Posted on 12/24/2010 5:55:44 AM PST by Pinkbell
BEIJING, Dec 23 (ANTARA) - Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country`s publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril.
The General Administration of Press and Publication, which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language".
Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the body said on its website.
"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language," it said.
GAPP said companies which violated the regulation would face "administrative punishment" without offering specifics.
English abbreviations such as NBA (National Basketball Association), GDP (gross domestic product), CPI (consumer price index) and WTO (World Trade Organization) are commonly used in Chinese publications.
The body left a small loophole, saying that "if necessary", English terms could be used but now must be followed by a direct translation of the abbreviation or an explanation in Chinese, according to the regulation.
The names of people or places in English also must be translated, the China Daily reported Wednesday.
One editor at a Beijing publishing house told the newspaper that the new GAPP regulation could actually result in reduced understanding.
"The intention of protecting the Chinese language is good. But in an age of globalisation, when some English acronyms like WTO have been widely accepted by readers, it might be too absolute to eliminate them," the editor said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thaivisa.com ...
The Chinese are turning French.
That’s mighty French of them.
But what about diversity? Wah! Paging Tom Friedman...
Silly Chicoms.
Don’t worry. We’re banning English, too, and replacing it with babble...
You mean I gots to learn that stupid chicken scratching?
Beats America where we can’t even get English declared the National language, and the first thing that you hear on the phone is press 1 for English.
China probably sees how we are spiraling down into the swamp of multicultural devolution.
Good for them. At least they are proud of their culture...
>>Something basic must be going in the crapper in China.
Yeah...something basic like Chinese Culture. When you let foreigners push a foreign language into your own until your people use the new language without thinking, you have surrendered a part of your culture.
Good thing we don’t have any of that here!
“Purity of Essence”.... “Essence of Purity”... I keep remembering the phrase from Dr. Strangelove.
I’m unaware of what the French did. Did they ban English in publications as well for the “purity” of the French langauge?
And just when French is about to be replaced by Arabic...
Good! Can we please go back to “Peking” and “Mao Tse Tung?”
English is on the march. I have attributed it to the fact that technology has been developed in English speaking countries. All computer terminology is in English. Four hundred years from now will it be Chinese?
I wish America would do this with English. Heck we have Spanish everywhere. Good thing I can understand and speak it (not great) or I would have a heck of a time.
Hop To Hop Sing
Demonstrating the flexibility Chinese languages have in absorbing words from others, Min ~ with 8 tones ~ is estimated by authorities in the matter to have a vocabulary which is at least 30% Dutch in origin!
The folks who've been pushing Mandarin as a language for general use among the Chinese know what can happen ~ next thing you now it'd be just like Min!
Frankly, as Bill Gates has demonstrated with the icon set he's inserted into the world computing environment, Chinese, both written and spoken, can be subverted successfully with improved characters and words.
The Chinese are going to lose this one.
Notice that English accepted Bill's new characters without a whimper.
Yeah. It was a few decades ago. Of course it’s difficult to ban the language of the folks who invented almost everything.
It's interesting to listen to people speak both languages in those areas where both are taught and used. Malaysia is rapidly developing a tonal creole that could easily displace older forms of Min and make further pursuit of Mandarin meaningless.
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