How to avoid Anglicised Chinese

[Kenny同志]

This paper, which first appeared in the October issue of 明報月刊, 1987, provides practical ways to avoid Anglicised Chinese. Advanced learners may find it very useful.

中文的常態與變態 by 余光中

Simplified Chinese version

[Lu]

This looks interesting, thank you!

[lingo-ling]

Interesting excerpt on the use of "and" between the last two items in a list (red emphasis mine):

中國人絕不說「開門七件事，柴、米、油、鹽、醬、醋以及茶。」

I see native speakers of Chinese write like this all the time.

[OneEye]

I see native speakers of Chinese write like this all the time.

I think that's the point of the article. I haven't read the whole thing, but it doesn't seem to be written for learners, but as a plea for native speakers not to let their Chinese become too Westernized due to the influence of English. That's kind of funny, because this isn't the first time Chinese has been changed by a foreign language (Manchu anyone?), nor will it be the last.

[Lu]

That goes for every language, the influence goes on as do the attempts to stop those. Someone (I forgot who) said that unacceptable neologisms and loanwords are the ones that entered the language since your birth, the ones that came before are a natural part of it. But as I enjoy reading this stuff about Dutch (and am one of those people who care about loanwords) I'm happy to hear about something like this in Chinese. Haven't actually read the article yet though.

[Kenny同志]

英文粗劣，以中文回帖，諸位請勿見怪。讀此帖者多為精通中文之士，思此，Roddy應亦不我責也。

誠如光中先生所言，『中文西化，不一定就是毛病。』錯在中國人取英文之短，損中文之長。英文好用代詞、連詞、介詞，名詞分單複，句中各成份關係明確。中國人以中文異之，失之準確，遂效英文。其實，中文裏，邏輯關係暗藏句中，單複亦可辨。『我已經吃過我的飯了』並不比『我吃過飯了』（『過飯』二字通常亦可省）準確，因為沒人去幫別人吃飯。『桌上全是書們』也不比『桌上全是書』高明精准。所謂『全』即暗指書非一本。常有人以句意模棱歸咎中文文法，卻不怪作者下筆疏忽，良可笑也。

余今鮮讀當今作家之作品，中文惡性西化是其主因。

But as I enjoy reading this stuff about Dutch (and am one of those people who care about loanwords) I'm happy to hear about something like this in Chinese.

外來詞對中文之影響止于毛髮，而今英文文法卻已損及中文筋骨。

摘自余文：

中文西化，不一定就是毛病。緩慢而適度的西化甚至是難以避免的趨勢，高妙的西化更可以截長補短。但是太快太強的西化，破壞了中文的自然生態，就成了惡性西化。

常有樂觀的人士說，語言是活的，有如河流，不能阻其前進，所謂西化乃必然趨勢。語言誠然是活的，但應該活得健康，不應帶病延年。至於河流的比喻，也不能忘了兩岸，否則氾濫也會成災。西化的趨勢當然也無可避免，但不宜太快、太甚，應該截長補短，而非以短害長。

中文發展了好幾千年，從清通到高妙，自有千錘百鍊的一套常態。誰要是不知常態為何物而貿然自詡為求變，其結果也許只是獻拙，而非生巧。變化之妙，要有常態襯托才顯得出來。一旦常態不存，餘下的只是亂，不是變了。

引文亦我所慾言也。

[DespikableMi]

《從西而不化到西而化之》--余光中 is another similar article by the same author.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you very much for posting the link, DespikableMi. I read the essay years ago in a book but didn't know it was also available on the Internet till today. For anyone wanting to be freed from bad influence of English grammar when writing Chinese, it's certainly a must-read.

[DespikableMi]

Anglicized Chinese does parallels similar phenomenon in English. For example, using "们" regardless of context is similar to adding -s to irregular plural form; saying "甲比乙好看→甲比乙更好看" is similar to saying ​"A is more interestinger than B" or "A is more better than B." Not to mention that the active voice is preferred over the passive even in English. However, one of (something)" [之一] is appropriate in situations where you intend to clarify the list.

[lingo-ling]

Another rather comical Anglicism 他或她 ("he or she"). Yes, I've seen it before, more than once! Talk about unnecessary!