Chinese Pidgin English
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| Chinese Pidgin English | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | China |
| Extinct | Extinct in China; survives through English loanwords in Chinese dialects |
| Language family |
English Creole
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | cpi |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-da |
Chinese Pidgin English (Also called Pigeon English[1], simplified Chinese: 洋泾浜英语; traditional Chinese: 洋涇濱英語; pinyin: yáng jìng bāng yīng yǔ) is a Pidgin language between English and Chinese. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, there was also Chinese Pidgin English spoken in Cantonese-speaking portions of China. Chinese Pidgin English is heavily influenced by various Chinese languages with variants arising among different provinces (for example in Shanghai and Ningbo).
A separate Chinese Pidgin English has sprung up in more recent decades in places such as Nauru.
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[edit] History
English first arrived in China in the 1630s, when British traders arrived in South China. Chinese Pidgin English was spoken first in the areas of Macao and Guangzhou, later spreading north to Shanghai by the 1830s.[2] "Yangjing Bang English" in Chinese (洋涇濱, or 洋泾浜) derives from the name of a former creek in Shanghai near the Bund where local workers communicated with English-speaking foreigners in pidgin (broken English)[citation needed].
Historically, it was a modified form of English developed in the 17th century for use as a trade language or lingua franca between the British and the Chinese. Chinese Pidgin started in Guangzhou (Canton), China, after the British established their first trading port there in 1664. Because the British found Chinese an extremely difficult language to learn and because the Chinese held the English in low esteem and therefore disdained to learn their language, Pidgin English was developed by the English and adapted by the Chinese for business purposes. The term "pidgin" itself is a corruption of the pronunciation of the English word "business" by the Chinese.[3] Chinese Pidgin continued in use until about the end of the 19th century, when Pidgin came to be looked upon by the Chinese as humiliating (because English speakers considered it ridiculous) and so preferred to learn standard English instead.
Chinese Pidgin English began to decline in the late 19th century as standard English began to be taught in the country's education system.[4] English language teaching has been widespread throughout modern Chinese history- it was made the country's main foreign language in 1982.[5]
[edit] Features
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Chinese Pidgin English was based on a vocabulary of about 700 English words, with a small number of words from other sources. Grammar and syntax are simple and positional; that is, grammatical categories are indicated by the position of words in the sentence rather than by inflectional endings, prepositions, or the like (e.g., in English “John loves Mary” is distinguished from “Mary loves John” by the position of the words in the sentences). Typical sentences in Chinese Pidgin are Hab gat rening kum daun (Have got raining come down) “There is rain coming down”; Tumoro mai no kan kum (Tomorrow my no can come) “Tomorrow I can't come”; and Mai no hab kachi basket (My no have catch basket) “I didn't bring a basket.”
[edit] Influence on English
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Certain expressions from Chinese English Pidgin may have made their way into colloquial English, a process called Calque. The following is a list of English expressions which may have been influenced by Chinese.
- long time no see [6] is similar to the Mandarin phrase
- (
好 久 不 見 (Simplified: 好久不见), meaning "haven't seen [you] in a long time") and the Cantonese 好耐冇見 (meaning the same. The meaning can also be mutual "we have not seen each other in a long time"). The Oxford English Dictionary states that "long time no see" originated in the United States as "a jocular imitation of broken English." .[7]
- look-see[8]
- (
看 見 ) This phrase is attributed to Chinese pidgin English by the Oxford English dictionary.[9]
- lose face[10]
- (
丟 臉 , meaning to bring shame upon oneself.)
- no can do[11]
- (
不 能 做 , meaning "to be unable to do".) Also the imperative "do not attempt to do!".
- no-go[12]
- (
不 行 , meaning "not okay", or "option not taken".) Also "the latest attempt failed" often used to describe some early space program efforts. No-go area means forbidden place.
- where-to?
- (
哪 去 meaning "to where are you going?" or "where are you headed?".) Also driver asking passenger "where do you want me to take you?".
- No this no that
No ____, no ____ predates the origin of Chinese Pidgin English,[13] but is also a notable example of fabricated pidgin English: (
[edit] Influence on Shanghainese
English is well known for being the primary source of loan words in Shanghai dialect, a dialect of Taihu Wu Chinese, which arose from the Shanghai variant of Chinese Pidgin English.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ 東方日報 亂世達觀：白鴿英語現代篇
- ^ Yamuna Kachru and Cecil L. Nelson, World Englishes in Asian Contexts. Hong Kong University Press, 2006
- ^ Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pidgin&searchmode=or
- ^ McArthur, Tom. (2002). Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866248-3 hardback, ISBN 0-19-860771-7 paperback.
- ^ Kam, A. (2002). English in education in China: policy changes and learners’. experiences. World Englishes, 21(2), 245-256
- ^ Wiktionary phrase
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, long time no see
- ^ Wiktionary phrase
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, look-see
- ^ Wiktionary phrase
- ^ Wiktionary phrase
- ^ Wiktionary phrase
- ^ Oxford English dictionary, no ___ no ____ and variants
