China has banned newspapers, publishers and website-owners from using foreign words – particularly English ones. China’s state press and publishing body said such words were sullying the purity of the Chinese language. It said standardised Chinese should be the norm: the press should avoid foreign abbreviations and acronyms, as well as “Chinglish” – which is a mix of English and Chinese.
The order also extends existing warnings that applied to radio and TV. China’s General Administration of Press and Publication said that with economic and social development, foreign languages were increasingly being used in all types of publications in China. It said such use had “seriously damaged” the purity of the Chinese language and resulted in “adverse social impacts” on the cultural environment, reported the People’s Daily newspaper.
If words must be written in a foreign language, an explanation in Chinese is required, the state body said.
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My old boss who was Chinese used to yell at her kids constantly for using Chinglish…heh
i heard that their 10th edition Newspeak dictionary comes out next year.
The French purism league tried to do something similar – an utter failure – language is a river that keeps on moving and washes away all obstacles – this being an impressive stick – not a dam.
umm whats wrong with that not like the sun uses many chinese words
I totally agree with patrick – the French have tried this, introducing new words to replace ‘english’ ones – email is courriel and has been a total failure. All my french people just say ‘mail’, as do my old tutors in France. It wouldn’t work, but China is so angry…
Interesting… It says that this includes brand names on the website, does this mean that, for example, Coca-Cola will be banned in China?
轮候册字在这里和那里应该不会伤害他们的文化太严格，他们是
I can understand the rationale behind wanting to maintain a language and keep it alive, but as suggested, lanuages evolve, and die out. I don’t think there is anything wrong with exposing people to foreign languages. Look at the Swedes- most of their tv, and movies are in english with subtitles, and they have a nation of people who can speak fluently in two lanuages. I think its a gift to introduce people to new languages.
A language which cannot survive on it’s own, does not deserve to live.
I hate the way English is being replaced by American, but if everyone else can’t be bothered to talk proper, like what I do, then that means that English just isn’t good enough – end of.
As a Chinese person growing up in England, I’m just completely outraged by some of the crap that comes out of China. It seems really pathetic, trying to preserve a semi-regime. And besides, on this language issue, the Chinese are complete hypocrites. When traditional Chinese, and then there’s simplified Chinese – which is the main written language of China. The fact that it’s called simplified is itself a suggestion of lower intellect, and also it’s “sullying the purity of the Chinese language” as they are saying and trying to stop. Pathetic.
Reubz says:
December 22, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Interesting… It says that this includes brand names on the website, does this mean that, for example, Coca-Cola will be banned in China?
I live in China and a Chinese, it’s interesting that in here, we call it “Delicious Cola”, translated by the pronounciation.
I think it’s just a way of getting the kids to speak more English; nothing gets kids to learn something like a good ol’ fashioned prohibition. Think about how many Americans know about the metric system thanks to cocaine.
English is just a popular pigmy trade language. Dead (or “pure”) languages like Latin and 雅言 are still out there for people like me who enjoy the scent of ivory.