Chinglish: Creativity for English Language

Source: China Daily | 02-26-2007 17:13

BEIJING, Feb. 15 -- The Global Language Monitor (GLM) recently released a report saying Chinglish has become creative for new English words.

English, as a global language, has been affected by the rise of China. There are reports saying that many new English words are "Chinglish" such as "Long time no see," "Drinktea," "coolie" and "typhoon."

The president of the GLM, Paul Payack, said Chinglish and other mixed English words have enriched the English vocabulary, which has now 986,120 words according to latest estimates. The GLM added 20,000 new words to their base in the English language last year, twice as many as last year. Twenty percent of them are Chinglish.

These Chinglish words reflect time changes in different periods of China. Words that feature ancient Chinese culture, such as Confucianism, the Four Books and Five Classics, the family contract responsibility system, knowledge economy and peaceful rise illustrate the social situation after China's reform and opening up.

Chinglish is also a hot topic among foreigners in China. A blog, written by a German, Chinglish.de, expresses the author's regret over China's clean-up of Chinglish logos in public places in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Olympics. A Dutch youth set up Chinglish.com in Amsterdam to seek business opportunities given Chinglish's expansion.

Chinglish's influence is close related with the Chinese-language study promotion around the world. It is said there are about 30 million foreigners learning Chinese. As a symbol for Chinese teaching, Confucius Institutes play an important role in Chinese cultural communication. There are now 120 Confucius institutes in the world spread across more than 50 countries. The number is expected to increase to 500 in 2010.

Editor:Du Xiaodan