticed that he is a Buddhist, he told him about the death of his elder sister in the earthquake. Master Xinyuan immediately started to chant Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan language for releasing the soul of the dead from purgatory though the driver’s sister was a total stranger to him. Deeply moved, the driver took the Master to family members of many other victims and asked him to perform similar rites for the deceased. When the driver had to part from the Master, he burst into loud sobs. (Chinanews.Com 2010d)

2.2 The extensive media coverage helped ensure easy access to information The active involvement of the news media and unimpeded dissemination of information has also contributed to language assistance in the rescue and relief operations in Yushu.

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Following the earthquake in Yushu, the Publicity Department under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, distributed several thousand portable radio sets among people in the earthquake-stricken areas in Yushu to ensure that the local people could get timely information about the great nationwide concern for them and the assistance offered to them by the Party Central Committee, by governments at all levels, and the people of the whole country as well. (China National Geography Net 2010) Through psychological aid for the victims and the injured in the disaster areas, the Ministry of Public Health came to realize that the problem of language was a “major aspect that requires careful consideration”, and decided to distribute Tibetan-language print materials on psychological aid. (Chinanews.Com 2010a) China Radio International had strengthened its existing Tibetan language broadcast, while China National Radio (CNR) temporarily transferred two reporters and announcers who could speak Khams Tibetan from Sichuan Television, to help with the work in Beijing. CNR also sent two reporters fluent in Tibetan to the afflicted areas to cover the event. Tibetologists who could speak Khams Tibetan were invited to appear in radio programs to impart knowledge on combating earthquakes and self-rescue. News1+1, a prime time news program on China Central Television (CCTV), and other news programs on China’s local TV channels had a massive coverage on the rescue and relief operations in Yushu. On several occasions, experts were interviewed on the issue of the language barrier in an effort to call for more effective language assistance. CCTV also offered to teach some simple Tibetan phrases that are commonly used in earthquakes along with doing Chinese translations. On its part, the meteorological department of Qinghai Province provided the victims and rescuers in Yushu with real-time weather information in both the Tibetan and Chinese languages via bulletin board, written notice and mobile phone text message. (Chinanews.Com 2010b) Language assistance via the Internet also played a big role. Cai Feng (蔡峰), one of the volunteers, posted on the web a request for help from someone who could speak Khams Tibetan so that he could do volunteer work in local hospitals. Some people put the Chinese transliteration of some Tibetan phrases that are commonly used in earthquake rescue and relief operations on their blogs. They had collected them from various channels and they were reposted again and again. Anyone, as long as he was within the mobile phone service area, could access these phrases via the blogs. (China National Geography Net 2010)

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Sun Chunying (孙春颖) & Yang Shujun (杨书俊)

2.3 Enforcement troops from adjacent areas People who lived in adjacent areas and spoke a basically similar dialect also joined in language assistance. The Special Police Detachment from nearby Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze was the first special police unit to reach the disaster area. As 70 percent of the police officers are Tibetans capable of communicating in Khams Tibetan, they were far more prompt and efficient in performing their duties in search and rescue, explaining policies and handling criminal cases. (China Civilization Net 2010)

2.4 Rescuers trying to pick up some Tibetan language by learning on the job Thanks to the support of various news media, including radio, television and the Internet, rescuers from inland areas have managed to learn some useful Tibetan phrases for emergencies. This enabled them to carry on some simple conversations with the local people when there was an urgent need.

3 Some reflections on the issue The language barrier and the subsequent language assistance during rescue and relief operations following the devastating earthquake in Yushu has led to a profound reflection on how to avoid or reduce the damage and hardship such a natural disaster causes. This is of special significance because Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang are all located in two of the five major seismically active zones and are sitting on the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt. All these regions are inhabited by large numbers of ethnic minorities. Recent years have seen the increasing impact of climate change, caused by various human activities in an interdependent geological environment, and geological disasters have been on the rise. In the first decade of the 21st century, China’s mainland was jolted by 38 earthquakes with a magnitude of over 6 on the Richter scale. Of these strong quakes, 27 occurred in areas inhabited by large numbers of ethnic minorities, accounting for 71 percent of the total. (Liu & Wen 2010) Therefore, successful disaster prevention and reduction is of great significance to uphold national unity, promote social progress and ensure stability in China’s border regions. In China’s seismic belt and disaster-prone areas, a variety of complex, vastly different dialects are in wide use, like Wenchuan in

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Sichuan, Yushu in Qinghai, and Zhouqu in Gansu, just to list a few. The rescue and relief operations in Yushu have clearly shown that removing the language barrier and offering effective language assistance should be given higher priority in the disaster prevention and reduction endeavors in regions inhabited by ethnic minorities. Language service has become a key to reduce the damage inflicted by natural disasters to the minimum and ensure a prompt and highly efficient rescue and relief operation. Therefore, practical measures should be taken to remove the language barrier and strengthen language assistance. These may include holding discussions on the issue of language barrier on a regular basis, noting useful experiences of other countries in tackling the language barrier and setting up a database of language assistance personnel in disasterprone areas and establishing language assistance and service centers.

References China Civilization Net (中国文明网). 2010. Everything for the rescue operation (一切为了救援). http://hxd.wenming.cn/zddx/2010-04/27/content_115817.html, 20 April 2010. China Ethnic News (中国民族报). 2010a. Religious figures of ethnic minorities in Qinghai take active part in earthquake relief (青海民族宗教界积极投入抗震救灾), 20 April 2010. China Ethnic News (中国民族报). 2010b. Earthquake rescue and relief operation in Yushu underlines importance of bilingual teaching (玉树抗震救灾，凸显双语教学重要性). Posted by China Tibet Online, http://www.tibet.cn/news/szxw/201004/ t201100430_572342.html, 30 April 2010. China National Geography Net (中国国家地理网). 2010. Discussing earthquake relief in Yushu (解读玉树抗震救灾). Li Shuan, Guest Speaker of “Global Talk”, a BTV program (李栓科做 客BTV“天下天天谈”). http://news.dili360.com/dlsk/dlzh/2010/0423/27786.shtml, 23 April 2010. Chinanews.Com (中国新闻网). 2010a. The Ministry of Public Health to distribute printed Tibetanlanguage materials on psychological aid in disaster areas in Yushu (卫生部：将在玉树灾 区印发藏文心理援助材料). http://www.chinanews.com/gn/news/2010/04-16/22231740. shtml, 16 April 2010. Chinanews.Com (中国新闻网). 2010b. Meteorological departments provide weather information in both the Tibetan and Chinese languages as snowfall and cold weather is expected in disaster areas in Yushu (玉树灾区将降雪降温 气象部门藏汉双语加强播报). http:// news.chinanews.com/gn/news/2010/04-19/2235047.shtml, 19 April 2010. Chinanews.Com (中国新闻网). 2010c. Difficulties with breathing and communicating with others: The four huge challenges in rescue and relief operations in Yushu (呼吸难沟 通难：盘点玉树抗震救灾四大难题). http://www.chinanews.com/gn/news/2010/04-24/ 2245676.shtml, 24 April 2010. Chinanews.Com (中国新闻网). 2010d. China’s Buddhists take active part in post-disaster psychological reconstruction (中国佛教徒积极投身玉树灾后心理重建). http://www. chinanews.com/gn/news/2010/05-03/2259838.shtml, 3 May 2010.

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Commercial Times (时代商报). 2010. Language becomes biggest barrier to communication: Liaoning psychological counselors in Yushu (辽宁赴玉树心理专家：语言是沟通最大 障碍), page A 12. http://epaper.lnd.com.cn/html/sdsb/20100420/sdsb437709.html, 20 April 2010. CPCNews (中国共产党新闻网). 20-8-2010. Speech by Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu at the National Conference to Sum up Earthquake Relief Work and Commend the Role Models (回良玉在 全国抗战救灾总结表彰大会上的讲话). http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64093/64387/ 12491748.html, 20 August 2010. Inewsweek (中国新闻周刊网). 2010. Call for help: Psychiatrists and Tibetan interpreters urgently needed in disaster areas in Yushu (求助：玉树灾区急需心理医生及藏语翻译). http://sdzg.inewsweek.cn/reports-487.html, 20 April 2010. Liu, Xiangqun (刘向群) & Wen, Jun (文俊). 2010. Information Dissemination during natural disasters in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities in China – An example from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (我国少数民族地区突发自然灾害时的信息传播—以2008年汶川 地震为例). China Market Magazine (中国市场), 49. Ministry of National Defense Website (国防部网站). 2010. Militia and reserve forces in Qinghai play unique role in earthquake rescue and relief: Serving as guides and interpreters because they are familiar with the place and fluent in the local language (人熟地熟当向 导 语言沟通当翻译—青海民兵预备役抗震救灾发挥特殊作用). http://news.mod.gov. cn/defense/2010 -04/19/content_4147780.html, 19 April 2010. NetEase (网易). 2010a. First training class on post-disaster emergency counseling held in Gansu to link people’s hearts《甘肃首期灾后应急心理疏导培训班举行 用语言沟通心灵》。 http://new.163.com/10/0417/20/64GFSSJG0000146BC.html, 17 April 2010. NetEase (网易). 2010b. Rescued Tibetan girl joins the ranks of volunteers in Yushu, Qinghai (青海玉树被救藏族女孩加入志愿者队伍). http://news.163.com/10/0418/14/64IFHEBR000146BD.html, 18 April 2010. NetEase (网易). 2010c. An injured victim chooses to stay in hospital to offer language assistance after his recovery (一名玉树伤员出院 利用语言优势留在医院当志愿者). http:// news.163.com/10/0421/06/64PBEFON00014FEE.html, 21 April 2010. People’s Daily Online (人民网). 2010. First training class on post-disaster emergency counseling held in Gansu to link people’s hearts (甘肃首期灾后应急心理疏导培训班举行 用语 言沟通心灵). http://gs.people.com.cn/GB/183283/11392297.html, 17 April 2010. People’s Daily Overseas Edition (人民日报-海外班). 2010. Volunteer Chinese-Tibetan interpreters in quake-stricken areas in Yushu (藏汉语翻译志愿者服务救援玉树地震灾区). http://www.chinanews.com/gn/news/2010/04-19/2233658.shtml, 19 April 2010. PhoenixNews (凤凰网). 2010. 94% of the local residents in Yushu are Tibetans who mostly don’t understand Chinese and have difficulties communicating with outsiders (玉树94% 居民是藏民 大多不懂汉语交流困难). http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/special/ qinghaiyushudizhen/zuixin20100406_9954_1605589.shtml, 16 April 2010. Rednet (红网). 2010. People not directly involved in rescue and relief operations are advised not to enter disaster areas while some rescue teams start to leave (非直接救灾人员请勿 进入灾区 部分救援队开始下撤). http://news.rednet.cn/c/2010/04/19/1942661.htm, 19 April 2010. Sina Net (新浪网). 2010. Language barrier becomes major hurdle in earthquake rescue and relief operation in Yushu (语言障碍成玉树地震救援较大障碍). A major earthquake rescue operation in Yushu, and News1+1, part of the feature CCTV news program 《玉树地震大救援》节目实录). http://news.sina.com.cn/c/sd/2010 (央视“新闻1+1” 0416/011920083596_2.shtml, 16 April 2010.

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Southern Metropolitan Daily (南方都市报). 2010. Language barrier and wrong call for help make rescue operation more difficult (语言障碍、错误呼救增加救人难度), page AA06, 17 June 2010. Tencent (腾讯网). 2010. A 500-member team of ethnic minority language interpreters ready for mission in Yushu: The State Ethnic Affairs Commission (国家民委：500人民族语言翻译队 伍随时赴玉树). http://news.qq.com/a/20100416/0027722.html, 16 April 2010. The Student Affairs Department at the Northwest University for Nationalities (西北民族大学学 生部). 2010. The education and guidance center for students’ mental health offers training in post-disaster psychological counseling to volunteers for psychological aid and language assistance in disaster areas in Yushu (学生心理健康教育指导中心为我校玉树灾 区心理援助及翻译协助服务团进行灾后心理援助培训). http://dwzy.xbmu.edu.cn/xsc/ conent.asp?FHid=787, 10 May 2010. Translated by Wang Bo (王波) International News Department, Xinhua News Agency [email protected]

Bai Ping (白萍)

13 A survey of the Russian language use in Inner Mongolia’s Ergun City Russians are one of the ethnic minority groups in China, living in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Fifth National Census data show that of a total of 15,609 ethnic Russians, 8,935 live in Xinjiang (57.24%), and 5,020 in Inner Mongolia (32.16%). (Editor Commission of the Topic 2008) The Chinese central government officially recognized Russians as an ethnic minority group in 1953. (Huang 1995) Since then, other provinces also declared that ethnic Russians are residing in their regions and many half Han Chinese and half Russian dropped their Han registration and registered as Russians. Inner Mongolian Russians reside mainly in Ergun City, and they are descendants of immigrants who fled from the Russian October Revolution. They intermarried with Han Chinese and their offspring are called “mestizos” [“Mi Jisi, 米吉斯” in Chinese, which is a phonetic loanword for метис (mixed-race) in Russian]. In 2007, the Inner Mongolia Russian National Research Council investigated the various townships in Ergun City. The results showed that there were 7,086 Russian descendants residing in the city (persons with a Russian origin, but registered as other ethnicities due to various reasons). (Ju 2008) Inner Mongolia’s ethnic Russians use the Russian language in their own ways because of their unique living environment and language contact situation.

1 Background 1.1 Demographics Since the 19th century, the demographic composition of the Ergun Inner Mongolia region has changed a few times. In the late 19th and early 20th century, especially after the Russian October Revolution, a large number of Russians crossed the border into China and eventually settled down in Ergun. Many children were born to Sino-Russian mixed families during this period. Around 1949, the majority of the population in the Ergun region was Russian immigrants, next came SinoRussian mixed, and the smallest group was Chinese. The total population of Ergun was 12,350 people, including 9,799 Russian immigrants, (Ergun YouQi

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History Team 1993) accounting for 73.9% of the total Ergun population. (Tang 2009) In the mid-1950s, a large number of Russian immigrants moved back to the Soviet Union, and the region’s population composition changed greatly. In 1959, there were 8,171 Russian immigrants left in China. (Ergun YouQi History Team 1993) Since then the Sino-Russians have become the biggest group in the Ergun region. After the Russian emigration, the Chinese government moved people of various ethnicities from other parts of Inner Mongolia and other parts of the country, such as Shandong province, (Ergun YouQi History Team 1993) to join the Production and Construction Group of the Ergun region. This greatly increased the Han Chinese population in the region, next came the Sino-Russians, and there were smaller groups such as Mongolians, ethnic Hui, Manchurians, etc. Take Shiwei township of Ergun City for instance: The fifth national census shows that the total population of the township was 4,224 and Han Chinese accounted for about 50 percent, Sino-Russians for 42 percent, and the rest were Mongolians, Hui and other ethnic minority groups. (Yu & Jiang 2004)

1.2 Cultural education Most of the first generation of Sino-Russians was illiterate both in the Russian language and in the Chinese language as well, and they acquired languages from their family settings. The second generation of Sino-Russians were better educated. We did an investigation of the education level of the Russian ethnic group in Shiwei township of Ergun City: Table 1: Shiwei, Linjiang, Enhe, and the education level of ethnic Russians in the three towns

Age Group 20–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 over 70 Total

Illiterate

Primary School

Junior Middle

High School

Above High School

Total

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

7.4 19.2 25.0 52.4 16.0 22.7

17 14 10

63.0 53.9 50.0

4 7 2

14.8 26.9 10.0

4

14.8

10.0 47.6 84.0 27.7

2 5 5 11 4 27

1

5.0

41

34.5

13

10.9

5

4.2

27 26 20 21 25 119

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2 10 21 33

The results showed that there was no illiterate among the groups younger than 49 years old; seven people had primary school education, accounting for 13.2%; 42 people, or 79.2%, had junior high and high school education; four people

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(7.6%) had high school or higher. The 50–59 age group had two illiterate people, accounting for 10.0%; five people (25.0%) had primary school education; 12 people (60.0%) had junior high and high school; one person (5.0%) had above high school education. For the 60–69 age group and those older than 70, the illiteracy rate was 47.6% and 84.0% respectively, and the rest had primary education, and many of them only had two or three years primary schooling. The opportunity to get Russian education was rare. Before 1949, the Russian immigrants had their own schools in the region that accepted Russians, SinoRussians, and Chinese. But Sino-Russian families were poor and could not afford education, they thus rarely attended schools. Education started rather late in Ergun, and for a long time only Russians provided schooling. In the 1950s, when a large number of Russian immigrants left the country, the schools were all closed down. In 1994 a Russian ethnic township was established, and local primary and secondary schools that offered Russian courses were restored. But a few years later these courses were stopped, for various reasons, and no local school offers Russian courses any more.

2 The use of language and language attitudes 2.1 The use of language The survey showed that the Russians of Ergun City were generally proficient in Chinese, that their family language was Chinese, and the Russian proficiency was of various degrees and age dependent. Those Russians who were older than 70 years were generally fluent in Russian. Most of them did not go to school and could not read or write. They typically learnt Russian in their teens, and a lot of them were more proficient in Russian than in Chinese. They communicated in Russian among themselves, but always used Chinese when dealing with young people. Those who were between 45 and 60 years old learned Russian from their parents or older relatives. They spoke Russian when they were children. Later, due to the outbreak of the “Cultural Revolution”, there was no Russian language environment left, and they could only speak and understand Russian, but lost their reading and writing ability. Most 45-year-olds can understand Russian words related to daily life, and use everyday expressions in Russian. Occasionally, some 60-year-olds were relatively fluent in oral communication, but compared to older age groups their competence was significantly lower. Their Russian was much more limited in comparison with their Chinese. When communicating with the elderly, they usually used Chinese regardless of whether their interlocutors spoke in Chinese or in Russian.

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Children and those who are younger than 40 speak Chinese fluently; they are unable to use Russian and know only a few Russian words. People who are younger than 20 have a lower Russian proficiency than their parents. People of this age group use the Chinese language exclusively with each other and with older people. Linna lives in Shiwei township. She is over 80 years old; her mother was a Russian and her father was a Han Chinese. Linna came to China with her parents when she was a child. She married a Sino-Russian and has nine children. After her husband died, Linna began to live with her youngest son. The 50-year-old son speaks only Chinese. His wife is an Ewenkis who could not speak Chinese when she joined the family, but she gradually learnt Chinese. Linna is the only one who speaks Russian in the family. Maluxia lives in another village. She is 76 years old and both of her parents were Russians. Linna often visits Maluxia for a chat; they mostly use Russian with each other, occasionally interspersed with some Chinese. We conducted a survey of the Russian ethnic groups and obtained 133 valid questionnaires, involving 44 males and 89 females. The age range of the survey is shown in Table 2. The data show that 70-year-old or older people have a good capacity in Russian listening comprehension. The younger they are in age, the poorer skills they have in their Russian communicative capacity. Among the 133 participants, 47 reported that they can “fully understand” Russian, including two people who are younger than 39, accounting for 4.3% of the 47 people; among the 40–59year age group, nine people can “fully understand” (19.1%); among the 60–69year-olds, 14 can fully understand Russian (29.8%); in the 70 and older group, 22 people can fully understand Russian, accounting for 46.8%. There are 37 people who can “fluently express themselves” in Russian. In the group of 39 people and younger, there are two people who can fully express themselves in Russian (5.4%), in the 40–59 age group it is one person (2.7%), in the 60–69 group there are 13 people (35.1%), and the 70 and older group has 21 (56.8%). Russian literacy is generally low, and over ninety percent of the surveyed people are illiterate in Russian. There is no person who is “fully able to read” and “write letters” in all age groups over 30 years. There are only two people in the 29-year age group who can “fully understand” Russian, accounting for 1.5% of those surveyed; and three people “can write letters” (2.3%). 120 people “cannot understand” and “cannot write", accounting for 90.2% of the total. These data indicate a serious decline in the Russian proficiency level of the Russian population in the region.

Can write letter Can fill out form Can write name No writing Total

7.1

2 13.3 4 26.7 4 26.7 2 16.7 13 92.9 5 33.3 10 83.3 26 100.0 20 100.0 21 100.0 21 100.0 14 100.0 15 100.0 12 100.0 26 100.0 20 100.0 21 100.0 21 100.0

1

7.1

1 6.7 3 20.0 5 33.3 2 16.7 1 3.8 13 92.9 6 40.0 10 83.3 25 96.2 20 100.0 21 100.0 21 100.0 14 100.0 15 100.0 12 100.0 26 100.0 20 100.0 21 100.0 21 100.0

1

Writing

No. %

70–79

Can understand Can mostly understand Understand a little No understanding Total

No. %

60–69

Reading

No. %

50–59

Can communicate 1 7.1 1 6.7 1 3.8 13 61.9 17 80.9 Can almost communicate 2 13.3 1 8.3 6 23.1 8 40.0 2 9.5 3 14.3 Difficult to communicate 2 14.3 9 60.0 5 41.7 9 34.6 5 25.0 5 23.8 1 4.8 No communication 11 78.6 3 20.0 6 50.0 10 38.5 7 35.0 1 4.8 Total 14 100.0 15 100.0 12 100.0 26 100.0 20 100.0 21 100.0 21 100.0

No. %

40–49

Speaking

7.1

No. %

30–39

1 6.7 6 23.1 3 15.0 14 66.7 18 85.7 2 13.3 2 16.7 7 26.9 9 45.0 4 19.0 2 9.5 11 78.6 10 66.7 8 66.6 11 42.3 5 25.0 3 14.3 1 4.8 2 14.3 2 13.3 2 16.7 2 7.7 3 15.0 14 100.0 15 100.0 12 100.0 26 100.0 20 100.0 21 100.0 21 100.0

1

No. %

20–29

Can understand Can mostly understand Understand a little No understanding Total

No. %

19 & younger

Listening

Proficiency Degree

Table 2: Russian proficiency survey

4 4

100.0 100.0

100.0 100.0

100.0

4

4 4

100.0

100.0

4 4

100.0

%

4

No.

80 & older

3 2.3 4 3.0 6 4.5 120 90.2 133 100.0

2 1.5 4 3.0 7 5.3 120 90.2 133 100.0

37 27.8 22 16.5 36 27.1 38 28.6 133 100.0

47 35.3 26 19.6 49 36.8 11 8.3 133 100.0

No. %

Total A survey of the Russian language use in Inner Mongolia’s Ergun City

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2.2 Language attitudes The attitude of the ethnic Russians towards their mother tongue has a lot to do with the social and economic status of the ethnic group. During the “Cultural Revolution”, Sino-Soviet relationships became tense and ethnic Russians did not dare to use the Russian language because they were afraid that speaking Russian would bring trouble to their family. After the normalization of SinoSoviet relations, the use of Russian was no longer restricted. In the early 1990s, the Sino-Russian border trade was eventually resumed and the Russian language became increasingly important. Some ethnic Russians who could speak Russian or had Russian relatives started to get involved in the Sino-Russian business. In the business contact with Russia, their Russian proficiency improved. Meanwhile, some local schools re-opened Russian courses. However, the Sino-Russian border trade cooled down soon and, as a result, the Russian language lost favor again. After these ups and downs the ethnic Russians’ attitude toward their language became complex. On one hand, young people mostly have little interest in learning Russian because it cannot bring practical benefits to them. They believe that Chinese is more important for improving their living standard. On the other hand, many elderly people have retained a deep love for Russia and they feel it would be a great pity if the Russian heritage disappeared. A questionnaire survey included the question: “What is the most important language for children in their future development?” The results showed that of 102 respondents, 66 people thought Chinese was the most important language for the future development of their children (64.7%); 25 people held that Russian was the most important language for the future development of their children (24.5%); and 11 people assumed English was the most important language for their children (10.8%). According to the findings obtained from the survey, a majority of people believe that Chinese is much more important than Russian, and this is partly because Putonghua is the country’s lingua franca, and partly because the ethnic Russians are not optimistic regarding the future of the Russian language in the region. Nevertheless, the ethnic Russians think that the Russian language is more important than English, indicating that they still believe that their mother tongue plays an emotional role in maintaining their cultural heritage and they hope that their children will learn the language, too.

3 Tendencies Surveys show that the Russian language is in general in a severe recession in the region.

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First, the number of people using Russian is drastically reduced. Russian is rarely the first language of the ethnic group. The intergenerational transformation of the language is under serious threat. Second, the use of the Russian language is suffering a rapid decline. The Russian language used to be a family and community language, but nowadays it is reduced to be a language of mostly old people. Third, its functions have been seriously weakened. Russian families generally use Chinese, which has become their home, ethnic, and inter-ethnic language, so that Russian is no longer necessary for communication – its communicative value has vanished. If the same trend continues, it can be foretold that in a decade or so, as the aged Russian speakers die, the Russian language will disappear in China.

References Editor Commission of the Topic. 2008. A Brief History of Russia (俄罗斯族简史). Nationalities Press, p. 3. Ergun YouQi History Team (额尔古纳右旗史志编纂委员会). 1993. History of Ergun (额尔古纳 右旗志). Inner Mongolia Culture Press, p. 104. Huang, Guangxue (黄光学). 1995. Identification of Chinese Ethinic Groups (中国的民族识别). Nationalities Press, p. 148. Tang, Ge (唐戈). 2009. Reasons for registering Russian-Han Chinese as Russian ethnicity (具有 俄罗斯血统的汉族集体将民族成分更改为俄罗斯族的理由). Inner Mongolia Russian Ethnic Group Research Association Journal (内蒙古俄罗斯民族研究会会刊), No. 3. Yu, Fulin (于福林). 2008. Remarks on the Russian descendents’ appeals for changing ethnicity registration in Ergun City (关于额尔古纳市未改民族户籍俄罗斯族强烈要求更改民族户 籍的几点说明). Inner Mongolia Russian Ethnic Group Research Association Journal (内蒙 古俄罗斯民族研究会会刊), No. 2. Yu, Jianzhong (于建忠) & Jiang, Yong (姜勇). 2004. Russia – A Survey about Ergong Town of Tacheng City in Xinjiang/Shiwei Township of Ergun City in Inner Mongolia (俄罗斯—新疆 塔城市二工镇/内蒙古额尔古纳市室韦乡调查). Yunnan University Press, p. 314. Translated by Dong Jie (董洁) Tsinghua University [email protected]

Zhou Hongbo (周洪波) & Zhao Chunyan (赵春燕)

14 Compilation of dictionaries of the Chinese language In the past, the term Huayu, literally meaning the “Chinese language”, was mostly used overseas and it refers to the language commonly used by the contemporary Han ethnic group. The term has been used in an ever increasing area and frequency since the 1980s as communication with and in the Chinese communities overseas has been growing. At the same time, the connotation and extended meaning of the term has also undergone continuous changes. On the basis of recent academic research, this essay defines the term Huayu as “the common language, based on Putonghua, of all the people of the Chinese ethnic group throughout the world”. (Commercial Press 2010b) On May 17, 2010, a special forum on the publication of The Global Chinese Dictionary was held in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, attended by over a hundred people including the relevant officials from the Department of Publicity, the Department of International Liaison of the Central Committee of the CPC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Press and Publication Administration, the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs of the State Council, the All China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, the Chinese Education Fund, the China Publication Group, the Commercial Press, etc., as well as by linguists from the mainland and abroad. All participants spoke highly of The Global Chinese Dictionary, noting that it records the real life and history of the Chinese ethnic groups living in various places of the world. The compilation and publication of the dictionary will help eliminate language barriers between different Chinese communities and will promote the exchange and mutual understanding between the Chinese diaspora. It will also benefit the mutual absorption of the Chinese language used in different communities, thereby enriching their common language and spreading the Chinese language in the world, helping Chinese learners to use it properly. (Gateway website of the Ministry of Education 2010)

1 General situation The compilation of dictionaries of the Chinese language in Chinese communities all over the world can be roughly divided into three main tasks, namely the introduction of copyright, the compilation by individuals, and a cooperative compilation.

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1.1 Introduction of the copyright Dictionaries of the Chinese language currently popular in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other communities of Chinese ethnic groups, are by and large introduced through copyright transference, that is, by retypesetting and printing existing dictionaries in China’s mainland. Some successful examples are: the Japanese edition (Japan Oriental Book Store), the South Korean edition (Doosan Publication Corporation), the Singaporean edition (Singapore Federal Press), and the Hong Kong edition of traditional characters (Commercial Press, Hong Kong). They are all local versions of The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary compiled by the Dictionary Department of the Institute of Linguistics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. One more example is The Standard Chinese Dictionary, compiled by Li Xingjian (李行健) a few years ago, which now also has a Malaysian edition (United Publishing House). There is also a Singaporean edition (Yi Xue Press) of the Chinese Application Dictionary compiled by Guo Liangfu (郭良夫). However, as these dictionaries are mainly compiled to meet the demands of readers in China, for whom Chinese is the mother tongue, they do not intend to meet the demands of those who learn Chinese as a second or foreign language. The compilers of these dictionaries have not taken the common vocabularies of Chinese-speaking communities in other regions or countries into consideration, thus failing to meet the needs of those who learn Chinese as a second language. (Goh 2002)

1.2 Compilation by individuals Since the 1980s, a number of scholars in mainland China have begun the compilation of Chinese dictionaries with various features, such as The Dictionary of Differences between Words and Phrases Used in the Mainland and Taiwan compiled by Qiu Zhipu (邱质朴) (Nanjing University Press, 1990), The Dictionary of Chinese Used in Hong Kong and Taiwan compiled by Huang Lili (黄丽丽), Zhou Shumin (周澍民), and Qian Lianqin (钱莲琴) (Huangshan Bookstore, 1990), The Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Vocabulary in Hong Kong and Taiwan (Shanghai Lexicographic Publishing House 1994), The Dictionary of Hong Kong Dialect compiled by Wu Kaibin (吴开斌) (Huacheng Publishing House, 1997), and The Dictionary of Comparisons between Frequently Used Words in the Mainland and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan compiled by Wei Li (魏励) and Sheng Yuqi (盛玉麒). (Press of Beijing Technological University, 2000)

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In the meantime, there have also appeared a number of localized dictionaries compiled by scholars from Chinese-speaking communities elsewhere, such as The Dictionary of Hong Kong Cantonese compiled by Zheng Ding’ou (郑定欧) (Jiangsu Education Press, 1997), The Dictionary of Words Used Only in Singapore compiled by Wang Huidi (汪惠迪) (Singapore Federal Press, 1999), New Words and Phrases Concerning the Reform and Opening Up of China’s Mainland compiled by Li Gucheng (李谷城) (The Hong Kong Chinese University Press, 2006), Explanation of Special Chinese Words and Phrases Used in Thailand compiled by Xu Fuling (徐复岭) (Thailand Liuzhong University, 2007), The 21st Century Dictionary of New Chinese Words and Phrases compiled by Benjamin Tsou (邹嘉彦) and You Rujie (游汝杰) (Fudan University Press, 2007), The Dictionary of Global New Chinese Words and Phrases also by Benjamin Tsou (邹嘉彦) and You Rujie (游汝杰) (Commercial Press, 2010), The Vocabulary Used in Contemporary China compiled by Zhang Tianhui (张天惠) (Taiwan Wenjing Publication Co., 2008), and The Dictionary of Chinese Words Used in Hong Kong Communities compiled by Tian Xiaolin (田小琳) (Commercial Press, 2009). Though these dictionaries are obviously useful because they contain some relevant information needed by those who learn Chinese as a second language, and the reader can use them in a comprehensive way by referring to other existing dictionaries as well, they are not able to meet all the demands of learners of Chinese as a second language. (Goh 2002)

1.3 Cooperative compilation In response to the appeal of concerned scholars and the promotion of relevant organizations, experts from all Chinese-speaking communities launched a joint project of making a dictionary designed to meet the needs of all overseas communities since the 1990s. The Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Words Commonly Used on Both Sides of the Taiwan Straits was compiled in collaboration with the Taiwan Chinese Research Institute and Beijing Language and Culture University, with Shi Guangheng (施光亨), Li Xingjian (李行健), and Li Xian (李鍌) as co-chief-compilers. Scholars from Beijing Language and Culture University founded the Beijing compilation group, responsible for the compiling, revision, proofreading and editing, while the Taipei Compilation group set up by scholars in Taiwan took up the job of proofreading and evaluating and offering suggestions for revision and expansion. In 2003 the Beijing Language and Culture University Press published the simplified character version for mainland readers, and in 2006 the Taiwan Chinese Publishing House put out the Taiwan edition in traditional characters. However, this dictionary only provides the

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basic meanings of words and phrases without explaining their semantic origin, and the number of Taiwan local words and phrases is relatively small, so it still fails to satisfy the needs of all Chinese learners. (Lu 2010) The Global Chinese Dictionary was compiled in cooperation by scholars from China’s mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, and China’s State Language Commission commissioned a special project in strong support. Li Yuming (李宇明) assumed the position of the chief-compiler and five compiling groups were founded successively in China’s mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, as well as in other regions. In May 2010 Beijing Commercial Press and Singapore Yixue Publishing House synchronously put out China’s mainland edition and the Singapore edition. In addition to phonetic annotations, lexical definitions, and usage illustrations, the dictionary has two special sectors: “area of usage” and “terms of variant words and phrases of similar meaning”, which offer the detailed usage of the entries, marking a great step forward in comparison with the layout of traditional dictionaries. (Lu 2010) On June 19th, 2009, Mr. Ma Ying-Jeou (马英九), leader of the Taiwan, initiated the compilation of The Chinese Dictionary by scholars across the Taiwan Straits. He suggested that words and phrases in characters of both simplified and complex forms be listed together for comparison, so as to benefit the interaction of the two sides. (Chinanews.Com 2009) On July 12th of the same year, the Fifth Forum of Economy, Trade and Culture (held in Changsha, Hunan Province) issued a Joint Proposal, which pledged “to encourage the people on both sides of the straits to cooperatively compile reference books of the Chinese language” and “to support the cooperation of scholars from both sides of the straits in standardizing proper names and compiling relevant dictionaries”. The forum also reached an initial agreement on the intention of jointly compiling The Chinese Dictionary. Then in March and June of 2010, experts and scholars from both sides of the straits held working consultations in Beijing and Taipei respectively, concerning the compilation of The Chinese Dictionary, and they announced a concrete schedule. (Beijing Times 2010)

2 Special features of The Global Chinese Dictionary The Global Chinese Dictionary contains about 10,000 special words and phrases commonly used in Chinese communities since the 1980s, such as haigui (海龟, returned overseas Chinese students), huangjin zhou (黄金周, “golden week”,

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referring to the seven-day holiday around the Spring Festival and the Chinese National Day) used in the mainland, chadian (叉电, to recharge electricity), shengguo jin (生果金, a subsidy to people over seventy) used in Hong Kong and Macau, and boai zuo (博爱座, “seat of love”, referring to the courtesy seat in public transportation), baipiao (拜票, to canvass) used in Taiwan, zuwu (组屋, a government-subsidised high rise flat), and dusui jin (度岁金, red paper bag containing money given to people over sixty at the Chinese New Year) used in Singapore and Malaysia. Compared with conventional dictionaries, The Global Chinese Dictionary has unique features in its guiding concept, function, content, usage, and layout.

2.1 Guiding concept: Viewing the whole world The word “Chinese” refers mainly to Putonghua, the official language in mainland China. As a matter of fact, the “national Chinese” spoken in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and the huayu spoken in other Chinese-speaking communities, all belong to the category of “greater-huayu” in a broad sense. (Lu 2005) By taking this into consideration, the words and phrases of the Chinese language included in The Global Chinese Dictionary also include those used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and by the Chinese-speaking communities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, as well as those in countries speaking other languages like Japan, Australia, the United States, Canada, etc. (Commercial Press 2010a) This means the concept of the “Chinese language” is extended across country borders, manifesting our broad vision of opening up and our all-embracing mindsets. In fact, only by taking a broad view covering all the Chinese communities throughout the world and treating the Chinese used at home and abroad as an entirety can one get a more comprehensive and accurate commend of Chinese to reflect the reality of the Chinese language in the world.

2.2 Function: Eliminating barriers Due to multidimensional factors like politics, the economy, culture, migration and language environment, variants of the Chinese language gradually emerged in different communities of Chinese ethnic groups at home and abroad throughout history. For example, the term fangbian mian (方便面, “convenient noodles”, referring to instant noodles) used in the mainland is called sushi mian (速食面, “fast food noodles”) or mingxing mian (明星面, “star noodles”) in Taiwan, gongzai

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mian (公仔面, “doll noodles”) in Hong Kong and kuaishu mian (快熟面, “quick to cook noodles”) in Singapore and Malaysia. These variants with their distinct features not only show the wide variety of language usage, but also pose as barriers for communication between different Chinese-speaking communities. The Global Chinese Dictionary was compiled with the aim of eliminating these communicative barriers. It serves as a bridge linking these communities in language and cultural exchanges. With such a dictionary at hand, the differences in words and phrases of the Chinese language used in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and other places are no longer hindering factors, but greatly enhance the affinity in communication.

2.3 Content: Mainly descriptive Words and phrases reflect people’s lives, ways of thinking and feelings. As a descriptive dictionary, The Global Chinese Dictionary records and preserves words and phrases with different local features. It tries by every means to compare various expressions of different regions, thus “putting together in one volume how the Chinese ethnic groups who have migrated to and settled down in different places in the world have mingled with local culture, absorbed alien cultural nutrition, thus contributing to the development of the Chinese culture”. (Xu 2010) This dictionary is more convenient for an efficient communication between Chinese speakers in various places, and at the same time reflects the diversity and charm of the Chinese language. Thus it helps all Chinese living in different regions of the world to construct a harmonious language life. Of course, there is another consideration underlying the descriptive compilation of this dictionary, namely, language greatly affects people’s lives, and thus should only be guided rather than being interfered with harshly. Besides, it is not yet the proper time to standardize the language used in overseas Chinese communities. People should have the freedom of choice in their communication and come to realize the harmony and standardization of the language step by step. (The World of the Chinese Language 2010)

2.4 Operation: Sino-foreign cooperation Late last century Professor Chew Ching-hai (周清海) from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore and some other scholars proposed the compilation of The Global Chinese Dictionary several times, and they received much response and support. At the beginning of the 21st century, China’s Commercial

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Press showed great enthusiasm and began to plan its actual compilation. The first compilation group was formed in Singapore for trial compilation. Early in 2005 the compilation of The Global Chinese Dictionary obtained support from China’s State Language Commission, which established a special project for the job. A compilation committee was founded with Professor Li Yuming (李宇明) as the chief compiler and Professors Chew Ching-hai, Lu Jianming (陆俭明), and Xing Fuyi (邢福义) were invited as academic advisors. Not much later four more compiling groups were formed in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and China’s mainland respectively, and then other regions began their formal compilation as well, which took five years to accomplish. The Global Chinese Dictionary is therefore a common endeavor of scholars from various Chinese communities. Each of the groups consisted of scholars from the mainland and from abroad, and members of the compilation committee and advisors also came from different Chinese communities. Although the participants of the project have different social backgrounds, academic specialties and habits of life, in following the common cause of all Chinese to spread the Chinese language around the world, they respected each other, carried out frank discussions, made constant improvements, and finally succeeded in accomplishing this cross-country and cross-region cultural project, laying a sound foundation for further cooperation in the future.

2.5 Layout: Pioneers in exploring new areas From the angle of dictionary compilation, The Global Chinese Dictionary has pioneering features both in its content and layout. Take its entries for example: not only simplified and traditional forms of the characters are juxtaposed, the dictionary also adopts an arrangement of listing variant forms in parallel, with those commonly used in China’s mainland, Singapore, and Malaysia coming before those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, separated by a quotation mark. What’s more, The Global Chinese Dictionary especially marks “regions in which the word is used” and “spoken and written variants referring to the same object or phenomenon or of the same meaning”. Xu Jialu commented: “This dictionary enlightens people because the compilation of future dictionaries of the Chinese language should, at least, include the words and phrases used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, etc., and each marked with the regions where they are used. This is actually one of the contributions of this dictionary, to help advance, spread, and develop the Chinese language.” (Xu 2010)

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Zhou Hongbo (周洪波) & Zhao Chunyan (赵春燕)

3 Elaborations of The Global Chinese Dictionary The language used in traditional Chinese ethnic communities is rich and varied and has been developing all the time. Chinese people are living and travelling all around the world and are constantly creating new vocabularies for the Chinese language. Therefore, The Global Chinese Dictionary should have a broad vision of the Chinese language in the spirit of a greater Chinese influence in the world and consider the needs of all Chinese worldwide. The realization of this vision should be organized and planned beforehand.

3.1 The government should set the stage A global China needs the support from all Chinese people in the world. All Chinese descendants, whether living in China or elsewhere, are of one blood and have China in their heart. The Chinese language is their bond, their identity symbol, and a manifestation of their cohesive force. It is also a precious language resource of the country. The majority of Chinese learners abroad are Chinese offspring and overseas Chinese citizens. It is the undeniable duty of their native country to take care of their mother tongue education and to compile dictionaries catering to their needs in this respect. At the forum on the publication of The Global Chinese Dictionary held in May 2010, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), then Minister Mentor of Singapore, proposed the compilation of The Comprehensive Global Chinese Dictionary on the basis of The Global Chinese Dictionary, recommending collecting all Chinese words and phrases worldwide, whether used in the same way or with some difference. Mr. Li Ruihuan (李瑞环), former Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, expressed warm support on the spot for the compilation of The Comprehensive Global Chinese Dictionary. Soon after the forum Liu Binjie (柳斌杰), President of China’s General Administration of Press and Publication, gave instructions to include the compilation of The Comprehensive Global Chinese Dictionary in its agenda. Now The Comprehensive Global Chinese Dictionary has been formally listed as a major publication project in the Twelfth Socioeconomic Development Five-Year Plan of the country. It has also won financial aid from the country’s publication fund.

3.2 Academic spearhead The Comprehensive Global Chinese Dictionary should demonstrate in the fullest possible way the academic achievements of the Chinese language researchers,

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especially those on the Chinese vocabulary, so that the dictionary will give a true reflection of the current academic level of the contemporary studies on the Chinese language. Here the scope of the term “global” not only includes Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Chinese-speaking communities in southeastern and northeastern Asia, but also extends to Chinese-speaking communities in America, Europe, Africa, and Oceania. The term “Chinese” should also be separated into two parts, namely into Chinese words and phrases in common use, and special ones used in any of the communities. That means to organically merge the content of The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, which mainly serves the nuclear Chinese-speaking region, and The Global Chinese Dictionary, which mainly collects and registers words and phrases of special features in different communities. The result will be a really comprehensive Chinese dictionary that includes the Chinese language used in the five continents of the world. This is a grand language engineering project that will have a bearing on the spread of the Chinese language in the world, and on the inheritance and development of the Chinese language and its culture.

3.3 With the aid of the linguistic corpus The construction of a Chinese corpus should precede the compilation of Chinese dictionaries, especially linguistic data concerning delicacies, special dishes, buildings, tourist attractions, and habits and customs of different regions should be grouped beforehand by resorting to modern facilities such as computers and the Internet to enhance the compilation. The encouraging news is that a research center on the overseas Chinese language has been jointly set up by the Department of Information and Administration of Spoken and Written Language of China’s Ministry of Education and Jinan University in Guangzhou. A corpus of Chinese has come into its initial shape, and corpuses of Chinese teaching materials and the spoken and written language of Chinese descendants are currently under preparation for the drawing up of a word list. Efforts are also devoted to summing up their semantics and selecting exemplar sentences; the outcome can serve as supportive language data for the compilation of dictionaries.

3.4 Team coordination It is now an urgent task to put up special teams for the compilation of Chinese dictionaries. Members should be natives of Chinese-speaking communities

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familiar with local language life and possess a certain academic foundation and experience of dictionary compilation. The plan at the moment is to form several teams in each region, composed respectively of academic advisors, compilers, revisers, and editors. Only through close cooperation of these teams can a Chinese dictionary be made that suits all people of Chinese ethnic groups, is convenient to use and is also well received by them.

3.5 Multi-mode development As a systematic and complex project, editions of parts of The Comprehensive Global Chinese Dictionary with the special features of different regions can be published as separate volumes first to meet the needs of different Chinesespeaking communities. For example, The Dictionary of Words and Phrases Used Only in Hong Kong and Macau, The Dictionary of Special Words and Phrases Used Only in Taiwan, The Dictionary of Special Words and Phrases Used Only in Singapore, and The Dictionary of Special Words and Phrases Used Only in Malaysia, etc. The selection of words and phrases in these dictionaries can be of a wide scope to better reflect the special features of local Chinese language usage, which can also serve as a basis for the expansion and revision of The Global Chinese Dictionary. In addition, an on-line version of The Global Chinese Dictionary should be considered in the plan. This will enable travelers of different regions to check the dictionary wherever they are and whenever they need to. An on-line version is also convenient for people of Chinese ethnic origin throughout the world and foreign learners as well. Besides, as the electronic dictionary will enable a timely and dynamic reflection of the language development in different regions in its future editions, it will give The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary eternal life.

References Beijing Times. 2010. The schedule of the compilation of Chinese dictionaries by both sides of the straits revealed: The dictionary of frequently used words on both sides of the straits will be published next year (两岸合编中华语文工具书时间表披露:《两岸常用词汇 词典》明年推出). 9 July 2010. Chinanews.Com. 2009. Ma Ying-Jeou proposes joint compilation of the Chinese dictionary with both complex and simplified characters in cooperation with both sides of the straits (马英九提议两岸合编中华大辞典繁简体字词并列). http://www.chinanews.com/tw/ tw_rwtw/news/2009/06_20/1742037.shtml, 20 June 2009.

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Commercial Press. 2010a. Notes on the usage of The Global Chinese Dictionary (全球华语 词典·凡例). Commercial Press. 2010b. Preface on the usage of The Global Chinese Dictionary (全球华语 词典·前言). Gateway website of the Ministry of Education. 2010. Forum on the publication of The Global Chinese Dictionary is held in Beijing 《 ( 全球华语词典》出版座谈会在京举行). http:// www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/bussiness/htmlfiles/moe/moe_1485/201005/88253.html, 17 May 2010. Goh, Yeng Seng (吴英成). 2002. The gap between the application and compilation of Chinese dictionaries (华语词典应用与编纂的落差). Language Teaching and Research, No. 3. Lu, Jianming (陆俭明). 2005. Suggestions for establishing the concept of a ‘Greater-Chinese’ (关于建立“大华语”概念的建议). Chinese Teaching Monthly, Vol. 1. Lu, Jianming (陆俭明). 2010. Strive hand in hand to spread the Chinese Language in the world – Speech at the forum of the Taiwan Chinese education delegation and scholars of Beijing (为使汉语走向世界携起手来共同奋斗—在台湾华语文教育访问团与在京学者 座谈会上的发言). Beijing. The World of the Chinese Language. 2010. A bridge promoting cultural exchanges between people of all Chinese ethnic groups living in different parts of the world: Chief-Compiler Li Mingyu on The Global Chinese Dictionary (一座沟通华人语言文化交流的桥梁— 李宇明主编谈《全球华语词典》). The World of the Chinese Language, No. 105, July, 2010. Taiwan. Xu, Jialu (许嘉璐). 2010. Foreword to The Global Chinese Dictionary (全球华语词典·序). Commercial Press. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Zheng Mengjuan (郑梦娟)

15 Chinglish at the crossroads Keywords: Chinglish, standard English, internationalization, Olympic Games, Chinese character, Yangjing Bang, Radtke, Flickr. Chinglish, a blending of Chinese and English, refers to the non-standard English translations of Chinese bearing a strong flavor of Chinese pronunciation, vocabulary and grammatical features. A good example is the greeting at hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and other public locations, which reads “Welcome to presence,” or “Welcome the foreign friend come” instead of a simple and correct “Welcome”. Chinglish is different from China English in that the latter consists of typical Chinese things and events expressed in English in ways that are acceptable, e.g. “kungfu” (transliteration) and “one country two systems” (‘one country with two different systems’). At the turn of the new century, both in China and abroad, Chinglish became a disputed topic attracting more and wider attention in academic circles as well as in people’s daily lives.

Figure 1: The Chinglish of “Welcome” Source: Oliver Lutz Radtke, Chinglish: Found in Translation

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Figure 2: The Chinglish of “Welcome to Beijing”1 Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/XiaMing/231430693/

In China, Chinglish is understood to be a manifestation of poor English or bad translation that humiliates and embarrasses the Chinese. For this reason, a campaign was launched by local governments, led by Beijing and Shanghai prior to the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2010 World Expo, to eliminate Chinglish on public signs and restaurant menus. However, in the eyes of some Westerners, Chinglish has its unique charm and therefore is quite acceptable. Some mainstream media and research institutions overseas have shown their tolerance; enthusiastic advocates set up e-museums for Chinglish and have written essays about it. As a consequence, an increasing number of major domestic media and netizens chimed in. Under such circumstances, we are facing the choice of either its termination or of its protection. Perhaps a better alternative might be found if we deviate from the conventional mode of thinking and view it from a fresh perspective.

1 The Western folk discovery: Chinglish is an alternative culture The word Chinglish reminds us of two folk “discoverers” in the West: Xia Ming (Simon) of Australia and Oliver Lutz Radtke of Germany. Through their photos and writings, both have been displaying to the public the living Chinglish that keeps people laughing.

1 Photograph taken by Xia Ming (Simon) at Beijing Airport in 2006. The word Welcome broken apart here might be misleading because “Wel” might be thought to represent a certain institution.

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1.1 Xia Ming: Chinglish was not displayed for ridicule An executive director of an international consulting company, Xia Ming has been in China for nearly nine years. He often spends his weekends roaming around cities and streets, taking pictures and placing them on Flickr.com. He began snapping depictions of Chinglish in 2005 in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and other cities and has had a collection of 482 pictures by 8 April 2010. Each bears its location and together they form an important database.

Figure 3: Topic of Chinglish in Xia Ming’s album Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/XiaMing/sets/1095036/

Xia Ming repeatedly emphasized that it was not his intention to make a fool of the Chinese by exhibiting these pictures online. When in Africa, he wrote, one usually goes hunting, photographing or shooting wildlife and takes pleasure in it, provided one has sharp eyes, patience and a little luck. And when in China, the pleasure can be found in shooting Chinglish because it makes one laugh. (Anonymous 2007) On this special topic, he accounted for his interest by saying that it kept giving him delightful surprises, reminded him, a native English speaker, of the deficiencies of his own language as reflected in other languages,

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and “it defines a wonderful characteristic of Chinese matter-of-factness”2. As a foreigner in China, he is very hopeful of learning the Chinese way of thinking and doing, and he believes that such information can be obtained through Chinglish. (Anonymous 2007)

1.2 Oliver Lutz Radtke: Chinglish should be put under protection Oliver Lutz Radtke, a journalist, speaks German, English and Chinese, has studied in China and therefore has a greater advantage in language. He came to China in 2000, and in 2005 set up his own http://chinglish.de/ that has won the status of a Chinglish museum. At first he uploaded photos himself, later he collected pictures online, and now they number over 1,500. Some of them have his own English version attached; others are accompanied with discussions over the difference between Chinese and Western culture. This was regarded by most Chinese as insulting and abuses were filed online against him. To this he declared that he just wanted to show “Chinglish beauties, the wonderful results of an English dictionary meeting Chinese grammar. This is about passion not mockery.”3 In his eyes, Chinglish is not merely the product of poor English or incorrect usage; many samples are full of Chinese wisdom and creative power, reflecting a typical Chinese mode of thinking and therefore should be protected. Two examples may serve to support Radtke’s opinion. A public sign in the Hongkou Park, Shanghai, says “Little grass has life, please watch your step”. He took it to be a touching lovely way of education in the Chinese style. On the sign of a public toilet is written: “You can enjoy the fresh air after finishing civilized urinating.” He found the frank and straightforward application of “urinating” a challenge to Westerners who regard the word as taboo.4 Of course, there were cases in which he found himself at a loss, but he tolerated them; or he might burst his sides with laughter and enjoyed the humor they happened to set off. When he dined in Chinese restaurants with friends from his home country, studying the menu would be their appetizer. They would imagine what Rolling Donkey5 or Four Glad Meatballs6 were. Once they split 2 See http://www.flickr.com/photos/Xia Ming/sets/1095036/. 3 See http://chinglish.de/. 4 See http://china.huanqiu.com/eyes_on_china/culture-entertainment/2009-05/452775.html. 5 A local snack of Beijing is called Lüdagunr (驴打滚, “glutinous rice rolls stuffed with red bean paste”). 6 Braised pork balls in gravy (四喜丸子).

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their sides with laughter when they came across Chicken Without Sexual Life7. In such conditions they would have to order at random and expect chance tasty dishes. (Radtke 2007b)

Figure 4: Oliver Lutz Radtke’s Chinglish blog Source: http://chinglish.de/

Radtke believes that with China’s further internationalization, public signs with Chinglish will become fewer and even disappear; therefore, he expected his blog to become an e-museum of linguistic fossils. There are a considerable number of books on Chinglish on the market; however, they are mostly analyses and corrections starting from foreign language teaching. In striking contrast, Radtke’s Chinglish: Found in Translation (2007a) and More Chinglish: Speaking in Tongues (2009) are books with the intention of cultural preservation and therefore quite popular. He believed that the concept of one single standard English was out of date, and held that, with the population of English users exceeding one billion and the number of people learning English as a second language on the rise, English would be affected to a certain degree irrespective of the native speakers, and Chinglish would help to enrich English.8

7 Spring chicken (童子鸡). 8 See http://overseas.huanqiu.com/eyes_on_china/culture-entertainment/2009-05/452775.html.

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Figure 5: Covers of Chinglish: Found in Translation and More Chinglish: Speaking in Tongues written by Oliver Lutz Radtke

2 Prediction by the Western media and experts: Chinglish has its vitality The year 2005 witnessed a steady increase in the attention of the scholarly circles and the media overseas to the phenomenon of Chinglish. Global Language Monitor (GLM) offered convincing investigative data, Roland Sussex and others made theoretical analyses, and the mainstream media in the West added impetus to the wave.

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2.1 Linguists: Chinglish contributes to new standards of English Statistics show that the Oxford English Dictionary contains over 1,000 words from Chinese, involving food, beverages, life, philosophy, religion, politics, etc. GLM Chairman Paul J. Payack remarked that the appearance of Chinglish and other pidgin languages enriched the English vocabulary. In 2005, the center registered 20,000 new words of English, of which 20% were from Chinese. (Anonymous 2006) In 2009, the center also traced mathematically the global word frequency in the print and electronic media in the first decade of the 21st century and the result showed that Chinglish ranked ninth. (Goldsmith 2009) Table 1: Top 5 Chinglish expressions in 2008, released at the GLM center. Source: http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090917/A26/090917A2601.shtml Chinglish

Chinese

English

1) Deformed man toilet 2) Airline Pulp 3) The slippery are very crafty 4) If you are stolen, call the police. 5) Do not climb the rocketry.

残疾人厕所 航空餐 小心路滑 如果你被偷时，喊警察 不要翻越石墙

Bathroom for Disabled In-flight meal Slippery! Mind your step. If there is a theft, call the police. Do not climb over stonework.

Note: The domestic equivalent of No. 3 is “坡道路滑 (Slippery! Mind your step.)” in Chinese, and the domestic equivalent of No. 4 is “一旦失窃要报警，切莫姑息又养奸 (If there is a theft, call the police.)” Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidalia/1284534984/ Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiaming/sets/1095036/show/with/4260352120/

Figure 6: The most popular Chinglish samples released at the GLM Center in 2008

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Professor Roland Sussex of Australia studied Chinglish from the perspective of language planning. With the flourishing of Chinglish, corresponding changes occurred in the composition and classification of English. While English has not been accorded any official status in China, it is nevertheless becoming quite important, but with typical national characteristics. It can be predicted that Chinglish will have an increasing impact globally and through its popularity, English can become a global tongue rather than an imperialistic one. Apart from that, Chinglish is also conducive to the establishment of a unique set of linguistic standards close to, but distinct from, British English and American English. (Tian 2007)

2.2 Mainstream media: more and more English will sound like Chinese If the linguistic inquiries and analyses in the West have established the theoretical foundation for us to have a second thought about Chinglish, the reports in the Western mainstream media have become valuable references for researchers in China and served as a catalyst in transforming the Chinese detestation for Chinglish. Michael Erard (2006) predicted that Chinglish would become a standard language, since an estimated 300 million Chinese, equivalent to the total U.S. population, currently read and write English. Due to a shortage of opportunities for practical application, their English sounds more like Chinese. Since it is astonishingly complex and rich, Majendie (2008) predicted a “rosy future” for Chinglish on the basis of the analysis made by the GLM Center. Zhang Wei (2009) expressed her worry over the plight of Chinglish and attempted to secure its place. Newspapers elsewhere also gave their support.

3 Revelations from some Westerners: Show tolerance to and build self-confidence in Chinglish Intriguing or embarrassing, Chinglish is found everywhere in our routine life. As a matter of fact, any language is subjected to the influence by its users’ culture, thinking, customs and so on in the process of its propagation and application – Chinglish is no exception. Along with its counterparts of Spanglish, Franglish, Runglish, Denglish, Singlish, Hinglish and Japglish, it is a localization of English

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in its expansion. If it is treated fairly with tolerance and confidence, the jewels it contains will be useful to us.

3.1 Where did Chinglish come from? Chinglish can be traced back to the 19th century. After the Opium War, Hong Kong became one of the British colonies. In their contact with Englishmen, local residents gradually learned to use simple English expressions articulated in the Chinese way. When Britain obtained a concession in Shanghai, a lingua franca of English and Chinese gradually evolved, taking its name Yangjing Bang (洋泾浜) English after the creek that defined the boundary of the British concession.9 No one had expected that this linguistic phenomenon would rank as acceptable English and win a considerable number of fans in the West instead of disappearing after over 160 years. Among the new words released in 2006 by GLM were kweerboy (基佬, ‘homosexual’), drink tea (饮茶, ‘tea break’) and to run business (在营业中, ‘in business’);10 Long time no see is a typical Chinglish expression now widely used. This is a sound proof of the opinion that Chinglish has its vitality.

Figure 7: Samples of pidgin English Source: http://images.google.com.hk/images?um=1&hl=zh-CN&newwindow=1&safe= strict&tbs=isch:1&q=to+run+buisness&sa=N&start=36&ndsp=18

3.2 Can Chinglish be eliminated? Factors which contribute to the formation of Chinglish are multiple. The negative transfer of Chinese, the vagueness of some English words by nature, as well as 9 See http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%BC%8F%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD. 10 See http://chinese.people.com.cn/GB/4077521.html.

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the gaps in language and culture between both nations prevent the Chinese from learning and using the Standard English well. Growing contact between China and other countries in economy, trade, culture and so on leads to the need of English and competent English users in all fields and industries; however, the acute shortage of such qualified and responsible personnel has resulted in the failure to meet the demand, and hence the contagious Chinglish.

Figure 8: Sample of spelling mistake Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiaming/sets/1095036/show/with/55073057/ Note: the word “Country” misses the letter “o”

Radtke is familiar with Chinese culture. He made a simple but penetrating analysis of the status quo of the bilingual public signs in China and reached the following conclusions: (1) The Chinese do not speak English. Native English speakers well-versed in Chinese and qualified for this job are limited in number, while university graduates with a high proficiency of English do not choose fulltime translation in the job market. (2) Most Chinese are indifferent. In their opinion, the signs are OK as long as they bear foreign words and look cool and different. (3) No one knows a more competent translator or a better version. For instance, when a company needs a seemingly internationalized bilingual sign, the person in charge will certainly entrust it to the best English speaker in his workplace, who might not happen to be well-qualified to do such a translation. With the job done, no matter how bad or ridiculous it is, it becomes history and rarely will anyone give it a second thought. And the boss, being ignorant of English, will remain ignorant of the matter. (4) It is likely that the Chinese choose to do everything they want to do because of their dignity. Compared with the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, a translation from English into Chinese is nothing. (5) Seeing that it is charge-free, they seek an online translation instead. (Radtke 2007a)

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Figure 9: Translation software error* Source: http://edu.people.com.cn/GB/10861953.html *Note: 餐厅 means “canteen” or “restaurant”. This careless mistake is an obvious case of software failure

3.3 Is Chinglish on its way to success? In the past, people generally saw only the passive side of Chinglish, regarding it both as a barrier between China and other countries in communication and as a flaw in China’s image. For this reason, everyone from the government above and the ordinary people below hoped to eliminate it as soon as possible. However, the situation changed with the intervention of some Westerners who decoded Chinglish positively and this revived the complex of some Chinese about it. They began to reflect upon it objectively and explore its positive aspects from the perspective of intercultural exchange and integration. Despite the fact that governmental departments are taking measures to correct English errors in public places, a liberal attitude is being encouraged by netizens and domestic news media as well, like English Education Weekly, 21st Century, Guangzhou Daily, 21st Century Online, ynet.com, sohu.com, etc. Since the 2008 Olympic Games, a great quantity of reports and other information has been published on multiple domestic mainstream networks and renowned overseas Chinese media, such as people.com.cn (close to 100 items), xinhuanet.com and chinanews.com.cn (several dozens of items), chinadaily. com.cn (nearly 10,000 items), giving more and more attention to Chinglish and

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appealing for its toleration because of the comments of Westerners. Other participating media include ifeng.com, stnn.cc, Guangming Daily, Y-Weekend, Beijing Youth Daily, Xinhua Daily, Beijing News, Beijing Evening News, Xinmin Evening News, etc. Particular mention should be made of the influential Top 10 Chinglish Expressions campaign launched at sina.com.cn in May 2009, raising a tide of Chinglish craze with over 8,000 participants, most of whom voted in the affirmative. They expected these examples to be accepted one day as they are so interesting that everyone in China is familiar with them. The one that won the first place was “Good good study, day day up (好好学习，天天向上, ‘Study hard and make progress every day’).”11

3.4 Will Chinglish bring the Chinese style to the world? A mood of reconciliation with Chinglish might be achieved if it is viewed from the Western perspective. As a country with a brilliant future, an important economy and self-confidence, Xia Ming pointed out, China should not feel embarrassed or ashamed about Chinglish. (Anonymous 2007) As David Crystal remarked, “The English spoken in countries with rapidly-booming economies, such as India and China, will increasingly influence this global standard”. (Clout 2008) This adds to the hope of a better prospect for Chinglish. While it is undeniable that Chinglish could become a barrier between the linguistic and cultural communication of China and the West and might not be eradicated within a short period of time, it also serves to invigorate the Standard English, strengthens its expressive power, and furthers its scope of influence. Meanwhile, it also opens a new window into the Chinese style of thinking, through which more Chinese elements will constantly pour into the mix of multiple languages and cultures in the world. With the steady rise of China’s economy and more frequent economic, trade and cultural exchanges with other countries, more Chinglish is bound to be spoken in our daily life. It is therefore necessary to consider how to take advantage of the growing popularity of Chinglish both at home and abroad, to give full play to its positive side and minimize its negative influence. Li Yuming (2006) was considering if it was possible to adapt English to the Chinese culture by developing Chinglish (or Chinese English) and injecting it into the internationalized language. For example, “Little grass has life, please watch your step (小草有生命, 足下请留情, ‘Stay off the grass’)”, “people mountain people sea 11 See http://survey.book.sina.com.cn/result/33438.html.

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(人山人海, ‘a sea of people’)” and “Good good study, day day up”. While the Standard English version is available, it is deprived of the beauty of brevity and rhythm in expression and the traits of Chinese culture that would otherwise contribute to the integration of cultures. (Guan & Meng 2009) In the eyes of some Westerners, Chinglish is a special and interesting phenomenon in the integration of Chinese and Western cultures and will continue to exercise a big influence on English, no matter whether it is refused or tolerated.

4 ‘Post-it’ Chinglish expressions In 2009, sina.com.cn launched a campaign to decide on the Top Ten hilarious Chinglish expressions. The following are some of the examples:12 (1) You have seed. I will give you some colors to see see. (你有种, 我要给你点 颜色瞧瞧 ‘You have guts, and I’ll teach you a lesson.’) (2) Dragon born dragon, chicken born chicken, mouse’s son can make hole! (龙生龙, 凤生凤, 老鼠的儿子会打洞! ‘Like begets like.’) (3) Chickens that did not have sexual experience. (童子鸡, ‘Hatchling.’) (4) Wash after relief. (用过请冲水, ‘Flush after use.’) (5) You ask me, me ask who? (你问我, 我问谁? ‘Only God knows!’) (6) Heart flower angry open. (心花怒放, ‘Wild with joy.’) (7) Horse horse tiger tiger. (马马虎虎, ‘Just so-so.’) (8) No three no four. (不三不四, ‘[of people] cheap, bad.’) (9) Know is know, noknow is noknow. (知之为知之, 不知为不知, ‘Do not pretend to know what you are ignorant of.’) (10) Watch sister (表妹, ‘cousin.’) (11) Go past, no mistake past. (走过路过, 不要错过, ‘Do not miss the opportunity.’) (12) As far as you go to die. (有多远, 死多远, ‘Go away!’) (13) We two who and who? (咱俩谁跟谁? ‘You are welcome.’ Or ‘We’re brothers.’)

References Anonymous. 2006. Chinglish on the top list of the GLM 2006 release (2006年全球语言监测机构 “中式英语”排名新鲜出炉). http://www.21stcentury.com.cn/index_elt/story/681_1.html, 30 November 2006. Anonymous. 2007. Chinglish in the photos of Xia Ming, an Australian (夏明：一个澳大利亚人镜 头中的中国式英语). http://news.sohu.com/20070325/n248958639.shtml, 25 March 2007. 12 See http://book.sina.com.cn/cul/2009-05-12/1420255899.shtml.

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Clout, Laura. 2008. English will fragment into “global dialects”. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/uknews/1580745/English-will-fragment-into-global-dialects.html, 5 March 2008. Erard, Michael. 2006. How English is evolving into a language we may not even understand. http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/16-07/st_essay. Goldsmith, Belinda. 2009. Global warming, 9/11, Obama top words of the decade. http://www. reuters.com/article/idUSSP461080, 18 November 2009. Guan, Qun (官群) & Meng, Wanjin (孟万金). 2000. Confronting Chinglish with unique national features (正视中国英语体现民族特色). Curriculum, Textbooks, and Teaching Method, Vol. 11. Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2006. The power of discourse in China (中国的话语权问题). Journal of Hebei (河北) University, Vol. 6. Majendie, Paul. 2008. “Chinglish” thriving at games, linguists say. http://www.reuters.com/ article/GCA-Olympics/idUSL212754220080802, 2 August 2008. Radtke, Oliver Lutz. 2007a. Chinglish: Found in Translation. Utah: Gibbs Smith. Radtke, Oliver Lutz. 2007b. Should Chinese restroom be washed? (中国厕所还得洗？) Beijing Youth Net (北青网). http://bjyouth.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=24490479, 10 October 2007. Radtke, Oliver Lutz. 2009. More Chinglish: Speaking in Tongues. Utah: Gibbs Smith. Tian, Wen (田文). 2007. Chinglish promoting the establishment of new standards of language (中式英语：推动新语言标准的建立). http://www.21stcentury.com.cn/story/30743.html, 9 April 2007. Zhang, Wei (张薇). 2009. Chinglish has its vitality (中式英语也有生命力). Y-Weekend. http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090917/A26/090917A2601.shtml, 17 September 2009. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

Li Qiao (李俏)

16 The academic community on language life “Language life is an important component of human life. It encompasses language learning, language communication, and the use of language in performing various other activities.” (Li 2000) Since the publication of The Language Situation in China in 2006, the term “language life” has seen increasing exposure among the general public. This report concentrates on how, in recent years, the subject has drawn attention from journals, websites, and books, as well as from teaching materials, academic papers and conferences.

1 Periodicals 1.1 Journals Since its first appearance in 2006, The Language Situation in China has been published successively for five years, stirring up enormous repercussions in both academia and public discourse alike. (Ji 2010) The journal Applied Linguistics (语言文字应用), for instance, launched a column dedicated to “Language Situation” in its first issue of 2007. The column has covered a number of topics, including discussions on the Green Paper on the Language Situation in China (中国语言生活绿皮书), on survey results of language usage in newspapers, radio, television, and Internet, on language life and daily language, on Chinese language spread overseas, as well as on The Language Situation in China, among others. In issue 1 of 2009, the column carried studies on such aspects of language life as creating a good language environment for the Beijing Olympics, Qinghai-Tibetan railway language usage, mobile phone SMS language usage, etc. Another publication, The Journal of Chinese Sociolinguistics, concerns itself more with hot issues in language life, such as the language situation, linguistic identity, language usage, new words and expressions, and so on. The Language Gazette (语言文字报), on the other hand, reports mainly on the State’s policies, laws and regulations and latest trends concerning the use of language, on language information, as well as on language life among different social groups.

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1.2 Columns in academic journals Many academic journals have run special columns on various aspects of language life. The Yangtze River Academic (长江学术) carried a special column on “Language Life’s Hot Issues” in its issue 1 of 2008 and issue 4 of 2009. The Journal of Yunnan Normal University (云南师范大学学报), since launching the column on “Language Situation in China” with issue 3 of 2008, has run it each year with a specially invited moderator. Dai Qingxia, for example, organized papers on the preservation of small languages, native language security, language contact and language harmony, language normalization, multi-lingual life, and language selection; Chen Zhangtai on language resources versus language, the value of language resources; Zhou Qingsheng on the Chinese character element in the Beijing Olympics, the state of the legislative language, intangible cultural heritage and language protection; and, finally, Li Yuming on language and national security, the US’s “key language” strategy and China’s national security strategies, China’s foreign language planning with a perspective of national security, and the informationization of language and national security, etc. The Journal of Beihua University (北华大学学报) set aside, in its first issue of 2010, a special column on “Language Modernization” that carried academic papers, conference information and minutes of meetings, and special features, etc., on the topics of language resources, public opinions on languages, language monitoring, and language economy, etc. The Modern Chinese (现代语文), in its issue 3 of 2005, launched a special column entitled “New Observations on Language” to carry analyses on new words and expressions; in addition, starting from 2006, it has carried articles on new developments in language life in China and reports over the Language Situation in China. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Review has, since September 2010, published in different sections of the journal, various content and information on “language life”, including language service, court language, the language of migrant workers, and Internet language craze, to name a few.

1.3 Internal publications There are several instances: The Information on Language (语文信息), an internal monthly publication run by the Institute of Applied Linguistics (IAL), under the Ministry of Education, has a “Language Forum” for a digest of papers from both at home and abroad, and for all sorts of information on language.

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The Developments in Foreign Language Strategies (外语战略动态), a publication supervised by the Department of Language Information Administration (DLIA), also under the Ministry of Education, and run by China Research Center on Foreign Language Strategies at Shanghai University of Foreign Languages, is devoted to special topics such as “Zooming In,” “Feature Interview,” “Forum,” “Language and the Progress of Civilization,” “Language and Modernization,” “Key Developments of Foreign Languages in China,” and “Key Developments in Languages Overseas,” etc. The China Language Situation (中国语情), a publication supervised also by DLIA, but run by the Monitoring and Research Center on China’s Language Situation at Wuhan University, was officially launched in April 2009. A number of articles on a language’s hot points, such as the preservation of dialects, Shanghai Expo and the international promotion of the Chinese language, the heated discussions on Taiwan’s application for nominating the oracles for World Heritage, and others. The Commercial Press’s World of Chinese (汉语世界) magazine edited and printed the China Language Resource Developments (中国语言资源动态). The publication promptly reports on language resource development and utilization, from both at home and abroad, and probes into the means, theories and practices of turning languages into productive forces, etc. Each issue is devoted to a topical phenomenon related to language life. Also among these unofficial internal publications are the Information on World Language Strategies (世界语言战略资讯) run by the National Research Center for Foreign Language Education within Beijing Foreign Studies University, and World Languages Developments (世界语文动态) by Nanjing University.

1.4 E-journals China’s first popular e-journal with a focus on language life, Language Life in China (中国语言生活), was launched on May 10, 2010, under the supervision of DLIA within the Ministry of Education and run by the Commercial Press and the China Center for Language Resource Development and Application (CCLRDA). It purports to examine, introduce and discuss various aspects of language life. With contents organized around survey results and studies, the journal aims to further stimulate interest in, and discussions on, the subject among all social sectors. Languages: Opinions and Trends (语言文字舆情与动态) and Monthly Reads on Languages (语言文字舆情月月读), are both internal e-journals run by the IAL, striving to “see language life through language opinions, and approaching

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language policies through the language situation.” They have run reports on the hot issues of 2010 regarding languages, such as the cancellation of language tests at four Shanghai universities in their independent entrance examinations, language problems on the second generation identification cards, a NPC representative’s proposal to block bad language on the Internet, Luohe municipality’s official document requiring its citizens to know a minimum of 500 traditional characters, Guangzhou’s “Preservation of Cantonese” incident, crisis in the writing of Chinese characters, the “de-Luxunization” in high school teaching materials, the overflow of the web expression “geili” (awesome, to empower), the General Administration of Press and Publication’s regulation over word usage in publications, etc.

1.5 Other journals There are other journals, too, that deal with the subject. For example, Language Reconstruction (语文建设) launched the column “New Observations on Language” in 2003, to explicate new words and expressions, and later the column “Regulation and Application” to explore the regulation of new words and expressions. It also reported on “Reciting the Classics” and other activities.

2 Websites 2.1 www.china-language.gov.cn/index.htm This website was launched in June 2002. Sponsored by the Ministry of Education’s State Language Commission and operated by the IAL, it reports on the State’s language policies to serve language life, to provide guidance on correct usage of the language, to improve language proficiency of the whole society, and to promote academic studies and idea exchanges on the subject. The website includes the following pages: Government Agencies, Policies, Bylaws and Standards, Language Work, Academic Communications, Language in History, Data Processing in the Chinese Language, Distance Education, Services, Opinions, and others. It is primarily concerned with publicizing the State’s principles and policies on languages, providing advice and information services, web-based distance education (including Putonghua training and evaluation and writing tests, etc.), networking the nation’s language management and related research. It aims at becoming a platform for issuing norms and standards and is a channel for opinion collection and exchange.

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2.2 http://nlp.ccnu.edu.cn/ This website was launched in 2005, sponsored by the State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center and operated by Huazhong Normal University. It reports mainly on the Center’s activities and research results, as well as related news of its sub-centers. It also reports on the annual “Chinese Language Inventory” activity, buzzwords, forums and conferences on linguistics, and the annual launch of Language Situation in China.

2.3 The six sub-center websites of the State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center From 2004 onward, the State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center set up six sub-centers, which are respectively the Print Media Language Subcenter (2004)1, the Web Media Language Sub-center (2005)2, the Audio Media Language Sub-center (2005)3, the Education and Teaching Material Language Subcenter (2005)4, the Overseas Chinese Research Center (2005)5, and the Minority Languages Sub-center (2010)6. Using IT technologies, each of these sub-centers undertakes to dynamically monitor a specific area of the language life in contemporary society. These tasks include reality checks and analyses on print media, web media and audio media, etc., reporting on developments in textbook language in the fields of basic education and of teaching Chinese as a second language, on development and utilization of overseas Chinese language resources, on minority languages and their mutations, and on the construction of bilingual (Chinese-minority language) text corpora and bilingual education, etc. All the above will supply information and references for strategic studies on the status of Chinese language use and related data-based analyses, as well as enable the State to make and remake its language policies.

2.4 http://www.yuyankaifa.com The China Center for Language Resource Development and Application (CCLRDA), directed by the MOE’s DLIA and operated by the Commercial Press, was established on December 29, 2008. The CCLRDA treats language as a resource, and 1 2 3 4 5 6

http://cnlr.blcu.edu.cn/. http://pop.clr.org.cn/. http://ling.cuc.edu.cn/. http://ncl.xmu.edu.cn/. http://www.globalhuayu.com/. http://cmli.cun.edu.cn/.

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seeks to transform it and the related knowledge into productive forces and cultural products. Aspiring to be “China’s R & D and demo base for the language industry”, the Center takes as its mission to get more people involved in more areas of linguistic studies and to raise the social profile of language studies, thereby channeling language life into a more healthy and harmonious direction. Currently, the Center’s website features contents of the e-journal Language Life in China, with plans for more contents to be added, such as “Studies on Language Life in China”, “Bibliography on Language Life”, “On-line Forum on Hot Issues in Language Life”, “Featured Interviews with Linguists”, “News about Language Life”, and “Lectures on Language Life”, etc. (Yu 2011)

2.5 http://www.huayuqiao.cn (overseas: http://huayuqiao.org)7 These websites were launched jointly by the Faculty of Arts at Jinan University and the Chinese Language Society of Hong Kong in May 2003. They carry reports on the latest developments and studies of the Chinese language life, and articles and books on the Chinese language, with the purpose of promoting communication among all users of the language. The website has won a good deal of attention among Chinese communities both at home and abroad.

3 Books and teaching materials 3.1 Contemporary Language Life Contemporary Language Life (当代语言生活), published by Jiangsu Education Press in 2006, is an experimental textbook. It was designed for an innovative high school course according to the guidelines in the Regular High School Chinese Language Curriculum (experimental). High schools in Jiangsu Province duly adopted this optional textbook in the same year, offering a new course by the same name. This marks the entry of “language life” into high school textbooks. Materials selected for the textbook include language phenomena closely connected with social life, and subjects of concern for today’s language life, such as the development of language, Chinese and other languages, buzzwords, appellations, legal language and advertising language, etc. Contemporary Language Life introduced major changes to the methods of teaching and learning 7 Website in China: http://www.huayuqiao.cn; outside China: http://huayuqiao.org.

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the Chinese language. Its publication was followed by other high school readers, such as A High School Reader on Contemporary Language Life (Jiangsu, elective) (2008)8, and Selected Readings on Contemporary Language Life: Elective Chinese Reader (2010).9

3.2 Green Paper on the Language Situation in China Series The Green Paper on the Language Situation in China, released by the State Language Commission, advocates the idea of “language service”, with the intent of providing active guidance for a harmonious language life. The series are of two types: Type A promulgates the soft norms of the language, and type B investigates and analyzes the language situation in China. Published type A works include the List of Commonly Used Words in Modern Chinese (Draft) (2008). And of type B, apart from the ten issues of The Language Situation in China, published from 2006 to 2010, there are Survey Data on the Situation of the Chinese Language (2006), Statistics on the Frequency of Chinese Characters Appearing in Classical Works (2008), A Comparative Analysis of Commonly Used Chinese Characters in the Chinese, Japanese and Korean Languages (2009), Survey Handbook of the Audio Database on China’s Language Resources – Chinese Dialects (2010), as well as the series 2006 New Words and Expressions in the Chinese Language (2007), 2007 New Words and Expressions in the Chinese Language (2008), 2008 New Words and Expressions in the Chinese Language (2009), and 2009 New Words and Expressions in the Chinese Language (2010).10

3.3 The New Era Minority Language Situation in China Study Series Part of the new era national language situation investigation and research program, The New Era Minority Language Situation in China Study Series were organized and compiled by the Innovation Center for Chinese Minority Languages and Culture Education, Border Area History and Geography Studies, assigned to “Project 985” at Minzu University of China. Published works in the Series 8 Written by High School Reader Writing Group. 2008. Jiangsu Wenyi Press. 9 Written by Regular High School Standard Experimental Textbooks: Elective Chinese Reader Writing Group. 2010. China Translation & Publishing Corporation. 10 All of them, with the exception of Survey Data on the Use of the Chinese Language (中国语言 文字使用情况调查资料), which was published by Yuwen Press, were published by the Commercial Press.

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include: The Jinuo Language: Status and Evolution (基诺族语言使用现状及其 演变, 2007), The Achang Language: Status and Evolution (阿昌族语言使用现状 及其演变, 2008), The Kazhuo (Yunnan Mongolian) Language: Status and Evolution (云南蒙古族喀卓人语言使用现状及其演变, 2008), The Yi (Town of Lishan, Yunnan) Language: Status and Evolution (云南里山乡彝族语言使用现状及其 演变, 2009), The Ximoluo Language: Status and Evolution (西摩洛语语言使用 现状及其演变, 2009), The Language of the Town of Yangjie (Yuanjian County): Status and Evolution (元江县羊街乡语言使用现状及其演变, 2009), The Buyi Language: Status and Evolution (布依族语言使用现状及其演变, 2009), The Moqidawoer Language: Status and Trend of Development (莫旗达斡尔族语言使 用现状与发展趋势, 2009), The Jingpo (Gengma County) Language: Status and Evolution (耿马县景颇族语言使用现状及其演变, 2010), etc., all published by the Commercial Press. These case studies examine how these minority languages are being used and how they have evolved in interaction with one another and with the Chinese language, as well as how they have mutated as a result of contacts with other languages.

3.4 The Internet Era Language Hot Points Series Modern IT means were used in the Internet Era Language Hot Points Series to promptly find a language’s hot points, describe how they have come to be, and tell their background stories, so readers can form their own views by learning and studying the gathered facts. (Li 2009) The more influential in the series include The Chinese Character is Kinda Vexed of Late. At a time when discussions were most heated over the Chinese characters, the Commercial Press published the work written by the Internet writer Yiqing who belongs to a private cultural group called “Mingbo Salon”. It even held a colloquium on September 18, 2009, to discuss the timing of the publication, rules of Chinese character simplification, proposals of restoring traditional characters and making minor adjustments to Chinese character fonts, etc. Using a cogent yet congenial style, Yiqing expressed in simple terms his views on the day’s hot issue, the “debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters”. He holds that it is a historical fact accepted by the world that Chinese writing is now simplified, and that the writing has entered into an era with simplified characters. The book was reprinted in the Qiushi Magazine, and brought a great deal of attention to language life among all social sectors.

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3.5 Other works on the language situation Other works on “language life” include Studies on the Language and Language Life across the Taiwan Strait (海峡两岸语言与语言生活研究)11, Researching the Language Situation in Yunnan Province (云南语言生活现状调查研究)12, Building a Harmonious Multi-Lingual Life: Proceedings of the International Symposium on National Languages (构建多语和谐的社会语言生活—民族语文国际学术研讨 会论文集)13, Urban Language Life and Language Mutation Studies (城市语言生 活与语言变异研究)14, Dictionary Compilation and Language Life: Proceedings of the Fifth National Symposium on Language Reference Books (辞书编纂与语言 生活—第五届全国语文辞书学术研讨会论文集)15, On Chinese Language Planning (中国语言规划论)16, On Chinese Language Planning – Continued (中国语 言规划续论)17, Studies on the Situation and Evolution of Chinese Minority Languages (中国少数民族语言使用现状及其演变研究)18, etc.

4 Academic papers A search through periodicals published between 2000 and 2010 on cnki.net (中国知网) with the key word “language life” returned 111 articles. The result is listed in Figure 1. 11 Compiled by the Studies on the Language and Language Life across the Taiwan Strait Editorial Board. 2007. Commercial Press. 12 Luo, Mingdong (罗明东), Cui, Mei (崔梅), & Zhou, Yun (周芸) (ed.). 2007. Studies on the Language and Language Life across the Taiwan Strait (云南语言生活现状调查研究). Yunnan University Press. 13 Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦) ed. 2009. Building a Harmonious Multi-lingual Life: Proceedings of the International Symposium on National Languages (构建多语和谐的社会语言生活—民族语文国 际学术研讨会论文集). Minzu Press. 14 Wang, Li (王立). 2009. Urban Language Life and Language Mutation Studies (城市语言生活 与语言变异研究). The China Social Sciences Press. 15 The Language Dictionary Specialty Board under the Lexicographical Society of China, and the School of Journalism of Anhui Universtiy (ed.). 2009. Dictionary Compilation and Language Life: Proceedings of the Fifth National Symposium on Language Reference Books (辞书编纂与语 言生活—第五届全国语文辞书学术研讨会论文集). Anhui University Press. 16 Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2010. On Chinese Language Planning (中国语言规划论). Commercial Press. 17 Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2010. On Chinese Language Planning – Continued (中国语言规划续论). Commercial Press. 18 Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦). 2010. Studies on the Situation and Evolution of Chinese Minority Languages (中国少数民族语言使用现状及其演变研究). Minzu Press.

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Figure 1: “Language life” search results on CNKI’s database.

Figure 2: “Language life” on CNKI’s database: subject areas studied.

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The Diagram points to the year 2005 as a point of division for the attention on “language life”. There was limited mention of the term before that point, but beginning with the publication of The Language Situation in China in 2006, “language life” started to draw increasing attention as more people got interested in this new area of study in the field of linguistics. The above figures show that the attention on “language life” in recent years goes into the following main areas: Green Paper on the Language Situation in China, harmonious language life planning, community language life, language situation, language life among minorities, language life among different social groups, symposia on language life, and language life among overseas Chinese.

5 Symposia A number of symposia on language life were held in 2010. They included: the First Symposium on Language Life in China, the Fifth Cross-Strait Symposium on the Modern Chinese Language, 2010 Forum on China’s Foreign Language Strategies, Forum on Language Resource Monitoring and Service, the Fourth High-Level Forum on Language and the State, High-Level Forum on Policies and Planning of Foreign Language Teaching in China and Abroad, the Association of Chinese Language Scholars in China and Abroad, among others. The subject of language life has drawn a lot of attention not only from within the field of linguistics, but also from other fields such as political and cultural circles as well as the media. With a higher frequency of conferences, ever-refined divisions of subjects, and being increasingly cross-disciplinary, these discussions have supplied ample material whereby the public can learn of the language situation in China. Furthermore, they have provided valuable references whereby related departments can make more informed and helpful language policies.

References Ji, Chuanbo (汲传波). 2010. Social repercussions of The Language Situation in China 《 ( 中国语 言生活状况报告》的社会反响). The Language Situation in China Task Force (ed.). The Language Situation in China (2009) 《 ( 中国语言生活状况报告》2009上编), Vol. 1, 206– 221. Commercial Press. Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2000. Language life (语言生活). Journal of Huazhong Normal University (华中师大报), 1.

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Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2009. Mastering our language life, preface to The Internet Era Language Hot Points series (把握住我们的语言生活—网络时代语文热点丛书序). http://www. age06.com/gardenportal/Detail.aspx?InfoGuid=a93b49e1-574b-4537-a31d-370fe58b068f. Yu, Genyuan (于根元). 2011. Preparation for China’s language resource web started. huanxingyuyan’s blog. http://www.huanxingyuyan.blog.163.com/blog/static/ 8368054520110218511233/. Translated by Tao Zhijian (陶志健) [email protected]

III Language Focuses

He Rui (何瑞)

17 Chinese characters: Traditional versus simplified debate Keywords: traditional characters, simplified characters, reintroduction of traditional characters, Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, debate, traditional culture, National People’s Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference, information era, ancient books, to abolish, promotion.

1 Background The debate over the traditional vs simplified Chinese characters started long ago and did not cease even after the Scheme for Simplifying Chinese Characters was officially published in 1956 by the State Council. As it involves both domestic and overseas Chinese speakers, the scheme was widely disputed at the very beginning. In recent years, it became a hot topic again. In mainland China, where the Simplified Chinese Characters (hereafter SC) are adopted, some members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and public figures put forward many proposals concerning the restoration of the Traditional Chinese Characters (hereafter TC), which are used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and in overseas Chinese communities. Some say that TC are the source of China’s history and culture and therefore SC violate Chinese culture and by introducing alphabetization as well, the country went astray. Others believe that the transition from TC to SC was an inexorable trend of history and contributed to an easier access to culture, therefore the Chinese character education should be based on the latter. Still others suggest reading TC while writing SC and extending the application of the former further would be best. Chinese society is more globalized than ever before and the choice between TC and SC has become a question of considerable concern. (Danche 2009)

2 The proposal for the reintroduction of TC Since 2008, voices have been heard from time to time in the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference, advocating

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the restoration of TC. On March 22, CPPCC members from the literary and art circles jointly submitted A Proposal for Additional Education regarding Traditional Chinese Characters in Primary Schools, recommending TC teaching in primary education. In March 2009, Pan Qinglin (潘庆林), CPPCC member and ViceChairman of Tianjin Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, submitted A Proposal for the Reintroduction of Traditional Characters through the Gradual Abandonment of Simplified Characters, and he also argued for a 10-year transition period to complete the scheme. While different in emphasis, both proposals stressed that the use of TC was in the national interest. NPC member Eryuehe (二月河) lent his endorsement by saying “We would be sidetracked compared with Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other Chinese diaspora of the world if we go further along the road of SC,” and proposed to revert to the traditional vertical typesetting with TC. (Liang 2009) Laoyu (老愚) quoted in his Blog the well-known linguist, Professor Ji Xianlin (季羡林) from Peking University, saying that: “Chinese characters have played an immense role in the extension of Chinese civilization; all the information of Chinese culture is conveyed in classical Chinese with traditional characters. For this reason, it is wrong to use the pretext of efficiency as justification to simplify and Romanize Chinese characters. Why should we abandon what our ancestors felt was so convenient for thousands of years?”. (Laoyu 2009) Within seventeen days he received more than 260,000 hits of support for the reintroduction of TC. On 6 February 2009, writer Wang Gan (王干) posted in his Sina Blog: “Simplified characters are ‘cheap copy’ Chinese,” holding them responsible for the damage done to the root of Chinese culture. He subsequently published his articles “Simplified characters are a nevus on China’s face” and “It is rehabilitation rather than trouble-making to abolish simplified characters”, and he proposed a 50-year scheme to implement his abandonment plan. He claimed it was “high time we use the ‘orthodox’ traditional characters in harmony with the brilliant splendors of Chinese civilization.” On 15 April of the same year, Zhu Dake (朱大可) claimed in Southern Weekly that TC should be called the “ontological characters” and SC “Mao-style characters” because they are the result of political games with original sin and are a symbol of revolution, modernity and rigid ruthlessness. (Zhu 2009) Mai Tianshu, producer of 5,000 Years of Chinese Characters, asserted that TC would be reintroduced eventually since they do not affect the accuracy and efficiency of expressions as can be seen in the case of Taiwan and Hong Kong. (Chen 2009) Opinions of such type have aroused widespread public controversy. Taken together, the proposal of restoring TC is based on the following arguments:

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(1) While SC reduce the number of strokes in writing and are convenient for the less educated, they violate the scientific nature of the writing system and sacrifice the internal consistence of Chinese characters; (2) SC were the product of politics and intended to serve as a transition to the ultimate eradication of characters; (3) SC are plain and crude without artistic beauty and cultural connotations; (4) SC have been a hindrance to the inheritance of Chinese culture and led to its fracture since they cause unnecessary confusion in reading the ancient Chinese classics; (5) SC were introduced in the 1950s with the aim to eliminate illiteracy and are now out-dated for this purpose, and thus no longer necessary, while TC are still as important as they always were; (6) With the wider availability of personal computers and the advancement of input methods, the use of TC is no longer a daunting task; (7) TC are convenient for all Chinese in their communication; they are a manifestation of the national consciousness and thus a factor in facilitating the cross-strait reunification.

3 Support for SC Pan’s proposal of SC abolition was shocking and caused quite a splash. The NPC and other CPPCC members objected to it. (Pan & Jiang 2009) Angry voices came from all walks of society, particularly from major websites and well-known blogs and forums where criticism was fierce, and it was described as retroactive. On 12 March 2009, the News Center of the 2nd Session of the 11th NPC held a press conference in which MOE Minister Zhang Xinsheng (章新胜) expressed the official stance: “There are laws of language and writing and what the Ministry does will be in line with the laws”. (Yin 2009) This showed the Chinese government’s determination to further promote SC and use them according to the laws. Professionals and experts alike were against the proposal of abolition. On 3 February 2009, Professor Wang Liqun (王立群) at Henan University published his article on Sina Blog named Viewing the simplification of Chinese characters from the angle of the First Emperor of Qin’s unification of Chinese scripts. In response to the quote from Ji Xianlin, he wrote that SC agreed with the principles of simplicity and convention, therefore the simplification of Chinese characters and their promotion were correct and should, at this point, never be accused of destroying Chinese culture since the form of the characters is mainly determined by their practicality in communication.

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On 16 February, Professor Su Peicheng (苏培成) at Peking University was interviewed on Kwangmyong Net and he talked to the public about the SC era and expressed his hope that his audience would pay more attention to their daily language use. The language we use every day is, on the whole, suited to the requirements of creating a well-off society in the digital age. Ren Jiyu (任继愈), a well-known Chinese scholar and honorary curator of China National Library, pointed out that SC came into existence out of necessity and therefore it is impossible to abolish them and resume TC. He suggested that learning to read TC was quite enough.1 Zhou Youguang (周有光), a well-known Chinese linguist and one of the devisers of the Chinese Phonetic System, explained that both SC and TC jointly serve as the vehicles of ancient texts, and SC help rather than hinder in that process; the standard Chinese characters, a third of which are SC, are convenient in common use and therefore logically constitute the cultural heritage. (Zhou & Qi 2009) On 20 February and 16 March, Beijing News Broadcast held two discussions in its program Bo Wen Tian Xia (博闻天下, Knowledge about the World), on the choice between TC and SC and the TC versus SC debate, inviting Pei Yu (裴钰), a senior media figure, sociologist Huang Jisu (黄纪苏), and Sima Pingbang (司马平邦), a renowned blogger, to meet the audience. The following common views were articulated: (i) The TC-SC debate was pointless; (ii) SC did not cause a cultural fracture; (iii) SC mostly conform to character-formation; (iv) it is not as difficult for overseas Chinese to accept SC as was conceived; (v) both TC reading and SC promotion should be encouraged on the basis of cultural diversity.2 The Chinese writer Wang Meng (王蒙) pointed out that both TC and SC have the right to exist, and that the debate itself was a cultural topic. He offered an example of the absurd confusion caused by the SC-TC reversion: 山穀 (shangu, meaningless) should be 山谷 (shangu, ‘valley’) because the homophones 穀 (gu, ‘cereal’) and 谷 (gu, ‘valley’) were originally both complex forms with different meanings. (Jiang 2009) On 3 June, Guangming Daily published an article entitled “On the development of simplified characters” to demonstrate that some simplified characters existed long ago. (Cheng 2009) On the 17th of the same month, People’s Daily commented on the debate and pointed out that the TC-SC divergence had nothing to do with politics, but rather resulted in two variants of the same system that represents and shapes Chinese culture. (Mu 2009) 1 See Culture interview: Ren Jiyu on the issue of Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters (文化访谈录：任继愈看简化字与繁体字问题). http://space.tv.cctv.com/video/VIDE1238551717125640, 01/04/2009. 2 See To choose which one, Traditional or Simplified? (繁简汉字究竟应该如何取舍?), http://www.am828.com.cn/bwtx/200902/t20090220_492130.htm, 20/02/2009.

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In July, Yiqing (一清) published his book Chinese characters are a little boring – Chinese characters: The pros and cons of traditional and simplified,3 which interprets the history of the Chinese character reform with humor and enjoyed a favorable reception. On the whole, the ardent advocates of simplified characters believe that (1) Simplification is a major trend in the developing course of Chinese characters and conforms to the law of linguistic evolution; some simplified characters existed in ancient times and 80% of the modern ones are inherited; the process of simplifying Chinese characters is an operation of wide and frequent consultation and the outcome is, therefore, mostly scientific and reasonable. (2) SC are legitimized by the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and should not be rescinded. (3) SC are easy to learn and use. They are beneficial in the wider access to education and in the improvement of the people’s cultural life and their social status should not be undervalued. (4) SC do not cause a cultural fracture; the cultural function of TC should not be over-exaggerated, for being able to read TC does not necessarily guarantee the understanding of ancient books or a direct inheritance of culture. (5) With the growing contact among Chinese all over the world, SC have been gradually accepted abroad and the writing of them is constantly expanded in range and scope, therefore they do not adversely affect the cross-strait unification. (6) SC promotion does not mean the abolition of TC. To the contrary, it is stipulated in Article 17 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language that the latter may be used “(1) in cultural relics and historic sites; (2) in the variant forms used in surnames; (3) in works of art such as calligraphy and seal cutting; (4) in handwritten inscriptions and signboards; (5) where their use is required in publishing, teaching and research; and (6) in other special circumstances where their use is approved by the relevant departments under the State Council.” (7) SC have their flaws, but it is likely they will be treated reasonably well in the future. (Wang 2009)

4 Survey on the debate The public and media were also closely following the debate and there was a virtually nationwide participation in the discussion. On 3 March 2009, Southern 3 Commercial Press (Beijing), 2009.

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Weekly and sohu.com jointly conducted a survey on the proposed reintroduction of TC and it showed that of the 50,000-odd votes and 13,636 online comments, approximately 41% were for and 54% against. (Jiang 2009) According to the data of CCTV’s channel Today’s Observation, the percentage was 39% for, 42% against and 19% neutral.4 Online votes on china-language.gov.cn from 15 March to 20 April showed 39% for and 61% against. Computations made by sina.com are shown in Table 1: Table 1: Survey on the proposal to resume TC Number

Item

Poll

Percentage

1

Against: The adoption of SC is the national policy; TC make reading and writing difficult and adversely affect cultural transmission.

86,811

60.7

2

For: SC compromise the beauty of Chinese characters and sabotage their artistic and scientific nature; the reintroduction of TC helps spread traditional culture.

50,265

35.2

3

It is hard to choose.

5,847

4.1

Source: http://survey.news.sina.com.cn/result/31243.html, 4 March–30 May 2009

On 13 March, jcrb.com and tencent.com jointly organized a NPC & CPPCC Hearing, inviting Wang Gan (王干), editor-in-chief of Literature, Pan Qinglin, CPPCC member Zhang Ming (张鸣), professor at Renmin University of China, and Wuyue Sanren (五岳散人), Tencent columnist, to a face-to-face discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of TC and SC. Both positive and negative opinions were penetrating and interesting. On 13 July, CCTV’s Xiaocui Shuo Shi (小崔说事) made a program on the TC and SC debate, inviting the linguists Su Peicheng, Wang Gan and Xiao Qihong (萧启宏) to a hot and live exchange of their views. Various views were obtained from the intense debates of experts and celebrities and from public criticism and comments. Regarding both TC and SC, extremes should be avoided; SC are not completely impeccable and therefore wiping out SC or treating SC as flawless is shortsighted. On one hand, TC have their value in cultural inheritance but on the other, SC have never caused any cultural fractures at all. Both are the result of historical continuity and development, and both are integral components of the culture of Chinese characters. The former are used in special areas like ancient documents and calligraphy, 4 Traditional and simplified Chinese characters (繁体简体字). http://jingji.cntv.cn/program/ jinriguancha/20100226/101735.shtml, 05/03/2009.

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Figure 1: NPC & CPPCC hearing: TC or SC, which is better? Source: http://news.qq.com/a/20090313/001668.htm, 13 March 2009

Figure 2: Xiaocui Shuo Shi: Hanzi (汉字) or Hanzi (漢字)? * Source: http://news.qq.com/a/20090313/001668.htm, 13 March 2009 *Note: 汉字 and 漢字 are both read hanzi, meaning ‘Chinese character’; the former is the simplified form and the latter is the traditional

while the latter simplify everyday life. Therefore, it is necessary to respect TC for their role in cultural accumulation and inheritance, and to realistically see the function of SC as well as the modern tradition they have established.

5 Epilogue The ebb and flow of the TC-SC debate has basically resulted from the fact that the public did not know much about the nation’s language policy, nor of the

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history or the value of Chinese characters and their development trajectory. In mainland China, SC are essential in the common writing system defined by the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and must, therefore, be strictly adhered to. Further work should strengthen both the raising of public awareness of the relevant regulations and policies, and the spread of linguistic knowledge through newspapers, television and radio broadcasts, and other public media. A beneficial attempt in this respect is A History of Chinese Characters, a televised documentary produced by Shandong Television Station with the endorsement from the State Language Commission, which was broadcast from 25 to 31 January 2009. It was the first television program to have demonstrated the origination and development of Chinese characters and it has exercised a favorable influence on society.

References Chen, Yiming (陈一鸣). 2009. Are the traditional Chinese characters eventually restored? An interview with Mai Tianshu, producer and copywriting instructor of the 5000 Years of Chinese Characters (终将要回归繁体字? —专访〈汉字五千年〉总策划兼撰稿指导麦天枢). Southern Weekly. http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/epaper/nfzm/content/20090416/ArticelD22002FM.htm, 16 April 2009. Cheng, Rong (程荣). 2009. The origination and development of simplified Chinese characters (简体字源话短长). Guangming Daily. http://news.xinhuanet.com/theory/2009-06/03/ content_11478443.htm, 3 June 2009. Danche, Kuangren (单车狂人). 2009. Assessing modern education in China through the debate about traditional and simplified Chinese characters (从繁简汉字之争看中国现代教育). http://bbs.voc.com.cn/viewthread.php?tid=1802154&highlight=%BA%BA%D7%D6, 18 February 2009. Jiang, Xun (江迅). 2009. Voices to restore the traditional Chinese characters are heard in China (神州出现恢复繁体字呼声). Yazhou Zhoukan, 23 (12). http://www.yzzk.com/cfm/Content_Archive.cfm?Channel=ax&Path=378730641/12ax2.cfm, 29 March 2009. Laoyu (老愚). 2009. Ji Xianlin on Chinese indigenous knowledge (季羡林老人谈国学). http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_46dedccd0100cljl.html?tj=1, 02 February 2009. Liang, Xinhui (梁新慧). 2009. Eryuehe: Proposing an early restoration of the traditional Chinese characters and vertical typesetting (二月河：建议尽快恢复繁体字和传统的竖排版模式). Orient Today. http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cul/news/2009/03-13/1601629.shtml, 13 March 2009. Mu, Ming (木鸣). 2009. It does harm rather than good to politicize the differences between traditional and simplified Chinese characters (政治化汉字“简繁之异” 有害无益). People’s Daily. http://news.cctv.com/china/20090617/102234.shtml, 17 June 2009. Pan, Gaofeng (潘高峰) & Jiang, Yuezhong (江跃中). 2009. Because CPPCC members expressed disapproval one after another, it is difficult to restore traditional characters (全国政协委 员纷纷“拍砖”恢复繁体字孤掌难鸣). Xinmin Evening News, 6 March 2009, p. 18.

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Wang, Ning (王宁). 2009. The debate over the simplified vs traditional Chinese characters (从 汉字改革史看“简繁之争”). Beijing Daily. http://www.ccsc.gov.cn/whrd/200905/ t20090506_4602467.html, 4 May 2009. Yin, Anxue (尹安学). 2009. Ministry of Education: The use of simplified Chinese characters is based on the law (教育部：坚持简体字有法可依). Yangcheng Evening News, 13 March 2009, p. 4. Zhou, Youguang (周有光) & Qi, Xiaoqin (綦晓芹). 2009. Zhou Youguang’s views on traditional and simplified Chinese characters (周有光的汉字繁简观). Social Sciences Weekly. http:// www.360doc.com/content/09/1120/11/29559_9398747.shtml, 14 May 2009. Zhu, Dake (朱大可). 2009. Chinese character revolution and cultural break up (汉字革命和文 化断裂). Southern Weekly, 16 April 2009, p. 22. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

He Rui (何瑞)

18 Debate on The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters Keywords: The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters, traditional character, adjustment, Ministry of Education, popularization, reintroduction, standardization, simplified character, formulation.

1 The Table formulation and promulgation On April 1, 2001, the State Language Commission started the research and formulation of The Table of Standard Chinese Characters (which was later renamed The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters, hereafter referred to as “The Character Table”). (Website of the Ministry of Education 2009) It promotes the standardization of the commonly used Chinese language to suit people’s language life in the digital era, and meets their need of social development; in addition, it implements the Law of the Commonly Used Spoken and Written Chinese Language. It took eight years to complete “The Character Table”, and experts and scholars taking part in the discussions for its approval met more than 3,000 times. “The Character Table” lists 8,300 characters arranged in three grades, respectively, to satisfy the need of elementary education and cultural popularization, the need for characters required by text printing and publication, and the need of relevant special fields closely related to people’s lives (such as proper names of people and places, scientific and technical terms, and textbooks in classical Chinese). The Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission jointly issued an “Announcement for Openly Soliciting Opinions and Suggestions on The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters” on August 12, 2009, which attracted much attention and aroused a positive response from persons of various fields and overseas Chinese as well. By August 31, the deadline for opinion solicitation, a total of 2,919 responses had been received, of which 1,688 were emails, 157 letters, and 67 faxes. (Leading Group in Charge of the Work 2009) The suggestions received were mainly concerning the character patterns, supplemental characters, variants, simplified and traditional forms, and their actual application.

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2 Focus of attention 2.1 Character Font “The Character Table” makes some minute adjustments to 44 characters whose original forms do not conform to the rules of character formulation so as to make them consistent with the writing rules. However, as the work of adjustment is highly professional and also because of insufficient explanation and guiding instructions, it resulted in some complaints from the public. According to a survey carried out by Sina from August 19 to September 10, 2009, 91.9% of the people surveyed were opposed to the adjusted forms of the 44 characters, while 4% supported the adjustment, or said that they “did not care”1. Sure, there were also a number of professional people who supported the adjustment of the character forms.

Figure 1: Examples of the 44 Adjusted Characters Source: China Junior Website. 2009. Experts of the Ministry of Education: It is false information that the approval rate of 67% for the adjustment of character forms had not been reported (教育部专家：汉字调整并未上报赞成率67%是误传). http://kids.youth.cn/xzbb/jskx/ 200909/t20090902_1011119.htm, 2 September 2009

A comprehensive review suggests the following reasons for the objections to the characters’ form change: (1) The majority of the 44 characters adjusted are frequently used ones, so their alteration might cause inconvenience in writing as they do not tally with people’s writing habit; (2) It affects teaching and increases the difficulties for students in their exams; (3) The adjustment of character forms is an unnecessary social burden on the public; (4) Adjustment of character forms is a systems engineering project, and 44 characters account for only a very small percentage of all the characters used, so the alteration of so few characters might cause confusion in their usage. It might be better without such adjustment.

1 Sina website. http://survey.news.sina.com.cn/result/36666.html.

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The reasons offered by people who supported the adjustment: (1) The adjustment of the characters’ physical form is a rational process and the altered characters conform more with the logic of character formation. Adjustments, therefore, serve as a kind of supplement and improvement of the original standard of Chinese characters; (2) The scope of characters to be adjusted should be expanded. There are inconsistencies and omissions in the table.

2.2 Newly reintroduced characters “The Character Table” answers the need for social development and is based on the findings of careful investigation and study that relied on the results of previous studies. The newly reintroduced characters aim at providing added convenience for people. “The Character Table” includes some special characters used in people’s daily lives, such as 埌 (lang, meaning “vacant expanse”), 堽 (gang, used in a place name), and 孖 (zi or ma, meaning “pair” or “twin”). (Liu 2009) But some people suggested that more characters should be included in the table, and statistics show that many people raised such proposals. The characters suggested were mainly used in proper names of people and places, scientific and technical terms, and dialects, such as 頔, 奤, 岕, 峇, 曱, and 甴.

2.3 The problem of variants To respect social habits and in response to the people’s need for characters, “The Character Table” includes 51 variant characters listed in The First Table of the Sorting of Variant Characters, mainly used for personal names and place names, such as 喆 (zhe), 淼 (miao), 堃 (kun), 昇 (sheng), etc. Explicit requirements for the usage of variant characters were put forward instead of simple instructions like “eliminate through selection” or “abolish”. “The Character Table” confirms these characters as valid and, at the same time, defines the range of their usage. This was acclaimed by a majority of the feedback audience, which deemed the reintroduction of these variants in accord with the actual need of society.

2.4 The problem of the simplified vs. traditional form Aiming for social stability in the use of characters, “The Character Table” does not revive the traditional forms of characters already simplified. It strictly limits the range of analogized simplifications within “The Character Table”, thus avoiding overgeneralization. Characters not listed in “The Character Table” can be used under certain conditions, but are not to be analogically simplified. A majority of people supported this stipulation, though some people were against

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it and argued that further simplification should be carried out. As for the reintroduction of the six characters such as 锺 (zhong), 剋 (ke), etc., opinions differed as well. Some supported it and said that traditional forms should be restored so that every simplified character was listed in parallel with its traditional counterpart, avoiding that different traditional characters are optimized as one simplified character. They insisted the restoration of certain traditional characters was only the beginning of the process. Others did not agree and worried that it might cause confusion in the understanding of the state’s policy on characters. However, most people were concerned about the effect of the simplified vs. traditional form conundrum on teaching and people’s lives, and also about the direction of any future policies.

2.5 Application of “The Character Table” Most people had the following concerns after “The Character Table” was approved and applied: The impact it would have, what its consequences would be, and how it could be efficiently improved and complemented.

3 Implications “The Character Table” is a basic standard of great importance, closely related with the development of the country’s culture, education, science and technology, as well as people’s daily lives. The maintenance of the language and its script must pay attention to its mass base besides following the state’s policies and academic concerns. Some experts thought that extensively soliciting opinions and suggestions was a good way to give expression to its great importance for the public. (Shan 2009) The formulation of “The Character Table” was based on extensive statistics and aimed at meeting the requirements of a common character use by adhering to a strict modern standard. Standardization is the essential attribute of “The Character Table”. The propagation of relevant policies and a further popularization of the language and script changes should be carried out efficiently before the table is released. Furthermore, preparations for exchanging ideas and opinions, the collection of feedback, adjustment and improvement of the table itself should also be done beforehand. The ongoing propagation and popularization of the table and a detailed guidance for its application should be continued after its release.

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First of all, it must be made clear that the table aims at “standardization” and not “abolition”. The wording “‘The Character Table’ does not reintroduce the traditional forms of characters” refers to the instruction that traditional forms of characters should not be used in the public domain of school textbooks, the media, or government documents, which require standard usage. However, traditional forms can still be used in the publication of ancient books and artistic calligraphy, and also in the academic discourse. (Gao 2009) Secondly, the notion that a “standard for service” should be fostered. The formulation of a standard is aimed at serving the public, and therefore, both its scientific and social attribute should be taken into consideration. The formulation of “The Character Table” is not at all meant to limit people’s right to use the language, but rather to fundamentally solve problems of daily language use, improve efficiency, and further the adaptation to and promotion of social progress.

References Gao, Fusheng (高福生). Would, after standardization, 8,000 characters be enough? (规范之后8 000字够用吗?). Shenzhen Special Zone Daily. http://sztqb.sznews.com/html/2009-04/16/ content_588262.htm, 16 April 2009. Leading Group in Charge of the Work. 2009. Notice declaring the end for soliciting opinions and suggestions concerning The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters (《通用规范汉 字表》公开征求意见工作结束公告). http://www.china-language.gov.cn/14/2009_9_3/ 1_14_4312_0_1251944375098.html, 2 September 2009. Liu, Feifeng (刘飞锋). 2009. Difficult characters of common use in Guangxi like 埌 (lang), 堽 ( gang), 孖 (zi, ma) might be keyboarded with one tap (“埌” “堽” “孖” 等广西常用 “难字” 今后有望一敲即出). Nanguo Morning News. http://ngzb.gxnews.com.cn/html/ 2009-08/18/node_46.htm, 18 August 2009. Shan, Sanya (单三娅). 2009. Cao Xianzhuo, Chairman of the Expert Committee for The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters, says in an exclusive interview with this journalist that minute adjustments of Chinese characters should take into consideration the opinions of the majority (《通用规范汉字表》专家委员会主任委员曹先擢接受本报记者独家专访 时认为汉字微调要考虑大多数人的意见). Guangming Daily. http://www.gmw.cn/ 01gmrb/2009-09/08/content_976844.htm, 8 September 2009. Website of the Ministry of Education. 2009. Wang Cuiye, Wang Lijun, and Chen Shuangxin on the impact of The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters on people’s lives as guests of People’s Network (王翠叶、王立军、陈双新做客人民网谈〈通用规范汉字表〉对百姓 生活的影响). http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/24/info1250069484467324.htm, 12 August 2009. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Liu Jingwen (刘靖文)

19 A heated discussion on the “crisis in writing Chinese characters” Keywords: writing Chinese characters, Character Amnesia. The year 2010 saw a heated discussion among various social sectors about a common phenomenon described as “Characters slip from one’s memory as one picks up the pen” (ti bi wang zi). Some people believe that such a phenomenon hinders the spread and advancement of the Chinese culture as Chinese characters are its most prominent symbolic representation. (Zhou N. 2010) On the other hand, other people think such “Character Amnesia”, which accompanies the wider use of computers, is one of the inevitable changes brought about by new technologies. They argue that there is no need to worry about this kind of development.

1 The factors accounting for the change As computers have seen wider use in primary and middle school teaching, fewer and fewer people take Chinese handwriting seriously. As a result, many students tend to have poor handwriting. This worried some deputies of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body. In March 2010, they submitted a joint proposal to the Conference for enhancing the teaching of Chinese handwriting among students. (CPPCC Online 2010) In the proposal, they expressed grave concern that schools fail to pay due attention to the skill of writing Chinese characters, noting that poor handwriting and miswritten characters are quite common among the younger generation, and this is also true even for masters and doctorate students. They proposed that efforts be made to strengthen the teaching of handwriting by arousing public awareness of its significance and making it subject to a formal assessment in schools. Chinese character handwriting should also be integrated into the professional training of teachers, aiming to deal with these concerns. The proposal has drawn support from other members of the CPPCC and the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament. Wang Wenzhang (王文章), Vice Minister of Culture, suggested that the teaching of Chinese handwriting should be vigorously advocated not only in primary and secondary schools, but also in

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universities. (Wang 2010) Zhan Guoshu (詹国枢), former editor-in-chief of the People’s Daily (overseas edition), maintains that handwriting, as one of the symbols of the Chinese culture, should be included in the primary curriculum. (Gao 2010)

2 Social survey 2.1 Social survey Some organizations and media outlets conducted a survey on this common phenomenon of “Character Amnesia”. In mid-April 2010, having been entrusted by the China Youth Daily, minyi.net.cn, an online pollster and ePanel Inc., a market survey company in Beijing conducted a survey on problems concerning writing Chinese characters. The survey shows that 30.89% of the respondents said they still have to write Chinese characters very often in their daily lives, and 39.73% said they have some chances to write with a pen. About 21.92% said they have few chances to do so, while 7.46% said they seldom bother to write Chinese characters. A total of 87.73% of the respondents admitted having difficulties with writing Chinese characters. (1daocha.com 2010) It is widely agreed that when there are fewer chances of writing Chinese characters, more and more people tend to suffer from “Character Amnesia”, and they often miswrite the characters as well. In a test, participants were asked to write down the Chinese sentence: “Although I’m working in a place with a charming scenery, I feel so lonely that I choose to job-hop”. It turned out that 95% of the participants failed to write down, or write correctly, the two Chinese characters for “charming” (旖旎), and 54% and 65% of them failed to write down or write correctly either of the two Chinese characters that mean “lonely” (寂寞). Some 19% even failed to write down the Chinese character for “hop” (跳). In another survey, conducted by a reporter among students of the 2007 journalism class at the College of Journalism and Communication, Shanghai International Studies University, only four of 26 students in the class, or about 15% of the total, said they were not burdened by “Character Amnesia”. However, when the four were asked to write five Chinese words, including “yaoshi” (钥匙, key), “hanxuan” (寒暄, exchange of amenities), “penti” (喷嚏, sneezing), “lata” (邋遢, sloppy), and “aimei” (暧昧, ambiguous), two of them failed the test. (Liberation Daily and Liberation Daily Online 2010) On November 5, 2010, the Guangming Daily sponsored a questionnaire survey on people’s attitude toward Chinese handwriting in the era of the Internet, with

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a lottery draw as an incentive to take part. The questionnaire covered many aspects of the issue, such as the current situation of Chinese handwriting, the impact of the crisis in writing Chinese characters, and the ways to tackle the crisis.1 The survey indicated that 44.25% of the respondents regard their handwriting skill as poor, 41.52% admitted to suffer from “Character Amnesia”, and 14.23% said they often miswrite characters. (Guangming Daily Online 2010)

2.2 Foreign media reports How the Chinese view their performance in writing Chinese characters has also caught the attention of some foreign media organizations. In a recent article the British newspaper The Guardian noted that many young netizens in China and Japan have forgotten how to write Chinese and Japanese characters. The paper attributed the phenomenon to an excessive dependence on alphabet-based input methods when using computers and mobile phones. Its survey showed that this phenomenon, which was described as “Character Amnesia”, is very common in China and caused widespread worries among the young about the future of their country’s time-honored writing system. Similarly, on July 12，2010, the Los Angeles Times in the United States featured a long essay, entitled “China worries about losing its character(s)”. The story noted that “Texting and typing are replacing the elaborate strokes that make up written Chinese. And when it comes to jotting down a few words, more Chinese are realizing they can’t remember exactly how”. The essay was translated into Chinese and picked up by many Chinese media outlets and sparked wide discussions. The articles related to this discussion can be found in a number of major news portals and websites such as the People’s Daily Online, Xinhuanet, Sina. com.cn, and Sohu.com.

3 An encounter of different ideas 3.1 Is “Character Amnesia” progress or regression? According to a survey by the Guangming Daily, 92.49% of the respondents believed that “Character Amnesia”, if allowed to become widespread without check, would hinder the inheritance transmission and the spread of the Chinese culture, while 7.51% considered it didn’t matter. (Guangming Daily Online 2010) 1 http://topics.gmw.cn/hzsx.htm.

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A middle school teacher in Beijing recalled how his first-year upper secondary school students fared in a small test he gave them. The students were asked to jot down the Chinese numerals from 1 to 10 in their capital form, also “gang” (港), one of the two characters that form the word “Hong Kong”, and “xi” (兮) , an auxiliary word taken from a line in a poem that means “misfortune may be a blessing in disguise”. Unfortunately, the test results turned out to be far from satisfactory, with most of the students unable to write the characters correctly or simply failing to jot them down. (Zhang 2010) According to some researchers, a computer, because of its own limitations, can never take the place of handwriting as far as written language communication is concerned. People who use computers for word processing without any training in handwriting can only recognize characters by their contours. As a result, they tend to make many mistakes when they are asked to write with their hand. It stands to reason why some employers ask their job applicants, even those with a doctorate degree, to fill in application forms in their own handwriting, as part of the test, when they plan to recruit new staff. People’s diminishing ability to write Chinese characters is bound to affect their recognition and application of the characters, and their declining comprehensive competence will have a negative impact on Chinese culture. Some scholars noted that the biggest problem for writing with a computer is that it lacks a sense of solemnity that often goes with handwriting, which has lowered the standard of the written language and greatly eroded the quality of academic papers and literary works. (Zhou H. 2010) To some scholars, however, the worries about the declining ability to write Chinese characters are quite unfounded. “This is the inevitable consequence of new technologies and quite normal. For most people, ‘Character Amnesia’ is only transient, and they will refresh their memory of how to write these characters afterwards by consulting a dictionary, browsing on a mobile phone or a computer. The phenomenon is unlikely to affect their ability to use the characters, much less to hinder the inheritance and spread of Chinese characters,” they argued. (CPPCC Online 2010)

3.2 Why is there a crisis in writing Chinese characters? In the view of many, the impact of new technologies, such as computers and smart phones, is largely responsible for the crisis in writing Chinese characters. An article published on August 11, 2010 in the People’s Daily, the most significant newspaper in China, pointed out that it is an undeniable fact that new technologies do have a great impact on the handwriting of centuries-old Chinese characters. Jessica Bene, an American researcher, once described the computer as “the curse of handwriting”. Besides the computer, mobile phone texting is

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another major cause. The Pinyin (Chinese phonetic alphabet) input method has a tremendous impact on Chinese handwriting because the Chinese characters are a pictographic writing system and have a very unique ideographic structure. (Guo 2010a) As a college student put it, “When you do not write the characters for a long period, you may occasionally get into a memory lapse. A few days ago, I just could not remember how to write the character ‘xiang’ (箱), one of the two characters that form the Chinese word for ‘mailbox’. It surprised me a lot that I had forgotten how to write such a simple character.” (Liberation Daily and Liberation Daily Online 2010) Some people believe the impact of new technologies is not the only factor behind the current plight for the Chinese handwriting. They argue that putting all the blame on new technologies is to excuse our own responsibility and mission to preserve our cultural heritage. More fundamentally, they pointed to the failure of valuing Chinese characters as we should and showing due respect to traditional Chinese culture. “Character Amnesia” also unveils the fallacy and failure of school education, especially the teaching of the Chinese written language, and the general public’s growing alienation from the traditional art of Chinese handwriting and Chinese language and culture that Chinese characters are supposed to help maintain. It also indicates that people, swayed by a pragmatist mindset, no longer take ancient cultures seriously and therefore show less respect for traditional cultures. (Zhang 2010) Some people also questioned the teaching of Chinese handwriting in primary and secondary schools, believing that the society in general, and school education in particular, should be held responsible for the poor handwriting among students. The teaching of Chinese language, especially at primary school level, was criticized for failing to set a strict requirement on students’ handwriting. Educational authorities have never set a clearly defined standard for handwriting, though there have been examinations and competitions of various types in an examination-oriented education system. Consequently, teachers and students tend to put handwriting on the backburner and let it gradually fall into oblivion. (Guo 2010b)

4 Analysis and reflection 4.1 Face up to “Character Amnesia” and enhance the social and cultural value of Chinese characters The memory lapse that can occur when people try to write with a pen in their mother tongue is not peculiar to only China. According to the Chinese newspaper Globe Times, similar cases can be found in many other countries. A survey

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conducted in the United States analyzed 1.5 million school compositions written by students aged 16–17, and found that most of the students submitted printed copies and only 15% of them chose to complete the assignment in cursive style handwriting. (NetEase 2010) When they take exit examinations, an increasing number of British primary and secondary school pupils have to ask scribes for help because they are unable to write the answers on the examination papers in standard English handwriting. Some children in Germany are reportedly suffering from “dysgraphia”. They appear to be confused and worried when they are asked to write something with a pen, but the symptoms almost disappear once they switch to a computer to do the assignment. From his observation of the performance of civil servants in the Tokyo Municipal Office, the governor of Tokyo coined a special term (远离活字症) to describe the symptom of refusing to read anything in paper form and writing with a pen, and of sticking to typing on a computer when they are asked to write anything. The writing of the Chinese characters has evolved from handwriting to typing on computers. Each stage in the long process of the evolution of man’s writing method, from keeping records by tying knots, from engraving on bamboo slips to writing with a brush, from the writing brush to a hard-tipped pen, has contributed to making our writing easier and more efficient. These changes serve our lives better and represent social progress in its own right. However, we should be keenly aware that Chinese handwriting does not only serve a practical purpose, it embodies a rich treasure house of civilization as well. We should not discard handwriting when we use a computer for word processing. Discarding handwriting means giving up our own language and culture, and Chinese characters are its roots. A reasonable society would take the handwriting education of its members seriously so that handwriting becomes part of their cultural accomplishment. A variety of activities should be organized to enhance Chinese handwriting in order to help people learn more about the Chinese characters and their handwriting, aiming at enhancing public awareness of their importance. In China’s history, people used to treat Chinese characters with awe and sacred respect. It has been a time-honored and widespread tradition to highly treasure paper bearing written words. Similar traditions are found in Japan, the Republic of Korea and other countries and regions within the Sinogaphic Cultural Sphere. According to some media reports, about 30 million people are practicing calligraphy in Japan, roughly one in every five or six people. It is very popular to study and practice calligraphy there and advertisements for calligraphy training courses can be found almost everywhere in Japan. Calligraphy has also enjoyed great popularity in the Republic of Korea, with calligraphy lovers exceeding 100,000. China’s Taiwan has played host to six Chinese character cultural festivals

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so far this year. During the festivals, a great variety of events were organized in the hope of helping to integrate Chinese characters with people’s daily lives and enable them to gain new perceptual knowledge about traditional Chinese culture. Over the period of a few years, the festivals have gained increasing popularity among the local people. In China’s mainland, the competition to standardize Chinese character handwriting, sponsored by the Department of Language Management under the Ministry of Education, and other similar events, have created some impact, but their influence is yet to reach far and wide. It is imperative that people realize they should cherish the treasure of traditional culture while accepting and showing due respect to changes.

4.2 Making and implementing policies on handwriting education Over the past two years, educational authorities in various provinces have laid down policies on handwriting teaching with specific conditions. For instance, in its guideline for the college entrance examinations issued in 2009, the Education Department of Jiangxi Province stipulated that each miswritten character in a college entrance examination composition would cost the applicants one point in their total marks. The new measure is believed to aim at guiding students to the correct use of the Chinese written language. In a circular issued in 2010, the Education Department of Hubei Province asked schools at all levels to strengthen the teaching of standard Chinese handwriting and offer relevant courses on this subject. In a similar circular the education authorities in Fujian Province also required primary and middle schools to offer special courses on handwriting and ensure sufficient practice time for handwriting. In Guangdong Province, handwriting has become a mandatory weekly course in primary and secondary schools. Simultaneous efforts are being made to promote the compilation of specially-designed teaching materials and the training of handwriting teachers. In a bid to promote the teaching of handwriting, the Education Department in Gansu Province plans to open schools specializing in Chinese handwriting at the primary and secondary school levels. The department also stipulated that handwriting be made a required course in all primary schools in the province, and an elective course in junior and senior middle schools where conditions are available. In big cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, schools have made efforts to develop their students’ interest in calligraphy by offering special courses and setting up interest groups. These policies and measures have set requirements for creating an environment conducive to improving students’ handwriting. However, even many

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teachers who are involved in handwriting teaching are worried about whether these measures will prove practical and effective in the current examinationoriented education system. At present, priorities should be given to the following two tasks: one is the training programs for full-time handwriting teachers. This is an urgent task for teachers in colleges and the prerequisite for the teaching of standard handwriting, and the training of large groups of students capable of skilfully and accurately writing Chinese characters that conform to the standard and are pleasing to the eye. The other is to launch a pilot project in handwriting teaching in order to explore the subject matter of teaching, the teaching methods and evaluation system. As the reform of the national education system is underway, those who are working with the pilot projects in the comprehensive reform of basic education have set the goal of exploring effective means to reduce the heavy workload for primary and secondary school students and promote, in a comprehensive manner, competence-oriented education.

Appendix In the period from late October to mid-November 2010, Guangming Online, the official website of the Guangming Daily, conducted a questionnaire survey on the people’s attitude toward writing Chinese characters in the era of the Internet, with a lottery draw as an incentive to take part. The questionnaire covered many aspects of the issue, such as the current situation of Chinese handwriting, the impact of the crisis in writing Chinese characters and the ways to tackle this crisis. Following are the detailed survey results. (Guangming Daily Online 2010) 1. Some 79.04% of the respondents often use a pen while writing Chinese, but 20.96% seldom write Chinese with a pen. 2. 53.75% prefer to write with a pen, and 46.25% prefer computer input. 3. 62.28% can use a writing brush, while 37.72% cannot. 4. 44.25% think their handwriting is poor, while 41.52% say that characters often slip from their memory as they pick up the pen, and 14.23% say they often make mistakes when writing Chinese characters. 5. 92.49% believe that “Character Amnesia” would hinder the continuation of the Chinese culture if it becomes widespread, while 7.51% consider it a matter of insignificance. 6. Some 23.35% of the respondents consider good handwriting is of little help, while 76.65% believe good handwriting is crucial.

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7. 96.41% regard calligraphy as a gem in the treasure house of traditional Chinese culture that should never be abandoned, but 3.59% consider it a waste of time to learn handwriting as computer typing is quicker and more convenient in the information era. 8. 94.93% keep contact with others via telephone, mobile phone text message and e-mail, while only 5.07% do so via letters and written notes. 9. 80.60% use an alphabet-based input system when sending text messages, 13.43% use handwriting input, 5.97% employ a stroke-based input and 0.6% draw on other methods. 10. For 80.60% of the respondents, the alphabet-based input has been their most common method when typing Chinese characters on a computer, 2.38% use the handwriting pad, 6.57% use Wubi, a popular stroke-based input method, and 10.45% utilize other input methods. 11. Some 85.29% of the respondents agree that the handwriting of the entire population is on the decline, but 6.31% disagree with the judgment, and 8.4% say they are not clear about the issue. 12. On the issue that handwriting has begun to fall into disuse, 36.65% of the respondents said this would hinder people from identifying themselves with the Chinese civilization, and 32.61% believe this will lead to the eventual extinction of Chinese calligraphy. Some 28.00% of the respondents say the declining popularity of handwriting has made it impossible for writers to retain their individuality, but 3.48% think the phenomenon will not have any negative effect. 13. 30.89% attribute the crisis in writing Chinese characters to the wide use of computers and mobile phones, yet 26.56% say the weakening teaching of handwriting in schools is to blame, while 28.00% believe the problem stems from an attitude of indifference toward writing Chinese characters, and 14.55% blame the corrosive influence of English and other foreign languages. 14. 83.23% are in favor of government-formulated policies to strengthen the spreading of the Chinese characters, while 16.77% are against the idea. 15. 66.57% believe it necessary to set up graded examinations in Chinese handwriting, while 34.43% think it unnecessary to do so. 16. 90.15% of the respondents are against Romanization of the Chinese characters, believing such a move would sever the cultural lifeblood of the Chinese nation, while 9.85% are in favor of the idea, saying the move would help China integrate better with the rest of the world.

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References 1daocha.com. 2010. A survey on the need to write with a pen and a sense of cultural identity (手写机会与文化认同感调查). (As a survey without a deadline, its data were updated on July 10, 2010.) http://www.1diaocha.com/Survey/SurveyResult_217997.html, 18 April 2010. CPPCC Online (人民网—中国政协新闻网). 2010. Proposal on enhancing the teaching of Chinese handwriting for youngsters (关于加强青少年汉字书写教育的提案). http://2010zxnews.people.com.cn/GB/180903/10966772.html, 10 February 2010. Gao, Xing (高兴). 2010. As one of the symbols of the Chinese culture, handwriting should be included in the curriculum of primary schools: Zhan Guoshu (詹国枢：书法是中国文化标 志之一 小学应该有书法课). People’s Daily Online. http://news.163.com/100602/10/ 685TNJV8000146BC.html, 2 June 2010. Guangming Daily Online (光明网). 2010. Optimism over general ability to write Chinese characters may be premature (汉字手写能力未可乐观). http://culture.gmw.cn/201011/22/ content_1402718.htm, 22 November 2010. Guo, Lichang (郭立场). 2010a. ‘Character Amnesia’ and the crisis with writing Chinese 与汉字危机). People’s Daily (人民日报), 11 August 2010. characters “提笔忘字” ( Guo, Lichang (郭立场). 2010b. Don’t let Chinese characters become a lost civilization (莫让汉 字成为失落的文明). Gansu Daily (甘肃日报), 19 August 2010. Liberation Daily and Liberation Daily Online (解放网—解放日报). 2010. ‘Character Amnesia’ becomes new headache as Chinese characters are facing the erosive influence of the digital era (传统汉字遭数字化时代侵袭 提笔忘字渐成新困扰). http://news.sohu.com/ 20100726n273768555.shtml, 26 July 2010. NetEase (网易). 2010. Handwriting may become a cultural relic (书写文字或成被瞻仰文物). http://news.163.com/10/1214/10/6NSO6PB00014ACED.html, 14 December 2010. Wang, Wenzhang (王文章). 2010. Devoting major efforts to enhance the teaching of handwriting in primary and middle schools and universities (在大中小学大力普及书法教育). http://news.qq.com/a/20100308/001856.html, 8 March 2010. Zhang, Zhongjiang (张中江). 2010. The trouble with Chinese handwriting in the computer era: Chinese can no longer write Chinese characters (电脑时代的汉字书写之忧：中国人不会 写中国字了？). Chinanewsnet. http://www.chinanews.com/cul/2010/10-29/261847.shtml, 29 October 2010. Zhou, Huaizong (周怀宗). 2010. Are you still able to write with a pen? (你还会提笔写字吗？). NetEase. http://news.163.com/10/0419/02/64JNM1Q800014AED.html, 19 April 2010. Zhou, Ning (周宁). 2010. College students consider Chinese characters the most prominent symbolic representation of Chinese culture: survey (调查：大学生认为“汉语/汉字”最具 中国文化代表性). Xinhuanet.com. http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-11/27/ c_12822501.htm, 27 November 2010. Translated by Wang Bo (王波) International News Department, Xinhua News Agency [email protected]

Qu Shaobing (屈哨兵)

20 Reflections on the incident of the “Preservation of Cantonese” in Guangzhou1 Keywords: Putonghua, language harmony, preservation of Cantonese, broadcast, language planning, overseas Chinese, Lingnan culture, Internet, Hong Kong, Macau. This essay deals with the incident of “preserving Cantonese” that has taken place in Guangzhou from May to August 2010, and it also clarifies and analyses related issues.

1 A brief review of the incident 1.1 Initial stage In May and June 2010, the Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference organized 17 investigation teams to research the “soft environment of the Asian Games”. One of the aspects related to the above-mentioned incident is the fact that Guangzhou Television Station was expected to increase its broadcasting in Putonghua so guests from home and abroad could get more information about the Asian Games and local news. Taking this into consideration, the Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference conducted a survey of the “Questionnaire on the Broadcasting of Guangzhou Television Station”. The ninth item in the questionnaire was: “Which of the following adjustments do you approve of: A: The Guangzhou channel of Guangzhou Television be broadcast in Putonghua in prime time, but in Cantonese at other times; B: The Guangzhou channel of Guangzhou Television switch to broadcast completely in Putonghua but a Cantonese-only channel be added; and C: No change should be made. And the tenth question asks if the respondents agree that the Guangzhou channel of Guangzhou Television relays its programs to the whole country through satellite.2

1 I acknowledge that this paper was based on relevant sub-topics by the compiling team of the 2010 “Report on the Situation of China’s Language Life”. 2 Questionnaire on the broadcast of Guangzhou Television Station, quoted from: http:// www.77go.cn/read.bbscs?bid=109&id=3195166.

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At 22:44 on June 6, a blog was posted on the Internet by an Internet-user named “purplestacey”, which claimed: “The Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference wants Guangzhou Television to switch all its broadcasts into Putonghua. Does providence still exist?” Then, at 8:27 the following morning, another Internet-user named “Guangzhou Kid” issued a blog to “appeal to all neighbors and friendly persons who respect Cantonese and multi-culturalism to actively answer the questionnaire in protection of the mother tongue!”3 On the evening of the same day personnel of the Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference in charge responded to the allegation that Guangzhou Television would cancel its Cantonese broadcasts by stating there was a misunderstanding.4 The June 9 issue of Yangcheng Evening News published a report entitled “A Questionnaire Caused a Debate about the Maintenance or Abolition of Cantonese; Relevant Personnel Clarified the Original Intention”. On June 18, the second issue of “Popular Opinion Round Table Meeting” of Dayang Network, run by Guangzhou Daily, invited people from all walks of life to argue about and PK their views under the topic “Are Cantonese and Putonghua Irreconcilable Enemies?”, and carry out on-line exchanges with Internet friends.

1.2 Arousing stage On July 5, the Deputy Director of the Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference handed a draft resolution to Wan Qingliang, mayor of Guangzhou, entitled “A Proposal for Enhancing the Creation of a Soft Environment for the Asian Games”. The draft resolution contained a proposal suggesting that the comprehensive channel of Guangzhou Television should increase its time of broadcasting in Putonghua. On July 17, police authorities in Guangzhou discovered on the Internet that “twenty thousand people had gathered in a certain place, with the approval of the police”. (Feng & Tang 2010) Su Zhijia, Deputy Secretary of the Guangzhou City Committee of the CPC, declared clearly in a media interview on July 5 that the allegation by a few individuals about “the popularization of Putonghua at the expense of Cantonese” is incorrect. Neither the Guangzhou City Party Committee nor the Guangzhou government have ever had the intention of “abolishing Cantonese” or even “weakening Cantonese”. There is no contradiction between the popularization of Putonghua and the protection of 3 Source: http://news.163.com/10/0609/15/68ODVTIP000146BC.html. 4 The interview was carried out on June 5 and the reportage of it appeared on June 9 in mainstream media like Yangcheng Evening News.

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Cantonese in the process of building a national central city, and the development and expansion of the Lingnan culture.5 On the contrary, the two can complement each other. (Liu 2010) On July 25, about thousand people gathered at the entrance of the Jiangnanxi subway station in the Zhuhai District of Guangzhou to “protect Cantonese”.6 On the afternoon of July 28 the Guangzhou city government held a news conference and reiterated that the city government had never stated the intention to “popularize Putonghua and abolish Cantonese” or expressed similar notions anywhere. The idea of “popularizing Putonghua and abolishing Cantonese” was sheer fiction, a complete pseudo-proposition. (Feng & Tang 2010) On July 29, Huang Huahua, the Governor of Guangdong Province, remarked that “there does not exist any hindrance or barrier” between Putonghua and Cantonese. Both are to be preserved and promoted. (Sha 2010) On July 30, relevant departments and institutions held a forum on the popularization of Putonghua and the promotion of Lingnan culture. On the afternoon of August 1 (Sunday), two crowds formed at People’s Park, Beijing Road, and some other places. On the same day an illegal gathering and demonstration for the so-called “preservation of Cantonese” took place in Hong Kong. (Yang 2010) The media reported the incident that had occurred in Guangzhou on the previous day and called it an “illegal gathering”, reiterating the basic attitude of the Guangzhou government that nobody had ever called on the people to “popularize Putonghua and abolish Cantonese”. The media appealed to punish those few in accordance with the law who had spread the rumor and made trouble out of nothing.7

1.3 Epilogue On August 4, at the meeting of the mobilization and resolution pledge for the 100 day countdown of the Asian Games, Wang Yang, member of the Political

5 Translator’s note: Lingnan refers to the area south of the Five Ridges, covering Guangdong and Guangxi. 6 The number of participants was probably estimation. Another statement said that groups of three to five began to appear at Entrance A of Jiangnanxi subway station of Zhuhai District at about 16:00 on June 25, and the peak number reached a few hundred . . . and then dispersed gradually at about 19:00 and normal order was resumed. No conflicts took place at the site and the police received no criminal or social security reports. Please refer to Feng & Tang, 2010. 7 Dispatch of Guangzhou Daily: “Guangzhou Police Punishes People Attending an Illegal Gathering”, Page A4, Guangzhou Daily, August 2, 2010.

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Bureau and head of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC, reiterated that the “popularization of Putonghua and the abolition of Cantonese” was a non-existent pseudo-proposition. Wang said: “I am learning Cantonese, who dares to abolish Cantonese?” Then the incident drew to an end. It can be concluded that the incident was caused by a “pseudo-proposition” and developed into a “real incident” because of the extensive attention and participation it attracted from people from various fields. The incident, however, produced some issues worthy of in-depth analysis and reflection.

2 Analysis of the incident To properly order the issues touched upon by all the parties who voiced their opinions, we find the following issues are worthwhile of analysis:

2.1 The relationship between Putonghua and dialect As Cantonese is a dialect of the Chinese language, the incident can be categorically put in the framework of the relationship between Putonghua and dialect. The incident was caused in the first place by the questionnaire issued by the Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference, which attracted great attention because of the question about “the Guangzhou channel of Guangzhou Television to switch its prime-time broadcast to Putonghua”, and “the Guangzhou channel of Guangzhou Television to switch all its broadcasts into Putonghua”. Then allegations surfaced about the imbalanced relationship between Putonghua and dialect like the “popularization of Putonghua and the abolition of Cantonese”, “the popularization of Putonghua shrinks the space of Cantonese”, and “Putonghua and Cantonese are irreconcilable”. From the viewpoint of professionals these allegations should not cause serious problems. Besides, the government timely pointed out that there was no plan to “popularize Putonghua and abolish Cantonese”. However, the great agitation of the people caused by these questions merits our grave concern. A related matter worthy of attention is that certain people linked the issue of Cantonese with the issue of the divergence of China’s languages by quoting Internet pages from the UNESCO, saying that Cantonese was a “leading language in daily use”, which was wrongly interpreted as “Cantonese was formally defined by the United Nations as a language”. As a matter of fact, this statement was no more than a false report that had appeared years ago. (Tutengzi 2010) The fact that it was taken up again by some as a sensational topic deserves serious elaboration.

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2.2 The relationship between culture and dialect “Culture” was perhaps the most frequently mentioned word in this incident. Concepts which connect Cantonese with culture include the “building up of a big cultural province”, “cultural inheritance of Guangzhou”, “protection of Lingnan culture”, “roots of culture”, “cultural anxiety”, “diversity of culture”, “migration culture”, “cultural integration”, “cultural conflict”, “cultural selfish departmentalization and self-importance”, “cultural spirit”, and “cultural need”. In all fairness, it is quite normal and not altogether unjustifiable that issues concerning language (dialect) should have aroused such different opinions and discussions. The key problem here is how we should look at issues concerning Cantonese brought up by this incident and whether such statements can be justified. For example, someone alleged that “Cantonese is already a culture that is weakening”; “it is gradually declining as a regional culture or subculture”. What should be the proper attitude to treat these assertions? A related question is how people should treat the cultural sphere of a dialect and the nature of related realms. Culture is not something abstract but is always connected with special realms. For example, during the incident some people held that those who spoke Cantonese were of the lowest social rung or at grassroots level. This allegation connects the cultural sphere with a special realm. When talking about these issues, some famous natives of Guangzhou, such as Zhong Nanshan and Rao Yuansheng, would consciously link the use of dialect with the inheritance and carrying on of local culture and sentiment. They hold that “the culture of Cantonese established the essence of the culture of the Central Plains and covered the practice and custom of the whole country”. (Cheng & Wu 2010) The exploiters of these issues have presented various opinions before this incident. As a matter of fact, discussions about Cantonese in the column of “Random Views on Culture” of the Katie community under the South Media Group began as early as 2004. There was a forwarded post in 2004 entitled “Who is to Blame for the Decline of Cantonese?”, and another one in 2005 entitled “Blow Our Bugle for the Revitalization of Cantonese”.8 In a program called “The First 8 Minutes in Reading”, broadcast by Phoenix Satellite TV on August 2, 2010, Liang Wendao introduced the audience to the book Orthography of Guangdong Folk Adages. Liang held that the author of the book tried to retain and push forward the subculture through textual research and explanation, and it was perfectly justifiable to think in Cantonese. (Special dispatch of Phoenix Network 2010) It’s Raining Hard, the song sung in Cantonese in the first performance of the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games, represented a kind of Lingnan 8 Katie data: Defend Cantonese: http://data.kdnet.net/hot/?id=46&pt=1&t=1&p=1#1.

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cultural theme. Some people saw value in this incident and worried that the disappearance of their dialect might cause the loss of the corresponding culture. Scholars have had similar concerns. For example, Qian Nairong (2006: 324) has pointed out that we must adhere to letting a language develop in accordance with its own tendency: “Treat all languages on a genuine equal footing, and let the culture of dialects develop freely”.

2.3 Relationship between the city and dialect This should have been one of the aspects worthy of special attention. The blog with the highest rate of transmission is the one by Feng Xincheng, executive chief editor of New Weekly: “A city without dialect is most despicable”. Further supporting this idea is the statement by well known media man Chen Yang that, as the mother tongue of the people of Guangzhou, Cantonese should be preserved. There are two aspects that deserve our reflection: One is the preservation and re-amalgamation of original culture against the background of the multiple cultures of the city, especially big cities. In most cases, dissociation, transition, decline, or even extinction are trends hard to reverse. Then what attitude, to be more exact, what positive attitude should we take to establish our cultural self-confidence? The other is the complex nature of the location of the city itself in consideration of the setup and state of Guangzhou in Guangdong: It is a historical city of culture, capital of the province, a commercial hub in south China, a regional central city of the country, and an international metropolis. Having all these attributes makes it more complicated to handle the correct relationship between the local dialect, the language generally used in the country, and even the international language (English). As far as the popularization of Putonghua is concerned, proper handling of the interdependent relations between these positions is a subject deserving some in-depth investigation. Xu Daming (2007: 329) has once pointed out that the surveying of city languages is a key subject in the new development of sociolinguistics in China. He suggested that the survey should include subjects like “language situations and characters of language life in large, medium and small cities”, and “issues of language communication caused by urbanization”. This suggests that observation and research in this area are gradually entering into the sphere of academic studies. The academic needs surfacing in this incident prove that much can be done in the research on city sociolinguistics.

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2.4 Relationship between the media and dialect This is probably the most directly explosive fuse of the incident. Television media in Guangdong belong to two large separate groups, namely the “provincial station” (Guangdong Station, Nanfang Station) and the “City Station” (Guangzhou Station). The above incident mainly concerns the City Station. As Guangzhou is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) gave, in 1988, Guangzhou Television Station the approval to broadcast in Cantonese. At present, Guangdong Station has eight channels. Its prime channel, that is its comprehensive channel, now contains no program in Putonghua except the 15-minute (including advertisements) news and “reports on Chinese cities”.9 That is the cause of topics like “should broadcasts in Putonghua be added?” We hold that the use and popularization of a commonly used language is an inevitable choice in the process of the country’s industrialization as it is necessary for the forming of a united market so as to successfully enter international competition. No specific study has been carried out about the choice of local dialect in constructing the identity of the media. Owing to its special geographic location and the massive use of Cantonese by overseas Chinese, as a result of the emigration in the past, the state-approved setup of broadcasting in Cantonese has not changed for a long time. How should we look at this issue within the framework of the overall language framework of the nation, and what kinds of conditions and elements will settle it? The TV station explicitly stated that it had no intention to change its broadcast programs. However, some of the problems caused by (or implied in) the incident are not yet resolved.

2.5 Relationship between school education and dialect The focus of the incident was on the media of television, but some people introduced the topic into school education (mainly elementary education) and mentioned individual cases of an unwritten rule, set up by a certain primary school, where pupils are requested to speak Putonghua not only in class but also when chatting or playing games outside the class. It is said that a little girl went home and spoke to her grandmother in Putonghua, and the latter got irritated because she couldn’t understand her granddaughter. We believe what the relevant report or recollection said was simply an individual case that did not possess any character of representing the overall situation. But even so, it 9 Source: Netease, http://news.163.com/10/0719/02/6BU234D400014AED.html.

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should arouse due attention. At the round-table meeting of public opinion, held by Dayang Network, concerned people also carried on discussions about language education. It should be pointed out that there was a positive attitude at all levels of the government, the school, and the academics, showing respect to the culture of dialect and the wish for a harmonious language life. But this does not exclude the possibility that comparatively radical and over simple measures were taken in some places in spreading Putonghua, so the result was rather undesirable. Such phenomena had also appeared in other places and if not handled properly, the minds of children of elementary school or even preschool age might form the opinion that their dialect is not good or even evil. There should be a clearer and more definite response in the policy of the state although the answers to these questions are not yet quite clear. However, no matter what happened, we should not equalize the learning of dialect with education in one’s mother tongue (the two concepts were often confused). Li Yuming (2005: 177) had expounded on such problems and holds that mother tongue should cover mother speech.

2.6 Relationship between new immigrants and dialect This was perhaps the most sensitive aspect of the discussions about the incident. The person in charge of the Guangzhou Political Consultative Conference had expressed in an interview with the media that the current result of voting showed 60-70% of the voters approved broadcasts in Cantonese, while 30–40% approved broadcasting in Putonghua. This ratio almost corresponded to that of the native population of Guangzhou and the migration population. (Yangcheng Evening News 2010) According to the media, the migration population in Guangzhou is nearly 6 million, while there are 7,734,800 residents with permanent registration. (Li & Lin 2010) To establish a corresponding relationship between the ratio of the population and that of the setup of broadcasting channels is perhaps a standpoint that pleases neither side. Furthermore, to establish such a relationship would be a difficult task indeed. There are three additional aspects worthy of attention in the observation of this issue. One is, how should a city with large numbers of migrant workers develop its language policy? As the formation of the language policy is independent of the people’s will, the so-called design probably appears in the form of language services, which include the consideration of the addition or change of media broadcast channels. Another aspect is that those who have come to this city and settled down eventually are sometimes called “new Hakkas”, and many of them identify themselves with such a status, which can be extended to their next genera-

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tion. During the incident we could observe that this group of people received more attention than the first type of people mentioned above. Some people raised the criticism that white collar workers from other places took pride in not speaking Cantonese. The third aspect involves fewer people but has a fairly large political and cultural significance. That is, officials who have come to Guangzhou from other parts of the country speak Cantonese while native Guangdong officials speak Putonghua. There are some interesting stories circulating in society about these two parties using Putonghua or Cantonese, which can be seen as a reflection of the language use among officials.10

2.7 Relationship between the new urban generation and dialect An obvious trait of the incident was that many young people took part in it and in a sense formed the main group of the participants. It is possible that some of them might use the opportunity of the incident to stir up trouble, but most could be classified as the new urban generation. They might have lived in this city for quite a long time, and many may have been born there and are working or studying there as well. So they were naturally very much concerned about what was happening in this city, including its language and culture. Some of them might be quite sensitive and respond in a quick and hurried way. As for activities like “quick flashing”, the transmission of blogs, online contacts, and the cartoon Magic Thief who Crashes Guangzhou, most of the participants would belong to the new urban generation. Hong Kong also witnessed some actions of “upholding Cantonese” when the incident took place in Guangzhou, and young people were also an important component there. So some local commentators held that the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should take warning from online contacts between net friends of Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and make a serious study of the Internet culture of the young people, so as to acquaint themselves with what the young were thinking. If improperly handled, activities like “upholding Cantonese” could easily become an excuse for some people to create disturbances as a way to give vent to their 10 The author of this paper has once joined a program named “Communication Has No Boundary” with Mr. Li Ziliu, former mayor of Guangzhou. There are a number of interesting passages about Mr. Li Ziliu speaking Putonghua. Some of them may not be true, but they contain some truth about cultural exchanges. Mr. Li Ziliu told me during the interval of some programs that when he worked in Shunde, Ye Jianying, a former leader in Guangdong Province, had said to them that comrades from the north should learn some Cantonese and comrades from Guangdong should learn to speak Putonghua (from personal communication).

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grievances, which might have an irrational influence on government policies and the social development.11 The ideological trend of the modernity has already had much influence in many ways. One of the important characteristics of the Internet world is historical influence. Because China is now still in the process of industrialization, also because of the influence of reality, the definition and explanation of terms like post-modernism, multiplicity, and authoritative discours are often challenged by people from the grassroots. People with post-modernist ideas are usually opposed to the established concept or existent theories in an authoritarian way. This was manifested clearly in the incident.

2.8 Relationship between adjacent areas and dialect During the incident, most people mentioned history and the fact that Guangdong is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau, and that the policy of the language of Guangdong is the historical cause for the present situation of broadcasting in Putonghua and Cantonese. The mutual relations between these regions and their future trend should draw attention from us. In the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese is used on public domains as well as on private ones, thus forming a kind of diglossia community. (Chen 2010) We have reason to believe that in the process of the formulation of the language policy and their implementation, there were some unique characteristics in the language harmony in the area of Guangdong (including areas where Guangfu dialect is spoken) because Guangdong is adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau. The language planning of the state must take into consideration reality in this respect. The person who made the proposal that was one of the causes that induced the incident noticed the fact in his initial survey, namely that in 1988, to counter the influence of Hong Kong television stations on the Zhujiang River delta, the Ministry of Broadcast and Television gave approval to Zhujiang channel and Guangzhou channel to broadcast their programs in Cantonese. The viewing rate of Guangzhou channel had been lower than that of aTV Home and the Jade channel, but gradually surpassed that of aTV Home and even matched that of the Jade channel since then. (Sun 2010) This demonstrated a kind of flexible response mechanism on the platform of media dissemination at the level of national language planning. However, we must also see that the present 11 Reference News: There is no cause for criticizing “Preserving Cantonese”; It is an urgent task to persuade the netizens (挺粤语”无可厚非 疏导网民迫于眉睫). Editorial of Xin Bao (the New Gazette), 2 August 2010. quoted from http://hi.baidu.com/qingsongqing/blog/item/ b14b8531327de2a55edf0efd.html.

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language situation differed greatly from that in 1988 due to the ever closer exchanges between Guangdong and Hong Kong. Hong Kong has now established Putonghua training and test centers in ten institutions of higher learning. The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research extends the promotion of Putonghua to daily life through various activities in an earnest manner. It has become a trend for the government to channel resources to push “teaching Chinese through Putonghua”. (Zhou 2010: 292–295) Our agenda should contain topics like how we should evaluate the achievement of the implementation of past language policies and whether it is necessary to carry out more timely language coordination so as to avoid incidents similar to “preserving Cantonese”. That would be helpful to the decision making of the government and for predicting the trend of the development of social culture.

2.9 Relationship between overseas Chinese and dialect In the discussion of this incident people who were concerned about the existence and development of dialects naturally suggested that the use of Cantonese by overseas Chinese was an important cause. This is a fact. According to some reports, at present there are about 660 to 1,200 million people in the world who are using Cantonese. (Laobai Editor 2010) Academic circles have also a clear idea about this issue. The crux of the current question is: As a dialect (or predominant dialect) with the boost from overseas Chinese, will Cantonese have an impact on the language planning and coordination at home? To what extent and degree can it affect the policy, if yes? Because this involves Fujian dialects (Chaoxian dialect, Wenzhou dialect) and Hakka dialect as well, the concept of Chinese languages can hardly address the situation. (Guo 2004: 341) Usually, the use of these dialects by overseas Chinese is of fairly large scale and because of historical reasons, overseas Chinese often create a relatively closed environment in their diaspora. Various dialects brought by them from China often exist for long historical periods and have become an important linking bond with the motherland for national identification. These dialects are charged with cultural values. Will the “root” of overseas Chinese be affected if some dialects gradually change or even die out at home? The general trend of the international spread of the Chinese language is that more and more overseas Chinese are opting for Putonghua. It seems that so far hardly any due consideration has been given regarding this trend at the level of language planning at home, concerning how we should help them better accomplish the transition from dialects to the generally used Chinese language (Putonghua).

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References Chen, Feiyu (陈沸宇). 2010. Linguists have a heated discussion about the diversity of language; how should we speak in future? (语言学家热议语言多样性 未来我们怎样“说话”). Original source: People’s Daily. Quoted from Xinhua Network. http://news.xinhuanet.com/ edu/2010-07/21/c_12354665_3.htm. Cheng, Jingwei (程景伟) & Wu, Minping (吴敏平). 2010. Summing-up: ‘war of defense of Cantonese’ in Guangzhou, a city with a history of a thousand years (综述：千年古城广州 的“粤语保卫战”). Guangdong News Network. http://www.gd.chinanewscom.cn, 11:17, 21 July, 2010. Feng, Qianni (冯倩妮) & Tang, Zhiqi (唐智奇). 2010. Guangzhou city government reiterates: popularization of Putonghua and abolition of Cantonese is a pseudo-proposition that does not exist (广州市政府重申：“推普废粤”是根本不存在的伪命题). http://www.dayoo.com/ 2010-07-28 21:29. Guo, Xi (郭熙). 2004. Sociolinguistics of China (中国社会语言学). Hangzhou University Press. Hu, Jun (胡军) & Zi, Yongting (资勇庭). 2010. Escalation: The dispute between Putonghua and Cantonese causes family warfare (“战争升级” 普粤之争引发家庭战争). Yangcheng Evening News. July 25, 2010. quoted from Cultural China Network. http://culture.china. com.cn/2010-07/25/content_20569370.htm. Laobai Editor (老北编辑). 2010. Cantonese will not die out; Cantonese and its culture have bright prospects (粤语不会消亡 粤语粤文化大有可为). Cultural China Network. http:// culture.china.com.cn/ 2010-07/23/content_20563634.htm. Li, Suwan (李溯婉) & Lin, Xiaozhao (林小昭). 2010. Media says behind the incident of defending Cantonese lie misgivings about the pluralism of the city (媒体称保卫粤语事件背后系 对城市多元化焦虑). China Business News, June 29, 2010. quoted from Sina Network. http://city.sina.com.cn/focus/t/2010-07-29/10476690.html. Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2005. Theory on China’s Language Planning (中国语言规划论). Northeast Normal University Press. originally published in Chinese Teaching in the World, No. 1, 2003. Liu, Haijian (刘海健). 2010. Sun Zhijia, Deputy Party Secretary of Guangzhou City, stated in a press interview: “popularization of Putonghua and abolition of Cantonese” does not exist 根本不存在). Guangzhou (广州市委副书记孙志佳接受记者采访时表示—“推普废粤” Daily, July 20, 2010, page one. Qian, Nairong (钱乃荣). 2006. Draft of the study of modern Chinese (现代汉语). Jiangsu Academia Press. Sha, Fei (沙飞). 2010. Huang Huahua: Cantonese will surely be preserved (黄华华：粤语一定 保留). Wenhui Daily of Hong Kong. http://paper.wenweipo.com/2010/07/30/ YO10073000 07.htm. Special dispatch of Phoenix Network (凤凰网专稿). 2010. Cantonese is a language that can be used as a tool for thinking; It is perfectly justified to speak Cantonese (粤语是可以思考的 语言 讲粤语是天经地义). Phoenix Network. http://phtv.ifeng.com/program/kjbfz/ detail_2010_08/03/1877535_0.shtml, 10:13, 3 August, 2010. Sun, Ying (孙莹). 2010. Is it necessary to reduce broadcasts in Cantonese? The mayor hasn’t committed himself clearly (广州电视台减少粤语播音有必要?市长未明确表态). Southern Metropolitan Daily, July 6, 2010. quoted from China News Network. http://www.chinanews. com.cn/cul/2010/07-06/2383569.shtml.

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Tutengzi (图腾子). 2010. Is Cantonese a dialect or a language? This is a bad question (粤语是 方言还是语言，这是个坏问题). http://totemz.z.infzm.com/2010/07/18/fang1yan2 /, 18 July, 2010. Xu, Daming (徐大明). 2006. Studies on sociolinguistics (社会语言学研究). Shanghai People’s Press, 2006. Originally published in Nanjing Special Sciences, No. 2, 2006. Yang, Yongxing (杨永欣). 2010. Wang Yang, Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC responded for the first time on the “popularization of Putonghua and abolition of Cantonese”, “I am learning Cantonese, who dares to abolish it?” (广东省委书记汪洋首 次公开回应“推普废粤” “我都在学，谁敢废粤？”). Network of Lianhe Zaobao (United Morning News). http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/cnpol/pages3/cnpol100806a. shtml. Yangcheng Evening News (Guangzhou) [羊城晚报(广州)]. 2010. A survey causes a debate about the preservation and abolition of Cantonese; Relevant personnel clarifies original intention (一份调查引发粤语存废之辩 相关负责人澄清初衷). http://news.163.com/10/0609/15/ 68ODVTIP000146BC.html, June 9, 2010. Zhou, Qingsheng (周庆生). 2010. Part One of the Report on the Language in China (2009) [中国 语言生活状况报告 (2009)]. Commercial Press. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Wang Lei (汪磊)

21 The phenomenon of the Martian language 1 The origin and development of the Martian language 1.1 What is the Martian language The Martian language, also called the Martian script or the Mars language, is “a language that puzzles people and is not used by average people on the planet Earth”.1 It is a mixture of simplified Chinese characters, their components, Chinese phonetic symbols, Japanese characters and kanas, the Korean script, Latin alphabetic letters, Arabic ciphers, and various symbols available on the computer. It is a mixture of language codes that adopts phonetic replacements or loans of homonyms or characters of similar pronunciation, metonyms or pictographs. It is a kind of Internet language that can be adopted to pretend to be cute and to show one’s creativity and unique character in instant on-line chat. The Martian language can be regarded as a further step in the development of Internet languages. Here is an example and its meaning: – Martian language: “b 要+装” “偶 ㄇ ㄇ AKS” – Meaning: Don’t pretend, (or) my mom would be very angry. – Explanatory Notes: “b” is the initial of the phonetic symbol of bu (不, meaning “don’t”); ou [偶, the affected pronunciation of wo (我)], which is used here to mean “my”; ㄇ ㄇ stand for “mama”. The ㄇ is the phonetic symbol for the initial consonant for characters like ma (妈), mei (妹), etc.; and “AKS” is the sound word of qisini (气死你, meaning “make you die with anger”). One explanation of its source is that AKS is a type of Russian rifle, an improved version of which is called “AKS-74U”. Although “74U” is omitted, it is understood by those who use the Martian language. “74” is similar in pronunciation to qisi (气死, meaning “die of anger”), and “U” stands for you.

1 Special Assault Team of the Martian. Elemental Test of the Martian Language. Huagang Cultural Press (Taiwan). 2006:12.

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Compared with common Internet languages, the Martian language uses more expressions of the Internet language or symbols alone, inserting them at certain places. The pattern used in a whole sentence or text creates a special style that is more difficult to understand and one has to patiently guess its meaning. Thus we can see that the Martian language has a strong non-communicative function.

1.2 Orbit of the development of the Martian language Textual analysis reveals that the Martian language originated in Taiwan. To make typing messages in on-line communications easier, some Internet-users began using phonetic symbols instead of certain commonly used characters. The speed of typing was raised without hindering understanding. Soon many netizens thought this alternative script input was more eye-catching and so they developed its use and it soon spread across the Internet. With the popularization of online games for juniors like the Audition (Neutron Dancers), a large batch of the new generation born in the 1990s began to follow and extend this unique script and invented a new way of input, which suited the simplified Chinese characters. Here are some examples: laogong (劳工, literally meaning “labourer” but used for its homophone 老公, meaning “husband”); nanpengyou (男盆友, the character in the middle is the homophone of 朋 and the whole word means “boy friend”); fenkeai (粉可爱, the first character is a purposely mispronounced substitution for hen, the character 很, meaning “very”. The whole phrase means “very lovely”); nisushui (你素谁, the character in the middle is a purposely mispronounced substitution for shi, the character 是, meaning “be”. The whole phrase means “who are you?”). When the use of these new words and phrases had reached a certain scale, some whiz-kids hankering after software development created a variety of special software for transferring normal language into the Martian language, of which one named “Big Black Fish” became very popular on the Internet. The emergence of special conversion software grants the Martian language the function of using cipher codes. So, for a special group of people, it has become a means of protecting their privacy. Many of those born in the 1990s have become followers and spreaders of the Martian language.2 At the beginning of 2005, Huasi Publishing Department in Taiwan successively published a series of books: Legend of the Martian Language, Love Only the Martian Language, Simply Love the Martian Language, I Love the Martian 2 The Martian Language. Baidu Encyclopedia. http://baike.baidu.com/view/32668.htm.

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Language, Don’t Love the Martian Language, etc. In these titles the English letter “i” is used to replace ai (爱, meaning “love”) because it has a similar pronunciation with the Chinese character.

Figure 1: The cover of Legend of the Martian Language by Xingwangwang, Huasi Publishing Department, Taiwan, 2006

The following is an excerpt from the book and its translation in normal language: – Martian language: Dear 地球倫: – Translation: Dear Terrans, – Martian language: 1直以來，偶棉2個星球因爲文字噗通，造成許多ㄅ必 要ㄉ誤費 – Translation: For a long time there have been a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings and conflicts between our two planets because our languages are mutually unintelligible. – Martian language: 跟衝突，也因為這樣的緣故，一直無法開啟兩星球溝 通對話的管道 – Translation: For the same reason it has remained impossible to open channels of communication between us. – Martian language: 火星政府對此一直深感遺憾 – Translation: The government of Mars has been feeling deeply sorry for this fact. – Martian language: 吼星政府敬上 – Translation: Best regards from the Government of Mars.3

3 http://www.houxingwen.com.

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The test paper of the college entrance exam (equivalent to the university entrance exam for students of senior high schools in the mainland) held in January, 2006, asked the examinees to correct mistakes of popular Internet terms, which was later called “test question of the Martian language”, which brought much fame to the book series The Legend of the Martian Language overnight. The exam question dealt with a composition by a high school student, in which there are nine mistakes that the examinees are required to correct. The test paper cites an example mistake used in the essay: “3Q得Orz”. “3Q” here means “thank you”, and “Orz” looks like the side image of a person prostrating on the ground with his head lowered to mean wutitoudi (五体投地, a Chinese idiom meaning “prostrating”), so the correct form should be: 3Q得Orz → being so grateful to somebody that one has to prostrate oneself before that person. This test problem was intended to encourage students to find out nonstandard language usage so as to lead them to using the language properly. But the public in Taiwan has contrasting opinions; some are commendatory while others are derogatory. The two sides were engaged in an endless argument for quite a long time. Some market-savvy book dealers in the mainland grasped the business opportunity by introducing and publishing this series of books. The official mainland website of the Martian language3 was set up by a netizen named “August Is My Theme” in July 2007. The director of the website admitted frankly that the Martian language is not suitable for business use but only for informal occasions. It is used to communicate with friends who share and accept this common language. There is no discrimination of sex, age, schooling, race, or social status for users of the Martian language, and all the users share the same purpose: to show their individuality by using the Martian language.4

2 Form of expression of the Martian language There are different facts for the classification of the Martian language. To sum up all forms of the Martian language that have appeared in the Internet, including blogs and academic theses, there are nearly ten ways of classification. By comparing the Martian language with former Internet languages, 4 Wi, Na (薇娜). 17 August 2007. Exclusive interview with Huoxingmiaomiao, who is the creator of “the greatest Martian book in history” (专访“史上最牛火星书”创作者火星喵喵). Tianjin Daily Net. http://epaper.tianjindaily.com.cn/jr100/jr100/2007-08/17/content_3800996.htm.

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it can be seen that the two have evolved in one continuous line. For example, the following are forms of expressions often used in online languages: – Homonyms: zai (再 meaning “again”) → 栽 (meaning “lose”), shu (输 meaning lose”) → 书 (meaning “book”); – Accent or pronunciation of dialects: fen (粉) → hen (很), kouyi (口以) → keyi (可以), oumian (偶棉) → women (我们); – Combined pronunciation of two characters: biao (表) → buyao (不要), jiang (降) → zheyang (这样), niang (酿) → nayang (那样); – Homonymic replacement of quasi-sounds, including Chinese characters, numerals, and alphabetic letters: 4 (pronounced as si in Chinese) → shi (是, meaning “be”, or 事, meaning “affair”, 9 (pronounced as jiu in Chinese) → jiu (就, meaning “immediately”, or 舅, meaning “maternal uncle”, b → bu (不, meaning “no”, d → de (的, meaning “belonging”), or di (第, meaning “next position”); – Dismantlement of Chinese characters: 弓虽 → 强 (qiang, meaning “strong”, 亻壬 → 任 (ren, meaning “assume”), 彦页刀巴 → 颜色 (yanse, meaning “color”). In fact, the Martian language more often than not resorts to mixed means of expression so as to make itself more concealed and more strange-looking.

2.1 Mixture of different dialects or languages To put together characters that seem to be completely unrelated to each other may actually be a means of recording the pronunciation of a certain dialect with homophones or characters with similar pronunciation. This kind of language can perform the function of communication only when it is read aloud. For example: “街系挖欸喀 ( jie xi wa ei ka)!” (with the pronunciation of zhe shi wo de jiao (这是我的脚, meaning “This is my foot!”) in the dialect of the southern part of Fujian Province.

2.2 Mixture of codes of written language with other symbols or marks For example: 你↓到我了! (The sign ↓ stands for the direction of “down”. It is pronounced as xia and the written form is 下, one of the homonyms of 吓, meaning “frighten”, so the whole means “You frightened me!” As a matter of

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fact, the sign ↓ is often used to replace 下 or 吓. Now let’s look at another example: 偶ㄉ电脑坏掉ㄌ害偶一整天都粉 sad~ ＞"＜”. The whole means “My computer broke down and that made me very sad the whole day.” Here 偶 (ou) means “I” or “my”, the sound symbol ㄉ means “belong to” or “of”. The symbol of“~＞"＜”at the end is a picture of the facial expression of an angry person. It includes the phonetic symbol ㄉ, English “sad” and other signs like ~、＞、"、＜. Sometimes various signs, symbols or marks are inserted in between characters at random to cover up the real meaning. For example: 我们要┠、∵ж à学 会ち八Ⅵ透过ㄍ→现、象 д 看本╀质呀. The meaning of the sentence is: “We should learn to see the essence of things through superficial phenomena.” All the symbols inserted between the characters perform only the function of covering-up and have no substantial meaning at all.

2.3 Mixture of common and rarely used characters For example: 轲笕饿箌魜魜笕箌都吥堪杁眼. Here we see six rarely used characters, but careful scrutiny reveals parts of their elements are common characters: 轲→可, 笕→见, 箌→到, 魜→人, 吥→不, 杁→入. The correct script should be “可见饿到人人见到都不堪入眼”, meaning “It is obvious that everyone is so starved and in a most unsightly state.”

2.4 Replacement of characters of standard patterns with those of similar patterns or symbols of similar pronunciation For example: 莓兲想埝祢巳宬儰⒈种漝惯. We can see the characters 每, 念, and 成 are respectively concealed in 莓, 埝, and 宬; 兲, 祢, and 巳 are used to replace characters of similar patterns 天, 你, and 已; the simplified characters 为 and 习 are replaced by their complex forms; and the Arabic numeral “1” is used instead of the Chinese character. The standard script of the sentence is 每天想念你已成为一种习惯, meaning “It has become a habit to think of you every day”. The Martian language employs the code of Chinese characters but often in their complex forms, variant forms, homonyms, wrongly written ones, and uses various kinds of symbols to replace simplified characters. It is usually called “variant Martian language”, which is also ridiculed as naocanti (脑残体, literally

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“the style of the “mentally disabled”, somewhat like teetspeak) because it differs from normal language and is hard to understand.

2.5 Martian sign language Martian sign language refers to the Martian language formed by various signs and codes the computer can offer in order to show one’s expressive or ideographic skill. For example, ⊙﹏⊙|| means “stunned”, (⊙o⊙) means “dumbfounded”, and (*＞﹏＞*) means extremely shy. There are different numbers, types, and graphs or figures in the Martian languages of different websites. The following “complete collection of expressions” is provided by the website “5iHuoXing” (I love Mars)5:

⊙▂⊙

⊙０⊙

⊙︿⊙ ⊙ω⊙

⊙﹏⊙

⊙△⊙

⊙▽⊙

∩▂∩

∩０∩

∩︿∩ ∩ω∩

∩﹏∩

∩△∩

∩▽∩

●▂●

●０●

●︿● ●ω●

●﹏●

●△●

●▽●

∪▂∪

∪０∪

∪︿∪ ∪ω∪

∪﹏∪

∪△∪

∪▽∪

≧▂≦

≧０≦

≧︿≦ ≧ω≦

≧﹏≦

≧△≦

≧▽≦

＞▂＜

＞０＜

＞︿＜ ＞ω＜

＞﹏＜

＞△＜

＞▽＜

╯▂╰

╯０╰

╯︿╰ ╯ω╰

╯﹏╰

╯△╰

╯▽╰

＋▂＋

＋０＋

＋︿＋ ＋ω＋

＋﹏＋ ＋△＋

ˋ▂ˊ

ˋ０ˊ

ˋ︿ˊ ˋωˊ

ˋ﹏ˊ

ˋ△ˊ

ˋ▽ˊ

ˇ▂ˇ

ˇ０ˇ

ˇ︿ˇ ˇωˇ

ˇ﹏ˇ

ˇ△ˇ

ˇ▽ˇ

˙▂˙

˙０˙

˙︿˙ ˙ω˙

˙﹏˙

˙△˙

˙▽˙

＋▽＋

The sign formed by the three Latin letters orz, which represents the image of a prostrating person bending forward, can express many ideas and can be interpreted to express the meaning of “prostrating oneself on the ground”. This image symbol has now many extended meanings: – orz represents a child – ORZ represents an adult – or2 shows the buttocks are sticking up – Or2 represents a big-headed adult with protruding buttocks – orZ shows the image of the fat lower part of the body 5 Souce from the website of “I Love Mars 51HuoXing”. http://www.5ihuoxing.com/ 5ihuoxing/qianming.aspx/14.htm.

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Orz represents a big-headed person ● rz implies a person with a black head Xrz is a variant, meaning the head of the enemy is broken (in video games) On means a baby 囧 rz is formed by a combination with the character 囧 (pronounced jiong, meaning “awkward” because it looks like the facial expression of an awkward person), means an awkward grumbling person 崮 rz stands for the king of an awkward kingdom 莔 rz stands for the queen of an awkward kingdom 商 rz shows the image of an awkward person wearing a bamboo hat.

Obviously, all above symbols in the Martian sign language can be easily retrieved from the Internet, but they are much more complicated than those used in common online communication, such as : ) (smiling), : D (laughing), : ( (gloomy), and : P (with the tongue sticking out).

3 Actual use of the Martian language In actual usage, the Martian language can mix the various methods listed above. The more unintelligible it looks, as the more novel and cool it will be regarded. For example: – b要b挖d样子↓坏，其4挖粉口i。 (Translated into normal writing :不要被 我的样子吓坏，其实我很可爱。Meaning: “Don’t get frightened by my appearance, I am actually quite lovable.”) – 99, 3qㄋ姑力i读猪，偶会+Uㄉ! (Normal writing is 舅舅，谢谢你鼓励我读 书，我会加油的! Meaning: “Thank you, uncle, for encouraging me in my study. I will make an extra effort.”) Seen from the angle of the basic principles of sociolinguistics, the most obvious feature of the Martian language is its mixture of various language codes. Simplified Chinese characters are mixed with characters of complex forms and those used in dialects, with the phonetic alphabet, phonetic symbols, Latin alphabet, katakana and hiragana of Japanese, the Hangul alphabet used in Korea, numerals, and various signs and symbols, which are arranged in accordance with the basic structure of Chinese as a means to express one’s ideas in a different way from normal languages, so as to show the special characteristics of the Martian language on the Internet and the collective characteristics of an “unusual group”.

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How do Internet users employ the Martian language for communication since it is so difficult to write and so hard to understand? And how can the receiver or audience understand the meaning conveyed by it correctly? Is it creating an artificial obstacle for communication? As a matter of fact, in most cases the Martian language is not used for online communication but rather for QQ chatting, qzone (QQ space) as terms of endearment, for individualized signatures or introduction to oneself in various signature files to show one’s individuality, which in a way is similar to the individual signature of stars in real life. In the meantime, with the wider circulation of the Martian language in the mainland, a large number of professional Martian language websites has emerged to provide various “professional” services for numerous Internet users. The list of individualized QQ signatures in traditional Chinese characters provided by the website “I love the Martian language” covers more than thirty pages, and that of common signatures in the complex form of Chinese characters covers twenty pages. The designer has exhausted all the symbols and codes the computer can offer. This is hardly possible in normal script. Internet users can select a particular form of their own choice and copy it into their own QQ space. In this way, they become members of the “clan of Martians”. The actual meaning of a Martian signature or cyber name depends greatly on its form. This kind of signature or cyber name is mostly used to show one’s existence as an individual.

4 Some reflections The existence of the Martian language is a fact, and how we should look at it and what the influence of its correct use is are questions of concern for everyone. A number of persons engaged in education as well as some students’ parents are worried about its extensive use. They hold that it violates the standard of the language and seriously affects the language learning of young netizens, erecting barriers between teachers and students, and between parents and children as well. On the other hand, some education and language professionals think the destructive effect of the Martian language should not be exaggerated. People should adopt a tolerant attitude for the use of the Martian language on the Internet, especially in informal situations as long as it does not hinder normal communication. Based on the above analysis we can look at the use of the Martian language from the following two aspects:

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4.1 The reliance of the Martian language on computers and the Internet makes its spread beyond the realm of the Internet difficult The formation and use of the Martian language make full use of the keyboard and the choice of fonts. Without the computer and its ancillary equipment, without the Internet and its operational space, the existence and use of the Martian language will be greatly limited, that is to say, the Martian language relies heavily on the computer and the Internet for dissemination.

4.2 The Martian language functions better for recreation and games than for communication The Martian language is a special product of the digital era. Besides, because of different ways of input and the vast potential of modern technology, the Martian language can be “deciphered” in more than one way. In addition, the process of discerning and reading the Martian language greatly reduces its function of information delivery, but increases its use for recreation and playing games. Users of the Martian language are usually in an alien and novel mind and “not afraid of being unable to perform, but fear being unable to think of new ideas”, so that they can show their self-entertaining attitude of existence. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Li Qiao (李俏)

22 Chinese Internet buzzwords and catchphrases of 2009 Every year, buzzwords and catchphrases are bubbling forth on the Chinese Internet. Springing up from topical issues, they go viral in a short period of time and are thus said to be a highly sensitive barometer of the annual social scene. This article will discuss the origins, spread and influence of the Chinese Internet buzzwords and catchphrases of 2009, selected from twelve lists compiled by ten organizations, media and search engines.1

1 Bèi In 2009, Bèi (被, a word used in the Chinese passive voice) was selected by various Chinese media organizations as “Chinese Character of the Year”. The selection of Bèi owed a good deal to its unusual uses and its rise to prominence began with Bèi Zìshā (被自杀, be suicided) in 2008, when businessman Li Guofu was said to have committed suicide in the No. 1 Prison Hospital of Anhui Province. Netizens coined Bèi Zìshā to allude to Li’s death that seemed too odd, given the context of the case, but was verified by authorities to be a suicide. The 2009 Social Blue Book, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ranked Bèi Zìshā second on the list of the 2008 Internet Buzzwords.2

1 The ten lists are the Summary of Chinese Buzzwords of 2009 (the Ministry of Education, the Commercial Press and Sina), Top Ten Buzzwords in the Chinese Mainstream Press of 2009 (The National Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center, five research institutes), Top Ten Events on the Chinese Internet of 2009 (sixteen print media and Mop), Chinese Characters of 2009, Words and Sentences (Yangcheng Evening News and six websites), Top Ten Internet Buzzwords of 2009 (Google), Ten Neologisms and Ten Internet Buzzwords (Baidu Baike), Ten Buzzwords of 2009 (Hudong Baike), List of the Year 2009 Internet Phenomena in China (Wikipedia), Top Ten Catchphrases of 2009 (Yaowen Jiaozi), and Buzzwords of 2009 (Xinhua News Agency). 2 In the 2009 Social Blue Book, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the top eight on the list of the year 2008 Internet buzzwords were Jiǒng (囧, an emoticon meaning gloominess), Bèi Zìshā (被自杀, be suicided), Shānzhài (山寨, cheap copies), Hěnhuáng Hěnbàolì (很黄很暴力, erotic and violent), Fǔwòchēng (俯卧撑, doing push-ups), Léi (雷, astounding), Hěnshǎ Hěntiānzhēn (很傻很天真, silly and naive), Dǎ Jiàngyóu (打酱油, buying soy sauce).

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In July 2009, a graduate from Xi’an (西安) said in his post that he got a job without even knowing it himself, thus coining Bèi Jiùyè 3 (被就业, be hired without one’s knowledge). Very soon responses began to pour in. The special use of Bèi attracted the netizens again and went immediately viral. Bèi is a key word to express the passive voice in Mandarin Chinese. Only transitive verbs can be transformed into passive constructions. For instance, Bèi Mà (被骂, be scolded) and Bèi Bōxuē (被剥削, be exploited). However, the semantic extension of Bèi occurs with words that don’t normally use Bèi at all, like intransitive verbs, nouns and adjectives. For example, Bèi Jiùyè (被就业, be employed without one’s knowledge), Bèi Xiǎokāng4 (被小康, be said to have reached the Xiǎokǎng level), Bèi Xìngfú (被幸福, be deemed happy), Bèi Dàibiǎo (被代表, be represented). Among them, the collocation of Bèi and intransitive verbs is frequent. Succinct yet informative, the novel uses of the Bèi-construction became a key issue for a series of hot news, conveying a lack of control over the action and a sense of helplessness in coercing a return to the proper rules. (Sina 2009) The craze for Bèi can be understood as a call for recognition of the rights of citizenship: Bèi Zìshā (被自杀, be suicided), Bèi Zēngzhǎng (被增长, be increased) and Bèi Jiāxīn (被加薪, be higher paid) expressed the public’s skepticism about some news reports and their questioning of authoritative utterances; Bèi Juānkuǎn (被捐款, be forced to donate) and Bèi Jiùyè (被就业, be hired without one’s knowledge) showed a sense of impotence in the face of coercion; Bèi Jiéhūn (被结婚, be purportedly married) and Bèi Huáiyùn (被怀孕, be purportedly pregnant) were loaded with irony directed at tabloid news sources. Full of satire, suspicion and ridicule, the coining of Bèi-constructions demonstrated the public eagerness and impotent demand for individual rights. (Baidu Baike 2009a) From time to time, authorities began to respond to the public’s inquiries about the news events behind Bèi. The Ministry of Education and the National Bureau of Statistics have held press conferences to exclusively clarify the meaning of the phrases “be hired without one’s knowledge” and “be increased” and they have subsequently taken action to correct the problems. Since it has accurately captured some social problems and wielded profound influence in China, Bèi was also picked up by some foreign media and Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore newspaper in Chinese, exclaimed that “China is entering ‘an era of Bèi’”. (Baidu Baike 2009b) 3 The truth was that his college had made a pact with some businesses to bump up the employment data. 4 A xiǎokāng society refers to a moderately prosperous society in which most people are moderately well off.

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2 Duǒ Māomāo Duǒ Māomāo (躲猫猫, playing hidden cat), and Cāng Māomāo (藏猫猫, hiding the cat), are the Chinese names for the children’s game hide-and-seek, a variant of Mō Xiāzi (摸瞎子, blind man’s bluff). Duǒ Māomāo derives from the southern Chinese dialect. On February 12, 2009, Li Qiaoming, a young man from Jinning (晋宁), Yunnan Province, died in a local detention center. The local police claimed that Li had run into a wall while “playing hide-and-seek” with fellow prisoners. This convoluted explanation instantly elicited uproar in the Chinese cyberspace. Very quickly, Duǒ Māomāo became a red-hot term on the Internet. Netizens made Duǒ Māomāo a pun: originally referring to a children’s game, it now means a fatally dangerous act or an excuse made up by those responsible to evade their liability. As a children’s game, Duǒ Māomāo is not pejorative but descriptive; but it evolved into a term suggesting irony and ridicule. Netizens even satirized it as one of “the top three skills of Chinese Kungfu”5. Duǒ Māomāo became an allusion to this mysterious story and, in a broader sense, a synonym for cover-up, escape from supervision, lack of transparency, and disregard of the public’s right to know. Actually, the Chinese Internet was abuzz about the sudden death of a young prisoner rather than Duǒ Māomāo itself. Chinese web users responded to Duǒ Māomāo with mixed feelings of speculation, suspicion, irony, sympathy and disappointment. The massive popularity of the buzzword clearly reflected people’s eagerness to find out the truth, their discontent with the official explanation of rumors and a strong wish to put things right through public opinion. Faced with the inquiries from the Internet, the Yunnan Provincial Government invited netizen volunteers to join in the investigation. Netizens were quoted as saying that the attempt was “a remarkable first for China” (Feng 2009) and “a symbolic event for citizens to exercise the power of democratic participation”. (Minghaoyue 2009) Though the team failed to draw an alternative conclusion, it is believed that the attempt can be a good lesson in how to make independent inquiry work. (Dou 2009) As more reports about the sudden death of detainees caused by violent abuse by inmates came to the surface, more neologisms appeared. For example, Xǐ Zǎozǎo (洗澡澡, taking a shower), Zuò Mèngmèng (做梦梦, having a dream) and Shuì Jiàojiào (睡觉觉, having a sleep). Duō Máomāo (多毛猫, a mythical animal, literally meaning a hairy cat), a coined homophone of Duǒ Māomāo (playing hidden cat), has been included into Baidu Baike6, and toy Duō Máomāo

5 The other two top skills are “doing push-ups” and “buying soy sauce”. 6 Baidu Baike is a Chinese online encyclopedia.

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(hairy toy cats) were even available in the marketplace. So widespread was Duǒ Māomāo that it has had its own entry in the newly revised Chinese-English Dictionary. All this is an ironic warning to officials who perform their duty perfunctorily and seek to avoid responsibility for their poor performance. (Bi 2009)

Figure 1: Cherish your life and keep away from Duǒ Māomāo Source: http://www.edu-sp.com/static/html/20090227/12545.html

3 70 Mǎ The story behind this buzzword came from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where Hu Bin, a street racer, caused the death of a person surnamed Tan when speeding on May 7, 2009.7 According to the local police in the press conference on May 8, Hu “was driving at a speed of 70 Mǎ per hour”, which was inconsistent with what eyewitnesses saw, that “the collision caused Tan to fly as high as a twofloor house and land at least 20 meters away”. The official explanation sparked controversy and afterwards erupted into an Internet outburst. New keywords in the media coverage include Biāochē (飙车, drag racing), 70 Mǎ (70码, 70 kph), and Qī Shí Mǎ or Qī Shì Mǎ (欺实马 or 欺世马, coined homophones of 70 Mǎ, literally meaning ‘a horse lying to the whole world’). In Baidu8 and Google, the search results for 70 Mǎ reached 1,030,000 and 20,400,000 respectively; and those for Qī Shì Mǎ were 257,000 and 18,000,000 respectively. Compared with Biāo Chē (飙车, drag racing), 70 Mǎ is more accurate and targeted, and we will look further into 70 Mǎ in the following paragraphs. 7 At about 8 p.m. on May 7, 2009, Hu was driving a Mitsubishi sports car when he hit Tan, who was crossing the street at a crosswalk, and caused the death of Tan. Eyewitnesses said that the victim was tossed five meters into the air and twenty meters down the street. 8 A kind of Wikipedia, Baidu is the largest Chinese search engine.

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There are good reasons why such uproars arise on the Internet. Mǎ is an informal translation of kilometer. Common sense tells people that a car moving at a speed of 70 Mǎ shouldn’t have caused this fatal accident. Moreover, the official report of local police sounded unfounded and hasty as 70 Mǎ, a colloquial expression, rather than 70 km, was used. Consequently, the local police not only failed to convince netizens, but actually sowed doubts in their minds. Netizens invented Qī Shí Mǎ, a mythical horse, to express their sarcasm, anxiety and wish that the police could have investigated the case in an open, transparent and impartial way. Hangzhou police had to respond to the clamor of an unconvinced public with a reinvestigation of the accident. They eventually clarified that the speed had been between 84.1 km and 101.2 km and apologized for their prior hasty conclusion. Hu Bin was sentenced to three years in prison and paid 1.13 million RMB (=USD 182,200) in compensation to the family of the victim. It could scarcely be denied that the solution of the case would have been impossible without “70 Mǎ” and all the attendant publicity. More importantly, this buzzword made people sit up and take notice of the social problem of how to make Fù èr Dài 9 (富二代, second generation of the rich) decent, law-abiding citizens, how to protect the rights of the underprivileged, and how to settle conflicts between the haves and the have-nots. Should there be any similar cases in the future, this case can serve as a classic example.

Figure 2: A T-shirt with 70 Mǎ on it Source: http://nba.csnba.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=16&Id=2924

9 Hu Bin is a member of the Fù Èr Dài (the second generation of the rich), a Chinese term that has an increasingly negative connotation.

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Figure 3: I was only going 70! Source: http://www.neesoo.cn/article/hot/70ma.htm

4 Wō Jū Wō Jū (蜗居) was another favorite of Chinese netizens in 2009. Wō Jū was a television series, portraying the difficulties of buying an affordable home in the city and problems about urban white-collar love. It became a massive hit soon after it was aired in 2009. Along with its popularity, Wō Jū became a hot topic on Tianya and Newsmth10. The expression was put on various lists of Chinese Internet buzzwords of 2009 that were released by some influential Chinese media. According to the Modern Chinese Dictionary, Wō Jū means a narrow dwelling. The Chinese may humbly describe their dwellings as Wō Jū, Wō Lú, Wō Niú Shè, Wō Shè (蜗居, 蜗庐, 蜗牛舍, 蜗舍), all literally meaning a snail’s house and suggesting a sense of narrowness and burden. The reasons for the popularity of Wō Jū are twofold: first, the hard life of Fáng Nú (房奴, house mortgage slaves) depicted in the show clearly struck a responsive chord in the hearts of the viewers; second, the literal meaning of Wō Jū itself accurately reflects the general living conditions of Fáng Nú. Under the pressure of rocketing house prices and the high burden of mortgage repayments, many young Chinese have little choice but to enslave themselves to expensive houses like a snail with a heavy load on its back, which then sadly interferes with relationships and marriage. They even call themselves snails, a nickname precisely connoting their tension and sadness. Pertinent neologisms began to appear with Wō Jū. Yǐ Zú (蚁族, ant tribe), for example, is a neologism used to describe the university graduates in the big cities of China who work hard, but are underpaid. 10 Tianya and Newsmth are Chinese BBS forums.

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5 Diàoyú Zhífǎ Diàoyú Zhífǎ (钓鱼执法) is the Chinese word for entrapment. The story behind it started with a post entitled “a private car was impounded for being allegedly used as an unlicensed taxicab, and the police on the spot were violent and brutal”. According to the contributor, on September 2009 Zhang Hui, a resident of Shanghai, was identified by the Shanghai Municipal Traffic Law Enforcement Division as an illegal cab driver when he gave a free ride to a stranger who claimed to be suffering from a stomachache and he rushed him to a hospital. Zhang was fined 10,000 RMB (=USD 1,612) and his car was impounded. A month later, a similar experience happened to Sun Zhongjie11, another driver from Shanghai. The police operations in the two cases, especially the hasty conclusion given by the local traffic authorities after a preliminary investigation12, were met with incredulity among netizens, and very soon became a hot topic on- and off-line. Diàoyú Zhífǎ is a practice whereby a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit a criminal offense that the person would have otherwise been unlikely to commit. Of all the negative features of sting operations, entrapment is by far the most widely cited.13 According to the Modern Chinese Dictionary, Diàoyú literally means ‘the act of catching fish’; metaphorically, it means fishing for undeserved fame and credit. When collated with Zhífǎ, it refers to the illegal luring of a person into committing a crime by a law-enforcement agent. The two entrapment cases in Shanghai were widely condemned because they challenged the moral norms of society. Thanks to the spread of Diàoyú Zhífǎ itself, more people got to know about what happened in Shanghai. Under the pressure of the public outcry, the local authorities decided to conduct a second investigation. Officials finally decided that Sun had been entrapped and made an official public apology. In addition, they declared that the traffic police obtained evidence improperly in the case of Zhang Hui and therefore the penalty in that case shall also be rescinded. As a consequence, the events in Shanghai sparked a nationwide self-examination and a discussion concerning the lack of clarity about the use of entrapment currently embodied in the Chinese legal framework.

11 On October 14, 2009, Sun Zhongjie gave a lift to a hitchhiker, but was charged with “illegally operating a taxi service” by the traffic police department. His minibus was detained and he faced a hefty fine. Sun was so angry that he cut off one of his fingers to prove his innocence. 12 Authorities denied any wrongdoing after the preliminary investigation. 13 Entrapment. Baidu Baike. http://baike.baidu.com/view/2847878.htm? fr=ala0_1_1.

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6 Jiǎ Jūnpéng, Nǐ Māmā Hǎnnǐ Huíjiā Chīfàn! Jiǎ Jūnpéng, Nǐ Māmā Hǎnnǐ Huíjiā Chīfàn! (“贾君鹏你妈妈喊你回家吃饭!” Jia Junpeng, your mother wants you to come home for dinner”) is an Internet meme and catchphrase first posted on July 16, 2009 on the World of Warcraft (WOW for short) forum operated by Baidu. It spawned numerous responses from WOW players in the forum and from there spread in a flash across the Chinese Internet through forums, micro blogs, podcasts, Instant Messaging and discussion groups. For the torrent of hits and replies the post attracted within a few days, it was considered “a miracle in the Chinese cyberspace”. Opinions vary on the reasons for this craze. Some believe that the host of WOW has hyped it up in order to maintain the enthusiasm of the players during the WOW blackout in China while others argue that it struck a chord in all those who had the childhood experience of forgetting to go home for dinner and were dragged back by their mothers. Since rising to its viral stature, the sentence has been used for a variety of other purposes as well, such as in marketing strategies and commercial taglines, fostering a Jia Junpeng phenomenon. For a time this phrase, and even cyber communication itself, was a hot topic for netizens, experts and news media at home and abroad. From cultural and psychological perspectives, the phenomenon was read as “a piece of performance art on the Internet and a cultural carnival for forum users”14, “a demonstration of defiance and the collective unconscious of netizens”, (Sina 2009) “an affectionate call to youths obsessed with online computer games” or “the loneliness of netizens”. (Tencent 2009) As Jia Junpeng’s legend grew, authorities expressed deep concern for the youths addicted to online computer games and the Ministry of Culture decided in December 2009 that the SNS website be kept under stricter supervision. Though a fictitious character, Jia Junpeng was voted one of the ten most influential people in the Internet industry and a commercial icon of 2009. Jia Junpeng has given rise to an unprecedented flash flood of public creativity and kuso humor of the netizens. They transformed this catchphrase into a meme following the set formula: “Jia Junpeng, X + Verb + you + Object!” Businesses co-opted the meme of the moment for their product or service. For instance, “Jia Junpeng, your mom bought you a cellphone!”, and “Jia Junpeng, Webster15 is calling you to learn English!”. Jia Junpeng also turned into a poster boy and some ads claimed: “It is sweetly recommended by Jia Junpeng”. Jia Junpeng also

14 Loneliness. Baidu Baike. http://baike.baidu.com/view/6010.htm?fr=ala0_1_1. 15 Webster is an English language school in China.

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popped up on T-shirts for advertising or entertainment. In time, Jia Junpeng will sink into oblivion; however, he remains a lasting reminder of 2009 in virtue of his dramatic impact on education, culture, psychology, commerce, and entertainment.

Figure 4: T-shirts with “Jia Junpeng”on them Source: http://www.gousafe.com/api/goods.php? nick=august0o02&aid=fe23c25ee51d00e554f38da27a0c7300

Figure 5: A tagline: Jia Junpeng, your mom wants you to come and have some tea! Source: http://www.108sp.com/FI/Show.aspx? ID=3043

7 Gē ×De Búshì ××, Shì Jìmò Like Jia Junpeng, this viral catchphrase also originated from an online computer game. In early July 2009, a WOW forum user posted an image of a man eating

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noodles with the caption: “Gē Chī De BúShì Miān, Shì Jìmò” (哥吃的不是面, 是寂寞, What [this] brother is eating are not noodles, but loneliness!”). Shortly afterwards, another post entitled “What brother is playing is not AU16, but loneliness!” generated a great amount of replies, repeating the sentence with slight variations, giving birth to the phrasal template “What X is Y-ing is not Z, but loneliness”. The popularity of the “loneliness template” led to the formation of the Loneliness Party (寂寞党) among Chinese Internet users. The Loneliness Party ranked first in the list of 2009 Chinese Internet phenomena issued by Mop17. The “loneliness template” was best received among the generation born in the 80s and 90s, probably because they deemed it a clear reflection of their loneliness, distress, boredom, restlessness, and emotional hunger. Some editorials have reported it was “a piece of collective performance art” and “collective unconscious”. This phenomenon was said to be characterized by anti-intellectualism, boredom, decadence and mistrust of elitism and conventional norms. The Modern Chinese Dictionary defines loneliness as an adjective about mood. However, the overuse of loneliness has resulted in a distortion of its original meaning; loneliness in this context smacks of exaggeration. And it is also believed that herd mentality can be another cause of the overuse. This Internet meme conveys a clear message about the mentality and living conditions of present-day youths; furthermore, it sounds rhythmic. For these reasons, it spread quickly and was mimicked over and over again. If some applied it to themselves, they identified with the defiance, tedium and selfdeprecating humor behind it. Notable quotes include, “What I am placing is not a post, but loneliness”; and “What I am using is not a cellphone, but loneliness”. The application to the second and the third person expressed a sense of irony and mockery. For example, “Yi Zhongtian18 embarrassed the host. What he is embarrassing is not the host, but loneliness”; and “What the brothers from the Chinese National Football Team are playing is not football, but loneliness.” Living a restricted and dispiriting life, young netizens also invented more flexible adaptions such as “What brother is smoking is a cigarette, but what brother is exhaling is loneliness.” And the vocabulary at large centered on negativity, like vexation, distress and weariness.

16 AU is an online computer game. 17 Mop is a Chinese website. 18 Yi Zhongtian is a cultural celebrity in China.

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Figure 6: What brother is eating are not noodles, but loneliness! Source: http://www.dahe.cn/qingshi/sy/xw/t20091218_1716741_2.htm

Figure 7: What sister grows is not hay, but troubles! Source: http://www.gotogx.cn/html/64/n-51664.html

References Baidu Baike. 2009a. An era of Bèi (被时代). http://baike.baidu.com/view/2683903.htm. Baidu Baike. 2009b. Character of the Year (年度汉字). http://baike.baidu.com/view/664471. htm. Bi, Xiaozhe (毕晓哲). 2010. Taiyuan Evening News: Inclusion of Duǒ Māomāo into dictionary is a sign of social progress (太原晚报:“躲猫猫”进词典是社会进步的标志). http://www. dzwww.com/rollnews/news/201001/t20100115_5465895.htm, 5 January 2. Dou, Hanzhang (窦含章). 2009. Duǒ Māomāo called for an independent inquiry system “躲猫猫” 事件呼唤独立调查制度). Xinhuanet. http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/ ( 2009-02/23/content_10872066.htm, 23 February 2009. Feng, Xingjie (冯兴杰). 2009. List of netizen volunteers has been decided and investigation is to start today (躲猫猫事件调查团15人名单公布 今日启程调查). http://www.360doc.com/ content/09/0220/09/142_2596090.shtml, 20 February 2009.

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Minghaoyue (明皓月). 2009. Investigation left netizens feeling impotent (新华网友参与调查 遭“躲猫猫”, 叹无力又无奈). http://news.xinhuanet.com/forum/2009-02/23/content_10866961.htm, 23 February 2009. Sina. 2009. Think about a word that can summarize China and the world of 2009 (汉语盘点 2009：用一个字、一个词描述2009年的中国和世界). http://hi.book.sina.com.cn/book/ hanyu2009/show.php?id=1815. Sina. 2009. Psychologists pointed out, “loneliness is a state of mind” (心理学专家“寂寞党”是网民一种状态表现). http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2009-12-27/ 220616841097s.shtml, 27 December 2009. Tencent. 2009. Internet meme about loneliness has gone viral (网络恶搞新流行句式模仿 “寂寞 派”受追捧). http://news.qq.com/a/20090723/000243.htm, 23 July 2009. Translated by Mao Caifeng (毛彩凤) Southeast University [email protected]

Yang Erhong (杨尔弘)

23 Comparisons of Chinese characters, words and phrases used in the media (2005–2009) Keywords: Chinese character, media language, portal website, highly used character, featured annual Chinese character, time expression, proper noun, diachronic corpora, high ratio, shared word. From the year 2005 to 2009, the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (NLRMRC) published a series of annual issues of The Language Situation in China, in which an annual survey of Chinese characters, words and phrases used in newspapers, on radio, television and Internet news became a research project to be conducted each year. Some of the harvest garnered from the survey were a general list of Chinese characters and a general list of Chinese words and phrases. Yet the value and significance of the survey was far beyond what these two lists would tell, as it not only reflected the actual situation of language use in the media, but also revealed the social life in the respective year. What is more, the accumulation of the media language corpus over five years makes it possible to explore both the synchronic language use and diachronic linguistic change. Against this background, this report attempts to analyze the relevant data and investigate the use of Chinese characters, words and phrases from the synchronic and diachronic perspectives over a span of five years.

1 General information of the use of Chinese characters, words and phrases The media corpora, characterized by their dynamic and circulatory nature, were constructed from data of the print, broadcast and Internet media, in other words, from the text of newspapers, radio, television, and portal websites with high circulation. As early observation and prior statistical analysis suggested, each annual corpus was predefined to a size of approximately 1 billion Chinese

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characters and a proportion of 5:1:4 respectively for the quantity of each of the three sources.1 For example, the Internet media part of the corpus, consisting of text data collected from news on mainstream portal websites, contains a token of approximately 0.4 billion Chinese characters.2 Table 1 shows the sizes of these media corpora from 2005 to 2009, with each measured by token and type of Chinese characters and words. Each of the corpora comprises approximately 1 billion Chinese characters except the annual corpus of 2005. As to the types of Chinese characters, the annual corpus of 2009 ranks first in quantity, which is related to two factors. One is that a series of big linguistic events took place in that year, such as the public solicitation of comments on the draft of The Common Standard Chinese Characters’ Table, and the wide debate on the use of traditional and simplified Chinese characters. The other factor is that in 2009, rarely used Chinese characters were increasingly used on the Internet by eccentric users for the purpose of attracting attention. Media reports and comments on the above-mentioned events and phenomena made some of the rarely used Chinese characters occur more frequently and caught the public’s eye. Besides, the growing number of articles in 2009, introducing, spreading and researching Chinese traditional culture, also had an effect on the use of Chinese characters. Table 1: Sizes of the media corpora (2005–2009) Year

Tokens of Chinese characters

Types of Chinese characters

Tokens of words

Types of words

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 Total

1,007,019,960 991,717,791 1,007,053,180 978,994,406 732,143,010 4,716,928,347

10,204 9,271 10,123 9,231 8,128 46,957

592,414,821 565,064,223 586,211,239 578,019,707 416,090,995 2,737,800,985

2,348,100 2,261,272 2,301,553 2,022,273 1,651,749 10,584,947

1 For the sources and selection principles of the print and broadcast media corpus materials, refer to “A survey of Chinese characters, words and phrases in the news media (2005–2006)”, The Language Situation in China, Volume 1, De Gruyter, 2012. 2 The Internet media corpus materials of 2009 were collected from two news portals: Sina and Tencent.

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2 A comparison of the general Chinese character lists (2005–2009) 2.1 Coverage rates of the use of Chinese characters Table 2 shows the quantities of Chinese character types with a coverage rate (CR) of 80%, 90% and 99% respectively, and the corresponding type proportions to the total annual types from 2005 to 2009. Table 2: Coverage rate comparison of Chinese characters (2005–2009) Year

2009

Types CR

QTY

2008

PROP (%)

QTY

PROP (%)

2007

QTY

2006

PROP (%)

QTY

2005

PROP (%)

QTY

PROP (%)

80%

602

5.90

604

6.51

595

5.88

591

6.40

581

7.15

90%

970

9.51

971

10.47

964

9.52

958

10.38

934

11.49

99%

2,400

23.52

2,384

25.71

2,394

23.65

2,377

25.75

2,314

28.47

The five years of data in table 2 demonstrate that Chinese character types with a coverage rate of 80%, 90% and 99% respectively remain stable in quantities of approximately 600, 950 and 2,350. The proportions of these character types (“high frequency Chinese characters” or “HFCC” hereafter) to the total types for each year are shown in Figure 1. It can be observed that with the increase of

Figure 1: Proportions of Chinese character types with different coverage rates

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annual Chinese character types the annual HFCC types increase correspondingly, whereas the proportion of HFCC to the total of Chinese character types in the annual corpus relatively decreases. This signifies that the use of HFCC types is stable to some degree as it does not fluctuate dramatically in quantity with the increase of Chinese character types. In other words, the changes throughout five years are basically in accordance with the law of frequency that the larger the size of a corpus is, the smaller is the proportion of HFCC types.

2.2 A comparison between highly used characters and the Chinese characters for special purposes To investigate the correlation among Chinese characters used annually in the media, a comparison was made from the perspective of commonly used Chinese characters (CUCCs) and exclusively used Chinese characters (EUCCs). Table 3 presents the types and proportions of CUCCs and EUCCs. Table 3: Commonly and exclusively used Chinese characters (2005–2009) Type

Year

Types of all Chinese characters

CUCC Types

EUCC

Proportion (%)

Types

Proportion (%)

2009

10,204

71.12

823

8.07

2008

9,271

78.28

367

3.96

2007

10,123

71.69

764

7.55

2006

9,231

78.62

417

4.52

2005

8,128

89.28

147

1.81

7,257

Table 3 depicts that the CUCCs constitute the majority of the total types of Chinese characters, which shows the use of Chinese characters in the media throughout the five years. (Fifteen high frequency EUCCs listed in Table 3 are actually low-frequency Chinese characters with a frequency distribution ranging from 0.00000013% to 0.000098%, indicating their sporadic use.) For some of the listed EUCCs, their use context was investigated in order to find out in what ways they were used. For example, EUCCs used in 2009 were mainly used as: (1) archaic Chinese characters for the purpose of attracting attention, used by eccentrics on the Internet; (2) Chinese characters used in personal names; (3) quoted Chinese characters; (4) traditional Chinese characters.

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The investigation of EUCCs over five years shows that the use of these characters occurs in a more or less haphazard manner each year.

2.3 A comparison of Chinese characters with high frequency As high frequency Chinese characters (HFCCs) have strong stability, their varied use in different years can reflect the characteristics of the annual linguistic landscape. The quantitative comparison of the top 600 and 1,000 HFCCs with a CR greater than 80% and 90% respectively is shown in Table 4. Table 4: Comparison of HFCCs (2005–2009) Top 600

Top 1,000

No. of shared HFCCs

563

932

Exclusively used HFCCs (2009)

板 媒 园 博 (4)

甲 端 驾 延 木 (5)

Exclusively used HFCCs (2008)

灾救震宝川破 幅 验 跌 石 早 (11)

旗冰暴舰雅残秘 折 顶 献 私 绿 齐 (13)

Exclusively used HFCCs (2007)

香

润 塔 玩 餐 玉 (5)

Exclusively used HFCCs (2006)

伊 突 夫 官 识 (5)

映 苦 脚 姐 晨 哥 (6)

Exclusively used HFCCs (2005)

版圳券健欢编织载 欧 食 冠 批 娱 审 洋 (15)

洋页刊俱窗锋矿赢 鹏 棋 麦 煤 焦 粤 顿 伦 (16)

Table 4 shows that those HFCCs featured throughout the five years overwhelmingly predominate in quantity, indicating the HFCCs’ stability in diachronic distribution. On the other hand, HFCCs for special purposes reflect each year to a great extent the hot issues of that year in social life, and thus characterize the annual use of Chinese characters. For example, “板 (bǎn, board)”, “园 (yuán, park)” and “博 (bó, blog)” in the top 600 HFCCs in 2009 are closely linked to “创业板上市 (chuànɡyèbǎn shànɡshì, the GEM Listing)”, “上海世博园 (shànɡhǎi shìbóyuán, the Shanghai Expo Park)” and “微博 (wēibó, microblog)”. “甲 (jiǎ, first)”, “驾 (jià, to drive)” in the top 1,000 HFCCs are closely associated with the hot events of prevention and control of “甲型流感 [jiǎxínɡ liúɡǎn, Influenza A (H1N1)]” and the strict ban on “酒驾 (jiǔjià, drunk driving)” and “醉驾 (zuìjià, driving while intoxicated)” across the country in 2009. In short, the use of language is closely bound up with the recording of the perceived hot events in society, and the focal topics prevailing among the public can be deduced from changes in the annual use of Chinese characters.

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2.4 Annual characteristics of Chinese characters From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the use of shared HFCCs in the five years from 2005 to 2009 was relatively stable. If the use of a certain Chinese character increases dramatically in one year, it means that this character records the public concerns with massive media attention and reflects annually one of the characteristics of society. Moreover, statistics regarding frequencies of Chinese characters can present the characteristics of their annual use. In other words, featured annual Chinese characters reflect to some extent the annual significant events and record the developing track of social life. For example, the following social events or hot issues can be extracted by merely investigating featured Chinese characters: Yukio Hatoyama’s election as Prime Minister of Japan, the drought in the southwest of China, low-carbon life, the buying of the Hammer brand, the rise in the price of garlic, the post-financial crisis in 2009; oranges with maggots, Qiang culture, melamine, Olympic Torch, Wenchuan disaster relief, copycat culture, barrier lake, ruins of the earthquake, convoy fleet in 2008; the Zheng Xiaoyu case, Chang’e-I satellite, the illegal brick kiln, Spiderman, Taihu Cyanobacteria, the rise in the price of pork, the Poisonous Dumplings Incident in 2007; Wang Zhizhi’s return to China, the uranium enrichment issue, serious investigations of commercial briberies, the Socialist Concept of “Eight Glories and Eight Shames” in 2006, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

3 A comparison of the use of Chinese words and phrases (2005–2009) The same word segmenting and POS tagging system was applied in processing all five-year corpus texts for the investigation of media words and phrases.

3.1 Coverage rates of words and phrases Table 5 shows that in five years abrupt changes of word types take place when the CR reaches 90%. As the CR reaches 99%, word types rise dramatically in quantity. Words beyond the scope of a CR less than or equal to 90% are relatively low in frequency, but in great quantity in terms of word type. In contrast, word types covering a CR of 80% and 90% of the annual corpora are comparatively stable. In the statistics of five-year text data, the word type quantity of 2,348,100 in 2009 is the largest in number, while that of 1,651,749 in 2005 is the

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smallest. Despite the difference of approximately 700,000 word types, word types reaching a CR of 80% and 90% are respectively stable in the quantity of approximately 4,500 and 12,000. It is thus evident that high frequency commonly used words are stable in quantity. Table 5: Proportions of word types with different coverage rates 2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Year Types CR

QTY

PROP %

QTY

PROP %

QTY

PROP %

QTY

PROP %

QTY

PROP %

80%

4,636

0.20

4,640

0.21

4,658

0.20

4,478

0.22

4,179

0.25

90%

12,517

0.53

12,490

0.55

12,676

0.55

12,207

0.60

11,213

0.68

99%

172,263

7.34

169,448

7.49

170,274

7.40

150,193

7.43

134,664

8.15

Figure 2: POS distribution proportions in word type lists

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3.2 POS distributions of general word and phrase lists Figure 2 is about the word types from the perspective of the part of speech (POS)3. It shows that the POS distributions are similar over five years. Figure 2 indicates that such categories as personal names, organization names, place names and time expressions ranking in the top four in the table account for more than 93% of the total. This means that, in terms of POS, more than 93% of word categories are proper nouns and time expressions in source texts. A closer observation from the perspective of POS frequency, with the proportions of each word category corresponding to each POS in Figure 2 is shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows that common verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjectives, auxiliaries occur relatively more frequently than other word categories, which corresponds

Figure 3: Word distribution proportions in corpora

3 The POS tag set adopted in this report is the corpus processing and annotation specification designed by the Institute of Computational Linguistics at Peking University. For more information, refer to http://www.icl.pku.edu.cn/icl_groups/corpus/spec.htm.

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255

with the quantitative survey result of word category distribution in large-scale texts. These words constitute common words in Chinese. In contrast, the POS distribution of word types shown in Figure 2 indicates that various proper names, numerals and time expressions are ranked high. Their emergence in a large number is highly related to text topics and contents.

3.3 Stability and dynamics of annual word use The stability and dynamics of word use can be observed from multiple perspectives. One simple way is to survey the presence of words in the annual corpus, for whether or not a word occurs in a certain year conveys enough information concerning its stability and dynamic change. Thus, changes in word use may be perceived from the diachronic contrast of word types. Table 6 presents the contrast of word use over five years. In addition, contrastive results of high frequency word types (HFWT) with a CR equal to and greater than 90% are provided in particular. Table 6: Contrast of annual word types

Year

Commonly used

Exclusively used

Prop (%)

HFWT

QTY

Prop (%)

Word type QTY

Commonly used QTY

Exclusively used

Prop (%)

QTY

Prop (%)

2009

2,348,100

14.07

1,291,640

55.01

12,517

79.36

400

3.20

2008

2,261,272

14.61

1,167,881

51.65

12,490

79.53

475

3.80

78.36

359

2.83

81.37

378

3.10

2007

2,301,553

2006

2,022,273

2005 All corpora

14.36

1,207,635

52.47

12,676

16.34

1,031,612

51.01

12,207

1,651,749

20.00

817,087

49.47

11,213

88.58

421

3.75

10,584,947

4.60

5,515,855 76.79

61,103

66.16

2,033

16.68

Word types commonly used in 3 media over 5 years

330,422

72,641

Prop (%)

1.08

HFWT

9,933

9,933

66.16

In Table 6, commonly used word types (CUWTs) refer to those that occur throughout five years while exclusively used word types (EUWTs) occur only in a certain year. It can be concluded from Table 6 that the largest proportion of CUWTs among the five years accounts for only 20%, indicating a large variation in word use, which is quite different from the use of Chinese characters during the same period. The quantity of word types is remarkably correlated with the

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Figure 4: POS distribution of commonly used words

size of the corpus. Theoretically, the larger the size of the corpus is, the more word types there are. But that is not always the case. For example, of all the five corpora, the annual corpus of 2007 has the largest size with a total of 1,007,053,180 Chinese characters and 2,301,553 word types, while the annual corpus of 2009 is smaller in size with 1,007,019,960 Chinese characters (33,220 fewer than 2007), but it has 2,348,100 word types (46,547 more than 2007). Given the fact that their sizes are on the same scale of a billion Chinese characters, the difference should not be regarded as great. When the size of a corpus reaches a certain level, the quantity of word types in it is related to what the corpus texts are about. Constant changes in annual word use characterize the linguistic picture. The distribution of words may be further examined from the perspective of the media and time. Figure 4 shows the POS distribution of 72,641 words that are commonly used in three media over a span of five years. Those words are regarded as the relatively stable portion of the media corpora. The POS distribution of CUWTs is found to differ remarkably from that of the whole word type list in the comparison between Figure 4 and Figure 2. CUWTs, dominated by common nouns and verbs, are relatively stable in use. The proliferation of proper names in each year is purely incidental, related only to that year’s news. In respect of the word quantity and the word common usage, the

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257

change of word use in the media throughout the years is apparent, which reflects the dynamic changes of the linguistic picture. Relatively large variations are mainly represented by proper nouns, time expressions and numeric expressions. For instance, the top 1,000 items of the year 2009, which have a relatively high frequency but are excluded from the commonly used word list of the five years, are all proper nouns and time expressions with the exception of the word “囧 (jiǒnɡ, a graphic expression of embarrassment)”. A closer examination shows that the number of high frequency words (CR ≥ 90%) over the five years is approximately 12,000 for each year, despite the large sizes of the corpora ranging from 0.41 to 0.59 billion word tokens. It indicates that these high frequency words are stable in use as most of them are also the common words. An annual high frequency word list is included in the annual publication of The Language Situation in China. Annual exclusively used high frequency words (AEUHFWs) refer to those that are used frequently (CR ≥ 90%) in a certain year while in other years they are not used frequently enough (CR < 90%). Changes in their frequency reflect the characteristics of language use and also indicate the social life of a particular year. Table 7 lists some of the salient ones. Table 7: AEUHFWs featuring annual characteristics Year

Sample words featuring annual characteristics among the top 100 AEUHFWs

2009

甲型 阅兵 世博 假币 抗旱 哥本哈根 低俗 日全食 贝卢斯科尼 水价 献礼 编队 钱 学森 奥巴马政府 工信部 钓鱼 惠民 挂号 旱情 迈克尔·杰克逊 二人转 鸠山由纪夫 华诞 彩车 酒井法子 梯队 大典 中铝 检阅 天安门广场 季羡林 国庆节 魔术师

2008

增兵 山寨 羌 试航 堰塞湖 余震 雪灾 奥运村 抗灾 冰冻 赈灾 祥云 航站楼 抗震 款物 震灾 汶川县 夺金 健儿 众志成城 打砸抢烧

2007

郑筱萸 砖窑 慰安妇 渎职 核反应堆 特奥会 贝·布托 男声 达尔富尔 一国两制 香港特别行政区

2006

真主党 荣辱观 丛飞 李亚鹏 试射 政变 何洁 窦唯 注射液 八荣八耻 沙尘暴 周笔畅 二奶 厉娜

2005

抗日战争胜利60周年 赖昌星 核弹 法西斯 疫 否决权 反战 印度洋 转基因 常任 甲醛 农业税 侵华

The sample words in Table 7 have respectively recorded social life and news events for the five years. Some of the sample words are proper nouns referring to names that appeared in the news, while some are common words describing relevant social events. There are also words with newly emerged meanings like

258

Yang Erhong (杨尔弘)

“山寨 (shānzhài, copycat)” and “甲型 (jiǎxínɡ, type A)” – a once prevailing neologism (which cannot be recognized yet by current Chinese word segmentation software) referring to Influenza A (H1N1). Therefore, both the stable and dynamically used words can be obtained through the diachronic observation of words in annual use because the former are common and frequent words in the media and Chinese vocabulary, and the latter comprise ordinary words with abrupt changes in frequency [e.g., “水价 (water price)”, “冰冻 (bīnɡdònɡ, frost disaster)”, “山寨”] and newly emerged proper nouns [e.g., “堰塞湖 (yànsèhú, barrier lake)”, “奥运村 (àoyùncūn, Olympic Village)”, “航站楼 (hánɡzhànlóu, airport terminal)”]. The change of these words in frequency timely depicts the developing trajectory of the lexical system in language and portrays objectively the actual social life.

3.4 Frequency change of shared high frequency words over five years There were 72,641 shared words during the five surveyed years. After being sorted in descending order, the frequency distribution of the top 10,000 shared words is shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 shows that the frequency of the shared words is distributed unevenly to an extreme extent due to a dramatic decrease by very large margins among the top 500 words. Of all the shared words, only 1,556 have a more than

Figure 5: Frequency distribution of the top 10,000 shared words in five years

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259

Figure 6: Frequency distribution of 9,933, SHFWs in five years

0.01% frequency of use, whereas four words, e.g., “的”, “一”, “在”, “是”, occur at a frequency of more than 1%. This suggests that for the five-year large-scale diachronic corpora, the use of extremely high-frequency words is centralized and the distribution of shared words differs greatly. Table 5 exhibits the frequency distribution of the shared high frequency words (SHFWs, 9,933 in total) over five years, which is similar to that of the top 10,000 shared words. Therefore, SHFWs are believed to be the most stable part in the media vocabulary. Moreover, the frequency distribution of SHFWs presents a perpendicularly decreasing trend that generally complies with Zipf’s Law. Yet their frequency is distributed unevenly, i.e., the ratio constant of a word’s frequency to its corresponding rank can only be calculated after a segmentation of the whole sorted data. The sudden decrease of the frequency in distribution provides a basis for ranking words. The average frequency of high frequency words over the five years can be used as a benchmark to investigate the frequency variations of words used in any year by calculating their frequency ratios. Figure 7 shows the frequency variations of 9,933 high frequency words used in 2009. It can be inferred from Figure 7 that stably used high frequency words are much the same throughout five years as their frequency ratios fluctuate around constant 1. As for those words with remarkable variations, i.e., ratios sharply higher than 1 in the figure, they record annual characteristics (refer to Table 8).

260

Yang Erhong (杨尔弘)

Figure 7: Frequency variations of annual shared high frequency words

Table 8: Sample of annual high frequency words with remarkable variations Year

Top 20 words with high ratio in frequency

2009

甲型 阅兵 流感 世博 复苏 60年 经济危机 全运会 购置税 奥巴马 下乡 回暖 确诊 世博会 病例 护航 国庆 碳 内需 杰克逊

2008

瓦良格 麦凯恩 羌 加沙城 过冬 堰塞湖 抗震救灾 圣火 增兵 山寨 雪灾 残奥会 灾区 三聚氰胺 北川 汶川 余震 火炬 三鹿 帐篷

2007

嫦娥 安倍 十七 物权法 国奥队 炒股 牛市 开户 猪肉 生猪 易建联 参股 股民 蓝筹股 减排 封闭式 雄鹿 申购 探测 廉租

2006

真主党 荣辱观 长征 中非 青藏 参拜 冬奥会 黎巴嫩 小泉 靖国神社 郭德纲 王治郅 红军 李宇春 多哈 世界杯 贿赂 哈马斯 萨达姆 亚运会

2005

赖昌星 缉枭 宋楚瑜 核弹 台独 禽流感 抗日战争 先进性 养路费 乱收费 飓风 海啸 萨达姆 防汛 国债 航天员 个人所得税 凭证式 京华烟云

3.5 A comparison between shared words and collected words In order to examine the matching degree of annual shared words and collected words in dictionaries and word lists, three different electronic resources were utilized, i.e., the Modern Chinese Grammatical Information Dictionary (the 2008 Edition, MCGID) developed by the Institute of Computational Linguistics at Peking University, the Common Sense Knowledge Base of Hownet (the 2008 Edition)4 developed by Zhendong Dong and Qiang Dong, and the Word List of

4 MCGID and Hownet are continuously updated, but only the 2008 editions of both were employed in this report. For more information regarding Hownet, visit http://www.keenage.com.

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261

Common Words in Modern Chinese (WLCWMC) developed by the State Language Commission. Word types were extracted from these sources and then compared with the annual shared words throughout the five years. Comparative results and other relevant information are shown in Table 9. Table 9: Comparison between shared words in the media and collected words from three sources MCGID

Hownet

WLCWMC

No. of word types

74,173

93,214

55,680

No. of word types from 3 sources

112,862

No. of shared word types from 3 sources

42,547

No. of shared media words (72,641) occurring in 3 sources: 49,002

No. of shared media words (72,641) not occurring in 3 sources: 23,637

In Table 9, the number of word types in the intersected portion of shared words in the media throughout the five years and word types in the three sources is 49,002, which covers 90.03% of the total words in all five-year corpora with a total size of more than 4.7 billion Chinese characters. For the rest of the shared words in the media not occurring in the three resources, the POS distribution and sample words are listed in Table 10. From the above comparisons, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) In media corpora of a size of more than 4.7 billion Chinese characters, 9,933 high frequency words occur constantly throughout the five years, covering 87.20% of the total. They are relatively stable parts of the Chinese vocabulary, predominantly by content words such as common nouns, verbs, adjectives and function words such as prepositions, adverbs and conjunctions. The evidence for their stable nature in use is: (a) they occur annually with relatively high frequency and in a relatively large number of texts; (b) the occurring frequencies of these words remained stable in every year. But it is worth noting that the frequency distribution among these words is uneven, ranging from 0.0006% to 5.5%. (2) High frequency words with remarkable variations highlight the feature of language use and social life for each year. (3) The quantitative study of language use over the five-year period shows that the quantity of frequent words used in the media is approximately 70,000, revealing a relatively high degree of commonality with the collected words in existing dictionaries and word list resources. The frequency distribution of these words can be referred to word frequency computing in dictionaries and word list resources.

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Table 10: POS distribution and sample words of shared words in the media not occurring in the three sources POS

QTY

Word

Modal particle

1

着哪

Interjection

1

啊啊

Conjunctions

3

无论是，不论是，甭管

Numerals

17

一家家、一两、一幕幕、七旬

Onomatopoeia

21

嘿嘿嘿、咚咚、锵锵、哗啦哗啦

Nouns of position

23

东北部、右下、山脚下

Quantifiers

42

万元、元／平方米、户户、朵朵

Adverbs

48

不要、很快、并未、小幅

Adjectives

51

廉租、上佳、物美、生鲜、温婉

Descriptive words

113

短短的、厚厚的、静静地、悄悄地

Proverbs

150

无私奉献、先拔头筹、 引以为豪、精彩绝伦

Nouns of locality

152

手中、眼里、前场

Pronouns

229

本次、此案、每股

Attributive words

233

二级、创新型

Abbreviations

502

联通、国资委、国奥队

Idioms

573

更何况，说实话

Verbs

1,208

放在、打出、购房、挂帐、逐段、逆势、日常化、择机

Nouns

5,601

发展观、分析师、交易日、总决赛、成品油、政府部门、 主办方、净资产、供应商、小组赛、市盈率、购房者、 产业链

Time expressions and proper nouns

14,669

(omitted)

(4) Annual changes in word use are evident, manifested by great quantities of different word types in different years. The annual word list, generated through a language situation survey, registers the linguistic life of the corresponding year. In-depth analysis and mining of the word list is one of the research topics in sociolinguistics and sociology of language. Proper nouns are most likely subject to change, e.g., “北京快通高速路电子收 费系统有限公司 (Beijing Highway Electronic Toll Collection System Co. Ltd.)” and “飞鹰航空服务公司 (Eagle Aviation Services Corporation)”. These proper nouns, however, are formed by a combination of common nouns. This signifies that word components can be further explored by examining basic morphemes in a large-scale corpus, which requires autosegmentation and then the word composition can be analyzed. This is an ongoing project.

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References Chang, Baoru, et al (常宝儒等). 1988. Frequency Dictionary of Modern Chinese (现代汉语频率 辞典). Beijing Language and Culture University Press. Huang, Changning (黄昌宁) & Zhao, Hai (赵海). 2007. Chinese word segmentation: A decade’s review (中文分词十年回顾). Journal of Chinese Information Processing. National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (国家语言资源监测与研究中心). 2005–2009. The Language Situation in China (中国语言生活状况报告). The Commercial Press. Sproat, R., Shi, C., et al. 1996. A stochastic finite-state word segmentation algorithm for Chinese. Computational Linguistics. Yang, Erhong (杨尔弘), Fang, Ying (方莹), et al. 2006. The evaluation of Chinese word segmentation and POS tagging (汉语自动分词和词形评测). Journal of Chinese Information Processing. Yang, Erhong (杨尔弘) & Zhang, Zhiping (张志平). 2009. A survey and analysis of the use of Chinese characters in the past four years (四年度用字调查分析). Proceedings of the 5th anniversary of the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center and the Print Media Branch. Translated by Yang Jiang (杨江) Hunan University of Science and Technology [email protected]

Hou Min (侯敏) & Teng Yonglin (滕永林)

24 Chinese neologisms of the year (2009–2010) Keywords: neologism, annual corpus, loan word, annual character, disadvantaged group, word family, passive voice, microblog, language ingenuity, gamification of language, word game. Neologisms are an eternal theme in language monitoring research. To monitor and understand the neologisms’ formation and use, the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (NLRMRC), which has three years of experience in the research field of neology, conducted a survey on neologisms of the year 2009 and 2010 respectively. For both years, the annual corpus developed from texts of the print media, broadcast media and Internet news media in the National Language Monitoring Corpus was employed in the study. The corpus of 2009 includes 1,319,704 text files with a total of 1,047,831,642 Chinese characters; the 2010 corpus includes 1,301,850 text files with 1,116,623,140 Chinese characters. After some rounds of selection, 396 neologisms were extracted for the year 2009 and 500 for 2010 (refer to Appendix I, II). They were approved by invited experts. This report aims to interpret these neologisms from the perspective of linguistics, sociology and communication science.

1 Linguistic features of neologisms From a linguistic point of view, neologisms of 2009 and 2010 have the following features in word length, word components, word formation, and word frequency.

1.1 Trisyllables in preponderance Of the 896 neologisms, 467 are trisyllables, accounting for 52% of the total. The rising proportion of trisyllables is related to the increasing use of such emerging word formations over two years as “被 (bèi, used in the passive voice when the agent of the action is not mentioned) xx”, “楼 (lóu, building) xx”, “微 (wēi, micro) xx”, “～门 (mén, gate; scandal)”, “～族 (zú, tribe)”, “～哥 (ɡē, brother)”, “～姐 (jiě, sister)”, “～帝 (dì, emperor)”, and “～体 (tǐ, style)”, etc.

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Hou Min (侯敏) & Teng Yonglin (滕永林)

1.2 A small number of alphabetic loan words Of all the neologisms, twenty are alphabetic loan words or words written with Latin letters, some of which are formed by a combination of Latin letters and Chinese characters, e.g., “E两会 [E liǎnɡhuì, the electronic NPC (The National People’s Congress) and CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference]”, “G字头 (G zìtóu, initial G, i.e., the electric high-speed trains, using the letter G as their initial)”, “IN词 (in cí, IN fashionable word)”, “富N代 (fù N dài, the nth rich generation)”. Some are made up of a combination of Chinese characters, Latin letters and Arabic numerals, e.g., “甲型H1N1流感 [jiǎxínɡ H1N1 líuɡǎn, Influenza A (H1N1)]”, “3D报纸 (3D bàozhǐ, 3D newspaper)”, or by a combination of Chinese characters and Arabic numerals, e.g., “微博110 (wēibó 110, the Public Security Bureau’s microblog account)”, “10代 (10 dài, the 2010 generation)”. Furthermore, acronyms are also found among them, e.g., “ECFA”, “CVC”, “BCCI”, “CEMS”, and “GQ”.

1.3 Innovative word formations As with the neologisms of 2008, generic words are also evident in the neologisms of 2009 and 2010. However, their occurrence is not driven by specific events. Instead, they are content based with an explicit mark in word formation such as the word family “被xx”, “楼xx”, “~门”, “~执法 (~zhífǎ, law enforcement)” in 2009, and “~哥”, “~姐”, “~帝”, “~死 (sǐ, death)”, “~体”, “微~” and a group of homophonic trisyllabic neologisms ridiculing the rise of vegetable prices in 2010, e.g., “豆你玩 (dòunǐwán, ‘bean you kid’, i.e., just kidding)”, “蒜你狠 (suànnǐhěn, ‘garlic you ruthless’, i.e., you win)”, “姜你军 ( jiānɡnǐjūn, ‘ginger you army’, i.e., to checkmate)”.

1.4 Oval-shaped frequency distribution The frequency distribution of the neologisms in both years is oval shaped: large in the middle while small at both ends. In particular, there are only few very high-frequency and very low-frequency neologisms. 70% of the neologisms range from 3 to 99 in frequency, implying that most annual neologisms are still emerging from a small circle of users and they need more time to gain in popularity.

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2 Sociological features of neologisms Neologisms are not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a reflection of the social phenomena. As the “magnifier” and “microscope” of social evolution, neologisms highlight both the dynamic changes of language and the rapid development of social life. Analyzed from the perspective of sociology, the neologisms of 2009 and 2010 have at least four noticeable features.

2.1 People-oriented: large quantities of words describing diverse populations People are the core of society and the focus of social attention. In societies where people are free to hold diverse value orientations and tend to stress individuality, the indistinct and faceless general population may gradually be classified into increasingly distinct smaller tribes with different individualities. Once the label for these small groups is settled by code, neologisms come into being. 294 such neologisms were coined in 2009 and 2010, making up approximately 33% of the total. The large quantity of words addressing diverse populations is due to the word families formed by a couple of affixes-to-be. Typical examples representing the annual characteristics (except for “~族” which has been a hit in recent years) are “~男 (nán, male)”, “~女 (nǚ, female)”, “~二代 (èrdài, second generation)” in 2009, and “~哥”, “~姐”, and “~帝” in 2010. Forty-seven neologisms of 2009 were formed by adding the suffix “族”, among which “蚁族 (yǐzú, tribe of ants)” has the highest occurrence. “蚁族” refers to the post-1980s college graduates with a high IQ but low income. Being as tiny as ants, they are vulnerable in social status and neglected by society. Although working diligently, they live in groups and have a simple life. The clan of ants is another relatively large but vulnerable group after “Chinese peasants” and “rural migrant workers”. Fifty neologisms with the suffix “族” are included in 2010, but they were neither used frequently nor distributed broadly. However, they depict a vivid picture of society from various perspectives. “海囤族 (hǎitúnzú, a tribe of people who purchase and store a large quantity of daily necessities before the rise of prices)”, “海豚族 (hǎitúnzú, i.e., 海囤族)”, “囤囤族 (túntúnzú, i.e., 海囤族)”, “有备族 (yǒubèizú, tribe of wellprepared people)” reveal people’s anxiety and uncertainty about the price rises. “淘婚族 (táohūnzú, tribe of people who prefer to buy their wedding supplies online)”, “伪婚族 (wěihūnzú, tribe of married people who pretend to be unmarried)”, “滞婚族 (zhìhūnzú, tribe of people who delay marriage registration

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mainly due to the unsettled household register)”, “蜗婚族 (wōhūnzú, tribe of divorced couples who still live together due to the unavailability of housing)”, represent people’s positive, negative, grieving or hopeless situation and attitude towards marriage. “傍傍族 (bànɡbànɡzú)” describes a tribe of people who intend to look for a shortcut in achieving their goals by attaching themselves to bigwigs. “跳早族 (tiàozǎozú)” indicates the predicament of college graduates on the one hand and their job-hopping situation after some short-term employment on the other; “零帕族 (línɡpàzú)” refers to the people who can face life and work pressure with ease and hold a positive and optimistic attitude towards pressure. Additionally, there are also “草族 (cǎozú)”, “秒团族 (miǎotuánzú)”, “柜族 (ɡuìzú)”, “鼠族 (shǔzú)”, “花草族 (huācǎozú)”, “赖班族 (làibānzú)”, “淘课族 (táokèzú)”, “网课族 (wǎngkèzú)”, and “跑腿族 (pǎotuǐzú)”, etc. Many neologisms depict a colorful and delicate picture of social life. The Chinese have always been attaching great importance to family relationships and kinships. “哥” and “姐”, endowed with a strong coloring of family love and implication of a deep emotional intimacy, are the terms of kinship with which elder siblings of the same family are addressed with. In 2010, Chinese netizens have used them generously to address persons and even animals they are fond of. “帝”, an exclusive title to address the emperors in dynastic China, has been endowed with the connotation of sacredness throughout thousands of years of Chinese traditional culture. In 2010, however, ‘dì’ stepped down from the altar to the secular world. Being deeply rooted in traditional culture, it is now used as a suffix to describe those people or animals that achieve the ultimate goal in a particular area. Unlike the word family formed by the suffix “族”, referring to a group of people, word families formed by the suffixes “哥”, “姐” and “帝” often refer to a specific person. Although some of them have shown a tendency towards categorization, such as “保证哥 (bǎozhènɡɡē)”, “咆哮哥 (páoxiàoɡē)”, “淡定哥 (dàndìnɡɡē)”, “浮云哥 (fúyúnɡē)”, and “表情帝 (biǎoqínɡdì)”, it is still uncertain whether they can be categorized in the true sense. Of all neologisms of this type, twenty-nine were selected to be included in the neologism list of 2010, with the purpose of representing the linguistic characteristics of the times as well as the public’s mindset and the psychology hidden in language. Statistics show that “犀利哥 (xīlìɡē, Brother Sharp)” and “章鱼哥 (zhānɡyúɡē, Brother Octopus)” rank first and second in frequency among those words. “犀利哥” (real name Cheng Guorong) was a street vagrant whose unusual appearance happened to become known and swept through the Internet, his sharp but melancholy eyes looking in a deep and penetrating way and his grotesque dressing style hitting the avant-garde fashion trend of “homeless chic” by a fluke. For some time, the questions surrounding Brother Sharp’s fame were prevalent on the Internet, but the answers were divergent.

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“章鱼哥”, also called “章鱼帝 (zhānɡyúdì, Emperor Octopus)”, was an octopus named Paul that shot to fame because it accurately predicted the winners of eight successive games of the South African Soccer World Cup from the group stage to the finals. Besides, there still was a “高考哥 (ɡāokǎoɡē)” who took the college entrance examination four times and achieved outstanding results, but refused to enroll the first three times; also a “齐全哥 (qíquánɡē)” who arrived with fourteen pieces of luggage when registering at the university; a “证件哥 (zhènɡjiànɡē)” who applied for an online shop management position with over thirty credentials; a “专拍哥 (zhuānpāiɡē)” who specialized in photographing and exposing private uses of government cars; a “锦旗哥 (jǐnqíɡē)” who sent a “Not to serve the people” banner to the involved government department; a “微笑姐 (wēixiàojiě)” who kept smiling for a long time next to the rostrum at the opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Asian Games; a “练摊帝 (liàntāndì)” who gradually made himself rich by starting from a street stall with 300 Yuan, etc. Most of those described above came from the grassroots, i.e., they were ordinary people from the bottom of society. However, it was the story behind each of the “哥”, “姐” and “帝” that made up various facets of society and became the history of the year.

2.2 Conflict-focused: large quantities of words reflecting social events Social conflicts are a result of the creation of society. In recent years, various social conflicts were exposed to the public by means of the Internet, which reported a large number of conflict-focused neologisms. In 2009 and 2010, there were a total of 134 neologisms pertaining to social events, and of those the main syllables of word formation were “被xx”, “楼xx”, “~门”, and “~死”. Originally, “被” was an ordinary Chinese word used to express the passive voice. However, in 2009, this rule was broken by a newly created convention in Chinese grammar, the illegal use of “被” placed before intransitive verbs like “就业 (jìuyè, to get a job)” and “自杀 (zìshā, to commit suicide)”. It became a popular word game and went further to include even nouns, adjectives or attributive words such as “股东 (ɡǔdōnɡ, shareholder)”, “网瘾 (wǎnɡyǐn, Internet addiction)”, “慈善 (císhàn, philanthropic)” and “高速 (ɡāosù, high-speed)” – these neologisms were then also used as verbs. In these cases “被” no longer merely conveyed the passive meaning, but expressed the disadvantaged groups’ grievances and helplessness imposed by the authorities. In a word, “被” has been deeply embedded in the wheel of history of the year 2009, indicating the citizens’ growing awareness of their civil rights. For example, when the public

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disagreed with the authoritative news about wage growth, they would call their wages “被增长 (bèi zēnɡzhǎnɡ, to be increased)”; when some official statistical reports showed that a city’s Engel Coefficient index had dropped to approximately 33% and the per capita GDP of the city had increased to $9,000, indicating that the two indices had been equalized to the standard of moderately developed countries, quite a lot of citizens, especially netizens, did not regard themselves as “被小康 (bèi xiǎokānɡ, to be considered well off)” or “被富裕 (bèi fùyù, to be considered rich)”. When the authorities proposed “40 hours per week online” become a diagnostic criterion for Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), most Internet users who did not accept it would call themselves “被网瘾 (bèi wǎnɡyǐn, to be considered an IAD patient)”; when donations were not made voluntarily and a part of their wages was retained by their superiors as donations, workers would call it “被捐款 (bèi juānkuǎn, forced donation)”. The recurrent “被” made people exclaim that the era of “被” had begun. The word “被” deeply conveys the public’s disapproval of some compelling behavior and practices. It is worth noting that such coercive conduct has existed for a long time and the emergence of the “被××” word family is demonstrating the growing awareness of civil rights and the appeal of making one’s own decisions rather than being represented by a government body. It is also the best display of people’s language ingenuity in a relatively open social and political climate. Since the scandals of Watergate (水门, shuǐmén), phone hacking gate (电话门, diànhuàmén) and Zippergate (拉链门, lāliànmén) happened in the U.S., “~门” turned into a new way of Chinese word formation, and this kind of use came to a peak in 2009 and 2010. In the neologism lists of the two years, there are sixtythree words with the suffix “门”. These neologisms narrate a variety of social conflicts: “擦汗门 (cāhànmén)”, “发言门 (fāyánmén)”, and “台历门 (táilìmén)” show the public’s dissatisfaction with some officials’ bureaucratic working culture; “钓鱼门 (diàoyúmén)”, “开水门 (kāishuǐmén)”, “打错门 (dǎcuòmén)”, and “通缉门 (tōnɡjīmén)” tell about some administrative officials’ misuse of power; “杯具门 (bēijùmén)”, “茶杯门 (chábēimén)”, and “禁网门 (jìnwǎnɡmén)” reveal the conflicts between government officials and the common people; “黄山门 (huánɡshānmén)”, “语文门 (yǔwénmén)”, and “学历造假门 (xuélì zàojiǎmén)” articulate contradictions in moral education and native language education as well as the potential problems in the social value evaluation systems; “激素门 (jīsùmén)” and “早熟门 (zǎoshúmén)” bring again the already existing food safety issues into the public spotlight; “踏板门 (tàbǎnmén)”, “天线门 (tiānxiànmén)”, and “紫砂门 (zǐshāmén)” expose the defects of some products due to shoddy quality control; “跳楼门 (tiàolóumén) and “连跳门 (liántiàomén) express the poor and underprivileged communities’ resistance against their unfair treatment that led to a loss of lives; “兽兽门 (shòushòumén)” and “微博门

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(wēibómén)” are the stormy waves stirred up by the cultural cliques; “弹簧门 (tánhuánɡmén)” and “玻璃门 (bōlimén)” reflect the conflicting economic interests. What is more, the “飙车案 (biāochēàn, drag race case)” in 2008 disclosed the problematic and irresponsible behavior of the second generation of the nova rich, likewise “李刚门 (lǐɡānɡmén)”, which has again attracted the public’s attention to the sensitive issue of “官二代 (ɡuānèrdài, the second generation of officials)”. The neologisms of 2010 contain six expressions appertaining to “~死”: “冲凉死 (chōnɡliánɡsǐ)”, “骷髅死 (kūlóusǐ)”, “上厕所死 (shànɡcèsuǒsǐ)”, “洗脸死 (xǐliǎnsǐ)”, “盖被死 (ɡàibèisǐ)”, and “发狂死 (fākuánɡsǐ)”. These bizarre series of “deaths” reflect the public’s suspicion regarding the credibility of law enforcement, and their calling and longing for a more impartial and humanistic law enforcement.

2.3 People’s livelihood concerns: emergence of the homophonic trisyllabic word family The people’s livelihood has been a hotspot of vital importance all across the world. The price of commodities such as housing and medical care topped the issues of public concern in 2010. In the event “Chinese Review 2010 – Depicting China and the world in a word”, conducted on January 5th, 2011, “涨 (zhǎnɡ, to rise)” was nominated again as the top word to depict China since 2007. Having to face constantly rising prices, the general public regards the formation of new words and phrases as a way of releasing pressure by engaging in black humor. Hence, a torrent of homophonic trisyllabic neologisms were created: “豆(逗)你玩”, “蒜(算)你狠”, “姜(将)你军”, “苹(凭)什么 (pínɡshénme)”, “煤(梅) 超疯 (méichāofēnɡ)”, “油(由)你涨 (yóunǐzhǎnɡ)”, “棉花掌(涨) (miánhuāzhǎnɡ)”, “玉米疯 (yùmǐfēnɡ)”, “药你苦 (yàonǐkǔ)”, “虾(吓)死你 (xiāsǐnǐ)”, “腐不起 (fǔbùqǐ)”, “鸽(割)你肉 (ɡēnǐròu)”, “糖(唐)高宗 (tánɡɡāozōnɡ)”, and “糖(唐)玄宗 (tánɡxuánzōnɡ)”. The humorous but sarcastic implications and the magnanimous but helpless mentality in the above neologisms can be recognized easily.

2.4 New media’s promotion: a surge in neologisms derived from microblogs The year 2010 is regarded as “the first year of weibo” – another name for microblog in China. With its rapid development both online and offline, significant changes took place in information dissemination as the new media microblog

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began to prevail in people’s daily lives. From then on, large quantities of microblogs related to neologisms came into being. Twenty-seven neologisms are included in the list of Chinese neologisms of the year 2010, which testifies to the mircoblogs’ impact in various fields. In the political discourse, both the deputies to the National People’s Congress and ordinary netizens can participate in politics by way of weibo (“微博问政”, wēibó wènzhènɡ) and discuss political affairs through weibo (“微博议政”, wēibó yìzhènɡ); the Public Security Agencies accept complaints via weibo (“微投诉”, wēitóusù) through their microblog account named “微博110 (wēibó 110)”, which shows the power of weibo (“微动力”, wēidònɡlì). In cultural circles, the tendency to create a micro-culture (“微文化”, wēiwénhuà) arose: Weibo addicts (“微博控”, wēibókònɡ), making use of the weibo writing style (“微博体”, wēibótǐ), were composing micro-fictions (“微小说”, wēixiǎoshuō), watching micro-comedies (“微喜剧”, wēixǐjù), reading micronews (“微新闻”, wēixīnwén) and paying micro-visits (“微访”, wēifǎnɡ). However, due to the virtualization of the online community, weibo rumors (“微谣言”, wēiyáoyán) and weibo scandals (“微博门”, wēibómén) inevitably emerged. This rapid development led to the formation of a weibo/micro-world (“微世界”, wēishìjiè). When it came to daily life, people experienced weibo tours (“微博游”, wēibóyóu), companies advertised job vacancies on weibo (“微博招聘”, wēibó zhāopìn), graduating students posted their micro-resumes (“微简历”, wēijiǎnlì) on weibo, web surfers registered weibo domain names (“微域名”, wēiyùmínɡ), lovers wrote micro-love letters (“微情书”, wēiqínɡshū) and enjoyed a weibo romance (“微爱情”, wēiàiqínɡ), and, finally, the position of weibo administrator (“微管”, wēiɡuǎn) became a new type of occupation. Indeed, life in the weibo era (“微时代”, wēishídài) was undergoing a revolution (“微革命”, wēiɡémìnɡ) in the aspects of communication, lifestyle and social ecology, triggered off by the new medium weibo.

3 Information communication features of neologisms Language is a tool for information dissemination. Variety in the media and in patterns of communication may bring changes to language as well. During the modification process, neologisms will be the first to bear the brunt of flow-on effects. From the perspective of communication science, neologisms have the following three features.

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3.1 We, the Media: grassroots neologisms and the gamification of language The Internet era has changed the traditional patterns of the mass media. With the successive emergence of BBS, blogs and microblogs, people have gradually entered into a “We, the Media” era without a “gatekeeper” in the strict sense. Public information is not only released for the elites, but also for the grassroots population. Everyone can have a microphone in hand and can speak to the public at his/her own pleasure. Whoever you are, you will definitely receive a round of applause as long as what you say is wonderful or can be accepted by just some of the audience. Your comments will then be spread widely. As a result, everyone has become a wordsmith, or, in other words, a creator of neologisms. In the history of human civilization, the public’s linguistic creativity was never as widespread as it is today. The linguistic landscape was never as colorful and vivid as it is today, and the neologisms were neither as lively as they are today, especially those neologisms with a distinctly grassroots nature. They also didn’t spread as quickly before and impacted as broadly as they do today. Quite naturally, some neologisms vanish as speedily as they have emerged. A couple of quasi-affixes with a high frequency have in recent years shown the hallmark of a sheep flock, such as “~族”, “~门”, “~奴 (nú, slave)”, “~男”, “~女”, “~客 (kè, a person)”, “~二代”. For instance, when someone creates “急婚族” (jíhūnzú) to describe those who are in a hurry to get married and if another person coincidently reads the expression and thinks it is amazing, then he/she follows the lead and creates “懒婚族” (lǎnhūnzú) to decribe those who have no intention to get married; when someone calls those who tighten their belts to pay off a mortgage “房奴” (fánɡnú), others follow and coin “菜奴” (càinú) to cover those who practice austerity in grocery shopping due to the increasing food prices. Similar cases range from “富二代” (fùèrdài) to “贫二代” (pínèrdài) and from “官二代” (ɡuānèrdài) to “民二代” (mínèrdài). Just because of the above imitations, in recent years neologisms have taken on the feature of “things of one kind come together” as several relatively big newly-emergent generic words come into being every year. In contrast to the use of “~族”, “~男”, “~女” in 2009, the word families “哥” and “姐”, widely used in 2010, portray many images that are closer to ordinary people – they have gained a stronger sense of the grassroots. The expressions “孔雀哥 (kǒnɡquèɡē)”, “锦旗哥”, “咆哮哥”, “齐全哥”, “微笑姐”, and “淡定姐 (dàndìnɡjiě)”, perhaps used with admiration, amazement, irony, humor or affection, pour out what the common people see and think. They reflect their peaceful, tolerant and calm mentality, and give off a plain but witty, intimate yet cynical aroma.

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As the neologisms become more and more democratic on the one hand, their role as a means of entertainment becomes increasingly prominent on the other. Language, as a tool for communication, is not only a carrier of cultural symbols, but also serves as a platform for aesthetic appreciation and entertainment. Language was a means for communication only when humans were struggling with basic survival. But once the food and clothing problems were solved, humans began to value the spiritual dimensions of life, hence the entertaining function of language becomes salient. The homophone, reduplication, metaphor and metonymy are basic rhetorical devices that can create generic meanings. Moreover, an unexpected but reasonable word association may evoke a sense of pleasure and the amazement brought about through the crafty use of language is manifest in the neologisms of the recent years. “杯具 (悲剧, bēijù, tragedy)”, “餐具 (惨剧, cānjù, tragic event)”, “洗具 (喜剧, xǐjù, comedy)”, “围脖 (微博, wéibó, microblog)”, “织围脖 (zhī wéibó, to post a weibo)” in 2009, were all created with homophonic puns while “范跑跑 (fànpǎopǎo, Mr. Running Fan)”, “郭跳跳 (ɡuōtiàotiào, Mr. Jumping Guo)” in 2008, and “何逛逛 (héɡuànɡɡuànɡ, Mr. Strolling He)”, “楼歪歪 (lóuwāiwāi, a leaning residence building)”, “桥粘粘 (qiáozhānzhān, a glued bridge)” in 2009, were all produced by reduplication. Moreover, there are also “雷人 (léirén, to shock)”, “山寨 (shānzhài, copycat)”, “围观 (wéiɡuān, to stand in a circle and watch)”, “打酱油 (dǎjiànɡyóu, to just pass by)”, and “钓鱼执法 (diàoyú zhífǎ, entrapment)”, made by using a metaphor or metonymy with a strong sense of humor, jocosity or burlesque. Many more neologisms of this kind were formed in 2010: the homophonic trisyllables “蒜你狠”, “豆你玩” and “姜你军” reflected price increases, “神马 (什么, shénmǎ, whatever)” and “鸭梨 (压力, yālí, pressure)” were in vogue for a time on the Internet, and the EXPO volunteers were nicknamed “小白菜 (xiǎo báicài, Little Cabbage)” and “小蓝莓 (xiǎo lánméi, Little Blueberry)”. People might feel and experience great fun by playing with these neologisms even though most of them were ephemeral.

3.2 Word Media: eventualization of neologisms and condensation of information With the arrival of the Internet, human beings have entered into an information society surrounded by explosive and ever-present information. While time, space, brain capacity and resources are limited, language itself, as the information carrier, is quietly changing in order to efficiently and conveniently communicate information; we then store it permanently and may ultimately realize its value. People no longer describe an event or a social phenomenon with a

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bunch of obsolescent words. Instead, they encode the phenomenon and then articulate it as a new word. The features of neologisms in this era can be summarized as follows. Firstly, a large quantity of neologisms is employed to account for events and social phenomena. Secondly, the information loaded in neologisms is highly condensed because there is always a special story or a particular social picture behind a neologism. Thirdly, corresponding to their rapid emergence, neologisms also disappear very quickly. Using neologisms to record our history, or to depict society and to mirror life has become a distinctive feature of this era. It is exactly for this reason that baike.com has recognized itself as a Word Media. Word Media reflects the features of language change in the information society and the features of neologisms that highlight the changes in language.

3.3 “Style”: discourse intertextuality and formatting in language communication Intertextuality often refers to the intertextual relationship between two or more texts. It involves not only the relationship between two specific or special texts, but also a certain text’s diffusive effect on other texts through its memorization, repetition, and revision. In 2010, a remarkable manifestation of the diffusive effect was the use of various “styles”, in Chinese “~体”. “Style” originally referred to the written forms of Chinese characters or the genres of the writings, e.g., the regular script, the Song script, the style of official texts, the style of political comments, etc. By contrast, for neologisms “style” means the linguistic forms and features, the expressions of the people’s concern for their language and its pragmatic functions, e.g., the “梨花体 (líhuātǐ, style of pear blossom)” in 2006, the “脑残体 (nǎocántǐ, style of the mentally-impaired)” in 2007, and the “蜜糖体 (mìtánɡtǐ, style of honey)” in 2009. In 2010, “style” reached a small climax as eight neologisms ending with “style” were included in the neologism list: “凡客体 (fánkètǐ)”, “回音体 (huíyīntǐ)”, “亮叔体 (liànɡshūtǐ)”, “微博体 (wēibótǐ)”, “校内体 (xiàonèitǐ)”, “羊羔体 (yánɡɡāotǐ)”, “子弹体 (zǐdàntǐ)”, and “QQ体 (QQ tǐ)”. The origins of the neologisms of this kind vary from media like microblogs to individuals like “亮叔 (liànɡshū, Uncle Liang)”. It was the imitation of linguistic crafts that caused the emergence of these “styles”. Take the “style of Vancl (凡客体)” as an example. It is made up of a series of phrases like “love . . . , love . . . , I am not . . . , I am . . .”, which is the writing technique for advertisements on the online shopping website vancl.com. Imitations and repetitions made that writing mode a “style” known to a large population of

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netizens. The same applies to the “style of echo (回音体)” and the “style of bullet (子弹体)”. In a word, these “styles”, coded by the Chinese character “体”, become gradually stylized and form a word family by way of stereotyping. People familiar with the stories behind these neologisms often cannot help laughing about the skilled manipulation of linguistic devices. The above discussions have attempted to: (1) summarize the neologisms of 2009 and 2010 from the perspective of linguistics, sociology and communication science; (2) explain the relationship between language and society from different levels; (3) illustrate how neologisms are constrained by society and conversely, how they mirror and influence society. Although some of the neologisms may not remain in the language system for ever, they should be recorded in the description of the actual annual language configuration for future reference.

Appendix I: Top 10 Chinese neologisms of 2009 (1) 【甲型H1N1流感】jiǎxínɡ H1N1 líuɡǎn, ‘Influenza A (H1N1)’ (2) 【躲猫猫】duǒmāomāo, ‘hide-and-seek’ or ‘suihide’, which is the ironic expression in the police’s statement about the suspect Li Qiaoming’s unexpected death in police custody. In the statement, the police explained that the suspect’s death was caused by his playing hide-and-seek with a fellow inmate. (3) 【汽车下乡】qìchē xiàxiānɡ, ‘China’s car subsidy program for rural areas’. (4) 【保八】bǎobā, ‘eight percent protection’, which refers to China’s 8% GNP growth guarantee in 2009. (5) 【必应】bìyìnɡ, ‘Microsoft’s search engine Bing’. (6) 【开胸验肺】kāixiōnɡ yànfèi, ‘A surgical operation of opening the thoracic cavity to diagnose pneumoconiosis’. (7) 【秒杀*】miǎoshā, ‘seckilling’, i.e., online sales promotion over a limited time. (8) 【钓鱼执法】diàoyú zhífǎ, ‘entrapment’. (9) 【蚁族】yǐzú, ‘tribe of ants’. (10) 【裸奔*】luǒbēn, ‘streaking’, which is the metaphor for running something without related technology or fund guarantee’.

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Appendix II: Top 10 Chinese neologisms of 2010 (1) 【给力】ɡěilì, ‘awesome, to empower’. (2) 【犀利哥】xīlìɡē, ‘Brother Sharp’, which refers to a street vagrant named Cheng Guorong whose unusual appearance happened to become wellknown and swept throughout the Internet. His grotesque dressing style hit the avant-garde fashion trend of “homeless chic” by a fluke. (3) 【呜呜祖拉】wūwūzǔlā, ‘vuvuzela’. (4) 【章鱼哥】zhāngyúɡē, ‘Brother Octopus’. (5) 【胶囊公寓】jiāonánɡ ɡōngyù, ‘capsule apartment’. (6) 【伪娘】wěiniánɡ, ‘cross-dresser’. (7) 【小白菜*】xiǎobáicài, ‘nickname for a volunteer at the Shanghai World Expo’. (8) 【世博护照】shìbó hùzhào, ‘Expo passport’. (9) 【蒜你狠】suànnǐhěn, ‘you win’. (10) 【翻墙*】fānqiánɡ, ‘to access blocked sites by bypassing the firewall’. Note: Words marked with an asterisk (*) have a newly emergent meaning. Translated by Yang Jiang (杨江) Hunan University of Science and Technology [email protected]

Yang Erhong (杨尔弘)

25 A survey of annual catchwords in the media (2009–2010) Keywords: catchword, broadcast media, language resource, the Twelfth FiveYear Plan, frequency of use, character token, character type, Shanghai World Expo, quarterly changes.

1 Catchwords of 2009 For the third time since 2007, the “2009 Chinese Media Top 10 Catchwords” were the annual catchwords jointly released by the Print Media Branch, Broadcast Media Branch and Internet Media Branch of the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (NLRMRC). They were extracted from the 2009 annual national language resources monitoring corpus which comprises textual data collected from sixteen mainstream newspapers by the Print Media Branch, ten television stations and seven radio stations by the Broadcast Branch and Internet news on two portal websites by the Internet Media Branch, with a total of 1,234,992 scripts and 1,330,013,723 Chinese character tokens. Refer to footnote 1 for more details of the corpus.1 1 The sixteen mainstream newspapers (sorted in the Pinyin alphabetic order) are Beijing Daily, Beijing Evening News, Beijing Youth Daily, China Youth Daily, Guangming Daily, Guangzhou Daily, Legal Daily, People’s Daily, Qianjiang Evening News, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, Southern Weekend, Today’s Evening News, West China City News, Xinmin Evening News, Yangcheng Evening News, and Yangzi Evening News. The print media sub-corpus includes 840,403 texts with a total of 652,117,686 Chinese character tokens. The broadcast media sub-corpus is made up of transcribed texts of 124 programs from ten television channels such as China Central Television, Beijing Television and Shanghai Media Group (television) and seven radio broadcasters such as China National Radio, Radio Beijing and Shanghai Media Group (radio). It contains 14,589 texts with a total of 94,113,638 Chinese character tokens. The two portal websites are Sina and Tencent. News texts on these websites were collected to constitute an Internet media sub-corpus, which comprises 14,589 texts with a total of 94,113,638 Chinese character tokens. The “2009 Chinese Media Top 10 Catchwords” were classified into eight categories and five featured topics. The former included the general category and the categories of international current affairs and politics, domestic current affairs and politics, economics, science and technology, social life, culture and education, and sports and entertainment. The latter included the topic of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and the topics of both sides across the Straits, Hong Kong and Macau, environmental protection, Influenza A (H1N1), and social issues.

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The catchwords in each category were obtained by combining both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The selection, categorization and sequencing of the catchwords were based on the following principles: (1) Frequency of use is the main referential guideline; (2) Stylistic features and linguistic intuition should be taken into account; (3) Expert consultancy is necessary. The following are the top 10 catchwords of the general category of 2009: – 【新中国成立60周年】xīnzhōnɡɡuó chénɡlì 60 zhōunián, “the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China”. – 【落实科学发展观】luòshí kēxuéfāzhǎnɡuān, “implementation of the Theory of Scientific Development”. – 【甲流】jiǎliú, “Influenza A (H1N1)”. – 【奥巴马】àobāmǎ, “Obama”. – 【气候变化】qìhòu biànhuà, “climate change”. – 【全运会】quányùnhuì, “the National Sports Games”. – 【G20峰会】G20 fēnɡhuì, “the Summit of the Group of 20 (G20)”. – 【灾后恢复重建】zāihòu huīfù chónɡjiàn, “post-Wenchuan earthquake recovery and reconstruction”. – 【打黑】dǎhēi, “Mafia crackdown campaign”. – 【新医改方案】xīn yīɡǎi fānɡ’àn, “the new national medical care reform scheme”. Figures 1-1 to 1-10 show the monthly changes in the frequency of use for the top 10 catchwords of the general category.

Figure 1-1: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China”

A survey of annual catchwords in the media (2009–2010)

Figure 1-2: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “implementation of the Theory of Scientific Development”

Figure 1-3: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “Influenza A (H1N1)”

Figure 1-4: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “Obama”

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Figure 1-5: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “climate change”

Figure 1-6: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “the National Sports Games”

Figure 1-7: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “the Summit of the Group of 20”

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Figure 1-8: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “post-Wenchuan earthquake recovery and reconstruction”

Figure 1-9: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “Mafia crackdown”

Figure 1-10: Monthly changes in the frequency of use of “the new national medical care reform scheme”

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2 Catchwords of 2010 The annual Media catchwords of 2010 were jointly extracted by the Print Media Branch, Broadcast Media Branch and the Internet Media Branch of NLRMRC and then synthesized and aggregated by the Print Media Branch. They were classified into ten regular categories and five featured topics. The former included the general category and the categories of international current affairs and politics, domestic current affairs and politics, economics, science and technology, education, culture, entertainment, sports, and social life. The latter included the topics of World Expo, the real estate market, environmental protection, disasters, and social issues. The catchwords were extracted from the 2010 annual national language resources monitoring corpus assembled from Jan. 1 to Dec. 20, which comprises text data collected from sixteen mainstream newspapers by the Print Media Branch, eleven television channels and ten radio stations by the Broadcast Branch, and Internet news on two portal websites by the Internet Media Branch, with a total of 1,184,668 texts. The sixteen mainstream newspapers (sorted in the Pinyin alphabetic order) are: Beijing Daily, Beijing Evening News, Beijing Youth Daily, China Youth Daily, Guangming Daily, Guangzhou Daily, Legal Daily, People’s Daily, Qianjiang Evening News, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, Southern Weekend, Today’s Evening News, West China City News, Xinmin Evening News, Yangcheng Evening News, and Yangzi Evening News. The print media sub-corpus includes 736,691 texts with a total of 536,429,239 Chinese character tokens. The broadcast media sub-corpus is made up of transcribed texts of 141 programs from eleven television stations such as China Central Television, Beijing Television, Southeast Television, and ten radio broadcasters such as China National Radio and Radio Beijing. It contains 14,871 texts with a total of 91,414,060 Chinese character tokens. The Internet media sub-corpus is constituted of 433,106 Internet news texts collected from the two portal websites Sina and Tencent. The 150 catchwords not only record permanently diverse phenomena in the world and changes in society in 2010, but also faithfully reflect quite a lot of hot social issues at home and abroad. Admittedly, the panorama of China’s social situation in 2010 cannot be fully depicted by such a small amount of words or phrases, but on the other hand, through looking at them the focus of the social media can be captured. The catchwords of 2010 were classified into fifteen categories. The top 10 catchwords of the general category are as follows: – 【地震】dìzhèn, “earthquake”. – 【广州亚运会】ɡuǎnɡzhōu yàyùnhuì, “Guangzhou Asian Games”. – 【上海世博会】shànɡhǎi shìbóhuì, “Shanghai World Expo”.

A survey of annual catchwords in the media (2009–2010)

– – – – – – –

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【高铁】ɡāotiě, “high-speed electric train”. 【低碳】dītàn, “low-carbon”. 【微博】wēibó, “microblog”. 【货币战】huòbìzhàn, “currency war”. 【嫦娥二号】chánɡ’é èrhào, “Chang’e-2 lunar orbiting satellite”. 【“十二五”规划】shíèrwǔ ɡuīhuà, “the Twelfth Five-Year Plan”. 【给力】ɡěilì, “awesome, to empower”.

Figures 2-1 to 2-10 show the quarterly changes in the frequency of use for the top 10 catchwords of the general category.

Figure 2-1: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “earthquake”

Figure 2-2: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “Guangzhou Asian Games”

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Figure 2-3: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “Shanghai World Expo”

Figure 2-4: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “electric high-speed train”

Figure 2-5: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “low-carbon”

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Figure 2-6: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “microblog”

Figure 2-7: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “currency war”

Figure 2-8: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “Chang’e-2 lunar orbiting satellite”

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Figure 2-9: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “the Twelfth Five-Year Plan”

Figure 2-10: Quarterly changes in the frequency of use of “awesome, to empower” Translated by Yang Jiang (杨江) Hunan University of Science and Technology [email protected]

Chan Shui Duen (陈瑞端)

26 Changes in biliteracy and trilingualism in the Hong Kong education sector Ever since the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong, the notion of biliteracy and trilingualism has been repeatedly spoken of, promoted and expanded. Today, the general public regards this as the language policy of Hong Kong, as well as a portrayal of the language life of the Hong Kong people. Indeed, the languages covered by the notion of biliteracy and trilingualism (written Chinese, written English, Cantonese, Putonghua and spoken English) hold important positions in Hong Kong’s language situation. Yet Cantonese, English and Putonghua, be it before or after the handover, have always been in a competitive relationship. Within the first ten years after the handover, English and Cantonese have both had their scope of usage and significance in society. In comparison, Putonghua was far less popular and promotions for speaking Putonghua had mainly been concentrated in the education sector. However, as the interactions between Hong Kong and mainland China become increasingly frequent, especially after the government released the Individual Travel Scheme in 2003 and the mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Policy in 2006, the chances of the Hong Kong society using Putonghua have increased substantially, creating remarkable changes in the usage of the three spoken languages. In 2011, both the government and the citizens have already directly and indirectly responded to these changes. Below, we shall concentrate on describing the situation of these language changes and the practice of biliteracy and trilingualism in the Hong Kong education sector in 2011.

1 Changes in the medium of instruction (MOI) 1.1 English as the MOI In nurturing the learning of Chinese and English languages in the younger generations, the Chinese and English language programs in Hong Kong schools have played an important role, and the MOI has always been a significant strategy in improving students’ language proficiency (especially in English). Although English has long been the working language used by the Hong Kong government and business corporations, the chances of exposure to spoken English in students’ social interactions outside of school are limited, since Hong

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Kong’s population is comprised of mainly Chinese people who speak Cantonese as their usual language. Thus, many believe that schools in Hong Kong must provide students with an environment that benefits and encourages language learning in order to guarantee the optimal effectiveness in learning English. Not long after Hong Kong became a commercial port, English colleges supported by religious bodies have been established. Apart from Chinese language courses, these colleges employ English as the MOI for the rest of the classes in order to create more opportunities for students to be exposed to English. Many of these English colleges have, over decades or even a hundred years of management, developed into Hong Kong’s traditional prestigious schools. The use of English as the MOI for all subjects is an important element attracting student applicants to these schools. English is an international language and a high-level language variety, widely used in government agencies and business corporations in Hong Kong. Due to this reason, students and the majority of workers need to master English. In the 70s and 80s, the Hong Kong government showed a strong interest in increasing the control and management of the education sector and was very keen in implementing English as the MOI, in order to strengthen England’s influence over the colony. (Wong 1996) At the time, many secondary schools were glad to comply and changed one by one into English medium schools. However, this change also brought a heavy burden to students who were not able to learn a second language. Moreover, it caused a drop in English proficiency of a notable number of students, making these students unable to cope in most, if not all, of the academic subjects. In 1985, the Hong Kong Education Department (renamed the Education and Manpower Bureau in 2003, and the Education Bureau in 2007, in short EDB) carried out a wealth of research on the impact of the MOI on the effectiveness of learning. Results showed that a third of the Form 3 students had great difficulties in learning English, whilst 70% of Form 2 students encountered difficulties even with additional explanations in Chinese.1 Hong Kong society hoped to nurture talents proficient in English through the choice of the MOI. Despite the evident good will, the process of implementation produced different kinds 1 Johnson, R. K., Chan, R. M. K., Lee, L. M., Ho, J. C. (1985). “An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Various Language Modes of Presentation, Spoken and Written, in Form III in Hong Kong AngloChinese Secondary Schools” (Abstract). Also in EDB & University of Hong Kong (1985). Jiaoxue Yuyan Dui Xianggang Zhongxue Er Nianji Xuesheng Xuexi Jindude Yingxiang (The Effect of the MOI on the Learning Progress of Form II Students in Hong Kong) (Abstract); and EDB (1985) Zai Yingwen Zhongxue Chuzhong Banji Caiyong Butong Jiaoxue Yuyan Anpaide Yanjiu (A Study on the MOI Arrangement in Junior Secondary Schools) (Abstract). See http://www.edb.gov.hk/ FileManager/TC/Content_2052/tmimstudy(c).pdf.

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of hardships, resulting in an unsatisfactory outcome. This explains why in the past two to three decades Hong Kong’s education industry often faced a dilemma when choosing the MOI.

1.2 Implementation of mother tongue education (MTE) Chinese people account for the vast majority of Hong Kong’s population; hence, Chinese is definitely the most familiar language for Hong Kong citizens. Despite the significance that maintaining a high level in English proficiency has to Hong Kong as an international business and financial center, the use and development of Putonghua, as the other official language, is also highly valued. After the handover, Putonghua became the first official language, and making sure Hong Kong citizens possess a good Chinese standard became the responsibility of the government. In his first Policy Address in October 1997, the first Chief Executive, Tung Chee Hwa, stated: “Confidence and competence in the use of Chinese and English are essential if we are to maintain our competitive edge in the world. The Education Commission Report No. 6 has already laid down a framework to achieve our goal for secondary school graduates to be proficient in writing English and Chinese and able to communicate confidently in Cantonese, English and Putonghua.” (Chief Executive 1997) Two years later, this concept was reiterated again and presented as the concept of biliteracy and trilingualism. In the 1999 Policy Address, it was stated that “It is the SAR Government’s goal to train our people to be truly biliterate and trilingual”. (Chief Executive 1999) The term “biliteracy and trilingualism” appeared in the Chief Executive’s policy address under the session on language education, and because it is highly inclusive and conforms to the existing language configuration, as well as meets the selfadministrative region’s future needs in societal development, it quickly gained the acknowledgement of Hong Kong citizens and is progressively considered as the main direction towards which the Hong Kong language policy is heading. Under the notion of “biliteracy and trilingualism”, written Chinese and English, spoken Cantonese, English and Putonghua all possess equal importance, implying that the long-term situation where the field of education was tilted towards English would need to be changed. In addition, the learning problems that stemmed from using English as the MOI had once again attracted the attention of the education authorities. For instance, in 1994, a study carried out by the EDB concerning the MOI used in secondary schools (Education Department 1994) found that in subjects that are composed more heavily of language components (e.g. history, geography, science), students who were instructed in

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Chinese performed better than those instructed in English. Students with low English proficiency who were taught in English did not only show a lack of notable improvement in their English grades, but actually experienced negative effects to their learning motivation and academic achievements as a whole, even more so in subjects with larger language components. When Hong Kong was returned to China, the promotion of biliteracy and trilingualism was mentioned on several occasions in the Chief Executive’s Policy Addresses. In September 1997, the Education and Manpower Bureau (now named the Education Bureau) issued the Medium of Instruction – Guidance for Secondary Schools, clearly stating that Hong Kong is a Chinese society where daily communication occurs mainly in Chinese. Under these conditions, MTE not only can reduce the obstructions met by students during their studies, but can also help them learn actively, furthering creativity, and developing high-level thinking and critical thinking skills. At the same time, the Guide points out that if students are able to learn by using the language they are most familiar with, they will be able to speak freely, enhance their learning motivation and confidence, which leads to more active thinking and the development of an enquiring mind. The Guide required schools to phase in MTE from the 1998/99 academic year onward, starting from Form 1 and gradually expanding to all age groups. (Education Department 2000) Under this policy, only 114 secondary schools had teachers and students that fulfilled the criteria to keep English as their MOI. In 2000, a short while after the policy was implemented, the EDB, once again, conducted an assessment study on the MOI and found that MTE enabled students to improve in the majority of academic subjects in secondary education as a whole, but especially in subjects like science and sociology. (Education Department 2000) On 8 October 2005, Ming Bao’s editorial (2005) said: “After the utilization of MTE, students from Chinese medium secondary schools have shown continuous improvement; the pass rate and percentage of excellent results in English and other main subjects have also increased. Moreover, this result underlies the trend of the past two years, demonstrating that changing the MOI did not only improve the students’ overall academic success, but also helped them have a better grasp of their course knowledge.”

1.3 The fine-tuning policy of the MOI Despite the many advantages MTE has brought, the conflicting emotions towards it were not calmed due to the fear of a declining English proficiency of students. The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies conducted a survey in August 2008, which showed that among the 800 respondents, over

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50% supported MTE for the reasons mentioned above – the belief that it benefits the students’ understanding of the course material, and the view that Chinese people should know their mother tongue well. However, 40% were against because they thought that MTE will lead to a drop in students’ English proficiency, and English is an international language which students must master in order to guarantee a better future. Furthermore, even though half of those surveyed commended it, over half expressed that they would still send their children to English medium secondary schools. The reason why MTE has caused so much debate is actually not because of whether its idea of education is correct, or whether it is helpful for the students’ learning process. Most people basically agree that MTE can facilitate the development of thinking and enthusiasm in learning. The people’s doubts or even objections originated from the repositioning of the status of English and Chinese that would subsequently affect the social economy, reputation of the schools and more importantly, individual career pathways. Firstly, after the implementation of the policy, there was public speculation about the possible decline of the English proficiency level of the student population, as expressed by news reports focusing on the seemingly declining pass rates of the English language subject in public examinations. There were also worries that such a “decline” would lead to Hong Kong’s inability of maintaining its status of international financial and trading center. Secondly, under the MTE policy, only 114 secondary schools that had a long tradition of using English as the MOI were considered as having the capability of coping with the challenge of teaching and learning in English, securing them the EDB’s permission to continue using English as the MOI. These schools had become the select few that were crowned “English medium schools”, leading to a sudden doubling in their value, which meant that getting a place in these schools was difficult. All the other several hundred Chinese medium schools had seemingly been deemed second tier schools. The label of MTE brought psychological stress to a lot of schools, students and parents – this negative psychological message often overshadowed the advantages that MTE brought to the actual teaching in schools. Hence, many schools had to put in a lot of extra effort and resources to join the list of English medium schools, having to constantly engage in a restless struggle. Consequently, twelve years after the implementation of the MTE policy, the EDB released the Fine-tuning of MOI Policy (hereafter referred to as the fine-tuning policy) in 2009, and had it formally implemented from the 2010/ 2011 academic year onward, starting from Form 1 and gradually expanding to all junior year groups. (Education Bureau Circular 2009) In a speech entitled

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“Fine-tuning the Medium of Instruction for Secondary Schools – Briefing for Home-School Organizations and Parent Groups” delivered on 5 January 2009, the Secretary for Education, Mr. Michael Suen, pointed out that “[Hong Kong] is the only region in our country where both Chinese and English are the statutory official languages. Hong Kong’s livelihood depends on financial, economic and commercial activities, in which English is the major medium of communication. Against this background, we have to create favorable conditions for our children to learn English effectively while adopting mother-tongue teaching. . . It has come to our notice that the majority of children in Hong Kong lack an Englishrich environment. Our schools are in the best position to create such an environment or enhance it even further with constant readiness.” This remark concluded the reason why the Hong Kong government readjusted the MOI. According to the fine-tuning policy, all public and government subsidized secondary schools can, according to their situation, decide the MOI themselves, including their ability to teach in English, their students’ ability to learn in English and the standard of the school’s supporting facilities. The government hoped that this measure would provide more opportunities of approaching and using English for the students who meet the requirements, so as to prepare them for their later studies and careers. Under the new policy, schools can combine factors such as teachers’ and students’ abilities and use different MOIs for different subjects or classes, basically abandoning the older MOI policy, and therefore abolishing the need to distinguish between English and Chinese medium schools. The government also hoped that through this policy they could get rid of the unnecessary labeling effects faced by schools because of the MOI. To support this measure, the government invested a large amount of resources, including an additional funding of 320 million Hong Kong dollars, to implement a twoyear program for improving English proficiency, so that schools can optimize their existing measures or implement new ones to create a better English learning environment for students. The local authorities also reserved 590 million Hong Kong dollars for optimizing the curriculum used to professionally train staff who teach in English. In addition, the government set up a “Scholarship for Prospective English Teachers” to subsidize talents with proficient English who are taking an English first degree course and/or teacher training program in local tertiary institutions. The scholarship holders must become full-time English teachers in Hong Kong primary or secondary schools after they graduate. (Hong Kong SAR Government 2011:138-9) In the past twenty to thirty years, Hong Kong academia has always been plagued by the problem of the MOI, mainly because both Chinese and English

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are equally important to Hong Kong’s long-term development, yet both curriculum space and teaching time are limited. With such constraints, it is not easy to produce students that are highly competent in both English and Chinese. For this reason, the MOI, which can affect the learner and the effectiveness of the learning, have always changed under the influence of the education philosophy and economic factors. The fine-tuning policy seems more acceptable to the majority of the citizens since it avoids the situation of leaning towards mother tongue or English education. In Hong Kong, the emphasis on biliteracy and trilingualism goes hand in hand. However, the implementation of this policy has indirectly created an obstacle for promoting Putonghua education in secondary schools. Mother tongue education had been widely implemented in most secondary schools for twelve years or so. The adjustment of the MOI at different levels required substantial changes in the teaching and administration of all those schools. This came on top of the introduction of a New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum in 2009. The new curriculum was fully implemented and the duration of senior secondary school was changed from two to three years. This means that schools had to face a number of major changes in policy, and so the effort spent on Putonghua education was inevitably reduced.

2 Changes in the education system and Putonghua education 2.1 The Putonghua subject in the New Senior Secondary (NSS) school curriculum The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (hereafter SCOLAR) is an advisory body responsible for making recommendations to the government regarding language education policy and the use of Language Funds. In 2008/ 09, it introduced the “Scheme to Support Schools in Using Putonghua to Teach the Chinese Language Subject”, and set aside a total of 200 million Hong Kong dollars from the Language Fund to provide financial support to schools that successfully joined the scheme. Over a period of four years, a maximum of 40 schools were provided with the funding each year. Schools were allowed the join the scheme for three academic years, and make use of the funding to subsidize the exchange of personnel with mainland partners who could provide assistance in teaching, organize professional training classes and/or exchange activities for local teachers who were less prepared for teaching the Chinese Language subject using Putonghua, and it also provided allowances for hiring

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substitute teachers.2 According to SCOLAR’s data, as of 2011, most of the schools that had applied for funding were primary schools. Secondary school applications reached only single digits and the number of applications declined each year since the introduction of the scheme. In 2009, the Hong Kong government implemented the New Senior Secondary (NSS) academic curriculum and introduced a substantial reform in senior secondary school curricula. Originally, the Chinese language category embraced three subjects, namely Chinese Language, Chinese Literature, and Putonghua. Under the NSS curriculum, the Chinese Language subject became divided into compulsory and optional units, where the compulsory unit includes content in language and literature, and the optional units (ten in total) comprise subjects such as “news and reporting”, “media and applied writing”, “fiction and culture”, and “reading translated works”, etc. There are two optional units related to Putonghua education, namely “Putonghua communication and application” and “Performing arts in Putonghua”.3 To align with the academic reform, the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) was replaced by a new Diploma in Secondary Education Examination (in short, DSE) from 2012 onward. With schools taking up different optional components in various subjects, a common practice of the HKDSE is to include only the compulsory components in the examination syllabi. This means that Putonghua, as an optional component of the NSS Chinese language subject instead of the standalone subject it was before, will no longer be assessed by means of a public examination. Subsequently, the HKCEE Putonghua subject, introduced in 2000, was abolished after the last cohort of students took the exam in 2010. With no public exam in place, it is inevitable that few students have a strong desire to study the Putonghua optional unit during their senior secondary school years. Additionally, many schools have focused on upgrading senior year students’ English proficiency in order to prepare them for university and future careers. As a result, secondary schools are much more eager to implement the MOI finetuning policy in order to create more space for English training, which leaves less room for bringing in yet another language subject – Putonghua – which for some students is not much easier to learn than any other second language. Under such circumstances, the adoption of Putonghua as the MOI for Chinese 2 Details of the scheme can be retrieved from the SCOLAR website at http://www.languageeducation.com/chi/pbt_pmic.asp. 3 Details of the NSS Chinese curriculum structure are recorded in Curriculum Development Council & Hong Kong Examination & Assessment Authority (2007). Chinese Language Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4-6), retrievable from the EDB website at http://www.edb.gov. hk/FileManager/TC/Content_5999/chi_lang_final.pdf.

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subjects in secondary schools becomes a less important issue and can be put aside for the moment. Compatible with the change in the NSS academic structure is the introduction of a four-year curriculum (4YC) for all government-subsidized universities in the 2012/13 academic year. Most universities take advantage of the extra year to strengthen language training and general education. However, contrary to the original practice of having Putonghua courses at different levels commonly offered to students who have the need and interest, many of the new university language programs under the 4YC do not embed any provisions on Putonghua. Such an arrangement was perhaps proposed on the assumption that the 2012 university entrants were the first cohort of students to receive nine years of Putonghua training from primary one to junior secondary level, when Putonghua was introduced as a core subject in the school curriculum in 1998. It seems that there is no further need for universities to allocate resources to provide Putonghua training to students who should have already possessed basic Putonghua competency. University course designers tend to believe that the main focus of Chinese training at university level should rest with written Chinese instead of Putonghua. According to the introduction given by participants of the seminar “New Developments in University Chinese”, organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in April 2011, almost all the credit-bearing Chinese programs of the 4YC as offered by the local universities would comprise courses on written Chinese, with Putonghua training only available as optional units. The vigor on Putonghua training has not been increased because of the implementation of a comparatively flexible and spacious curriculum. Based on these existing trends, it appears there may be a rift between the secondary and university stages in Hong Kong’s future Putonghua education, since many students will receive no further Putonghua training at both the senior secondary and tertiary levels. Nevertheless, if we take a closer look at the situation of Putonghua education in primary schools and the development strategy of universities, we will find that whilst there is a basis for this worry, it is difficult to know for certain.

2.2 The effectiveness of primary Putonghua education The Education Commission of Hong Kong suggested in its Report No. 6 that Putonghua should become a core subject of the school curriculum from 1998 onward, starting with Primary 1, Form 1 and Form 4, then gradually expanding to other year groups. The EDB accepted this suggestion and subsequently required all Hong Kong primary and junior secondary school students to study Putonghua,

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though the specific implementation varies with individual schools. Looking at the teaching time for example, different schools allocate a very different amount of time for Putonghua teaching, ranging from twenty odd hours to around a hundred hours per year. Furthermore, some schools offer Putonghua as a standalone subject while others combine it with the Chinese language subject or use Putonghua as the MOI for Chinese classes. The effectiveness of Putonghua teaching was therefore not ideal for the first ten years of implementation, mainly because of a confusion in curriculum planning, but more importantly, also due to the deficiency in staff quality. However, the situation has gradually improved in recent years, especially in primary schools where the Putonghua program has slowly come into form with stronger support from better qualified teaching teams, yielding more encouraging learning outcomes. During the past three to four years, the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University provided many rounds of Putonghua Proficiency Test services for some primary and secondary students. The results showed that the proficiency of secondary school students is comparable to current university undergraduates, and primary school students are found not to differ notably from those secondary school students either. Another factor that facilitates primary Putonghua education is the language environment, which has undergone substantial changes. A number of surveys conducted by universities and the education authorities showed that the language used by students in their home environment is closely related to their success in language learning at school. The majority of students who have outstanding Putonghua scores also communicate in Putonghua with family members at home. This correlation was also found in two surveys conducted by the HKPU in 2004 and 2011, and in an international reading test in 2011.4 These studies showed that in the past six to seven years, Hong Kong primary and secondary school students have used Putonghua at home more frequently than before, and many of them feel that they can communicate with others fluently in Putonghua, whilst some students feel less confident about their fluency, but feel that they have no problem communicating with others. Those who have learned Putonghua but cannot apply it are a comparatively small proportion. 4 See the Report on the development of band descriptors for the Putonghua proficiency of Hong Kong secondary school students (internal document), submitted to SCOLAR by the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies in 2004; So, D., Chan S. D., Lau, M. C. (2011) Interim Report of the GRF project. “An ex post facto study of school & socio-psychological factors and Putonghua proficiency of HK students indicated in the PTH Proficiency Assessment of Secondary-3 students and the PolyU Graduating Students’ Language Proficiency Assessment (PTH)”; and the Interim report on Progress in International Reading Literary Study (PIRLS) 2011 (internal document of EDB), submitted by the Faculty of Education, HKU.

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The change in family language may be influenced by two factors: 1) part of the primary school students come from mainland Chinese immigrant families and so choose Putonghua as their main family language; 2) local parents intentionally nurture their children into mastering biliteracy and trilingualism, and actively create a home environment that requires using both Putonghua and English. In 2009, the Hong Kong government began to relax the restrictions on seeking employment in Hong Kong for non-local graduates, enabling university graduates who have a mainland background and a high proficiency level in Putonghua to join the teaching profession in Hong Kong. Although the number of these “external aids” is still insufficient to make up for the shortage of qualified Putonghua teachers, summing up all the above factors it is anticipated that primary Putonghua education in Hong Kong will accomplish progressive achievements in the years to come. This is particularly so if we also consider the factor that young children have an advantage in language learning. As long as primary students build a relatively strong foundation in Putonghua, even if there are reductions in teaching efforts due to all sorts of limitations at senior secondary or university level, students should be able to maintain a certain standard of Putonghua proficiency. Besides, the student body in Hong Kong universities has undergone tremendous changes in the past few years, and there are voices advocating the internationalization of education. This has resulted in a change of the language environment at university, and the language proficiency of the students, including the English and Putonghua proficiency, were once again a topic of public concern in the past year.

3 Education internationalization 3.1 The demands on biliterate and trilingual talents resulting from the internationalization of education The University Grants Committee (UGC), which is specifically responsible for funding and monitoring universities’ operations, submitted a report in 2011, entitled “Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong”. It posed that the culture of Hong Kong contains both eastern and western elements and advocated that local tertiary institutions must make good use of this trait, and not only preserve traditional values while accommodating local needs, but also promote the internationalization of institutions to further increase Hong Kong’s uniqueness and attraction. Faced with the pressures of globalization, Hong Kong’s prospects require a global competitiveness and the pioneering of talents

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that possess an international perspective and biliterate and trilingual abilities; thus, urging tertiary institutions to formulate and implement a globalization strategy will attract more foreign students to come and study, and thereby help develop Hong Kong into an education hub. The report also pointed out that China has announced “The Country’s Medium- to Long-Term Education Reform and Development Outline (Years 2012-2020)”, which set the direction for a number of key issues, such as strengthening and enhancing the exchange and cooperation between mainland universities and international institutions, encouraging foreign well-known institutions to collaborate with Chinese institutions in teaching and research, and to attract talented individuals to come to China. Hong Kong should seize this opportunity and deepen the partnership with mainland institutions to foster the rapid growth of the country. The UGC held that to fulfill the above suggestions, universities must review their formal and informal teaching procedures in order to open up more space and opportunities for students as well as help them understand international affairs, of which the language problem is a key component. The relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China is becoming increasingly close, therefore graduates must be adept in Putonghua and possess good Chinese reading and writing skills. At the same time, English will continue to be the main language in international business and communications, and thus must be thoroughly mastered by Hong Kong university students. The aforementioned report has once again produced an urgent demand on Hong Kong’s society, and especially on the tertiary sector, to pursue biliteracy and trilingualism in its education industry and labor force. All Hong Kong universities basically use English as their MOI, but in the past there have been cases of policy easing where English teaching rules were at times not implemented strictly. As the appeal for the internationalization of tertiary institutions grows increasingly stronger, the number of overseas exchange students has also increased. In order to attend to these exchange students’ learning needs and to ensure that local students’ English skills are good enough to engage in high level learning and research activities, all universities have clearly been stricter in implementing English teaching requirements. On the other hand, the UGC has, since 2004 and 2005, gradually revoked the financial aid for diploma and taught masters programs, and has set up self-financed post-secondary programs5 to deal with local and mainland Chinese tertiary degree requirements. These types of programs have flourished in recent 5 The post-secondary programs offered by tertiary institutions include programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as some at sub-degree level, such as higher diploma and associate degree programs.

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years, pushing higher education as a whole towards rapid expansion. The EDB revealed that in the 2010/11 academic year, there were a total of thirty-nine thousand self-financed students enrolled on various types of programs,6 of whom a huge portion came from mainland China. These students formed a Putonghua-speaking community in Hong Kong universities. They not only changed the fact that Cantonese was the main language on campus, but in order to cater to their needs also urged that some of the subjects that were originally taught in Cantonese be taught in Putonghua. Therefore, after the implementation of the 4YC, although most universities do not provide credit-bearing compulsory Putonghua courses, Putonghua has gained a wider usage on university campuses. It is likely that future Putonghua learning for university students may not be available in the form of specific Putonghua subjects, but as a MOI in certain Chinese subjects or through nonclassroom interaction. Given that the foundation of Putonghua is more secure in primary school students, the use of Putonghua in university is becoming increasingly common. In the years to come, the possibility of a break in Putonghua learning after junior secondary school is small.

4 Learning Chinese learning for non-Chinesespeaking students The expectation to master biliteracy and trilingualism is not only placed on local students, but non-Chinese-speaking students who plan to live and work in Hong Kong are also required to develop a good multilingual capability. Compared to local Chinese-speaking students, in the past decades the problem of the MOI has been simpler for foreign students, who mainly learned through English and were able to choose to learn a second language at their free will. However, along with the changes in Hong Kong’s language life, they are also faced with new challenges in terms of language learning. According to the 2011 Hong Kong Fact Sheet, during 2010, Hong Kong had a total of 275,340 primary school students and 376,730 secondary school students, studying in 462 public primary and 402 public secondary schools respectively. Public school places constituted around 82% of all school places. Moreover, there were 73 schools in Hong Kong under the Direct Subsidy Scheme, providing 6 Details of the programs can be retrieved from the Information Portal for Accredited Postsecondary Programs (IPASS) created by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at http://www.ipass.gov.hk/edb/index.php/ch/home/statheader/stat/stat_el_index.

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7.8% of all school places, and a further 48 international schools, fifteen of which were run by the English School Foundation. The international schools from England, the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, etc., offered non-local curricula as well as the International Baccalaureate curriculum. They provided a total of 36,100 school places. (Hong Kong SAR Government 2011:120) Many of the international schools were established for children of expatriates living or working in Hong Kong; they were to provide a convergence with the curricula of the overseas education system. Since these schools provide nonlocal curricula, they do not receive government funding and are not regulated by the EDB. Consequently, the mode of language learning for international school students has received less attention. Generally speaking, international schools are mainly occupied by foreign students, though there are a sizeable proportion of local students as well. The vast majority of these schools use English as their MOI, though there are a few that also provide, for example, French, German, Japanese or Korean courses. Owing to the increasing importance of the Chinese language in the international arena, Chinese subjects that did not have a place in international schools in the past have been included in international school curricula in recent years. According to the information provided by such schools in 2011, almost all international schools in Hong Kong have Chinese (Hanyu) classes. Most international primary schools include Chinese as part of their daily curriculum and students are assigned Chinese classes of different levels according to their Chinese background, enabling them to study Chinese as a second language. Similar arrangements have also occurred in the junior secondary curriculum of most international schools. As students reach senior secondary level, they begin to focus on studying a number of subjects according to their own abilities and interests to prepare for university education. Most international schools only provide Chinese as one of the subjects listed under “Modern Languages”, allowing students to choose from a number of different languages. However, overseas universities generally do not consider Chinese grades, and most of the international school students from more privileged and wealthier families tend to receive university education overseas, so there are few students who choose to take Chinese subjects at a senior secondary level. In close to fifty international schools, only two provide Chinese language training close to native standards throughout primary and secondary school, so all in all, students from Hong Kong’s international schools generally have quite high English proficiency, but their Chinese abilities are rather uneven. In the past decades, most of the Hong Kong non-Chinese-speaking (NCS) students were admitted by international schools. However, since 2004, following

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the change in the school place allocation policy, some have entered government subsidized primary and secondary schools, and received Chinese education in the form of mother tongue education along with local students. The majority of these students come from South-Asian countries and their families’ financial background is relatively poor and their parents’ education level lower as well. A lot of these families hope to reside in Hong Kong as permanent residents and wish that their children can study and work in Hong Kong. Some of these SouthAsian students were born in Hong Kong, but others are transfer students who have arrived in Hong Kong at different times. With no Chinese foundation and no help regarding Chinese language learning from their parents, these students often encounter considerable difficulties in the process of learning since many of them have to learn through the Chinese medium just like the local students. Teachers who have to cope with the huge differences in Chinese proficiency between local and ethnic minority students also face an enormous challenge. (Chan 2008) To provide assistance for these students, their teachers and schools, the EDB formulated the Executive Summary of the Supplementary Guide to the Chinese Language Curriculum for Non-Chinese-Speaking Students in 2008, in the hope of providing some principles, strategies and suggestions for implementing Chinese language classes for the NCS students by taking into consideration their learning situation. The EDB has also provided a series of curriculum resources to help these students gradually integrate into the mainstream education system. In addition, it commissioned Hong Kong universities to provide support services at the schools, operate Chinese learning support centers and offer Chinese teacher training for the teachers concerned. In the 2010/2011 academic year, the EDB identified nineteen primary and nine secondary schools that admitted more ethnic minority students as designated schools and provided them with an extra subsidy and human resources for the development of school-based measures and the accumulation of teaching experience.7 On the other hand, to help the rest of the schools that admitted NCS students reduce their problems, the government made use of the Language Fund to set up a three-year pilot scheme, the Project of After-school Extended Chinese Learning for Non-Chinese-Speaking Students, to create more opportunities for NCS students to learn Chinese. In the 2010/11 academic year, 62 non-designated schools joined the project. Each school, according to their number of NCS

7 See Legislative Council document CB (2)1213/10-11(01),CB (2)1213/10-11(02), and CB(2)1258/1011(01); retrievable from the website of the Legislative Council at http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr1011/chinese/panels/ed/minutes/ ed20110314.pdf.

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students, was allocated HK$50,000 to HK$300,000 worth of funds to arrange a variety of extended Chinese learning activities.8 Due to the hard work of the schools and the education authorities, NCS students have shown good progress in learning Chinese. In 2010, 170 nonChinese-speaking students joined the GCSE Chinese subject examinations and 143 received the recognized qualification. Another 56 students joined Hong Kong’s Advanced Level Examinations (HKALE) and 20 of them gained entry to Hong Kong’s tertiary institutions. There are currently 250 NCS students who are doing self-financed degrees or diploma courses in Hong Kong. Additionally, the Vocational Training Council is a tertiary institution that admits more ethnic minority students and in 2010/11, they provided 400 jobs and education training quotas for ethnic minorities and set up Chinese and English courses for them, to help them improve their language proficiency. Despite all this, there are few NCS students who have the ability to pass the HKALE. For the majority of NCS students, this target is still out of reach. In contrast, the requirements of the GCSE are manageable for most students, but the exam where Chinese is tested as a non-native language is relatively easy in content and design, and can hardly conform to the language ability demands that Hong Kong people have for individuals in all sorts of professions. Although Hong Kong tertiary institutions have begun accepting applications of students with GCSE Chinese grades since 2008, the same results are not recognized as qualification by the vast majority of professions. To help NCS students grasp some of the basic language skills needed for their jobs, and to gain the recognition of the relevant industry, the EDB released the Vocational English Enhancement Program in 2011/12, coupled with the Qualifications Framework (QF) that the government released.9 Where possible, the enhancement programs even included Putonghua training. Overall, under the biliteracy and trilingualism policy, Hong Kong NCS students will need to work hard to grasp Chinese as well as English. Although the path may still seem difficult, in the past year we have made a few stumbling steps forward after all. 8 See Legislative Council document CB (2)1213/10—11(01); retrievable from the website of the Legislative Council at http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr10—11/chinese/panels/ed/minutes/ed20110314. pdf. 9 To ensure sustainable manpower development in a rapidly changing world, the Executive Council endorsed the establishment of a seven-level cross-sector Qualifications Framework and its associated quality assurance mechanism in 2004, in order to facilitate articulation among academic, vocational and continuing education. To strengthen the industries’ leading role in the development of vocational training and to enhance its effectiveness, Specifications of Competency Standards (SCSs) were formulated by the respective industries. Details can be retrieved from the website of the Qualifications Framework at http://www.hkqf.gov.hk/guig/home.asp.

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References Chan, S. D. 2008. Language Policy and Language Education of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong (in Chinese). Language Situation in China 2007. The Commercial Press, p. 269–280. Chief Executive. 1997. 1997 Policy Address, Session 84, p. 19. Chief Executive. 1999. 1999 Policy Address, Session 69, p. 18. Education Bureau Circular No. 6/2009. 2009. Fine-tuning the Medium of Instruction for Secondary Schools. Issued on 5 June 2009. Ref: EDB(RP)3410/15/07(6). Education Department. 1994. Research on Change of Medium of Instruction in Secondary Schools. http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/tc/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to-secondary/moi/moi-related-research-projects/08._p9401e.pdf. Education Department. 1997. Medium of Instruction – Guide for Secondary Schools. http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx? nodeID=1906&langno=2. Education Department. 2000. Evaluation Study on the Implementation of the Medium of Instruction Grouping in Secondary Schools (1994/95–1996/97). http://www.edb.gov.hk/ attachment/tc/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to-secondary/moi/moi-relatedresearch-projects/09._es9_evaluation_study_on_the_implementation_of_moi_grouping _in_ss_94_99.pdf. Hong Kong SAR Government. 2011. Hong Kong Yearbook 2010. Ming Bao’s Editorial. 2005. Mother-tongue education paid off, increased resources required for consolidation of results (母语教学见成效 应增资源巩固成果). Ming Bao, 10 August 2005. Wong, T.L. 1996. Xianggang Zhongwen Jiaoyu Fazhanshi (A History of Hong Kong’s Education). Joint Publishing HK. Translated by Chan Shui Duen (陈瑞端) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University [email protected]

Huang Yi (黄翊)

27 Survey of “Yuanxingdi” as street name in Macau1 The Portuguese arrived in Macau in the 16th century, bringing with them their language and culture. The use of “yuanxingdi (rotunda)” to label streets in Macau shows a kind of acceptance of the Portuguese culture, and the rotundas have since become colorful spots in the city of Macau.

1 Qiandi (Largo), Guangchang (Praça) and Yuanxingdi (Rotunda) The street names that have been brought into Macau include “qiandi (largo)”, “guangchang (praça)” and “yuanxingdi (rotunda)”. “Qiandi” was translated from the Portuguese words Adro, Largo, Praceta and Praça, symbolizing an empty space or piece of land in front of a building or monument; an example would be the Largo do Senado (see Figure 1) and Largo Tam Kong Miu (see Figure 2). The Senado used to be a workplace for Macau’s city officials, and the Senado Square, the space in front of the government building, represents the city center today. The Tam Kong Miu, or Tam Kong Temple, is located at the end of the Avenida de Cinco de Outubro (October 5th Street, in English). It is a

Figure 1: Largo do Senado

Figure 2: Largo Tam Kong Miu

1 This article generates from a research project of the Polytechnic University of Macau.

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Figure 3: Praca do Lago Sai Van

Figure 4: sketch map showing vehicle direction in Rotunda Source: Wikipedia

popular Taoist temple and the space in front of it, the largo, is provided as a public space for its visitors and believers. Similarly, “guangchang” comes from the Portuguese words alameda, largo, praceta and praça. It means a wide, open area that is more spacious than largo, and is more suitable for big events and gatherings (see Figure 3). “Yuanxingdi” has been translated from the Portuguese word “rotunda”, which refers to a circular space in the middle of a road or roundabout at the juncture of several roads, generally linking up three to ten roads, and enabling vehicles entering the roundabout to drive in one direction along the circular space (see Figure 4). This kind of one-way roundabout was designed by the French architect Eugène Hénard in 1877. Figure 5 shows the world’s first roundabout built around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 1901.

Figure 5: The world’s earliest roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris Source: http://www.bangbenu.comzlflx2010.1215contant_972908.htm Retrieved on 12 December 2010

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After these appellations entered the Chinese street name system of Macau, they have become common expressions known to all Macau citizens. But there had been differences in the understanding of these words among the people of Macau, including among those government officials responsible for naming the streets. Since these government officials had different language training and habits of language usage, they tended to use different wordings when naming the streets of Macau. For instance, the open space in front of the Macau Tower is sometimes called “yuanxingdi”, another time “qiandi” or “guangchang”. Language carries ethnic characteristics. Macau citizens’ understanding of the terms “yuanxingdi”, “qiandi”, and “guangchang” is, of course, not entirely based on the Portuguese origin, but also on the embedded meanings as expressed by the Chinese translations. In Macau, “yuanxingdi”, “qiandi”, and “guangchang” are interchangeable terms that carry a similar meaning and function. As generic street names, “qiandi” and “guangchang” are sometimes hard to distinguish, so are “yuanxingdi” and “guangchang” on other occasions. Some open spaces demonstrate identifiable “yuanxingdi” features, but are called “qiandi” by the naming officers. Certain “yuanxingdi” have disappeared, but their names are preserved, or subsequently altered to “qiandi”, then to “guangchang”. Specific examples are as follows: (1) “Yuanxingdi” (rotunda) that is no longer a “yuanxingdi”, as illustrated in Figure 6 and 7.

Figure 6: Rotunda de S. Joao Bosco in 1987 Source: Cartography and Cadastre Bureau of Macau

Figure 7: Rotunda de S. Joao Bosco in 2011

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(2) “Qiandi (largo)” that carries “yuanxingdi (rotunda)” features

Figure 8: Largo Do Residente António Ramalho Eanes

The “qiandi” in Figure 8 is a resting place for pedestrians and is also used to regulate traffic among the seven streets nearby, namely Estrada de Cheoc Van, Rua da Cordoaria, Rua do Meio, Rua de Entre-Campos, Rua de Pedra, Rua do Tassara and Rua dos Negociantes. (3) “Qiandi” that retains the name but has a different function

Figure 9: Praça Jorge Alvares Source: Mr. Francisco Pinheiro, Consultant of the Institute for Civic and Municipal Affairs of Macau

(4) Praça Jorge Alvares (in Chinese, Ouhuali Qiandi) was originally a “qiandi” situated before the then Central Government Office Building. A statue of Jorge Alvares was erected there on 16 September 1954, in memory of the Portuguese explorer who was the first one being sent officially to China. As the city develops, numerous large-scale modern constructions have been built adjacent to the statue, and new lands have been reclaimed in front of the qiandi. Subsequently, the function of Praça Jorge Alvares has changed

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from a “qiandi” to a “yuanxingdi”, which is used to regulate the traffic among Avenida da Praia Grande, Avenida Doutor Stanley Ho, Avenida Doutor Mario Soares, and Avenida Commercial de Macau. The name of this open space was retained even though its function has been altered. Similarly, the streets nearby are identified by different common names. For instance, within the area shown in Figure 10, there is Largo da Torre de Macau (in Chinese, Guanguangta Qiandi), Rotunda da Baia da Praia Grande (Nanwan Yuanxingdi), and Praça do Lago Sai Van (Xiwan Guangchang). Different common names such as largo (qiandi), rotunda (yuanxingdi) and praça (guangchang) are being used. The Macau Tower was built in 1998. Following its formal opening in December 2001, the area around the Tower was named Largo da Torre de Macau, while Rotunda da Baia da Praia Grande was opened at the same time. The rotunda carries two functions. One serves as a green belt for regulating the traffic among Avenida Doutor Stanley Ho, Avenida Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Avenida Panoramica do Lago Sai Van, and Largo da Torre de Macau. The other serves as a passageway to the Lago Sai Van area. The greenbelt was, however, being reconstructed later to become a round-shaped praça (guangchang) and was subsequently named Praça do Lago Sai Van.

Figure 10: Largo da Torre de Macau and Praça do Lago Sai Van Source: Cartography and Cadastre Bureau of Macau

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2 The productive “Yuanxingdi” After the handover of Macau’s sovereignty from Portugal to China, the term “yuanxingdi” remains highly productive in creating street names in Macau. For example, the vast space in front of the newly built Olympic sports center was named Rotunda da Piscina Olimpica. There were fifteen “yuanxingdi” in Macau by the end of 1998. By 2004, five years after the handover, ten more “yuanxingdi” were added to the list. These new “yuanxingdi” are mainly located in the newly developed areas on the Taipa and Coloane islands. Among the 25 yuanxingdi, only Rotunda da Baia da Praia Grande was built on the Macau peninsula, and four new ones were built on the Taipa Island. They are: Rotunda do Dique Oeste, Rotunda Padre Tomas Pereira, Rotunda da Piscina Olimpica, and Rotunda de Cotai. Besides, Rotunda Da Maratona was renamed as Rotunda do Estadio. In Coloane, five new yuanxingdi have been built. They are: Rotunda da Harmonia, Rotunda Marginal, Rotunda da Central Termica de Coloane, Rotunda Flor de Lotus, and Rotunda da Concórdia. As of 2008, there were altogether 28 yuanxingdi in Macau, almost a twofold increase in ten years (see Table 1). During this ten year period, changes were also made to the original street names. For example, Rotunda da Baia da Praia Grande was renamed as Praca do Lago Sai Van; Rotunda de Ferreira do Amaral was renamed Praça de Ferreira do Amaral. Table 1: Distribution of “yuanxingdi” in Macau Names of “yuanxingdi” Macau Peninsula 1. Jialumiye Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de Arlos Da Maia) 2. Youyi Yuanxingdi (Rotunda da Amizade) 3. Jiabole Tidu Yuanxingdi (Rotunda do Almirante Costa Cabral) 4. Baosigao Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de S. Joao Bosco) 5. Yamala Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de Ferreira Do Amaral) Cotai 6. Feijichang Yuanxingdi (Rotunda do Aeroporto) 7. Sung Yusheng Boshi Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Dr. Carlos A. Correa Paes D’Assumpcao) 8. Sun Yixian Boshi Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Dr. Sun Yat Sen) 9. Ludang Lianguan Gonglu Yuanxingdi (Rotunda do Istmo) 10. Sulian Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de Leonel de Sousa) 11. Yundongchang Yuanxingdi (Rotunda do Estadio) 12. Yaliyajia Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Ouvidor Arriaga) 13. Bei’an Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de Pac On) 14. Lubode Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Tenente Pedro Jose da Silva Loureiro) 15. Xidi Yuanxingdi (Rotunda do Dique Oeste)

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Table 1: (continued) Names of “yuanxingdi” 16. Xu Risheng Yingong Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Padre Tomas Pereira) 17. Aolinpike Youyongguan Yuanxingdi (Rotunda da Piscina Olimpica) 18. Ludangcheng Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de Cotai) 19. Dongyayun Yuanxingdi (Rotunda dos Jogos da Asia) 20. Keji Daxue Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Da Universidade De Ciencia E Tecnologia) 21. Hangkong Yuanxingdi (Rotunda da Aeronautica) 22. Jiuao Gaoding Yuanxingdi (Rotunda do Altinho de Ka Ho) 23. Shipaiwan Yuanxingdi (Rotunda de Seac Pai Van) 24. Hexie Yuanxingdi (Rotunda da Harmonia) 25. Haibin Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Marginal) 26. Luhuan Dianchang Yuanxingdi (Rotunda da CENTRAL Termica de Coloane) 27. Lianhua Yuanxingdi (Rotunda Flor de Lotus) 28. Liansheng Yuanxingdi (Rotunda da Concordia) Source: Compiled by Luo Yufeng, based on IACM (2008) Arruamentos da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau, Macau Daily News and The Latest Street Maps of Macau

According to the author’s investigation, as of February 2010 there were close to forty yuanxingdi in Macau. Some of them have been in use without official names being given to them. These yuanxingdi of different sizes, though unknown to the public and not officially recorded, have helped regulate the traffic in Macau for the past years. The naming of yuanxingdi has captured moments of the transportation development in Macau, and has demonstrated that throughout the cultural exchange history between Portugal and China, a yuanxingdi culture has already taken shape.

3 Concluding Remark It is intended that through the description and survey on yuanxingdi given above, a comparison between yuanxingdi, qiandi and guangchang can be made, so that a more accurate meaning of yuanxingdi can be arrived at. Ultimately, the term “yuanxingdi” can be better defined as a signifier. A more scientific approach to the naming exercise will facilitate actual language use in real life. For example, it will facilitate our discussion on whether to build a qiandi or a yuanxingdi in newly developed areas. It is therefore proposed that a standardization of existing yuanxingdi place names should be enforced. For example, Praça de Ferreira do Amaral was called a qiandi (praça), while it is in fact a typical yuanxingdi (rotunda). Another

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example is the open space in front of the Macau Tower. The municipal department calls it yuanxingdi on certain occasions, but qiandi or guangchang at other times. Open spaces can in fact be named differently according to their different functions. For instance, the space around the circle can be called yuanxingdi, and the space above it can be called guangchang. In this way, there will be a “Nanwanhu Yuanxingdi” (Rotunda da Baia da Praia Grande), a “Xiwanhu Guangchang” (Praça do Lago Sai Van), and a “Lüyouta Qiandi” (Largo da Torre). Yuanxingdi are now part of the daily life of Macau citizens. The city’s size, traffic condition and the cultural environment have enabled the growth of yuanxingdi in Macau. In newly urbanized areas such as Taipa and Coloane, more yuanxingdi are being built. On the other hand, the number of yuanxingdi are beginning to drop on the Macau Peninsula, which is becoming more modern. As a result of further economic growth and an increased traffic load, the original role of yuanxingdi may gradually diminish, to the extent that it may only be treated as a kind of historical and cultural heritage in the future. Translated by Chan Shui Duen (陈瑞端) The Hong Kong Polytechnic University [email protected]

Yu Guilin (余桂林)

28 Language situation in Taiwan (2009–2010) Keywords: traditional Chinese character, simplified Chinese character, Tongyong Pinyin, annual top characters, Taiwan, mainland China, character transliteration, Ma Ying-Jeou, Education Department, Hakka.

1 The policy of Character transliteration 1.1 The proposal of transliteration with Chinese Pinyin accepted On 16 September 2008, Taiwan’s Administration passed the proposal of transliteration with Chinese Pinyin, and on 18 December published the revised version of Zhongwen Yiyin Shiyong Yuanze (中文译音使用原则, ‘Practical Guideline for Chinese Transcription’). On 7 October 2008, the Education Department decided on its implementation in three stages, switching from Tongyong Pinyin [通用拼音, ‘General Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Plan’ (GCPAP)].

1.2 Justification and corresponding measures 1.2.1 Justification On 12 March 2009, Taiwan’s Education Department justified the adoption of Chinese Pinyin in transliterations by answering some questions: Which system has been adopted, Chinese Pinyin or GCPAP? What advantages enable the former to replace the latter? Does the change affect any public rights and interests? Will it cost a huge amount of money? To avoid a possibly heavy expenditure and a negative impression on the general public, as well as a misinterpretation of the good governmental intention of internationalization, local preferences and positions will be considered before switching to the new system completely.1

1 See http://www.edu.tw/MANDR/itemize.aspx?site_content_sn=3363&itemize_sn=668.

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The primary reason for the adoption of Chinese Pinyin was its universality, since viewed from the perspectives of its function and the information it conveys, it possessed a greater potential for international development and, furthermore, in 1981 the International Organization for Standardization had already accepted it as the world standard to transliterate Chinese proper names.2 1.2.2 Corresponding measures In order to actively promote the transliteration with Chinese Pinyin, the Education Department of Taiwan set out to update or set up a storage and retrieval system of all relevant data, inclusive of revising the Practical Guideline for Chinese Transcription, publishing an instruction manual, and updating the online transliteration system of place names, addresses, books, annals, and comparison tables, as well as the retrieval system of personal names in passports and the operating system of household registrations, etc. In addition, a special system of transformation was established for Chinese transliteration (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: Transformation system for Chinese transliteration Source: http://crptransfer.moe.gov.tw/index.aspx

On 2 September 2009, the person in charge at the Education Department announced that the first stage was fundamentally completed and the preparation for the following two stages was underway to update (1) public signs, e.g. names of streets, institutions, social education venues, scenic spots, recreation 2 See http://www.edu.tw/MANDR/itemize.aspx?site_content_sn=3363&itemize_sn=668.

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centers, transport routes, bus stops, stations, terminals, post and telecommunications, bridges, etc.; (2) service facilities like maps; (3) tourist guides and directions; and (4) descriptions of performances, exchanges, advertisements and other public displays.

2 Reactions to Ma Ying-jeou’s “reading traditional and writing simplified Chinese” in Taiwan In recent years, confronting the reality of the increasing popularity of simplified Chinese around the world, Ma Yingjiu (Ma Ying-jeou, 马英九) remarked on different occasions that reading traditional Chinese while writing simplified Chinese should be advocated for the purpose of strengthening the cross-strait exchanges, particularly cultural communications.3 On 9 June 2009, Ma repeated the idea of dual practice at an interview with overseas Chinese societies. He gave preference to the printing of traditional scripts and yielded to the handwriting of simplified characters for the preservation of classical books of Chinese culture. He hoped that an agreement might be reached by both sides on this matter. (Lin & Lin 2009) A fortnight after that, Ma published his paper “The cultural implications of ‘reading traditional Chinese while writing simplified Chinese’ in mainland China” (大陆“识正书简”的文化 意涵) to further articulate his opinion that, given the indisputable fact that a difference in scripts exists between Taiwan and mainland China, it was advisable to use certain traditional characters or a table of comparison in order to reduce misunderstandings and obstacles resulting from some of these differences. In this way, simplified character users could gradually adapt until the time traditional scripts might be widely employed, and in the meantime, the practice of handwriting simplified characters on necessary occasions maintains the freedom from any restraint. (Huang 2009) Ma also suggested that A Grand Chinese Dictionary be compiled through a joint effort of both sides to deal with the divergences in script, vocabulary and other aspects that have occurred in the past 60 years.4 3 Ma’s proposal is actually a compromise between the use of traditional and simplified Chinese characters. 4 The proposal was initially discussed by the representatives of the Press on the Fifth CrossStrait Forum on Economy, Trade, and Culture, held on 10-11 July 2009. Among the suggestions shared was the encouragement to compile Chinese language reference books, actively promoted by associated organizations of both sides.

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Ma’s proposal became a deeply controversial question. Voices of accusation came from the Green Camp. Zheng Wencan (Cheng Wen-tsang, 郑文灿), spokesman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), stressed that since it is the writing habit in Taiwan to use traditional characters, it was unnecessary to identify with the mainland in this respect, and in so doing the government would strategically fail to sustain the independence of Taiwanese culture. Guan Biling (Kuan Bi-ling, 管碧玲), an elected DPP representative, held writing to be the main memorial practice and therefore Ma’s intention was to abandon the ancestral position. Cai Tongrong (Chai Trong-rong, 蔡同荣), another public representative of the party, thought that the encouragement to write simplified characters was to deprive the traditional Chinese of its representativeness and was regarded as an action of coordination with mainland China in the progressive unification of writing. (Lin & Lin 2009) Executive secretary Li Su-zhen (李素真) of the Taiwanese Chinese Script Rescue League also disfavored Ma’s idea, for it is being strongly advocated across the Strait by mainland scholars to reinstate the traditional characters; the simplified characters are comprehensible in actual use and therefore “it is unnecessary to put the cart before the horse”. Student Huang at Chenggong (成功) High School remarked that it was unimaginable for Ma Ying-jeou to write in simplified characters when he practiced calligraphy or signed documents. And Student Chen at Taipei No. 1 School for Girls thought it unnecessary to learn the simplified characters for the sake of politics.5 What Ma had expected, explained Cai Zhongli (蔡仲礼), Taiwan’s Public Affairs Office director, was that “in the future, common ground may be built in the orientation of an agreement” – that is, while traditional characters might be used in printing and documents, which was the focus of the discussion, simplified characters could be an alternative in handwriting on the nongovernmental level; “negotiations may be made in the future, if there are such opportunities, rather than an immediate action taken by both sides.” He stressed that the writing of simplified Chinese was not a must, but rather a choice. Lai Xiangwei (Weber H. W. Lai, 赖祥蔚), a Taiwanese scholar, questioned whether Ma would promote the unification of Chinese scripts and pointed out that, as a policy, it should be expressed explicitly to avoid any doubts. Professor Yang Taishun (杨泰顺) of the Department of Politics, Chinese Culture University, did not believe that any barrier of communication existed between Taiwan and the mainland due to the application of different scripts and many people had actually begun to write simplified characters before for the sake of convenience, therefore, it was pointless to emphasize “reading traditional while writing 5 See http://www.chinanews.com.cn/tw/tw-twyw/news/2009/06-10/1727690.shtml.

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simplified characters”. He thought by saying so, Ma must have shown his intention to rapport with the mainland.6 Concerning the debate over the traditional and simplified Chinese scripts, China Daily News of Taiwan published an editorial entitled ‘Viewing the question of traditional and simplified scripts from the perspective of practical issues in cross-Strait contact’ (从两岸交往务实面看正简体字问题). It pointed out the problem on two levels: 1) Culturally speaking, those who insisted on traditional characters believed that the simplified counterparts destroyed their uniqueness as is reflected in calligraphy, an art derived from traditional characters. Pablo Picasso highly praised the image of beauty in the handwriting of Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien, 张大千); and people drawn to Chinese calligraphy refuse to write the simplified characters. 2) In daily life, trouble would emerge gradually, particularly associated with documents and other writings of legal force, for example, personal names, which cannot be altered in any manner on identity cards, documents, contracts, guarantees, etc. With more frequent communications and commercial activities across the Strait, this problem is becoming serious. The editorial expressed approval of the discussions and expected, instead of any conclusions in cultural awareness, a common ground of practice for both sides to be followed, so that the efficacy of documents may be maintained.7

3 Chinese language in major sports events The year 2009 witnessed two large-scale sports events in Taiwan: the 8th World Games in Kaosiung in July, and the 21st Summer Deaflympics in Taipei in September. Both involved a strong element of Chinese language.

3.1 Logos The logo of the World Games in Kaosiung was designed on the basis of the toponym gao (高) resembling a vari-colored band fluttering rhythmically, symbolizing the figures of athletes gathering there for competition in an atmosphere of harmony, friendship, rhythm, progress and joy. The colors start in golden yellow at the top and close in blue at the bottom, reminiscent of the city’s landscape of bright sun and blue sea.

6 See http://www.chinanews.com.cn/tw/tw-twyw/news/2009/06-10/1727690.shtml. 7 See http://www.cdnews.com.tw.

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Figure 2: Logo of 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung Source: http://www.worldgames2009.tw/wg2009/cht/index.php

Figure 3: Logo of the 21st Summer Deaflympics in Taipei Source: http://www.2009deaflympics.org/bin/home.php

The logo of the Taipei Deaflympics was the hieroglyphic combination of bei (or pei, 北) standing for the host city, er (耳, ‘ear’) for the deaflympics, and ren (人, ‘human’) for the athletes. With soft lines, the writing brush draws a sketch of the human ear and running figure, depicting the dauntless bravery of the hearing-impaired athletes and the inexhaustible life force of the place.

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3.2 Mascots The 2009 Kaosiung World Games took water fairies as its mascots and named them after the host city: Gao Mei (高妹, ‘Sister Gao’) and Syong Ge (雄哥, ‘Brother Siung’), resembling light and water. They were modeled in the shape of shining water drops to remind of ecology and environmental protection.

Figure 4: 2009 Kaosiung World Games mascots Source: http://www.worldgames2009.tw/wg2009/cht/index.php

The mascots for the Deaflympics were a pair of tree frogs with open arms of welcome, constituting the character bei (北), standing for Taibei (Taipei), the host city.

Figure 5: Mascots for the 2009 Taipei Summer Deaflympics Source: http://www.2009deaflympics. org/bin/home.php

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3.3 Others A network in traditional Chinese and English was set up for both events, on which information of various sorts was supplied for the convenience of athletes from all over the globe. The guiding signs of all teams in both events were bilingual.

4 Fresh measures for Hakka 4.1 New regulations for the preservation and promotion of Hakka On 5 January 2010, the regional legislative institution assessed and passed the Draft of the Hakka Basic Law and published it formally on the 27th of the same month. (http://163.30.76.8/~log26/law/basiclaw.pdf) In this act of fifteen articles, Hakka is termed Hakka language. The following are specific articles and clauses on Hakka: Article 2, Clause 3: Hakka language refers to the mixture of accents of Sixian [alias Siyen, 四县, ‘four counties of Chengxiang (程乡), Xingning (兴宁), Zhenping (镇平), and Pingyuan (平远)’], Hailu (海陆), Dapu (大埔), Raoping (饶平), and Zhao’an (诏安)], and idioms preserved separately in different regions or expressions accepted in the modern vocabulary. Article 6: Villages (towns, cities, districts) where Hakka people constitute one-third of the whole local population are classified as key developmental areas of Hakka culture to strengthen the inheritance and promotion of Hakka language, culture and cultural industry. In the aforementioned key developmental areas, attempts should be made to transform Hakka into the official language; government employees and teachers in this area should improve their Hakka and those who obtain the Hakka competence certificate are rewarded. Article 8: The government should conduct Hakka language authentication and promotion, establish a database, actively encourage its restoration, inheritance, research and development, and build a human resources pool. Article 9: Governmental institutions should provide necessary services to people in their linguistic communication and create a barrier-free environment for the Hakka language. Those who make outstanding achievements should be rewarded. Article 10: The government should provide incentives to create a learning environment, so that Hakka can become an everyday language with the joint coordinative efforts of schools, families and communities.

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Article 12: The government should guarantee Hakka the right of propagation and public access to the media, support the plan of setting up exclusive broadcast and television channels, and awards or allowances should be given to the production and broadcasting of radio and television programs in Hakka language and about Hakka culture. Hakka Basic Law is the second law made for specific ethnic groups in Taiwan, following the Basic Law of Aborigines. With the establishment of this act, scholars understood that the preservation and development of the Hakka language would be an important topic of research in the future. Huang Zhuoquan (黄卓权), a historian at Xinzhu (新竹) County in Taiwan who has been interested in Hakka affairs, said that the bill was a major marking post in the development of Taiwan and therefore was of historic significance and that he himself was very satisfied. Gu Xiufei (古秀妃), division chief of Pingdong (屏东) county’s Hakka affairs, pointed out that under the current circumstances when many of the young Hakka generation did not speak their language well, it would give an impetus to the building of an atmosphere in which the language would be preserved and the culture encouraged. Hu Yuning (胡愈宁), director of the Institute for Economy and Society, School of Hakka Research, National United University, held that it showed respect for the diversity of cultures, which constitutes an important concept in globalization, and she suggested that in the area of key developments, some barrier-free room be made for Hakka to be used in shopping as well as in medical services. Having been a voluntary teacher of Hakka in Miaoli county (苗栗), Wu Wanlong (吴万隆) found the dialect was dying out in many places, but he could do effectively nothing to stop it; therefore, he pointed out that the governmental action was a powerful measure in encouraging the young generation to learn their own culture and serve their hometown, and in keeping the language and culture from dying out soon. (Wang P. 2010a) The law was also criticized for its preference for Hakka. To this, Professor Peng Qinqing (彭钦清) of Taiwan National Chengchi University said that what the Hakka people were striving for was equality rather than privilege; therefore, the good will carried by the current bill might produce negative effects and corresponding measures of balance should be taken when it is put into practice. Ma Yingjiu pointed out that the Hakka linguistic culture is a component of ancient Han culture and the establishment of a Hakka Affairs Council was a crucial measure for the conservation of Taiwan and even for the entire Chinese culture. (Chen Z. 2010)

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4.2 Hakka textbooks In order to encourage the teaching of Hakka, the Education Department of Taiwan organized the writing of special instructional materials. For this purpose, Taiwan’s Education Archive was authorized to compile Hakka textbooks. Books 1–5 have been completed, together with teachers’ manuals and free downloads are available online. The whole set of 9 volumes in five accents (Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, and Zhao’an) was expected to be completed in 2011. According to the Education Department, this set of instructional materials contains all aspects of life and customs both for learning and interest. For example, in Book 1, wuxiaren (屋下人, ‘family members’) describes various scenes of a harmonious and happy life of family members, and deals with kinship terms among other things; gaotouwang (搞头王, ‘king of children’) chants Monkey King’s various transformations in the Journey to the West; and ying shen zuo naore (迎神做闹热, ‘meeting gods at the temple fair’) is an introduction to the conventions of Goddess Matsu’s birthday.

4.3 Examination for civil service employment On 4 March 2010, Taiwan’s Examination Yuan deliberated on and approved several bills of amendments, including the rules for Government Functionaries’ Advanced Test Band 3 and the General Test listed in Tables 1 (Qualifications for Government Functionaries’ Advanced Test Band 3) and 2 (Qualifications for Government Functionaries’ General Test), attached to Article 2 and Tables 3 (Subjects of Government Functionaries’ Advanced Test Band 3) and 4 (Subjects of Government Functionaries’ General Test) attached to Article 4. It was to be put into effect in 2010 when the tests begin. One of the important items in the revision of these tables was the addition of contents associated with Hakka, in line with related laws and rules and the requirements of human resource management: administration of Hakka affairs, vocational and technical education, performance auditing, fishery, agricultural machinery, agricultural processing, professional architecture, automobile engineering, and aquatic product resources in Advanced Test Band 3. The administration of Hakka affairs, vocational and technical education, and aircraft piloting were included in the General Test. These additions show the upgrade in the status of Hakka affairs and dialect.

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5 Chinese rather than national language in teaching materials 5.1 Background In July 2010, it was reported that Taiwan’s nine-year curriculum, having lasted nearly a decade, would be mildly modified before further changes next year. The Education Department stressed that the purpose of this modification was to make Hakka and aboriginal languages prominent, and it involved only the wording in the curriculum instead of the teaching per se. (Zhang 2010) In August, the Taiwan Competitive Power Forum, a civil society in Taiwan, pointed out two features in the “finely-tuned” curriculum to be formally implemented in 2011: (1) Guoyu (国语, ‘national language’) in primary schools and Guowen (国文, ‘national language’) in junior middle schools are changed respectively into Huayu (华语, ‘Chinese language or Mandarin Chinese’) and Huawen (华文, ‘Chinese language’); and (2) Chinese culture is vaguely placed within foreign culture and the so-called national culture refers chiefly to the local culture of Taiwan. (Li Z. 2010)

5.2 Feedback The Taiwan Competitive Power Forum blamed the Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalist Party) for its failure, in the two years since its return to power, of modifying the curriculum revised when the DPP was in power, as if to extend that party’s unfinished policy of desinicization. (Li Zhongwei 2010) When Guowen becomes Huawen, Guoyu becomes Huayu, said Zhang Yazhong (张亚中), professor at the Department of Politics, Taiwan University, it indicates that desinicization is completed in Taiwan. (Zhou & Chen 2010) Professor Huang Guangguo (黄光国) of the Department of Psychology, Taiwan University, appealed to the authorities to change this desinicizing policy soon, for otherwise it would mean that the KMT has been carrying on DPP’s policy for the past two years. (Zhou & Chen 2010) Critic Nan Fang Shuo (南方朔) pointed out the government has the responsibility to make its national identity clear; otherwise, if a leader had no thought or orientation of his own, he would be incompetent at his job and could only follow others in shouting slogans from behind. (Chen, Lin & Hu 2010) According to Chen Wanyi (陈万益), professor at Taiwan Language Institute, National Tsing Hua University, adding the modifier guo (国, ‘national’) in all domains is a product of the statism of the 19th century, e.g. guoyu (国语, ‘national language’), guowen (国文, ‘national language’), guohua (国画, ‘national

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painting’), guoju (国剧, ‘national drama’), guoyue (国乐, ‘national music’), etc. However, things have changed with the passage of time, for example, guohua is mostly called shanshuihua (山水画, ‘landscape painting’) now. The same is true with the change from guoyu and guowen to huayu and huawen – it has nothing to do with desinicization. (Chen, Lin & Hu 2010) Xie Guoqing (谢国清), director of the Parents Groups Union of Taiwan, did not think it wrong, but he pointed out that no ideology should be permitted to impair the teaching contents. (Chen, Lin & Hu 2010)

5.3 Official response On all occasions when questions were asked, the authorities gave justifications and clarifications. On 1st September, Taiwan’s Education Department explained that revisions made in the curriculum were merely about the wording for teachers and textbook editors mainly and did not affect the teaching contents at all, not to mention the names of current school courses. (Huang 2009) On the following day, the spokesman for Ma Ying-jeou’s office remarked that people call their own language Guoyu and textbooks should be in agreement with them. Moreover, when foreigners or local people introduce to foreigners the language here, they habitually call it Huayu or Huawen, to which the authorities are not opposed either. (Li J. 2010) The Education Department held a conference of the curriculum committee on the 24th of the same month to further revise the wording of the nine-year national language curriculum and settled on Guoyu exclusively and decided that Huayu is only used for foreigners or foreign institutions, Zhongguo wenzi (中国文字, ‘Chinese characters’) is to be replaced by guozi (国字, ‘national characters’). Zhongguo yuwen (中国语文, ‘Chinese language or Mandarin Chinese’) and huayuwen (华语文, ‘Chinese language’) should be changed to guoyuwen (国语文, ‘national language’), and zhongwen (中文, ‘Chinese language or Mandarin Chinese’) should become guowen (国文, ‘national language’). When it came to the formerly agreed guoneiwai ju daibiaoxing de wenhua (国内外具代表 性的文化, ‘representative culture from both at home and abroad’) changed from gujin zhongwai ji xiangtu Taiwan wenxue (古今中外及乡土台湾文学, ‘Chinese, foreign and Taiwanese native literature both ancient and modern’), further corrections would be made and the choice between Zhonghua wenhua (中华文化, ‘Chinese culture’) and benguo wenhua (本国文化, ‘domestic culture’) would be determined according to their meaning in the given context. (Wang P. 2010c)

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6 Controversy over the new curriculum of the senior middle school National Language 6.1 Origin In 2004, Taiwan’s DPP administration produced A Provisional Outline of the National Language in Senior Middle Schools, in which several changes were found: the teaching hours were reduced from five to four per week, the proportion of classical Chinese from 65% to 45%, and the Basic Chinese Cultural Study changed from compulsory to optional. This aroused strong dissatisfaction among national language teachers and people from all walks of life, who then, in 2005, organized the National Language Education Rescue League for recovering the teaching hours and consolidating the students’ national language competency. The campaign has continued ever since. On 7 September 2010, the Education Department of Taiwan held a conference of the General Senior Middle School Course Development Committee, examining and approving the National Language Curriculum for Senior Middle Schools 2009, and formally published it on 11 October. The regulations include: the proportion of classical Chinese is changed from the “set” 45% to “flexible” 45%–65%; the number of references is reduced from 40 to 30; and the teaching hours are four periods per week. The new scheme is to be executed in 2012 from Senior One.

6.2 Controversy On 25 October, the National Language Education Rescue League held a press conference to express its propositions concerning the new curriculum: the proportion of classical Chinese for senior middle school should be at least 55%; the Basic Chinese Cultural Study should be treated as compulsory; and the teaching hours ought to be five periods. Associate convener Zhang Xiaofeng (张晓风) emphasized that the national language is the most important course of all and therefore 5-6 hours’ teaching each week is not too much. The executive secretary Li Suzhen complained about the unfair status The Analects of Confucius because it is required reading in the primary and middle schools of the mainland and Japan, but unfortunately an elective reader in Taiwan. (Wang C. 2010) Li Chuanxin (李川信), secretary general of the Northern Society (北社) of the Green Camp, thought that education would revert to the past and students would be further removed from real life if the top limit of classical Chinese was raised to 65%. (Lin & Hu 2010)

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Members of the General Senior Middle School Curriculum Development Committee of Taiwan’s Education Department believed that the new scheme would enable teachers to act on their own initiative. For instance, the reduction of classical Chinese makes room for the appreciation of modern literature, for otherwise students would be busy with classical Chinese at school and have to learn vernacular Chinese by themselves at home. (Wang P. 2010b) Some teachers believed that the flexible space made for the teachers showed respect and the reduced number of references made it possible to cut down the total number of texts. (Lin & Hu 2010) Some students admitted that they could read only those classical Chinese passages they liked, but no student could read vernacular Chinese in spite of the fact that they were told to do it at home; therefore, it would be reasonable to spare more time for the latter. (Wang P. 2010b) On 26 October, the Taiwanese Education Department responded that no further changes would be undertaken since the scheme had been published only recently and the Teaching and Research Yuan would be commissioned to check and discuss the teaching hours of all subjects from kindergarten to senior middle school.

7 Application for Oracle Bone Scripts to be listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register 7.1 Memory of the World Register program The Memory of the World program was launched by UNESCO in 1992 to safeguard and preserve the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction. Furthermore, it should promote the democratization of its access and improve people’s understanding of its importance and the necessity of its protection. It is an extension to the World Heritage List, preserving manuscripts and other valuable holdings of any medium kept in libraries and archives, as well as records of oral tradition. The list is kept at the program secretariat and is available online.

7.2 Application On 13 March, President Liu Zhaoxuan (刘兆玄) of the Association of Chinese Culture, revealed at the New Year cultural party of 2010 that the application was

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underway for the listing of Chinese characters in the World Cultural Heritage, the first step of which was to attempt placing Oracle Bone scripts on the Memory of the World Register. On the 26th of that month, when he went to America, Liu disclosed that a formal application had been submitted to UNESCO two days earlier. On 11 September, Taiwanese media reported that the application had failed to win the nomination, and a further attempt would not be made until 2012. Relevant persons in Taiwan expressed their regret at the news and meanwhile expected more efforts would be made in the future. (Li & Zheng 2010) Experts at the Memory of the World Program Secretariat explained that they had received the application; however, due to the rule of accepting only a maximum of two applications from one country, which had already been made by mainland China, experts suggested a joint proposal be offered next time since there is a national committee of the Memory of the World that UNESCO goes to for consultation. (Luo 2010)

8 Selection and publication of annual top characters 8.1 Annual top characters 2009 On 26 November, the General Selection of Top Characters 2009 was launched. Readers from all walks of life participated and chose 30 representative characters. The poll was announced on 15 December. Of all thirty representative characters selected, pan (盼, ‘to expect’) ranked in first place with 5,417 votes out of the total of 58,044, followed by jia (假, ‘false’, 300 votes less), ku (苦, ‘bitter’), can (惨, ‘miserable’), men (闷, ‘bored’), tong (恸, ‘grief’), bian (变, ‘change’), ai (爱, ‘love’), xin (新, ‘new’), and xing (醒, ‘awake’), etc., most of them are rather negative in meaning.8 At the press conference, two minority national students from the on August 8 severely flooded area of Kaosiung county were invited to write these characters.

8 See http://www.chinanews.com.cn/tw/tw-mswx/news/2009/12-16/2020001.shtml.

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Figure 6: Two students are invited to write the character pan Source: http://www.fjsen.com/b/2009-12/31/content_2585690.htm

Figure 7: Polls of annual top characters 2008 and 2009 in Taiwan Source: Taiwan 2009 niandu hanzi you “pan” tou xiangzheng “boluanfanzheng” (台湾2009年 度汉字有“盼”头 象征“拨乱反正”, ‘Taiwan’s annual Top Characters 2009 symbolize expectations and bring order out of chaos), Southeast Network, 31/12/2009

An article in the United Daily News interpreted the result as people’s expectation to rise from the dark valley bottom at the end of 2008 (luan)9, a year of disorder after the financial tsunami and August 8 flood, to a bright new order in 2009 (pan). President Huang Qingwen (黄晴雯) of the SOGO Department Store “felt regretful” when she saw the thirty top characters because many of them were passive or negative in meaning. However, it proved that the mainstream value of the spirit of Taiwan was “a positive force of elevation”. In her eyes, pan was 9 The top annual character of 2008, 乱, means ‘chaos’.

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a beautiful character reminiscent of a line in the Book of Songs: “Oh, dark on white her sparkling eyes, her cheeks with smiles and dimples glow.” She thought the character was also a happy one, symbolizing the wishes and expectation of many that will “lead us to the year 2010”. President Hu Litai (胡立台) of United Daily News commented that the shift from luan of 2008 to pan in 2009 was a symbol of Taiwan’s recovery from chaos. “Pan represents hope and opportunity, and an outlook of harmony and prosperity is expected after the baptism of bitterness!” (Luo 2010)

8.2 Annual top characters 2010 November 11 witnessed the launch of another year’s top character voting and the sponsor invited representatives from all walks of life to make the preliminary selection of forty characters. Among the selectors were Zhong Zhaozheng (钟肇政) and Liu Kexiang (刘克襄) (both writers), and Wu Baochun (吴宝春, from Gold Brand Baker). The top characters of 2008 and 2009 were relevant to the local social atmosphere of disorder and expectation, recalled Huang of SOGO, and those of 2010, although luan was still among them, were mostly reflecting positive power and peace. (Chen Y. 2010) The result was made public on 15 December. Of the total number of 50,842 votes, dan (淡, ‘indifferent’), recommended by baseball pitcher Pan Weilun (潘威伦), was on top with 9,464 votes and became the most representative character of Taiwan in 2010. It was followed by wen (稳, ‘steady’), su (苏, ‘revival’), xiang (祥, ‘propitious’), ai (爱, ‘love’), zhang (涨, ‘rise’), wang (望, ‘hope’), xi (惜, ‘pity’), fu (福, ‘blessing’), ping (平, ‘peace’), etc.

Figure 8: Top character of 2010 Taiwan Source: Wen Wei Po 16/12/2010, http://paper.wenweipo.com

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The top character of 2010 was interpreted by Luo Guojun (罗国俊), editor-inchief of United Daily News, as representing an indifferent attitude toward everything following the previous disorder. With the passing of time and the number of participants on the rise, this public activity reveals the social mentality and serves as an opportunity of reflection for everyone at the end of a twelve-month period and sets the stage for a fresh start next year.

References Chen, Huiping (陈慧萍), Lin, Xiaoyun (林晓云) & Hu, Qinghui (胡清晖). 2010. National language is changed into Chinese language? Nan Fangshuo called Ma a chameleon (国语文改称华语文？南方朔批马“变色龙”). Liberty Times, 2 September 2010. Chen, Yuanqian (陈苑茜). 2010. Voting for annual representative characters commenced – a reflection of the people’s voice (全民心声年度代表字评选开始). United Daily News, 24 November 2010. Chen, Zhiping (陈志平). 2010. Administration weekly report on the conservation of Hakka culture (治国周记谈客家文化保存). United Evening News, 16 January 2010. Huang, Huimin (黄惠玟). 2009. Is national language changed into Chinese language? Just a modification of wording in the course syllabus according to the Taiwanese “Ministry of Education” (改国语为华语？台“教育部”：只修课纲用词). China Review News Agency, 1 September 2009. Li, Jiafei (李佳霏). 2010. President’s Office: The national language is formally called guoyu (府：本国语言正式名称就是国语). Central News Agency, 2 September 2010. Li, Xianfeng (李先凤) & Zheng, Jingwen (郑景雯). 2010. Taiwan determined to try again, facing frustration in the application of Oracle Bone scripts to the United Nations (甲骨文申请联 合国受挫 台湾再拼). Central News Agency, 11 September 2010. Li, Zhongwei (李仲维). 2010. Ma’s “government” changed national language in the course syllabus to Chinese language; Huang Guangguo and others colluded to bitterly criticize it (马“政府”改课纲国语变华语 黄光国等串联痛批). China Review News Agency, 31 August 2010. Lin, Heming (林河名) & Lin, Zhengzhong (林政忠). 2009. “Reading traditional and writing simplified characters” of Chinese – Ma’s expectation of a shared view from both sides of the Taiwan Strait (汉字“识正书简”马盼两岸共识). United Daily News, 10 June 2009. Lin, Xiaoyun (林晓云) & Hu, Qinghui (胡清晖). 2010. Senior middle school students are to read more classical Chinese from school year 2012 (2012学年起 高中生要多读文言文). Liberty Times, 8 September 2010. Luo, Yuanshao (罗苑韶). 2010. Experts suggested a joint application for the “Memory of the World” (专家建议两岸联合申报“世界记忆”). Central News Agency, 11 September 2010. Wang, Caili (王彩鹂). 2010. National language rescue league appealing for recovering the language territory (抢救国文联盟 吁光复国文版图). United Evening News, 25 October 2010. Wang, Pengjie (王鹏捷). 2010a. Hakka is to be conserved and developed without delay with the approval of Hakka Basic Law “ ( 客家基本法”通过 语言存续刻不容缓). Central Daily News (Electronic Version), 5 January 2010.

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Wang, Pengjie (王鹏捷). 2010b. Classic Chinese selections are reduced in the new national language syllabus for senior middle schools (高中国文新课纲 文言选文减少). Central News Agency, 7 September 2010. Wang, Pengjie (王鹏捷). 2010c. The Ministry of Education says course syllabus was revised to agree with the habit of usage (课纲修正 教部：为符使用习惯). Central News Agency, 24 September 2010. Zhang, Dehou (张德厚). 2010. Nine-year system curriculum adjusted and the national language becomes Chinese language (九年一贯课纲调整“国语”变“华语”). News Radio, 27 July 2010. Zhou, Yongjie (周永捷) & Chen, Shunxie (陈舜协). 2010. Desinicizing textbooks? The Education Ministry clarifies (教科书去中国化？教部澄清). Central News Agency, 1 September 2010. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

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29 Social responses spurred on by the Report on the Language Situation in China Keywords: language situation, Department of Language Information Administration, language resource, Baidu, Li Yuming, mass media, language harmony, harmonious society, information processing, language planning, Ministry of Education, State Language Commission, blogger. The annual publication of the data and research findings in the Report on the Language Situation in China (hereafter referred to as the “Report”) has attracted great attention among international Chinese teaching institutions as well as from major media, reference book publishers, and the circle of IT scientists at home. The annual report has aroused much interest at large and has won wide acclaim. (Dai 2007a)

1 Description of the significance of the Report and its social consequences The publication of the Report for four years in succession demonstrates China’s State Language Commission’s notion of linguistic service1, that is, to “arouse people’s attention to the language situation, actively guide the nation’s language life to develop in a healthier and more harmonious manner, and provide a reference for relevant policy making and academic research”. (Li 2007) It expects to achieve this through the timely publication of the actual situation and by using the relevant data. Publishing information about the nation’s language life also furthers people’s acceptance of the notion of “language resources” and renews their perspective on language in general. (Li 2009) The

1 Li Yuming mentioned that “one of the aims of the compiling and publishing of The Green Book on the Language Situation in China is to provide language services to spoken and written language researchers, developers of language products, and other people at large”. On “The Greenbook of the Language Situation in China”, Applied Linguistics, No. One, 2007.

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healthy and harmonious development of social language life is inseparable from the efforts of the State Language Commission and language departments at different levels, as well as of scholars of linguistics. Chen Zhangtai holds that the Report gives both an overall and detailed record and description of the basic situation of the social use of language in China, and its solid material and data offer a totally new treatise with practical content. As the very first paper of this kind in China’s history, and also rarely seen elsewhere in the world, the Report is in every sense a pioneering work of great value. In addition, this work also provides people in various fields both at home and abroad with important materials to watch and understand the language situation in China. It also provides an important reference and reliable basis for policy making in the fields of culture, education, science and technology, the mass media, and especially for language policies. It also benefits the protection and development of language resources. At the same time, it is bound to play an effective role in the use of languages, significantly promoting the nation’s proper language use. (Chen 2007) The annual reports on the nation’s language situation, issued by the Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission, have aroused great interest both at home and abroad. A great deal of positive feedback on the Report has been received from the media such as newspapers, radio and television broadcasts, and the Internet, too. International professionals have also expressed their approval and appreciation of the Report. The large amount of data offered in the Report has been used as source material in the work of many linguistic scholars (including graduate students) and educators. Inspired by the Report, many of its readers have developed new research projects and produced a substantial number of research papers. Compilers of instructional materials and dictionaries have also used the data in the second part of the Report as important references. The positive response to the Report has proved that the monitoring and research of the language and the annual issuing of the nation’s language life is a strategic task of long-lasting significance rather than a short-term decision. This is a fundamental project facilitating the monitoring and development of one of the nation’s basic resources and is thus of vital and lasting importance to the nation. So the task should be carried out persistently as a part of the future-oriented national cultural infrastructure. Table 1 shows the findings of the general response to the Report, using major search engines and the key phrase: “report on the situation of China’s lingual life”. Baidu ranks it at the top of the list due to the fact that it hits nearly 50 thousand articles. The large amount of data found in the less than five years since the first publication of the Report (2005) shows that the Report has aroused a fairly strong response from society.

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Table 1: Results for the term “Report on the Situation of China’s Lingual Life” by using the above search engines on Jan. 11, 2010 Search Engine

Number of Articles Found

Baidu Sousou (Search) Google Yahoo Youdao Bing Sogou

49,800 22,900 13,000 11,305 10,500 6,360 5,962

2 Response of the mass media The Report, issued for four years in succession, has aroused much interest and a strong response from the mass media. It is beyond this essay to describe all the findings of the investigation and analysis of all the media, so only representative and readily available media were taken as an illustration. The date of the search was January 11, 2010, and the key words used were “Report on the Situation of China’s Lingual Life”. The results are shown in Table 2. Table 2: Reportage by some of the media on the Report Type of Media

Name of Media

Number of Reportages

News Network

Xinhuanet.com People.com Chinanews.com Ynet.com China.com.cn Guangming Daily China Education Daily China Youth Daily Beijing Youth Daily China National Radio (CNR) Beijing Television (BTV) CCTV Shanghai Media Group (SMG)

185 114 44 36 8 19 47

(Electronic) Newspaper

Radio and Television

8 5 5 1 1

Notes: [1] As a number of news networks do not have a search service, only three representative news networks were taken as examples. [2] Thanks go to Professor Hou Min at the Communication University of China, who offered help by providing the above statistics.

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2.1 Attention paid by the media to the news release conference On May 22, 2006, the Xinhua Network, People’s Network, and the Chinese Education and Scientific Research Computer Network broadcast live a full coverage of the first news release conference on the Report (2005), hosted by the Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission. This caused a quick response from various sectors of society. A search in Baidu found 393 reportages on the conference.2 A total of over forty news media attended the release brief of the Report (2006), held on August 16, 2007, and China Network, Network of the Chinese Government, Xinhua Network, China Education News Network, and the portal site of the Network of the Ministry of Education, etc., broadcast a full live coverage of the conference. As soon as the conference came to an end, almost all newspapers reported about the conference that day. This showed the close attention paid by various groups to the language situation in China. Over a hundred newspapers throughout the country published positive reportages, including the People’s Daily, Guangming Daily, China Youth Daily, China Education News, Jurisprudence Daily, China Women’s News, Beijing Daily, Liberation Daily, Wenhui Daily, etc. Various networks, including radio and television, sent out a wider ranging and more thorough reportage.3 No news release conference was held for the Report (2007) because of the Beijing Olympics. However, as many as 383 reportages were found by searching Baidu, using “issuing of China’s language situation 2007” as the key words for searching.4

2.2 Network language and a thousand characters and ten thousand words included in the Report (2006) The publication of the Report (2006) aroused immediate interest. Many people held the view that especially two events in 2006 brought the Internet language into the focus of people’s attention. One was the Report (2005), issued by the Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission, giving a ranking

2 Key words for the Baidu search were “issuing of the report on China’s language life, 2005” and the date of the search was January 11, 2010. 3 The information on the news media’s reportage of the conference was quoted in the Work Bulletin of Spoken and Written Languages, No. 304, published by the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education. 4 The date of the search was January 11, 2010.

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list of the usage frequency of words and phrases popular in various networks.5 The result showed 1,760 relevant webpages by searching “usage frequency of words and phrases popular on the Internet in the 2005 Report on China’s Language Situation”. Not just major media like Xinhua Network, the international channel of CCTV, Sina Network, Sohu Network, Qianlong Network, Southcn Network, Enorth Network, but also the Beijing Morning News, Chengdu Commercial Daily, and Qianjiang Evening News, etc., paid attention to the frequency of popular Internet words and phrases listed in the Report (2005). It also aroused great interest from major forums, blogs, and common Internet users in social communities across the nation, such as the Forum of the Chinese Language of Peking University, Netease Blog, Phoenix Chinese BBS, Tianya Community, Alibaba Business BBS, Automobile BBS, Thexun Hexun Blog, Campus Blog, Tencent Blog, and the official network of Leetspeak – they all carried reprints of relevant posts and held discussions. The Report (2005) mentioned that by mastering “the one thousand characters and ten thousand words one can understand 90% of Chinese articles”. This was reported and quoted by Xinhua Network, Sina Network, Netease Network, Chinaqw (China’s overseas Chinese network), CEINET (China Economy Information NET), Henan Provincial Education Network, Chengdu Juvenile Network, Tencent News, Sohu News, as well as by Shanghai Youth Daily, The Oriental Morning Post, and Shanghai Evening Post, etc.

2.3 New words listed in the Report of 2007, 2008, and 2009 On August 16, 2007, the Report (2006), which listed 171 new words, was issued and attracted wide attention from the media and its readers (audience, Internet users). By the evening of August 18, there were more than 1,700 relevant messages posted by Internet users on the Sina Network alone. Many people approved, but some Internet users raised questions. This happened because some of them did not understand that the main function of the Report is to give a true reflection of the actual situation of the language life in society. Besides, many people were not familiar with the meaning of a number of the new words 5 And the other was the regulation of Procedures in the Implementation of the “General Law of the Spoken and Written Language of the People’s Republic of China” in Shanghai, which stated that it would be a violation of the law should words popular on the Internet like meimei (referring to “girl”), konglong (dinosaur, referring to ugly looking girls), PK and fensi (fans) are used in government documents, textbooks, or news reports in Shanghai. See http://www. hljdaily.com.cn/by_xwcb/system/2007/09/03/010055057.shtml.

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listed in the Report. In response to the unexpected dissent and misunderstanding, the Department of Language Information Administration acted rapidly. On the very afternoon of August 18, when the Internet users’ comments emerged in the networks, Director Li Yuming and Deputy Director Wang Tiekun of the Department expressed their views towards the new words listed in the Report of that year. On August 17, Beijing Youth Daily published the articles by the two officials, while many Internet media reprinted the two articles as well. At the same time, Professor Zhou Jian, who was in charge of the project of “new words”, was interviewed by major media outlets. He explained the purpose, significance, and background of the publication of the new words and explained the definition of some of them. Linguists also appeared in interviews and explained some little known details about the new words. These measures dispelled some misunderstandings about the publication of these new words and at the same time gave more publicity to the Report itself.6 The discussion of new words manifested one aspect of the public concern about the Report, and mirrored the importance of language in people’s lives. This discussion expanded the influence of the Report in society.7 The listing of new words in the Report (2006) aroused people’s enthusiasm and sparked widespread comments. The Report (2007) and the Report (2008) respectively listed 254 and 359 new words, which also drew great public attention. The search on Baidu and Google, using “new words report on China’s Language Situation 2006” as key words, found respectively 1,820 and 1,670 relevant webpages.8

2.4 The involvement of popular blogs in the release of the Report in 2009 On October 29, 2009, the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education and the Commercial Press jointly held the “Salon of China’s Well-known Blogs” and the Symposium on the “Report on the Language Situation in China (2008)”, in the hall of the Commercial Press, at the time when the Report (2008) was publicized. Mr. Wang Tao, General Manager 6 Quoted from the Work Bulletin of Spoken and Written Languages, No. 304, published by the Department of Information and Administration of Spoken and Written Languages under the Ministry of Education 7 8,830 and 2,070 webpages were found respectively in Baidu and Google by searching “new words in Report on the Language Situation in China, 2008–2009”. This suggests that there was more concern about this issue than on the frequency of Internet language in the Report (2005). 8 The date of the search was January 12, 2010.

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of the Commercial Press, delivered the opening speech and Mr. Li Yuming, Director of the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education, served as the chief convener. The participants at the symposium included Mr. Chen Min, Director of the Division of Planning and Coordination of the Department of Language Information Administration Department, staff from the Well-known Blog, as well as nearly forty people from the press and some publishers and linguists. The invitation of twelve well-known bloggers present at the Symposium was a creative idea and aroused intensive interest from many media, especially Internet bloggers. The symposium was convened by the Salon of China’s Well-known Blogs and supported by the State Language Commission. This arrangement itself was of strategic significance as it created a new way of presenting news releases and manifested a new concept. (Lanhaiyuweng 2008) Please refer to Table 3 for the attention drawn to the Report from Internet bloggers. Table 3: Some of the blogs that paid attention to the report Number of Browsers

Blog Address

Bloggers Should Have More Space and Shoulder More Important Responsibilities

11,237

Blogifeng

Chief of Staff Hu (Song Zhongping)

Report on China’s Language Situation is the Result of the Nuclear Bomb Blast of Information

1,545

Blogifeng

Qian Hong

Change Starts from the Improvement of Language

341

Blogifeng

Pei Yu

Face-to-Face Talk about the “Day of Protection of Dialect and Mother Tongue” with Officials from the Department of Language Information Administration of the Ministry of Education

128

Netease Blog

Lanhai Yuweng (Fisherman of the Blue Sea)

Green Book of the Chinese Language: A Huge Mountain of Language Resources – Comments on the Report of the Language Situation in China

Blogger

Title of the Blog

Yiqing

7029

Notes: 1. http://blog.ifeng.com/article/3293101.html 2. http://blog.ifeng.com/article/3362440.html 3. http://blog.ifeng.com/article/3362935.html 4. http://wenhuapeiyu.blog.163.com/blog/static/618160732009102113240372/ 5. http://blog.cctv.com/html/08/254508.html 6. http://lanhaiyuwen2.blog.sohu.com/135579896.html

blog cntv blog.sohu

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3 Response from the academic circle 3.1 General comments from the academic circle and citations from the Report in scholarly papers The Report is of high academic value and of much significance for the research of language and society, language and politics, language and the economy, language and education, language and science and technology, and for the solution of problems in the social use of language. It also provides the latest, most practical and important data and a reliable basis for the compilation of books of linguistics, communications, social science, politics, culture, terminology, the compilation of dictionaries, and the research and development of language information processing. (Chen 2007) It is also of great significance as a reference for applied linguistics and language planning. (Wang 2008a) The publication of the Report will surely encourage the professionals of ethnic languages to pay more attention to the situation of the languages of minority ethnic groups, thus promoting research. The publication of the Report and the ensuing annual publications will further enhance studies on the situation of China’s language use and become a more mature subject area for academia. (Dai 2007b) Though the issuing of academic papers is always somewhat lagging in time, they can, however, be found in the databases of a number of prestigious academic journals, and the number of citations from the Report is fairly large. Please refer to Table 4 for details. Table 4: Citations from the Report in academic papers Name of Database

Number of Papers with Citations from the Report

Hownet Academic Journal Network Publishing Database Hownet Outstanding Master’s Thesis Full-Text Database Hownet Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Database Hownet Important Academic Meetings Paper Full-Text Database VIP Full-Text Electronic Journals Wanfang Database Social Science Citation Database (CSSCI)

327 57 19 19 60 37 50

The computation of citations from the Report in academic papers and their analysis found that most of the quotes mentioned the new words in the Report (2006) and the “Investigation of the Use of Networks of BBS (bulletin board systems) in Institutions of Higher Learning”, and the “Investigation of the Characters and Words in Newspapers, Radio and Television, and Networks” in

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the Report (2005). The attention paid by academic journals to the Report on the Language Situation in China, which is also a heated topic of concern for the broad public, shall be discussed in a separate article.

3.2 The notion of language is a resource Scholars have argued that language is a kind of resource and they have written a lot about it. However, only in recent years has this notion of language been recognized at both state and government level. Mr. Zhou Youguang, a famous scholar of Chinese linguistics, holds that the establishment of a special themed center by the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education is something unprecedented. The center has been carrying out the investigation, research and analysis of language resources, and has compiled the Report annually. Based on its findings, scholars provided synchronic descriptive material and data to facilitate diachronic comparisons and exploration. These practices have opened up a new opportunity for research on language resources. (Zhou 2008) In 2004, the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education took the lead in the establishment of the National Language Resources Monitor and Research Center. The center’s work consists of a series of projects for education rejuvenation. Five sub-centers have been established, one after the other, respectively in charge of language used in the press media, the Internet media, in instructional materials, in the audio media, and research on the Chinese language used overseas. The results of these sub-center investigations were published on the platform of the Report and fine results have been achieved. “Such a measure has provided a certain protection and development of the national language resources and puts the social use of language under a scientific and healthy guidance. The achievements gained by such monitoring and research have aroused a positive response in academic circles and the public both at home and abroad”. (Wang 2008c) In September 2007, the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education and Beijing Language and Culture University jointly convened a summit forum to discuss problems in “the nation’s language resources and applied linguistics”. A collection of the forum papers was published with the title Discussions on China’s Language Resources (1). This was the first collection of papers on the research of language resources in China.9 In December 2008, China’s National Center of the Utilization and Development of the Language 9 Zhang, Pu (张普) and Wang, Tiekun (王铁琨) (ed.), 2009, Commercial Press.

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was opened, which works under the guidance of the State Language Commission and utilizes the Commercial Press as its platform. The center is a pioneering venture for turning language into a productive force. The establishment of the center plays an important role in improving the nation’s resources management system, in opening up the industry of culture and implementing the nation’s language strategy. The Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission attach great importance to language resources, thereby gaining much approval and support from scholars. Some scholars maintain that the Report is of great significance for the monitoring and research of language resources, and its influence will exceed the work on the language itself and will significantly promote the development of our society and economy. Other scholars point out that it is unique for a country to tap into its linguistic resources to such a high degree, indicating clearly the achievement of the government’s work and research in institutions of higher learning.10 Guo Xi (2007) discovered that more and more people had realized the importance of developing and taking advantage of language resources. Chen Zhangtai (2009) believes that a realization of the importance of language resources is gradually forming among scholars and in the society at large. The search for “language resources” in Baidu found 179,000 relevant webpages, and this signifies that the notion of “language resources” is now well accepted. A total of 343 articles under the topic of “language + resources” were found by searching all the documents published before 2010 in the China Journal Network. 202 articles were found from January 2006 to January 12, 2012 (the search date). This proves that in the four years since the Report was published, language resources became a popular subject in academic work. Many of the contents in the Report have drawn the attention of publishers, and a series of products have been developed. (Wang 2008b) Please refer to Table 5 for details.

3.3 The idea of a “harmonious language life” Searching “language harmony” and “harmonious language life” in Baidu yielded 16,600 and 9,260 webpages respectively. And 265 articles were found by searching all the documents issued before 2010 in the China Journal Network for theses with titles containing “language + harmony”, whereas 213 articles were found from January 2006 to January 12, 2010 (the search date). This suggests that in the four years since the publication of the Report, “harmonious language life” 10 All quoted from Trends of China’s Language Resources, No. 1, 2007, Commercial Press.

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Table 5: Utilizing data of the Report in publications Content Used

Year of the Report

Title of the Paper

Author or Compiler

Publishing House

Year of Publication

581 Chinese characters are covering 80% of all texts

2005

581 Frequently used Chinese Characters

Wang Yongxiang

Language and Literature Publishing House

2006

Frequency of Chinese Characters

2005 2006

800 Chinese Characters

Xu Ling, Yao Xishuang

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing House

2007

The first 1,500 Words and Phrases Used in Teaching Materials of Chinese as the Second Language

2006

Syllabus for General Courses in International Chinese Teaching

Office of the Leading Group for the Spreading of Chinese Teaching Abroad

Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing House

2008

171 New Chinese Words and Phrases

2006

New Chinese Words and Phrases of 2006

Zhou Jian

Commercial Press

2007

171 New Chinese Words and Phrases

2006

Cool New Words – Notes on 171 New Chinese Words

Du Zhongming

Chinese Workers’ Publishing House

2008

934/958 Chinese Characters Covering 90% of the Whole Language Corpus

2005 2006

Chinese Rhetoric – Learn the Chinese Language through Mastering One Thousand Characters

Liu Shouyong, Liu Jiang

Beijing Education Publishing House

2008

New Words and Phrases of 2007

2007

New Words and Phrases of 2007

Hou Min, Zhou Jian

Commercial Press

2008

has also become a hot subject of social concern. Dai Qingxia suggests that the problems covered and principles expounded in the Report are conducive to building up a healthy and harmonious social language situation. (Dai 2007a) Some academic viewpoints concerning “harmonious language” or “language harmony” are worthwhile to be introduced here, for instance “Language is the most important tool of communication in human society and a harmonious society needs language harmony”; “Doing a good job in the research of theories of language and their application is an important aspect of building up socialism and a harmonious society”. (Cheng 2005) The notion of language harmony holds

346

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that multiple languages and dialects are valuable social, economic and cultural resources rather than obstacles on the path to the country’s unification and social economic development. (Zhou 2006) On this basis, experts of relevant sciences and related areas have finally begun to pay attention to this old but totally new subject of language harmony and its influence on the creation of a harmonious society. The new book Language and Harmony by Feng Guangyi, recently published by the People’s Publishing House, is one of the representative works. (Duan 2008) To experts of ethnic language studies, language harmony is an essential component of social harmony. It refers to the fact that different languages can coexist in harmony and benefit each other. Each language has a specific function and develops best in harmony with other languages. Building up language harmony is the best way of solving problems in the language relations of the country. (Dai 2008a) In a country of multiple ethnic groups and multiple languages it is an important guarantee for the smooth development of harmonious relations between different ethnic groups and different languages. (Dai 2006) At an international academic forum on the language of ethnic groups, many experts emphasized the importance of the relationship between language and harmony, and expounded the importance of language harmony from various perspectives. (Dai 2008b) Guided by the scientific view of development, governmental departments stress that building a harmonious society needs a suitably harmonious language situation based on “coordinated development, with the focus on people’s lives, and on fairness and justice”. (Zhao 2007) Therefore, the basic aim of the State Language Commission is to create a harmonious language use. The key to a harmonious language use is the establishment of a scientific view on language that gives consideration to the variety of languages. (Li 2008)

4 Response from relevant governmental departments For a modern country it is an important task to pay close attention to its language policy and regulate its language situation. The foundation for researching a nation’s language situation and formulating a national language plan is the result of the investigation of the utility of the language in society. (Wang 2007) The factual description and data from monitoring and research, featured in both parts of the Report, provide important referential material and the basis for the

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347

state to figure out its language work and then formulate appropriate language policies. (Dai 2007b) Since there are so many languages spoken in China, it can be ranked as a major country dealing with language resources. The concept of “language resources” advocated by the Report, directly promoted the creation of a sound database of language resources in China. October 2008 witnessed the launching ceremony of a pilot database of China’s language resources in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, endorsed by the State Language Commission. This marked the beginning of the largest language investigation and preservation in China’s history. “The creation of a database of China’s language resources is not only conducive to gaining a comprehensive view of the language situation and the making of language policies suited to the condition of the nation, but it also raises the awareness level of the country’s spoken and written languages, thereby strengthening the country’s ability in information processing.”11 The annual publication of the Report highlighted the importance attached to the nation’s language situation by the administrative language institutes. The Program of Applied Research on the Language of the State Language Commission during the Period of the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” was issued on the official network of the Ministry of Education on April 30, 2007, by the State Language Commission. The program announced that China will carry out research on the nation’s language strategy. The Center of China’s Language Research, jointly set up by the Department of Language Information and Research under the Ministry of Education, was also established in November 2007. From October 27 to November 14, 2008, three investigation and study groups consisting of relevant persons from the Department of Language Information Administration, the Department of Higher Education, the Institute of Language Application under the Ministry of Education, and the Research Institute of Language of Changchun University went separately to Beijing, Jilin, Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, and Ningxia to conduct special investigations and research on the use of Internet language, words in foreign languages, and words in alphabetic letters. The State Language Commission will formulate policies and measures for the monitoring, study, and guidance of any newly emerging phenomena in the future. The Report (2005) and the Report (2007) proposed that “the state should establish authoritative organs, formulate overall policies and plans concerning foreign language teaching, and carry out the coordinated implementation of the policies of monitoring and administration”. (Ji 2006, Ji 2008) China’s Foreign Strategy Research Center was established at the Shanghai University of 11 Speech by Zhao Qinping, see http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/61/info1223865810061361. htm.

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International Studies. It will carry out research on the country’s strategy for developing foreign language teaching in order to provide services for the research on policies concerning the teaching of foreign languages and their spread, and offer references for the state to formulate language plans in coordination with China’s peaceful rise. Motion No. 0591, proposed at the 11th National Committee of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference in March 2009, called for the “establishment of an overall working committee in charge of the country’s foreign language program that is responsible for the formulation of a medium- and long-term strategy for China’s foreign language teaching”.12 Then, on January 20, 2010, the Department of Language Information Administration under the Ministry of Education convened a group of experts jointly with the Bureau of Exit and Entry of the Ministry of Public Security, the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education, Science and Technology under the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, and the Department of Place Names under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, to discuss the “alphabetic writing of Chinese names of people and places”. The forum was a great success and on many issues a consensus was reached. The result of the forum not only upheld the solemnity of the Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet and the rule of orthography, but also refrained from imposing standards for some complicated issues without case-by-case discussion. This left much room for the actual application of the scheme and solved some problems encountered in spelling the proper names of people and places.13

5 Response from abroad At the conference of the Report (2005) release, a journalist from South China Morning Post, a newspaper in Hong Kong, raised questions about the Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) promotion. A journalist from Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao (United Morning Newspaper) also asked a similar question. The above-mentioned newspapers carried three articles about the Report on April 9, August 27, and November 27, 2008. The first one was about the 171 new words and phrases listed in the Report, while the other two were about the frequency of Chinese characters and popular words and phrases.14

12 http://cppcc.people.com.cn/GB/34961/161082/9633283.htm. 13 http://www.china-language.gov.cn/14/2010_2_1/1_14_4479_0_1264990775737.html. 14 http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/UserSearch.action – date of searching: Jan. 13, 2010.

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Both the American Embassy in China and the Hong Kong Bureau of Education paid very close attention to the Report. The latter compiled new instructional materials for descendants of minority ethnic groups by referring to the Report. Officials of some countries also showed interest for the Report, such as Chaturon Chaisang, former Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Thailand, who personally asked Li Mingyu, Deputy Director of China’s State Language Commission, about the language situation in China when he came to Beijing in April 2008 to study the Chinese Language. A foreign network has carried a discussion by Polish scholars about words in alphabetic letters in China, like GDP, IT, MP3, QQ, DVD and @.15 A British network has hosted discussions about Chinese characters used in persons’ name transliterations from English, such as Lina, Lucy, and Jenny, etc., which was discussed in the Report (2006).16 The Report was listed among books to be purchased by the state-run Diet Library of Japan, and a number of bookstores imported the Report, too.17

References Chen, Zhangtai (陈章太). 2007. Major achievements in the investigation and research on the national language situation (语言国情调查研究的重大成果). Applied Linguistics, No. 1. Chen, Zhangtai (陈章太). 2009. On issues of language resources and problems (语言资源与语 言问题). Yunnan Normal University Journal, No. 4. Cheng, Rong (程荣). 2005. Harmonious languages and harmonious society (和谐语言与和谐社 会). Journal of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, page 4, 1 September 2005. Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦). 2006. Competition and harmony between languages (语言竞争与语言 和谐). Language Teaching and Research, No. 2. Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦). 2007a. A valuable reference book of language work in ethnic spoken and written languages (民族语言工作的一部有价值的参考书). Changjiang Research, No. 1. Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦). 2007b. New chapter in the research on the situation of China’s languages – Overjoyed at reading the Report on the Language Situation in China (2005) (中国语言生活状况研究的新篇章—喜读《中国语言生活状况报告（2005）》). Application of Spoken and Written Language, No. 1. Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦). 2008a. Some theoretical problems in creating harmony between the languages of multiple ethnic groups (构建我国多民族语言和谐的几个理论问题). Journal of the Central Minzu University, No. 2.

15 http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/MegaBBS/thread-view.asp?threadid=347&posts=98. 16 http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cross-cultural/intercultural-communication-translationnews/2007/08/21/more-chinese-use-transliteration-fo-western-names/. 17 http://www.toho-shoten.co.jp/toho-web/search/detail?id=311948&bookType=ch.

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Dai, Qingxia (戴庆厦). 2008b. To build up language harmony is a major task in the current work of ethnic spoken and written languages – Closing speech at the International Academic Forum on Ethnic Spoken and Written Languages (构建语言和谐是当前民族语文工作的 主要任务—在民族语文国际学术研讨会上的总结发言). Ethnic Education Research, No. 3. ( 语言和谐论》评介). Duan, Caolin (段曹林). 2008. Appraisal of On Language Harmony 《 Guangming Daily, 15 April 2008. Guo, Xi (郭熙). 2007. Spread of the Chinese language overseas and the Report on Language in China (海外华语传播与《中国语言生活状况报告》). Applied Linguistics, No. 1. Ji, Chuanbo (汲传波). 2006. Craze of English (英语热). Part One of the Report on the Language Situation in China (2005) (《中国语言生活状况报告（2005）》上编). Commercial Press. Ji, Chuanbo. 2008. Craze of less learned and taught foreign languages (外语教育中的小语 种热). Part One of the Report on the Language Situation in China (2007) 《 ( 中国语言生活 状况报告（2007）》上编). Commercial Press. Lanhaiyuwen (蓝海渔翁). 2008. Green book of China’s language – A huge mountain of language resources: Comment on Report on the Language Situation in China 2008 (中国语言绿皮书：一座语言资源的大山—评《中国语言生活状况报告（2008）》). Quoted from http://lanhaiyuwen2.blog.sohu.com/135579896.html. Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2007. Building up a healthy and harmonious linguistic life: Preface to the Report on the Language Situation in China (构建健康和谐的语言生活—序《中国语言生 活状况报告（2005）》). Changjiang Research, No. 1. Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2008. Three current major topics on language (当今人类三大语言话题). Journal of Yunnan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), No. 4. Li, Yuming (李宇明). 2009. Protection and development of lingual resources – Prelude to Part One of the Report on the Language Situation in China, 2008 (保护和开发语言资源— 》). National Center of Language Resource Monitoring 序《中国语言生活状况报告（2008） and Research (ed.). Report on the Language Situation in China 2008. Commercial Press. Wang, Tiekun (王铁琨). 2007. Quantitative Data and annual report on the language situation (计算机统计数据与年度语言生活状况报告). Changjiang Research, No. 1. Wang, Tiekun (王铁琨). 2008a. Investigation and study of the actual use of the language and language planning – Thoughts on the publication of an annual report on the language situation (语言使用实态考察研究与语言规划—发布年度语言生活状况报告的思考). Applied Linguistics, No. 1. Wang, Tiekun (王铁琨). 2008b. Postscript to the Second Part of the Report on the Language Situation in China (2007) (《中国语言生活状况报告（2007）下编》后记). National Center of Language Resource Monitoring and Research (ed.). Report on the Language Situation in China 2007. Commercial Press. Wang, Tiekun (王铁琨). 2008c. Standard, unification of platforms, and resources integration – Reflection and proposals on the creation of a multi-lingual knowledge base (标准、平台统 一与资源整合—多语言知识库建设的思考和建议). Journal of Yunnan Normal University (Social Sciences Edition), No. 6. Zhang, Pu (张普). 2008. On the dynamic state of the language (论语言的动态). Changjiang Research, No. 1. Zhao, Qinping (赵沁平). 2007. Build a harmonious linguistic life as contribution to a harmonious socialist society (营造和谐语言生活 为构建社会主义和谐社会做贡献). Spoken and Written Languages Weekly, page 1, 4 April 2007.

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Zhou, Qingsheng (周庆生). 2006. Tentative comment on the language and harmonious thinking (语言和谐思想刍议). Spoken and Written Languages Weekly, page 1, 10 May 2006. Zhou, Youguang (周有光). 2008. Preface to the Collection of Papers on the Studies of Language Resources (《语言资源研究论文集》序言). Applied Linguistics, No. 4. Translated by Chen Dezhang (陈德彰) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]

Wang Zhijuan (王志娟) & Zhao Xiaobing (赵小兵)

Newspapers in written Chinese minority languages According to the statistics announced at the press conference in 2006, held by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission in the State Council Office, there were 99 newspapers published in thirteen national minority languages. The basic information, based on a recent survey, is as follows: 文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

蒙古文 Mongolian

内蒙古 Inner Mongolia

鄂尔多斯日报（蒙文版） Ordos Daily (Mongolian)

1937

锡林郭勒日报（蒙文版） Xilingol Daily (Mongolian)

1947

内蒙古日报（蒙文版） Inner Mongolia Daily (Mongolian)

1948

呼伦贝尔日报（蒙文版） Hulunbeir Daily (Mongolian)

1955

赤峰日报（蒙文版） Chifeng Daily (Mongolian)

1957

通辽日报（蒙文版） Tongliao Daily (Mongolian)

1957

巴彦淖尔日报（蒙文版） Bayannaoer Daily (Mongolian)

1958

乌兰察布日报（蒙文版） Ulan Qab Daily (Mongolian)

1958

兴安日报（蒙文版） Xing’an Daily (Mongolian)

1981

阿拉善日报（蒙文版） Alxa Daily (Mongolian)

1984

内蒙古少年报（蒙文版） Inner Mongolian Teenagers’ News (Mongolian)

1997

内蒙古生活周报（蒙文版） Inner Mongolian Life Weekly (Mongolian edition)

2000

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Wang Zhijuan (王志娟) & Zhao Xiaobing (赵小兵)

文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

新疆日报（蒙文版） Xinjiang Daily (Mongolian)

1950

博尔塔拉报（蒙文版） Bortala Daily (Mongolian)

1960

巴音郭楞日报（蒙文版） Bayingolin Daily (Mongolian)

1967

青海 Qinghai

柴达木报（蒙文版） Qaidam News (Mongolian)

1987

辽宁 Liaoning

蒙古贞日报（蒙文版） Mengguzhen Daily (Mongolian editio)

1956

西藏日报（藏文版） Tibet Daily (Tibetan)

1956

西藏科技报（藏文版） Tibet Science and Technology News (Tibetan)

1980

拉萨晚报（藏文版） Lhasa Evening News (Tibetan)

1985

西藏青年报（藏文版） Tibetan Youth Daily (Tibetan)

1985

日喀则报（藏文版） Shigatse News (Tibetan)

1987

西藏法制报（藏文版） Tibetan Legal News (Tibetan)

1992

昌都报（藏文版） Qamdo News (Tibetan)

1993

山南报（藏文版） Shannan News (Tibetan)

2000

林芝报（藏文版） Nyingchi News (Tibetan)

2003

那曲报（藏文版） Nagchu News (Tibetan)

2004

新疆 Xinjiang

藏文 Tibetan

西藏 Tibet

355

Newspapers in written Chinese minority languages

文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

青海藏文报（藏文版） Qinghai Tibetan News (Tibetan)

1951

青海法制报（藏文版） Qinghai Legal News (Tibetan)

1983

青海科技报（藏文版） Qinghai Science and Technology News (Tibetan)

1984

刚坚少年报（藏文版） Gangjian Teenagers’ News (Tibetan)

1989

黄南报（藏文版） Huangnan News (Tibetan)

1999

海南报（藏文版） Hainan News (Tibetan)

2003

阿坝日报（藏文版） Ngawa Daily (Tibetan)

1953

甘孜日报（藏文版） Garze Daily (Tibetan)

1954

甘肃 Gansu

甘南日报（藏文版） Gannan Daily (Tibetan)

1953

云南 Yunnan

迪庆日报（藏文版） Diqing Daily (Tibetan)

2009

北京 Beijing

人民日报（藏文版） People’s Daily (Tibetan)

2009

新疆日报（维文版） Xinjiang Daily (Uyghur)

1950

伊犁日报（维文版） Ili Daily (Uyghur)

1950

喀什日报（维文版） Kashgar Daily (Uyghur)

1950

和田日报（维文版） Khotan Daily (Uyghur)

1950

哈密报（维文版） Hami News (Uyghur)

1951

工人时报（维文版） Workers’ Times (Uyghur)

1951

兵团日报（维文版） Bingtuan Daily (Uyghur)

1953

新疆少年报（维文版） Xinjiang Teenagers’ News (Uyghur)

1956

青海 Qinghai

四川 Sichuan

维吾尔文 Uyghur

新疆 Xinjiang

356

Wang Zhijuan (王志娟) & Zhao Xiaobing (赵小兵)

文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

参考消息（维文版） Reference News (Uyghur)

1956

克孜勒苏报（维文版） Kezilesu News (Uyghur)

1957

博尔塔拉报（维文版） Bortala News (Uyghur)

1960

巴音郭楞日报（维文版） Bayingolin Daily (Uyghur)

1962

新疆法制报（维文版） Xinjiang Legal News (Uyghur)

1980

新疆科技报（维文版） Xinjiang Science and Technology News (Uyghur)

1980

新疆广播电视报（维文版） Xinjiang Broadcasting & Television Guide (Uyghur)

1981

阿克苏日报（维文版） Aksu Daily (Uyghur)

1984

乌鲁木齐晚报（维文版） Urumqi Evening News (Uyghur)

1984

老年康乐报（维文版） Senior Citizens’ Health News (Uyghur)

1986

独山子石化报（维文版） Dushanzi Petrochemical News (Uyghur)

1986

吐鲁番报（维文版） Turfan News (Uyghur)

1988

新疆教育报（维文版） Xinjiang Education News (Uyghur)

1990

亚洲中心时报（维文版） Asia Center Times (Uyghur)

1991

伊犁晚报（维文版） Ili Evening News (Uyghur)

1992

新疆经济报（维文版） Xinjiang Economic News (Uyghur)

1993

叶尔羌报（维文版） Yarkand News (Uyghur)

2003

克拉玛依日报（维文版） Karamay Daily (Uyghur)

2005

357

Newspapers in written Chinese minority languages

文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

解放军 PLA

北京 Beijing

哈萨克文 Kazakh

朝鲜文 Korean

新疆 Xinjiang

吉林 Jilin

新疆民兵（维文版） Xinjiang Militia (Uyghur)

1950

人民军队（维文版） People’s Army (Uyghur)

1957

中国农机化导报（维文版） China Agricultural Mechanization Herald (Uyghur)

1988

阿勒泰日报（哈文版） Aletai Daily (Kazakh)

1935

新疆日报（哈文版） Xinjiang Daily (Kazakh)

1950

伊犁日报（哈文版） Ili Daily (Kazakh)

1950

伊犁少年报（哈文版） Ili Teenagers’ News (Kazakh)

1956

参考消息（哈文版） Reference News (Kazakh)

1956

塔城日报（哈文版） Tacheng Daily (Kazakh)

1958

新疆科技报（哈文版） Xinjiang Science & Technology News (Kazakh)

1984

伊犁法制生活报（哈文版） Ili Legal & Life News (Kazakh)

1985

新疆教育报（哈文版） Xinjiang Education Daily (Kazakh)

1990

伊犁晚报（哈文版） Ili Evening News (Kazakh)

1992

延边日报（朝文版） Yanbian Daily (Korean)

1948

中国朝鲜族少年报（朝文版） China Korean Teenagers’ News (Korean)

1950

综合周报（朝文版） Comprehensive Weekly (Korean)

1979

东北朝鲜族科技报（朝文版） Northeast Korean Science & Technology News (Korean)

1981

358

Wang Zhijuan (王志娟) & Zhao Xiaobing (赵小兵)

文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

吉林朝鲜文报（朝文版） Jilin Korean News (Korean)

1985

朝鲜族中学生报（朝文版） Korean Middle School Students’ News (Korean)

1989

图们江报（朝文版） Tumen River News (Korean)

2008

辽宁 Liaoning

辽宁朝鲜文报（朝文版） Liaoning Korean News (Korean)

1957

黑龙江 Heilongjiang

黑龙江新闻（朝文版） Heilongjiang News (Korean)

1961

彝文 Yi

四川 Sichuan

凉山日报（彝文版） Liangshan Daily (Yi)

1978

壮文 Zhuang

广西 Guangxi

广西民族报（壮文版） Guangxi National News (Zhuang)

1957

柯尔克孜文 Kirgiz

新疆 Xinjiang

克孜勒苏报（柯尔克孜文版） Kezilesu News (Kirgiz)

1957

傣哪文 Tai Le

云南 Yunnan

德宏团结报（傣文版） Dehong Unity News (Dai)

1955

傣仂文 Tai Lue

云南 Yunnan

西双版纳报（傣文版） Xishuangbanna News (Dai)

1957

远东经贸导报（俄文版） Far East Economy and Trade News (Russian)

2000

中俄经贸时报（俄文版） China-Russia Economy and Trade Times (Russian)

2006

内蒙古 Inner Mongolia

满洲里报（俄文版） Manzhouli News (Russian)

2000

吉林 Jilin

图们江报（俄文版） Tumen River News (Russian)

2008

景颇文 Jingpo

云南 Yunnan

德宏团结报（景颇文版） Dehong Unity News (Jingpo)

1955

载瓦文 Zaiwa

云南 Yunnan

德宏团结报（载瓦文版） Dehong Unity News (Zaiwa)

1955

黑龙江 Heilongjiang 俄文 Russian

359

Newspapers in written Chinese minority languages

文种

出版区域

报纸名称

创刊年份

Language

Place of publication

Name of newspapers

First issue

云南 Yunnan

德宏团结报（傈僳文版） Dehong Unity News (Lisu)

1955

云南 Yunnan

怒江报（傈僳文版） Nujiang News (Lisu)

1983

新疆 Xinjiang

察布查尔报（锡伯文版） Qapqal News (Xibe)

1946

傈僳文（新） Lisu (new) 锡伯文 Xibe

Source: Department of Newspapers and Periodicals, General Administration of Press and Publication of the People’s Republic of China. By December 2009, thirteen nationalities had 100 newspapers in fifteen of written languages published Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

Mao Liqun (毛力群)

A record of major Chinese language events (2009) Introduction The list below covers the major events of China’s language life in 2009. It is not concerned with any research of language per se. It was chiefly collated from the following sources: Zhongguo Yuwen (中国语文, ‘Chinese Language and Writing’), Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong (语言文字应用, ‘Applied Linguistics’), Yuyan Wenxi Zhoubao (语言文字周报, ‘Language and Writing Weekly’), Yuwen Xinxi (语文 信息, ‘Information of Language and Writing’), Minzu Yuwen (民族语文, ‘Minority Languages of China’), Hanyu Xuexi (汉语学习, ‘Chinese Language Learning’), Hanyu Xuebao (汉语学报, ‘Chinese Linguistics’), Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu (语言教学 与研究, ‘Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies’), Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue (世界 汉语教学, ‘Chinese Teaching in the World’), Dangdai Yuyanxue (当代语言学, ‘Contemporary Linguistics’), Guhanyu Yanjiu (古汉语研究, ‘Research of Ancient Chinese’), Yuyan Kexue (语言科学, ‘Linguistic Sciences’), Cishu Yanjiu (辞书研究, ‘Lexicographical Studies’), Zhongguo Keji Shuyu (中国科技术语, ‘Chinese Terminology’), Zhongwen Xinxi Xuebao (中文信息学报, ‘Journal of Chinese Information Processing’) and Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Wang (中国语言文字网, www.chinalanguage.gov.cn), etc.

January 6–7 January: The Department of Language Planning and Administration (hereafter LPA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) held the First Conference on the Outline of Reform and Development of State Medium- and Long-Term Language Work in Tianjin, chiefly listening to local public views and suggestions. 8 January: The State Language Commission (hereafter SLC) reached a preliminary agreement on the cooperation in running Putonghua testing with the visitor in charge of the Chinese Language Standardization Council of Malaysia. A memorandum was signed and a press conference was held in Malaysia on 14 February. 10 January: The first symposium on language work in Tianjin (天津), sponsored by the Tianjin Language Commission, was held by the Tianjin Language Training and Testing Center in Tianjin.

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Mao Liqun (毛力群)

12 January: The homepage for the Foreign Languages in Public Places (http:// www.hzgogow.net) of Hangzhou (杭州) was kick-started. 12 January: The first Confucius Institute, co-founded by Yunnan (云南) University and the University of Teheran, Iran, was inaugurated at the School of Foreign Languages, University of Teheran. 21 January: A Table of Chinese Radicals (汉字部首表) and Specifications for Identifying Indexing Components of the GB13000.1 Chinese Character Set (字符集汉字 部首归部规范), organized by MOE and SLC, were issued for implementation on 1 May 2009. 25–31 January: A History of Chinese Characters (史说汉字), shot by Shandong (山东) TV Station under the authorization of SLC, was broadcast consecutively on Shandong Satellite Television. It was the first televised documentary in China demonstrating the origin and development of Chinese characters by panoramic television art and proved to be a beneficial attempt for displaying, promoting and developing Chinese character culture.

February 3–5 February: The China Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (hereafter CNLR) held a seminar on data release in 2009 in Zhaoqing (肇庆), Guangdong (广东) Province. 12 February: Vice-Chairman Xi Jinping attended the awarding ceremony of the Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies in Mona on his visit to Kingston, Jamaica. 20 February: The first conference of the Confucius Institute directors in Mexico was held at the Confucius Institute of Mexico City. 23 February: A Confucius Institute was inaugurated at Kazakh National University in Al-Farabi, Kazakhstan. 24 February: The SLC held its annual language work conference of 2009 during which the Department of Language Information Management (hereafter LIM) held a symposium on the standardization and digitization of the national language and writing. 28 February: The State Putonghua Proficiency Test Network Evaluation and Management System, commissioned by LPA and developed by Zhejiang (浙江) Putonghua Training and Testing Center, was certified for use by the committee of experts of SLC’s Putonghua Training and Testing Center.

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March 5 March: The Chinese Language Standardization Council of Malaysia and Tianjin Language Training and Testing Center signed a cooperation agreement, in which broad consensus was reached concerning Putonghua training, proficiency testing, textbook compilation and publication in Malaysia. 11 March: The Chinese National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies (hereafter CNCT) held its working conference in Beijing on Chinese Terms in Pharmacology (药学名词). 24 March: Specifications of Common Modern Chinese Character Components and Component Names (现代常用字部件及部件名称规范) and Specifications of the Undecomposable Characters Commonly Used in Modern Chinese (现代常用独体 字规范), developed under the organization of MOE and SLC, were issued and put into trial use on 1 July 2009. 24 March: A symposium on the development of the font design industry and protection of intellectual property rights, hosted by the Center for Chinese Font Design and Research, was held at Peking University. 28 March: The result of the online voting for domestic and international characters and words of 2008 was announced. They were respectively he (和, ‘harmony’) and gaige kaifang 30 nian (改革开放30年, ‘30 years’ reform and opening’), zheng (争, ‘compete’), and huarjie fengbao (华尔街风暴, ‘Wall Street storm’). 30 March: The opening ceremony of the China-EU Multilingualism Conference 2009, hosted by MOE and the European Commission, was held by the China Confucius Institute Headquarters at the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing.

April 1 April: The Uyghur Language and Writing Research Base of the CNLR Minority Languages Center, co-built by Minzu University of China and Xinjiang Normal University, held its opening ceremony at Xinjiang Normal University. 1 April: The first Confucius Institute in Jordan was inaugurated in Amman. 3 April: Beijing Language and Culture University held its opening ceremony of the International Chinese Language Teaching Research Base. 4 April: The Confucius Institute of Cheju Halla University, South Korea, was inaugurated. The CPCCC Politburo Standing Committee member Li Changchun (李长春) was present and gave a speech at the opening ceremony.

364

Mao Liqun (毛力群)

3–6 April: The First Symposium on Language Theory Teaching and Research, sponsored by the Chinese Language Modernization Society, was held at Changsha (长沙) and Xiangtan (湘潭) by the School of Arts, Hunan (湖南) Normal University and the School of Arts, Hunan University of Science and Technology. 10 April: A seminar on the proposal of Setting the Standards for Chinese Terms in Chinese Medical Psychiatry and Psychology was held in Beijing, marking the commencement of this operation. 13 April: The New York State University in Stony Brook held its opening ceremony of the Confucius Institute. Liu Yandong (刘延东), a Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the ceremony and presented Chinese language textbooks to the Institute. 13 April: The first Chinese Symposium on Chinese Language Education in Italy, conducted by the Chinese Embassy in Italy, was held in Rome. 20 April: The launching ceremony of the First Nationwide Contest of Writing Standardized Chinese Characters by Students and Pupils was held at Jilin (吉林) Normal University. 20–29 April: A language management delegation of six members, headed by LPA deputy director-general Zhang Shiping (张世平), visited Tanzania and Egypt. 21 April: An academic symposium on the language of press secretaries was held at the Commercial Press, Beijing. It was a program of Investigating the Image, Mechanism and Strategy of the Verbal Communication of Foreign Affairs Press Secretaries, hosted jointly by the Chinese Editorial Office of the Commercial Press, Institute for Applied Linguistics, Communication University of China, the Sociolinguistic and Media Language Research Laboratory, and the MOE Institute of Applied Linguistics. 23 April: CNCT established its Commission for New Terms in Beijing. 23 April: The first Putonghua Proficiency Test of the Blind was organized by the office of the Guangxi (广西) Zhuang Autonomous Region Language Commission and Guangxi Putonghua Training and Testing Center. 24 April: The Confucius Institute of Kalmyk State University, Russia, was officially founded in Elista, capital of the Kalmyk Republic. 26 April: The CNCT Cross-Strait Symposium on Chinese Terms in Geography was held at the Department of Geography, Taiwan (台湾) Normal University. 27 April: The CNCT Cross-Strait Symposium on Chinese Terms of the Seas and Oceans was held at National Taiwan Ocean University.

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30 April: The 6th Chinese Studies Forum entitled the Modernization of Traditional Chinese Linguistics in Memory of the Publication of Luo Changpei’s (罗常培) Works, hosted by the Academic Division Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (hereafter CASS), was held in Beijing by the CASS Linguistics Institute. 30 April: The 2nd National Chinese Language Conference, hosted by the College Board and Asia Society, was held in Chicago by the Chicago Public School System (CPS).

May 6 May: A Malaysian delegation of forty members, headed by Undersecretary Datuk Wee Ka Siong of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia, visited Tianjin Language and Writing Training and Testing Center and Tianjin Han Culture Training Center and participated in the Oral Chinese Test Plus (OCT Plus). Thus he became the first Foreign Minister of Education to have taken this test in China. 8–11 May: The 3rd Forum on Language and Nation, and the 2nd National Forum of Deans/Directors of Applied Linguistics were held at Xuzhou (徐州) Normal University. 11 May: The Macau Training Center for International Chinese Language Teachers was inaugurated at Macau Polytechnic Institute. 13–14 May: The Summit Forum on National Language Strategy 2009, co-sponsored by LIM, Jiangsu (江苏) Language Commission and Nanjing (南京) University, was jointly held at Nanjing University by China Language Resource Development and Application Center, the School of Arts of Nanjing University, and China Language Strategy Research Center. 17–18 May: The Seminar on the Chinese Proficiency Test and Evaluation, organized by LPA and the National Education Examinations Authority, was held in Beijing. 22 May: The Seminar on the Configuration of Chinese Character Processing Techniques was held at Beijing Language and Culture University, presenting the exploratory achievements in character configuration processing and an overseas students’ error library. The Chinese Character Input and Recognition System was jointly developed by Professor Song Rou (宋柔) of Beijing Language and Culture University and Professor Lin Min (林民) of the Inner Mongolia Normal University. 23 May: At the invitation of the Chinese Language Standardization Council of Malaysia, the Chinese MOE and SLC appointed Tianjin Language Training and Testing Center to hold the first Putonghua Proficiency Test in Kuala Lumpur.

366

Mao Liqun (毛力群)

23 May: The first joint conference of the Confucius Institutes in Asia was held in Kaga, Ishigawa, Japan. 23–24 May: The LPA held a seminar in Beijing on Chinese Classics Reading. 23–24 May: The first seminar for Chinese language teachers in northern Europe was held in Bergen, Norway.

June 2 June: The SLC program entitled Vocabulary and Speech Database of SinoTibetan Languages was assessed at the Institute for Ethnology and Anthropology of CASS. 2 June: The Confucius Institute of Tananarivo University, Madagascar, was officially founded. A degree program of Chinese language was set up for the first time in this country. 10 June: Freiburg University of Germany and Nanjing University of China held their signing ceremony in Freiburg to establish a co-founded Confucius Institute, the ninth in this country. 13 June: A symposium on Beijing dialect and culture, hosted by the School of Arts and the Beijing Dialect Research Center, Capital Normal University, was held in Beijing. 16 June: The Tibetan Language Research Base of the CNLR’s Minority Languages Branch Center was officially founded at the Northwestern University for Nationalities. A base for the Uyghur language had been established previously. 25 June: The Multi-Language Base of the International Promotion of Chinese Language was inaugurated at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

July 2–3 July: The Cross-Strait Chinese Information Technical Standard Symposium on Nouns, hosted by China Electronic Standardization Institute, the Institute for Information Industry (Taiwan), K. T. Li Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology (Taiwan), the Chinese Character Digitization Technical Promotion Foundation (Taiwan), and assisted by Xinjiang Economic and Information Commission, was held in Urumqi, Xinjiang. 2–4 July: The 17th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics, hosted by CRLAO of the French Academy of Sciences and School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences was held in Paris.

A record of major Chinese language events (2009)

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9–10 July: The International Symposium on Language Teaching and Research and the 30th Anniversary of Language Teaching and Research, hosted by Beijing Language and Culture University, was held in Beijing by its Institute for Languages. 9–10 July: The Symposium on Chinese Language Teaching with Audiovisual Aids 2009, hosted by the Chinese Teaching Modernization Society, was held in La Rochelle, France, by La Rochelle University with its Confucius Institute and School of Engineers La Rochelle. This was the first international conference on Chinese language teaching held in Europe and broadcast live on the global network. 10 July: The CNLR Print Media Language Branch Center, Beijing Language and Culture University, China Information Technologists’ Association, and Chinese Information Processing Society of China jointly issued the 14th China Mainstream Newspaper buzzwords. 11 July: Mr. Ji Xianlin (季羡林), professor at Beijing University, a famous linguist, translator, and educationist of China, died in Beijing at the age of 98. 12 July: Wuhan (武汉) University held a Classics chanting party, serving as the prelude to Chinese Classics Reading, a campaign to bring Chinese Classics reading to university campuses. 15–20 July: The International Symposium on Kangxi (康熙字典, ‘Dictionary of Chinese Characters compiled in the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Qing Dynasty’) and Lexicography, hosted by China Traditional Semantics Society, the Dictionary Research and Compilation Center of Beijing Normal University, and Shanxi (山西) Huangcheng Xiangfu (皇城相府) Group, was held in Jincheng (晋城), Shanxi. 20 July: Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, attended the launch ceremony of a local Chinese language learning network, encouraging the young people to learn and speak standard Chinese. 28 July: The founding conference of the Putonghua Proficiency Test Branch Center of China, Chinese Modernization Society, was held in Tianjin.

August 1 August: The 7th International Symposium on Chinese Language Teaching was jointly held in Guilin (桂林), Guangxi, by Guangxi Normal University, China, and Yale University, the University of Vermont, University of Hawaii, and the City University of New York, USA.

368

Mao Liqun (毛力群)

7 August: The Confucius Institute of Costa Rica University, the first in Central America, was inaugurated in the country’s capital San Jose. 11 August: The 11th Putonghua Recital Contest for Adolescents from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, hosted by the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association, was held in Hong Kong. 11–14 August: The first Chinese Classics Reading National Summer Camp for Primary and Secondary School Students, co-sponsored by the SLC Office (LPA) and the Investigation Group of the Office of the Spiritual Civilization Development Steering Commission, was held in Taizhou (泰州), Jiangsu. 12 August: MOE published the exposure draft of Tongyong Guifan Hanzibiao (通用规范汉字表, ‘The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters’) for suggestions before the end of the month. 19–21 August: The CNCT symposium on the Chinese terms in electrical engineering and electric power was held in Taibei (Taipei, 台北). 22 August: The First National Chinese Character Writing Contest Final for primary and middle school students started in Beijing. 23–28 August: The 6th National Symposium on Applied Linguistics, hosted by the MOE Institute of Applied Linguistics, was held in Lianyungang (连云港), Jiangsu, by the School of Arts, Huaihai (淮海) Institute of Technology. 24 August: A joint press conference was held by the Language Commissions and Bureaus of Quality and Technical Supervision of Shanghai, Suzhou and Zhejiang to announce the application of the Guidelines for English Translations in Public Places (Part I – General Rules) in their provinces on 1 October 2009.

September 5–8 September: The 4th Annual Conference and Symposium of the Modern Dictionary Compilation Professional Board of China Lexicographical Society, hosted by the Society, was held in Taiyuan (太原), Shanxi, by the Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House and Tsinghua Tongfang (清华同方) Knowledge Network (Beijing). 7 September: The LPA and National Education Examinations Authority of MOE jointly organized a seminar on Chinese language proficiency standards. 8 September: The Cross-Strait University Students’ Joint Recitation of Classical Poems 2009 was held at Xuzhou Normal University.

A record of major Chinese language events (2009)

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10–12 September: A symposium commemorating the 5th anniversary of the CNLR Print Media Language Branch Center, hosted by LIM and Beijing Language and Culture University, was held by the Branch Center at the University. 10–12 September: The 3rd Symposium on Language Contact in the History of Chinese Language was jointly held in Beijing by the CASS Institute for Linguistics, the CNRS Institute for East Asian Languages, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. 12 September: A forum on Chinese language standardization and qualification testing was held in southern Jakarta by the Division of Comprehensive Coordination of Chinese Education, General Department of Informal Education, Ministry of National Education, Indonesia. 12–13 September: The 3rd Seminar on the Establishment of Chinese Terminology, co-sponsored by CNCT, Heilongjiang (黑龙江) University and Tongji (同济) University, was held at Tongji University. 13–19 September: The 12th National Putonghua Promotion Week was carried out nationwide with the theme: “Love the national language and achieve harmony in language life”. 14 September: The opening ceremony of the 12th National Putonghua Promotion Week and the Forum for Presidents of State-Level Language and Writing Standardization Model Schools 2009 were held at Nanjing Normal University. 17 September: The 3rd Committee for Terms in Computer Science and Technology was founded at the Institute for Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 24–29 September: The 5th CNLR Working Conference, hosted by LIM, was held by the CNLR Network Media Language Branch Center in Yichang (宜昌), Hubei (湖北). 26–27 September: The Training Seminar on Chinese Character Application Test Management 2009 was held in Shanghai.

October 8 October: The Commercial Confucius Institute in Athens was co-founded by Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece, and the University of International Business and Economics, China. This was the first Confucius Institute in this country; Greek President Papoulias attended the opening ceremony.

370

Mao Liqun (毛力群)

9 October: An international seminar entitled “Research on Chinese Language and Culture” was jointly held by the Confucius Institute, National University of Mongolia, and the School of Foreign Studies to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations. 12 October: A grand cultural week of Chinese Classics recitation, co-sponsored by Capital Normal University, Beijing Language and Culture University, and China Conservatory of Music, with the support of LPA, opened at the Center for Intercultural Communication, Capital Normal University. 16 October: The Cross-Strait Seminar on Chinese Terms in Meteorology was held in Beijing. 20 October: The 2nd “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for High School Students of the World was held in Chongqing (重庆). 20 October: The First World Conference on Chinese Language Education, hosted by the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs, the State Council and Chinese Overseas Exchange Association, was held in Chengdu (成都), Sichuan (四川). Over 400 delegates from 37 countries and regions attended the meeting. 24–26 October: The Symposium on Teachers, Teaching Materials, and Teaching Methodology in the International Education of Chinese Language, jointly sponsored by the International Chinese Research Center, Beijing Language and Culture University, and the School of International Education, Hangzhou Normal University, was held in Hangzhou. 25 October: The Outstanding Winners’ Contest of the First Nationwide Contest of Standardized Chinese Character Writing by Students and Pupils, and the Award Party hosted by LPA, were held in Beijing. 26 October: A delegation of language planning and strategy, consisting of the representatives of LIM, the office of the Fujian (福建) Language Commission, Tianjin Language Training and Testing Center, and Nanjing University, went on a 12–day visit to the USA, Mexico, and Cuba. 29 October: The Chinese Bloggers’ Salon – A Forum and News Conference on the Language Situation in China (2008) (Chinese Version) was held in Beijing by LIM and the Commercial Press (Beijing). 29 October: The Forum on Font Design of the World Design Conference 2009, and the Awarding Ceremony of the 5th Founder Award Chinese Character Font Design Contest were jointly held at the Central Academy of Fine Arts by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Center for Chinese Character Font Design and Research.

A record of major Chinese language events (2009)

371

October: The Standard Chinese Pronunciation of Chinese Characters Used in Japanese (Draft) of Language Situation in China: the Green Book (Series A) was released by MOE and SLC along with five other drafted language and writing standards.

November 2 November: The International Cooperative Organization of Sister Schools for the Promotion of the Chinese Nanjing Forum 2009 was held in Nanjing. Some primary schools from Taiwan attended this event for the first time. 6–8 November: The Ph.D. Candidates’ Conference (Applied Cognitive Linguistics) 2009, jointly hosted by Southwest University, Higher Education Press, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, and Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, was held in Chongqing by the School of Foreign Languages, Southwest University, and the National Research Center for Foreign Language Education. 15 November: The founding ceremony of the National Standardization Committee of Terms in the Yi Language was held at the Southwest University for Nationalities under the auspices of LIM. 15 November: The 2nd Examination Committee for Chinese Terms in Mechanical Engineering was set up in Beijing. 16 November: The National Museum of Chinese Writing was opened in Anyang (安阳), Henan (河南). This is the first national museum of writing in China and was built as a major cultural project in the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economy and Society. 16–17 November: The 2nd Global Forum on Chinese Language was held at Jinan (暨南) University with the theme of “popularization of Chinese from the global perspective”. At its closing ceremony, the Chinese Language Program Studio was inaugurated for the Center of Chinese Language, China Radio International. 17 November: The Macau Center for Language and Culture, co-built by Macau Polytechnic Institute, Beijing Language and Culture University, and the MOE Institute of Applied Linguistics, was inaugurated. The International Conference on Language Contact and Cross-Cultural Communication in Macau 2009 was held simultaneously. 20 November: The Confucius Institute Headquarters attended the 22nd Language Exhibition in Berlin and held the opening ceremony of the China stand.

372

Mao Liqun (毛力群)

20 November: The World Language Annual Conference and the Exhibition 2009 were opened at the San Diego Convention Center, USA. 24 November: The National Conference on the Assessment of the Language and Writing Network Establishment, hosted by LIM, was jointly held in Ningbo (宁波), Zhejiang, by china-language.gov.cn, the Zhejiang Language Commission, the Putonghua Training and Testing Center, and Zhejiang Wanli (万里) University. 27–28 November: The 4th National Conference on Putonghua Training and Testing, hosted by the SLC Putonghua Training and Testing Center and Putonghua Proficiency Test Society, was held in Beijing. 28 November: The first HSK for non-Chinese speakers was held in Shanghai.

December 3–17 December: The Exhibition of the Best Works in the First Nationwide Contest of Writing Standardized Chinese Characters by Students and Pupils, and of Calligraphers’ Congratulatory Works, hosted by LPA, was held in Beijing. 11–12 December: The Language Work Conference 2010 was held by LPA in Beijing. 11–14 December: The 60 Years of Achievements of Language Work in the New China Exhibition, and the Exhibition of Resources of Confucius Institutes and World Languages, hosted by SLC, were held at Beijing National Convention Center by Beijing Sci-Tech Education Promotion Association. On the 11th, Li Changchun, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Liu Yandong (刘延东), member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and State Councilor, attended the exhibition. On the morning of the 12th, the Forum on Language Policy and International Promotion, hosted by SLC and the Beijing Sci-Tech Education Promotion Association, was held in the exhibition area. 14 December: The 2nd Conference of the Academic Committee of the CNLR Education and Teaching Material Language Branch was held in Beijing. 18–20 December: The 3rd Conference on Contemporary Chinese Discourse Research, jointly hosted by Zhejiang University and Hangzhou Normal University, was held in Hangzhou. 22 December: The first Confucius Institute in Cambodia was founded in Phnom Penh. Chinese Vice-Chairman Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony. 24 December: The LPA held a conference on the reinforcement of education in writing standard Chinese characters.

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30 December: CNLR, Beijing Language and Culture University, Communication University of China, Central China Normal University, China Association of Press Technicians, and China Chinese Information Society jointly announced the Top Ten Mainstream Media Buzzwords 2009 in Beijing. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

Mao Liqun (毛力群) & Mao Xiaojing (毛筱静)

A record of major Chinese language events (2010) Introduction The list below covers the major events of China’s language life in 2010. It is not concerned with any research of language per se. It was chiefly collated from the following sources: Yuwen Xinxi (语文信息, ‘Information of Language and Writing’), Yuyan Wenxi Zhoubao (语言文字周报, ‘Language and Writing Weekly’), Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong (语言文字应用, ‘Applied Linguistics’), Zhongguo Yuwen (中国语文, ‘Chinese Language and Writing’), Zhongguo Keji Shuyu (中国科 技术语, ‘Chinese Terminology’), Minzu Yuwen (民族语文, ‘Minority Languages of China’), Hanyu Xuexi (汉语学习, ‘Chinese Language Learning’), Hanyu Xuebao (汉语学报, ‘Chinese Linguistics’), Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu (语言教学与研究, ‘Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies’), Shijie Hanyu Jiaoxue (世界汉 语教学, ‘Chinese Teaching in the World’), Dangdai Yuyanxue (当代语言学, ‘Contemporary Linguistics’), Guhanyu Yanjiu (古汉语研究, ‘Research of Ancient Chinese’), Yuyan Kexue (语言科学, ‘Linguistics Sciences’), Cishu Yanjiu (辞书 研究, ‘Lexicographical Studies’), Zhongwen Xinxi Xuebao (中文信息学报, ‘Journal of Chinese Information Processing’) and Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Wanɡ (中国语言 文字网, www.china-language.gov.cn), etc.

January 5 January: The Center of Teaching Resources Research and Development for the International Promotion of Chinese Language, authorized by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters), was founded at Wuhan (武汉) University to build a sharing platform for Chinese language teaching resources and networks. 13 January: The State Language Commission (hereafter LSC) held the briefing on the National Outline for Medium- and Long-Term Language Work Reform and Development (2010–2020). The Deputy Minister of Education and SLC director Hao Ping (郝平) attended the meeting. 20 January: The professional conference on the personal names and personal places in Chinese Pinyin was jointly held in Beijing by the Department of Language Information Management (hereafter LIM) of the Ministry of Education

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Mao Liqun (毛力群) & Mao Xiaojing (毛筱静)

(MOE), the Bureau of Exit-Entry Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, the Department of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education, Science and Technology of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, and the Department of Division and Place Names of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. 25 January: The China Confucius Institute officially opened its programs in Urdu on China Radio International.

February 1–2 February: The Chinese Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (hereafter CNLR) held its Data Release Seminar 2010 in Sanya (三亚), Hainan (海南). 3–6 February: The 28th Exhibition of Languages was held in Paris. China’s Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) displayed more than 100 titles of over 1,000 copies. 6 February: The annual buzzwords collection online entitled “Annual Inventory Chinese Language 2009” co-sponsored by the CNLR Network Media Language Branch Center and the Commercial Press (Beijing) ended. 6 February: The urban area of ten provincial cities in Jiangsu reached the recommended standard in language work and realized in advance the target of the preliminary promotion of Putonghua and the fundamental standardization in the application of Chinese characters before 2010, ranking on the first place nationwide. 6 February: The Development and Achievement of Chinese Character Keyboard Input Techniques compiled by the Chinese Character Encoding Committee of the Chinese Information Processing Society of China was published. 9 February: The SLC held its 10th Advisory Board Conference in Beijing. Present were Xu Jialu (许嘉璐), Vice-Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee and Director of the SLC Advisory Committee, Ren Liubin (任柳斌) and Zhu Xinjun (朱新均), Deputy Directors of the SLC Advisory Committee, and Hao Ping (郝平), the MOE Deputy Minister and SLC Director. 10 February: The Thai Ministry of Education held its Go-Global Academic Day at the Muang Thong Thani (IMPACT) International Convention Center, Bangkok, and China Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) displayed its Chinese instructional materials for the first time in Thailand.

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23 February: The Central Committee of China’s Zhigong Party drafted a special proposal for the 3rd Session of the 11th CPPCC Conference to place overseas Chinese language and culture education and Confucius Institutes in the state’s 12th Economy and Society Five-Year Plan, in order to address the urgent problems in Chinese education abroad. 23 February: The Confucius Institute in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was officially established. It was inaugurated by Vice Minister Li Weihong (李卫红) of the Chinese MOE, the Minister of Education and National Affairs of Ethiopia, and the Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia.

March 2 March: The first Confucius Classroom was opened in South Africa. China’s Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) presented it with 2,000 books and relevant teaching materials. 4 March: The Shanghai Education Committee held the initial meeting of Putonghua training for local citizens at Shanghai Television University. 9 March: The SLC held its Annual Conference 2010 in Beijing. Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and gave a speech emphasizing its central task of service and creativity. 12 March: The Research Center for Language and Culture of Macau, organized by the MOE Institute of Applied Linguistics, Beijing Language and Culture University, and Macau Polytechnic Institute, was inaugurated in Beijing. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the ceremony and gave a speech. 16 March: The Shandong (山东) Provincial Conference of Language Work was held in Jinan (济南) by the Shandong Language Commission and Shandong Provincial Bureau of Education. 19 March: The Annual Conference of Language Work in Jiangsu (江苏) 2010 was held in Nanjing (南京). 19 March: The Annual Conference of Language Work 2010 in Hebei (河北) was held in Shijiazhuang (石家庄). 23 March: The opening ceremony of the Year of Chinese Language, hosted by the Chinese MOE, Russian MOE and the Chinese Embassy in Russia, was held at the Kremlin, Moscow, by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters). Vice-Chairman

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and CPCCC Politburo member Xi Jinping (习近平) and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony. 24 March: The Confucius Institute won an award in public affairs at the 2009–10 You Bring Charm to the World Award Ceremony, a campaign organized by Phoenix Television together with other world-known Chinese language media and organizations. 28–29 March: A seminar was held by the Department of Language Planning and Administration (hereafter LPA) and other related MOE departments on the pilot project of bringing Chinese Classics reading, writing and lecturing into schools, textbooks, and classrooms. 29 March: The Guangdong (广东) Language and Writing Training and Testing Office was officially established at Guangdong Teachers’ College of Foreign Language & Art. 20 March: Specialists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait held a conference in Beijing on collaborating in the production of Chinese language reference books and agreed to the follows: (1) compiling Liang’an Changyong Cihui Cidian (两岸 常用词汇词典, ‘A dictionary of common words in mainland China and Taiwan’) in 1–2 years; (2) compiling Zhonghua Yuwen Da Cidian (中华语文大词典, ‘A grand dictionary of Chinese language’) in 3–5 years; and (3) promoting the building of a Chinese language database.

April 1 April: The program Basic Rules of Orthography for Chinese Pinyin (汉语拼音正 词法基本规则) (revised), established by the Institute of Linguistics, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (hereafter CASS) and LPA was certified. 3 April: The Chinese Classics Reading Evening 2010 (with the special topic of Pure Bright Festival), hosted by MOE, SLC and the Office of the Spiritual Civilization Development Steering Commission (hereafter SCDSC), was held at Xiamen (Amoy, 厦门) University. 6 April: In March 2010, the Guangxi (广西) Minority Languages Commission issued a document to completely adopt computer-aided Putonghua proficiency testing in colleges, universities and technical schools within the autonomous region. 7 April: The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) issued a notice prohibiting foreign language abbreviations in broadcasts, interviews and subtitles.

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8 April: The Annual Conference of Language Work 2010 in Jilin (吉林) was held in Changchun (长春). 8 and 19 April: The Phytophysiology and Phytoecology groups of China’s National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies (hereafter CNCT) held their first working conference at China Agricultural University and the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), respectively. 9 April: The 6th Seminar of China Lexicographical Society’s professional board was held at the Commercial Press, Beijing. 12 April: The Year of Chinese Language in Spain 2010, hosted by the Chinese MOE, Spanish MOE, and the Chinese Embassy in Spain, was held in Madrid by Hanban. 12 April: SARFT issued a notice to CCTV and other Chinese media requesting the application of the national common language and writing in news broadcasts, press interviews and subtitles. 12–23 April: A research group was formed by LIM, Department of Ethnic Minority Education, and specialists concerned went to investigate the application of minority national languages and writings and the bilingual teaching for minority ethnic communities. 13 April: LIM held a seminar in Beijing on the medium- and long-term planning of language and writing standardization. 14 April: SARFT made an interpretation of the notice issued at the beginning of this month concerning foreign language abbreviations, explaining that it intended to standardize the use of Chinese language and writing. 14 April: CPCCC Politburo Standing Committee member Li Changchun (李长春) unveiled the nameplate of the Confucius Institute at Bosporus University in Turkey. 15 April: The Barcelona Confucius Institute was inaugurated at Casa Asia Headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. 16 April: The 4th Forum on the Development of Linguistics Journals launched by the Commercial Press (Beijing) was held in Wuhan (武汉) by the Research Center for Language and Language Education, Central China Normal University. 25–28 April: The 3rd National Symposium on Textbooks of Linguistics, cosponsored by the CNLR Language Textbook Branch Center and the Research

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Center for Applied Linguistics of Bohai (渤海) University, was held in Jinzhou (锦州), Liaoning (辽宁). 26 April: The CNCT Cross-Strait Academic Conference on the Chinese Terms in Oceanography was held in Taibei (Taipei, 台北). 28 April: The launch ceremony of Chinese Classics Reading was held in Beijing. It was graced by the SLC director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong (李卫红) who also gave a speech.

May 6 May: LIM held a working conference on the standardization and digitization of national languages and writings. 10 May: The Chinese Terms in Linguistics, compiled by CNCT, was published by the Commercial Press. It is the CNCT’s first dictionary of terminology in social sciences. 13 May: The Language Work Conference of Public Institutions of Higher Learning 2010 was held at East China Normal University by the Shanghai Language Commission and Shanghai Education Committee. 14 May: The seminar on editing Zhonghua Yuwen Da Cidian in mainland China was held in Beijing. 17 May: The seminar on the publication of the Global Chinese Dictionary, presided over by the MOE Minister Yuan Guiren (袁贵仁), was held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing. 18 May: The first group of HKC (spoken Chinese Proficiency Test) pilot provinces/ cities approved by the SLC including Beijing, Tianjin (天津), Shanghai, Chongqing (重庆), Jiangsu (江苏), Shandong (山东), Fujian (福建), and Guangxi (广西), and the first test was to be held in Chongqing. 20 May: The program of national language and writing standardization and digitization entitled Mongolian Language Database Construction, established by the SLC, passed quality assessment in Hohhot (呼和浩特), Inner Mongolia. 20 May: The Chinese Testing Center of Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) in Britain announced the formal launch of the new HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) program in the UK with a maximum of nine exams each year.

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20–22 May: The 18th Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics and the 22nd North America Conference on Chinese Linguistics were held at Harvard University, USA. 21 May: The 2nd National Contest of Writing Standardized Chinese Characters by Students and Pupils, hosted by MOE, SLC, and SCDSC, was launched at the Media Center Hotel, Beijing. 21 May: LPA held a forum at Beijing Language and Culture University for comments from school leaders and specialists concerning the discussion version of the National Medium- and Long-Term Reform and Development Plan of Languages and Writings (2010–20). The MOE Vice Minister and SLC Director Li Weihong attended the forum. 24 May: The University of International Business and Economics held the opening ceremony of the Institute of International Business Chinese Education and Resources Development (Beijing). It is among the third batch of bases of the International Promotion of Chinese Language under Hanban. 25–28 May: The Zhejiang (浙江) Language Commission organized experts to undertake a follow-up inspection of the rectifications in the language work of Wenzhou (温州) and Jinhua (金华) as second tier cities of the country. 26 May: The Guangdong (广东) Education Department and Guangdong Language Commission held a provincial working conference on language and writing.

June 2 June: The Shandong Language Commission reevaluated Weifang (潍坊) in its work of language and writing in the category of second tier city. 3–4 June: The Shanghai Language Commission Office held a conference concerning the language and writing work executed in its counties and districts in 2010 in Songjiang (松江). 4 June: The LPA held the update meeting of the leading and working groups of the National Medium- and Long-Term Reform and Development Plan of Languages and Writings program. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and delivered a speech. 5–6 June: The Forum on China Foreign Language Strategy 2010, hosted by the National Research Center for Foreign Language Education, Shanghai International Studies University and the China Center for Linguistic and Strategic Studies, Nanjing University, was held in Shanghai.

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8 June: The 12th Research Group of the National Putonghua Training and Testing Status Quo Investigation held an exchange conference in Anhui (安徽) Province. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended it. 8 June: The Jiangsu Chinese Classics Reading 2010 activity series, co-sponsored by the Language Commission, the Education Bureau and the Spiritual Civilization Development Steering Commission Office of Jiangsu, began in Nanjing. 9 June: The working conference of the national Putonghua training and testing digitization was held in Hefei (合肥), Anhui. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and made a speech. 10 June: The Central Asian Base of the International Promotion of Chinese Language was inaugurated in Urumqi, Xinjiang (新疆) Uyghur Autonomous Region. 10 June: The Exchange of Poster Designs with Chinese Character Writing Art was jointly held at Xue Xue Institute, Taibei, by Taiwan Normal University and China Academy of Art. 11–13 June: The 3rd International Symposium on the Preservation of Endangered Linguistic Heritage in Yunnan (云南), China, co-sponsored by Yuxi (玉溪) Normal University, Yunnan, and La Trobe University, Australia, was held at Yuxi Normal University. 13 June: The post-project appraisal of the Spelling Rules of Chinese Pinyin for Chinese Personal Names was held in Beijing. 13 June: A meeting was held at Guangzhou (广州) University in South China for public comment for the National Medium- and Long-Term Reform and Development Plan of Languages and Writings. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting. 13 June: The Chinese Classics Reading Evening 2010 (with the special topic of Dragon Boat Festival), co-sponsored by MOE, SLC and SCDSC, was held at Guangzhou University. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the reading. 14 June: The 1st Central Asian Symposium on International Chinese Education was held at Xinjiang Normal University. 14 June: The National Conference on Putonghua Training and Testing Digitization Informatization was held in Hefei. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended and made a speech.

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17 June: The State Ethnic Affairs Commission issued the Instructions on the Administration of Minority Languages and Writings and answered the questions from journalists concerning the preservation of languages and script. 17–18 June: The 11th UNESCO International Mothers’ Tongue Day, co-sponsored by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), China National Commission for UNESCO, UNESCO Beijing Office, SLC and Government Press Office of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, was held in Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia. 19 June: Chinese Vice-Chairman Xi Jinping attended the inaugural ceremony of the Confucius Institute in Wellington, New Zealand, which was jointly founded by Xiamen University, China, and Victoria University, New Zealand. 21 June: The national Putonghua training and testing survey team completed its investigation and research in Jilin. 22 June: The government of China donated a Chinese speech lab with multimedia equipment to the Language Institute of the Jordanian Armed Forces. The handover ceremony was held at the institute together with a photograph show of Chinese landscapes. 23 June: The project completion appraisal of the General Rules for Punctuation (Revised Edition) and the General Rules for Numerals (Revised Edition) was held in Beijing. 25–27 June: The 8th International Symposium on Urban Language was held in Changchun, Jilin. 26 June: The Joint Conference of the Confucius Institutes in Asia 2010 was held in Singapore. Present at the meeting were over 100 representatives from ten Chinese universities and 49 Confucius Institutes in ten Asian countries and districts. 27 June: The first forum of the Domestic and Overseas Chinese Linguists Association was hosted by LIM, the Institute of Linguistics, CASS, and the Commercial Press. The theme was the Popularity of Studying Abroad and Chinese Linguistics. 28 June–1 July: A specialized forum was held on the National Medium- and Long-Term Reform and Development Plan of Languages and Writings. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting.

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July 2–3 July: The first HKC in Fujian province was held at Xiamen University and Jimei (集美) University. 5 July: A written report was submitted by the CPPCC Guangzhou Standing Committee, proposing that the General Channel or News Channel of Guangzhou Television be changed into a Putonghua-based channel or Putonghua be used in prime time of these channels. 7 July: The agreement of strategic cooperation between the Institute of Applied Linguistics, MOE, and the National Museum of Chinese Writing was signed at the Museum in Anyang (安阳), Henan (河南). 7 July: Sina Finance reported that the Walt Disney Company was to build 148 language schools in China within five years to teach 150,000 Chinese children each year to learn English by 2015. 9 July: The Foreign Affairs Office of the Beijing Municipal Government issued the Plan of International Language Environment Building in the Capital City (2011– 2015) (first draft), requiring that foreign language classes be established in all kindergartens of Beijing in the coming five years. 12 July: Beijing hosted a working conference of institutions of higher education to promote HKC. 14 July: The joint conference of the Confucius Institutes in Oceania and West and South Asia closed in Auckland, New Zealand. 14–18 July: The 16th National Symposium of the Chinese Minority National Bilingual Education Association was held at Xilinhot Vocational College, Inner Mongolia. 14 July–3 August: The Workshop of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language was jointly held by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) and the International Chinese Language Teaching Research Base of Beijing Language and Culture University at Beijing Language and Culture University. 16 July: The co-building and inaugural ceremony of the National Center for Sign Language and Braille was held at Beijing Normal University by MOE, SLC, and the China Disabled Persons Federation. Present at the ceremony were the CPC Secretary and President of the Federation Wang Xinxian (王新宪) and the SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong.

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16–20 July: The 7th International Conference on Chinese Sociolinguistics hosted by the School of Literature and Journalism, Qinghai Nationalities University, and the Association of Chinese Sociolinguistics, was held in Xining. 18 July: A public interest summer camp for university students entitled Qingzhujian (青竹简, ‘green bamboo slips’), hosted by the LPA, was held at Beijing New Talents School as part of the Chinese Classics Reading campaign. 20 July: The 7th International Conference on Chinese Audio-Visual Teaching, hosted by the Chinese Language Teaching Modernization Society, was held at Ludong University by the School of Arts and School of International Communication of the University. 20 July: The CNLR Print Media Language Branch Center, Beijing Language and Culture University, China Information Technologists Association, and Chinese Information Processing Society of China jointly announced the Top Ten Buzzwords of Chinese newspapers in the spring and summer of 2010. 29 July: The 2nd Standard Chinese Character Writing Contest Final for Students in Guangdong was held at Zhongshan (中山) No. 1 Middle School by the Guangdong Education Bureau and Guangdong Language Commission. 29–31 July: The 1st International Conference on the Construction and Application of the Chinese Interlanguage Corpus, co-sponsored by Beijing Language and Culture University and Nanjing Normal University, was held in Nanjing. 30 July–1 August: The International Conference on Developing Chinese Textbooks and Other Instructional Resources, co-sponsored by Nanjing University, Columbia University, USA, and the Confucius Institutes of Emory University, USA, University of Sheffield, UK, and University of Waterloo, Canada, was held in Nanjing.

August 1–3 August: The 15th Annual Conference of the Chinese Linguistics Association was held at Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot. 2 August: Chinese Classics Reading: The Summer Camp for Primary and Middle School Students 2010, co-sponsored by MOE, SLC and SCDSC, was opened at Shouguang (寿光) Century School, Weifang (潍坊), Shandong. The CPC Central Committee Political Bureau member and State Councilor Liu Yandong (刘延东) attended the ceremony and gave an important speech. 3 August: The first training class for the branch director of the Putonghua Proficiency Test, jointly hosted by the LSC Putonghua Training and Testing Center

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and the National Society of Putonghua Proficiency Testing, closed in Beijing. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and gave a speech. 3–7 August: The first Putonghua training class for minority ethnic teachers in Sichuan (四川) province, commissioned by the LPA, was held in Xichang (西昌), Liangshan (凉山). 4–7 August: The 10th Academic Conference of the Chinese Society of National Languages, co-sponsored by the Chinese Society of National Languages and Beifang (北方) University of Nationalities, was held in Yinchuan (银川), Ningxia (宁夏). 5 August: The national training class for primary and middle school key teachers of Chinese Classics reading, held in Jiangsu, was opened at Xuzhou (徐州) Normal University. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and made a speech. 10 August: The promotion fair of the first Internet-based new HSK, hosted by Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) Examinations Division, was held at the Open Long-Distance Education Center, Beijing. 11–25 August: Commissioned by the LPA, the Department of Language and Writing in Guangxi held the 5th Putonghua training class for minority ethnic key teachers at Baise (百色) University. 12 August: The Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa 2010 was held in Yaound, Cameroon. 14–15 August: The 5th International Conference on the Contrast between the Chinese and Korean Languages was held at Qingdao University. 18 August: The Chinese Language Strategy Forum and Seminar on Language and Writing, hosted by SLC, was held in Shanghai. 18–20 August: The International Society for Chinese Language Teaching (ISCLT) and Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) jointly held the 10th International Conference on Chinese Language Teaching with the theme of new instructional materials and new methodology in Shenyang (沈阳). 23–27 August: Authorized by the State Council, the Chinese Information Processing Society of China held the 23rd International Conference on Computational Linguistics in Beijing. 25 August: The qualification trials in Sichuan of the 2nd National Standard Chinese Character Writing Contest for Students closed.

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28–29 August: The Professional Seminar on the Guidelines for the Use of English in Public Service Areas, hosted by LIM, was held in Shanghai. 29 August: The intermediary contest of the 2nd National Writing Standard Chinese Characters Contest in Hebei province closed.

September 6 September: The Northeast Base of International Chinese Language Education was inaugurated. It was jointly organized by Jilin University, Liaoning University, Heilongjiang University and Yanbian University. It aims at promoting Chinese language teaching in Japan, Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, and Russia; it is also responsible for developing country-specific instructional materials, professional teacher and volunteer training, and conducting relevant research and investigations. 10 September: The 2nd Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Europe was held at South Bank University, London. 12 September: The opening ceremony of the 13th National Putonghua Promotion Week was held at Shaanxi (陕西) Normal University. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the ceremony and inspected its activities. 13 September: The launching ceremony of the 13th National Putonghua Promotion Week in Shandong was held in Zouping (邹平). 13 September: The opening ceremony of the 13th National Putonghua Promotion Week in Hunan (湖南) was held in Shaoyang (邵阳). 14 September: In memory of the 10th anniversary of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and the 5th anniversary of the Regulations on the National Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language in Jilin Province, a conference was held in Changchun by the Jilin Language Commission, Jilin Education Bureau, the Education, Science, Culture and Hygiene Committee of the provincial People’s Congress and the provincial government’s Office of Legislative Affairs. 14 September: The 1st Cross-Strait Chinese Character Art Festival started in Beijing, jointly sponsored by the Chinese Culture Association, China Art Academy, Anyang Municipal Government, Henan, and the Taiwanese Federation of Culture. It was held by the Chinese Arts Research and Promotion Center and the Taiwanese Association of Chinese New Culture Development. Lasting a month, the campaign focused on the inheritance of Chinese characters, the promotion of the Chinese character art, and the development of Chinese culture.

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17–18 September: The Forum on Language Resource Monitoring and Service 2010 was held by CNLR in Beijing. 18 September: The Shanghai Shimin Putonghua Duben (上海市民普通话读本, ‘Putonghua Reader for Shanghai Citizens’) premiere was held in Shanghai as a serial activity of Shanghai’s 13th National Putonghua Promotion Week. 18 September: The 13th Putonghua Promotion Week closed in Beijing. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the ceremony and gave a speech. Meanwhile, the Chinese Classics Readings began. 20 September: The CNLR Minority National Languages Branch founded its Research Center for Kazakh and Kirgiz Writings at Xinjiang University. 22 September: The Confucius Institute of Tallinn University, the first in Estonia, was inaugurated. CPCCC Politburo Standing Committee member Li Changchun attended the ceremony. 25 September: The awarding ceremony of the first certificates of the National HKC in Fujian province was held at Xiamen University and Jimei University.

October 4–6 October: The Pan-Confucius Institute Conference 2010, hosted by Beijing Language and Culture University, China and Keimyung University, Korea, was held in Daegu, Korea. 9–10 October: The 4th Forum on Language and Nation, and the 3rd National Forum for Heads of the Applied Linguistics Department, were held at Central China Normal University. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended and delivered a written speech. 11–13 October: The 5th National Youth Conference on Computational Linguistics, hosted by the Chinese Information Processing Society of China, was held by Central China Normal University on its campus. 15 October: The 30th Anniversary of the Implementation of The Standard Scheme of the Yi (彝) Script in Sichuan was held at Xichang by the Sichuan provincial government with the authorization from the State Council. 15–17 October: The 2nd National Academic Conference on Cognitive Linguistics and Second-Language Acquisition, co-sponsored by China Cognitive Linguistics Association and the School of Foreign Languages, Guangzhou University, was held at Guangzhou University.

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16–17 October: The 1st Academic Conference on the Language Situation in China, hosted by LIM, Renmin University of China, Wuhan University, Beijing Language and Culture University, and the Commercial Press, was held at Renmin University of China. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and made a speech. 18 October: The Chinese Classics Reading Pilot Work Conference was held in Jinan by the Shandong Language Commission. 19 October: Commissioned by MOE and SLC, The Graded Chinese Syllables, Characters and Words for the Application of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages and Spoken Chinese Proficiency Grading Criteria and Testing Guidelines are to be implemented on 1 February 2011. 20 October: The Confucius Institute jointly founded by Xiamen University, China, and University of Delaware, USA, was inaugurated. 21 October: The 6th CNCT National Commission examined the Development Outline of the National Scientific and Technological Terminology Standardization (Draft), emphasizing the cross-strait joint efforts in making the Cross-Strait Dictionary of Science and Technology, which covers 100 disciplines with 300,000– 400,000 entries. 23 October: Jiangsu Language Commission, the provincial Education Bureau and Office of the Spiritual Civilization Development Steering Commission held the 3rd Chinese Classics Reading Contest Final in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. 23–25 October: The 1st International Conference on Chinese Language Modernization and the 9th Academic Conference of China’s Chinese Modernization Society were held in Wuhan, Hubei (湖北) Province. 29 October: The award party of the 3rd Chinese Classics Reading Contest and Chinese Classics Reading on Campus in Guangxi was held at Guangxi Arts Institute.

November 1–3 November: The seminar on the National Medium- and Long-Term Reform and Development Plan of Languages and Writings was held in Beijing. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the opening ceremony. 6 November: The Forum on Policies and Programs of Foreign Language Education in China and Abroad was held by the National Research Center for Foreign Language Education, Beijing Foreign Studies University.

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10 November: The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong visited Tianjin Language Training and Testing Center. 10 November: The 47th training class for national Putonghua Proficiency Testers held by the SLC Putonghua Training and Testing Center ended. 12–14 November: The International Symposium on Discourse Analysis and the 12th National Conference on Discourse Analysis, hosted by the Chinese Society of English and Chinese Discourse Analysis, was held in Shanghai by the School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University. 12–14 November: The International Conference on the Innovation of International Chinese Teaching Principles and Approaches, jointly hosted by the Research Center for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Beijing Language and Culture University, the CNLR Language Textbook Branch Center, and the Department of Chinese, Xiamen University, was held in Xiamen, Fujian. 15 November: The Jiangsu Language Commission held the Jiangsu Training Conference on the National Putonghua Popularity Survey in Nanjing. 17 November: The investigation of the popularity of Putonghua in China, undertaken by Hebei province, was launched. 20 November: The National HKC Shanghai Branch, the first in China, was inaugurated at Shanghai Chinese Language Proficiency Testing Center. 22 November: The annual Chinese character voting contest, jointly held by Wang Daily, Xiamen Business, the Cross-Strait Creation and Communication Base for Chinese Calligraphers, sina.com and Xiamen Calligraphers’ Association, was launched. This was the first cross-strait multi-platform theme-specific cooperation in print and network media. 24 November: The Year of Chinese Language, held in Russia, closed in Moscow. The Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong (刘延东) and the Russian Vice Prime Minister Zhukov attended the ceremony and made speeches. 24–25 November: The Academic Conference on Language Planning and Policy in Macau was held at Macau Polytechnic Institute by Macau Language and Culture Research Center. The 10th NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman Xu Jialu (许嘉璐) delivered the keynote speech. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting. 25 November: MOE held the 8th press conference in Beijing, introducing the 10th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China Law on the Spoken and Written Chinese Language, and released the Report on the Language Situation in China 2009.

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December 4–5 December: The International Conference on Chinese Language Teaching Resource Development 2010 was held in Guangzhou by the International Chinese Language Textbooks Development and Training Center and the School of International Chinese Language, Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University. 6–8 December: The 5th Cross-Strait Conference on Modern Chinese Language took place. It was co-sponsored by the CASS Linguistics Institute, Nankai (南开) University, and Guangzhou University. 9 December: The 48th Qualification Training Class for National Putonghua Proficiency Testers held by the SLC Putonghua Training and Testing Center closed. 9–10 December: The Conference on Scientific Research during the 12th National Economy and Society Plan of the SLC was held in Beijing. The SLC Director and MOE Vice Minister Li Weihong attended the meeting and gave a speech. 10 December: The 5th Confucius Institute Conference opened at Beijing National Convention Center. The CPCCC Politburo Standing Committee member Li Changchun attended the ceremony. 20 December: The Confucius Classroom of the National University of Education, the first in Mongolia, was inaugurated in Ulan Bator. 21 December: The General Administration of Press and Publication issued a notice to prohibit the unregulated use of English words in Chinese publications. 27 December: The Next Web issued statistical data to point out that in five years Chinese would be the new dominant language on the Internet. 28 December: The Editorial Department of Yao Wen Jiao Zi (咬文嚼字, ‘Biting Phrases and Chewing Characters’), Shanghai, identified the Top Ten Chinese Language Errors 2010. 31 December: The National HKC Fujian Branch was inaugurated at Xiamen University and Jimei University. Fujian became the province with the most HKC branches in China. Translated by Liang Xiaopeng (梁晓鹏) Qingdao University of Science & Technology [email protected]

Contents (Chinese version 2009) General Remarks Part I Language Work The New Progress of the Language Work The General Standard Chinese Character Table for Public Comments The Languages Work of the Related Ministries and Commissions under the State Council The Local Languages Work The Global Spread of the Chinese Language The Language Work for Sixty Years

Part II Special Research The Progress of the Construction of the Language Environment for the 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai The Language Situation in Broadcast and Television The Teaching and Spread of the Chinese Language The Language Situation in Film and Teleplay The Ethnic Languages Used for Court Trials in Ethnic Minority Areas The State of Development of the Language Information Industry A Survey of Network Language The Usage of the Sign Language and Related Issues The Cant Used in Social Life On Chinglish The Social Response for The Report on the Language Situation in China 2005–2008

Part III Language Focuses Chinese Character Craze The Pragmatic Problems of Place Names The Craze for Characters, Words and Phrases of the Chinese Language The Phenomenon of the Martian Language

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Contents (Chinese version 2009)

Part IV Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan The Current Situation of Putonghua in Hong Kong The Language Policy and Situation in Macau The Current Language Situation in Taiwan

Part V References Challenges to the Official Language Equality Policy of the European Union The Situation of the Dungan Language in the Kyrghyz Republic The Language Situation and Policy in Brazil The Development of the “Sejong Institute” in Korea The Language Situation and Planning in Pakistan Kanji Standardization of Personal Names in Japan The Strategies Counteracting the Threat of Language Death in Botswana

Appendices Guidelines for English Translations in Public Places Part 1: General Rules The List of Newspapers in Ethnic Minority Languages A Chronology of Language Events

Index of Figures and Tables Index of Terms Index of Personal Names Postscript

Contents (Chinese version 2011) Language Situation in China: 2010 Provisions for Languages in the National and Local Compendiums of Education Planning Part I Language Work The Language Work of the State Language Commission The Language Work of the Related Ministries under the State Council The Local Language Work Language Exchange across the Taiwan Straits The Global Spread of the Chinese Language

Part II Special Research The Construction of an International Language Environment in Beijing Language Barriers and Language Assistance during the Relief Operation in Yushu, Qinghai Province Language Services and Language Elements at the Guangzhou Asian Games A Survey of the Language Use and Identity of Children of Migrant Workers in Beijing A Survey of the Language Use by Russians in Ergun City, Inner Mongolia The Compilation of the Dictionary of the Global Chinese Language Verbalism “chews” the Language of Social Life Scholars Concerned about the Language Life

Part III Language Focuses Focuses of Yearly Language Life Activity Scanning for “Chinese Language Inventory” (2006–2010) The Craze for Chinese Language Teaching Materials for Primary and Secondary Schools The Animated Discussion about the “Chinese Writing Crisis”

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Contents (Chinese version 2011)

Part IV Data Analysis A A A A A

Survey of the Chinese Language and Characters Used in the Media 2010 Survey of the New Words Used in the Media 2010 Survey of Buzzwords in the Media 2010 Survey of Blog Language 2010 Survey on the words Used in the Language Textbooks of Uyghur Primary and Secondary Schools A Survey on the words Used in the Language Textbooks of Tibetan Secondary and High Schools

Attached Survey on the Words and Characters Used in the Overseas Chinese Textbooks Survey on the Characters Used in the Chinese Textbooks in the Primary Schools of Southeast Asia Glossary of Alphabetic Words Used in the Chinese Language Media of Southeast Asia

Part V Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan A Survey of Street Names like “Round Place” in Macau The Current Language Situation in Taiwan The Situation of Chinese International Spread of Taiwan

Part VI References A Chronology of the Global Language Life Language Problems and Government Crisis in Belgium The Current Situation of the Language Educational Policies in USA and Australia The Education of “Heritage Language” among the Chinese in Canada The Monitor Center of Global Languages in the USA

Appendices Compiled Terms of the Management of Foreign Language Use by the State and Relevant Departments List of the Tibetan Language Websites

Contents (Chinese version 2011)

397

A Chronology of Language Events 2010 Index of Figures and Tables Index of Terms Content of CD Glossary of Chinese Characters Used in the Media 2010 Glossary of High Frequency Words Used in the Media 2010 Glossary of New Words Used in the Media 2010 Glossary of High Frequency Words Used in the Language Textbooks of Uighur Primary and Secondary Schools Glossary of the Top 5000 Stem Words Used in the Language Textbooks of Uighur Primary and Secondary Schools Glossary of the Top 3000 Words Used in the Language Textbooks of Tibetan Secondary Schools Glossary of the Top 3000 Words Used in the Language Textbooks of Tibetan High Schools Glossary of Alphabetic Words Used in the Chinese Media of Southeast Asia Terminology of Language Resource Monitoring (2011 Edition) Postscript

Postscript The English version of Language Situation in China is a collaborative project between the Commercial Press in China and De Gruyter in Germany. The first and second volume were published concurrently in Berlin and New York. Its global distribution not only contributes to linguistic and academic exchange and interaction between China and the world, but also makes official views of the Chinese government heard globally. This is obviously a milestone in introducing Chinese linguistic life to the outside world. Designed and compiled by the Language Information Administration of China’s Ministry of Education, the Report on the Language Situation in China is released in the regular annual press conference of the Ministry. As the major part of the Green Paper of the Chinese Language Situation, it has been very influential and widely considered a cultural landmark. Some key concepts such as “linguistic life”, “linguistic resource”, “linguistic service”, and “linguistic industry” were first introduced in the Report in China. These terms are nowadays not only well accepted by the Chinese academia, but have also begun to draw attention from the overseas linguistic community. The current volume of the English version is a collation of the contents selected from four books of the Chinese version of Language Situation in China of 2009 and 2011, with volumes A and B for each year. To meet the reading culture of the international audience, we rearranged and revised the reports of the years 2009 and 2011 and changed the date from 2009–2010 (according to the contents) to 2010–2011 (according to the year of publication). The current volume is also unique in its exploratory nature, including the reorientation of the table of contents, engaging bilingual specialists for manuscript translation, and providing an “international articulation of Chinese academic knowledge”. The current English version is the product of a joint effort by a large number of people. Mr. Zhang Haoming (张浩明), Director of China State Language Commission and Mrs. Tian Lixin (田立新), Deputy Director of China State Language Commission offered their full support and guidance. Dr. Anke Beck, Vice President of the Humanities Division of De Gruyter, made many trips to China and played a crucial mediating role. Professor Li Yuming (李宇明) of Beijing Language and Culture University and editor-in-chief of the reports, and Professor Li Wei (李嵬) of the University of London offered specific academic advice. Professor Guo Xi (郭熙) of Jinan University, Guangdong, Associate Professor Xu Xiaoying (许小颖) of Beijing Normal University, and Dr. Zhou Hongbo (周洪波), Editor of the Commercial Press, spent countless hours modifying and revising the Chinese manuscript. Dr. Zhao Shouhui (赵守辉) of the University of Bergen,

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Postscript

Prof. Yao Xiaoping (姚小平) of Beijing Foreign Studies University, and Mr. Rudolf Salzlechner (师鲁道), a bilingual specialist from Australia, provided the valuable service of proofreading the English manuscript. Associate Professor Xu Xiaoying of Beijing Normal University and Editor Dai Wenying (戴文颖) of the Commercial Press coordinated the work, and the translators worked extremely hard to meet the tight timeline. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of them! It is our sincere hope that the English version of Language Situation in China will serve as a window for the world to learn and understand the language situation in China. Editing Department The Commercial Press March, 2015

Editorial Teams of the English Edition Editor

Li Yuming (李宇明) Ministry of Education [email protected]

English Editor

Li Wei (李嵬) University of London [email protected]

Associate Editors

Guo Xi (郭熙) Jinan University [email protected] Zhou Hongbo (周洪波) The Commercial Press [email protected] Zhou Qingsheng (周庆生) Chinese Academy of Social Sciences [email protected]

Editorial Assistants

Xu Xiaoying (许小颖) Beijing Normal University [email protected] Dai Wenying (戴文颖) The Commercial Press [email protected]

Translation Advisors

Zhao Shouhui (赵守辉) University of Bergen [email protected] Yao Xiaoping (姚小平) Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Rudolf Salzlechner (师鲁道) Wuhan Textile University [email protected]

Index annual character 267 – annual top characters 315, 329, 330, 331 annual corpus 247, 248, 250, 255, 256, 265 Baidu 19, 69, 237, 242, 336, 338, 344 bilingual education 27, 29, 38 blogger 188, 341, 370 box office revenues 87, 89, 90, 92 broadcast 80, 81, 84, 88, 91, 95, 128, 131, 192, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217, 218, 220, 323, 336, 338, 379 broadcast media 279, 284 business culture 100 buzzword 87, 175, 235–245 catchphrase 101–102, 235–245 catchword 279–288 Character Amnesia 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 208 China National Committee for Terms in Science and Technology 20 Chinese character(s) – annual Chinese characters 252 – character component 15–16, 363 – character simplification 34, 35, 38, 178 – character token 279, 284 – character transliteration 315 – character type 249, 250 – Chinese character input 61–64, 70, 71, 365 – crisis in writing Chinese characters 201– 208 – simplified Chinese character(s) 10, 33, 34, 178, 185, 187–189, 226, 232, 248 – traditional Chinese character(s) 10, 108, 185–187 Chinese language education 4, 43, 364, 370 – overseas 50–54 – international 44, 45, 48, 56–57, 387 Chinese learning 45, 46, 47, 301–304 Chinese Proficiency Test 18–19, 44–45, 365, 380 Chinese words and phrases 152, 153, 247, 252

Chinglish 157–169 coded language 99, 100, 102, 103 compilation of Chinese language dictionaries 145–148 Confucius Institute 43, 45–50, 366, 372, 377, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387 cultural heritage 100, 104, 142, 172, 188, 205, 314, 329 deaf-mute 75, 78, 79–80, 81, 82, 83, 84 Department of Language Information Administration 173, 338, 340, 341, 343, 347, 348 diachronic corpora 259 dialect 36, 38, 75, 83, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 113, 116, 118, 120, 214–221, 229, 323, 324, 346, 366 – Chinese dialect 18, 34, 37, 38, 90, 91, 95, 237 digitization 21, 22, 23, 24, 366 disabled person 9, 73, 78, 81, 82, 84, 384 disadvantaged group 269 earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai Province 131, 132 education internationalization 299–301 entertainment industry 103 ethnic language 21–32, 37, 342, 346 Film Translation Center of Ethnic Minority Languages 96 films and TV series 87, 88, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96 folk cant 99, 100, 101, 104 Foreign Affairs Office 108, 109, 384 frequency of use 259, 280–283, 285–288 gamification of language 273 gesture 75, 76, 77, 84 guangchang (Praça) 307, 308, 309, 311, 314 Hakka 218, 322–324 handwriting education 206, 207–208 harmonious socialist society 28

404

Index

harmonious society 34, 345, 346 hearing impaired 73, 75, 79, 80, 82, 83, 320 hidden language 99, 102, 103, 104 high frequency words 257, 259, 260, 261 highly used character 250–251 high-tech 61, 62, 67 Hong Kong education – biliteracy and trilingualism 289, 291, 292, 295, 300, 301, 304 – education system 205, 208, 295–299, 303 Huizong 99, 100 information era 209 information processing 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 27, 29, 34, 36, 37, 65, 66, 68, 69, 342, 347, 375, 376, 385, 386, 388 input methods for mobile phones 64, 70, 71 intellectual property 67, 70, 363 internationalization 107, 299, 300, 315 language assistance 127–130, 131, 132, 133 language barrier 115, 123–127, 131, 132, 133 language environment 107, 109, 112, 149, 171, 298, 299, 384 language harmony 172, 220, 344, 345, 346 language ingenuity 270 language life – periodicals 171–174 – websites 174–176 – books 176–179 language management 3, 6, 33, 36, 37, 38 language planning 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 52, 164, 220, 221, 342, 370 language resource 24, 152, 172, 175, 279, 284, 335, 336, 343, 344, 347, 388 language situation 33, 34 language standardization 23–24, 37, 52, 361, 363, 365, 369 language work 24, 152, 172, 173, 175, 279, 284, 335, 336, 343, 344, 347 Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language 9, 77, 189, 192 Lenovo Hanka office automation 62–63 Lingnan culture 213, 215 loan word 266

machine translation industry 67–68 mainland China 8–9, 20, 146, 149, 150, 185, 192, 289, 300, 301, 317, 318, 329, 368, 378, 380 Martian language 225–234 mass media 273, 335, 336, 337 media language 247, 369, 376 medium of instruction (MOI) 289–295 microblog 251, 266, 271–272, 273, 274, 275, 285, 287 migrant children 115, 117, 119, 120, 121, 122 migrant school 116–119, 121, 122 Ministry of Education 5, 17, 23, 24, 48, 145, 153, 172, 173, 174, 195, 207, 236, 335, 336, 338, 340, 341, 343, 344, 347, 348, 361, 376 minority language 3, 4, 11, 12, 88, 95–96, 175, 178, 353–359 multilingual 68, 107, 108, 112, 113, 301, 363 National (State) Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center 37, 175, 235, 247, 265, 279, 343, 362, 365, 376 neologism 237, 240, 265–277 Olympic Games 68, 82, 158, 167 passive voice 235–236, 265 photo-composition 66 popularization 24, 30, 34, 35, 38, 64, 69, 195, 198, 212, 213, 214, 216, 217, 226, 233, 371 portal website 247, 248, 279, 284 preservation of Cantonese 211–221 print media 12, 175, 235, 265, 279, 284 Putonghua – Putonghua education 295–299 – Putonghua Proficiency Test 3, 4, 5, 6–7, 298, 362, 364, 365, 367, 372, 378, 385, 386, 390, 391 – Putonghua promotion 35, 88, 92, 369, 387, 388 qiandi (Largo) 307, 309, 310, 311, 313, 314

Index

reform and opening up 37, 39 Report on the Language Situation in China 335–349, 390 reintroduction of traditional Chinese characters 185–187 road name 112 Romanization 34, 112–113, 209 rural urban migration 115 Russian language – use of 139–141 – attitude to 142–143 secret language 99 shorthand input 65–66 sign language – Beijing system 73, 74, 75–77 – Shanghai system 73, 74, 75–77 – interpreter 77–79 simultaneous recording 88, 89 Sogo 64, 70 spoken language 82 standard English 161, 166, 168, 169, 206 standardization 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23–24, 27, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37, 38, 52, 83, 112, 150, 198, 313, 376, 379, 380 State Administration of Industry and Commerce 9 State Administration of Radio, Film and Television 10, 11, 87, 88, 95, 131, 379 State Council 5, 6, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 35, 44, 50, 59, 80, 145, 185, 189, 370, 372, 386, 388

405

State Ethnic Affairs Commission 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 348, 353, 376, 383 State Language Commission 4, 8, 9, 15, 17, 37, 52, 88, 148, 151, 177, 195, 261, 335, 336, 338, 341, 344, 346, 347, 361, 375 street name 112, 113, 307, 309, 312 street signage 112 subtitles 11, 80, 84, 87, 88, 95, 96, 379 Taiwan 8–9, 20, 50, 51, 54, 75, 88, 108, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 185, 186, 206, 226, 228, 315, 331, 336, 368, 371, 378, 382, 387 technical term 23, 30, 195, 197 The General Table of Standard Chinese Characters 195–199 The Global Chinese Dictionary 145, 148–154, 380 Tibetan language 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 366 Tongyong Pinyin 315 traditional culture 22, 190, 205, 207, 248, 268 Wang Yongmin 62 word family 266, 268, 270, 271, 276 word game 269 Wubi Input Method 61, 62 Yangjing Bang 165 yuanxingdi (Rotunda) 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314