File:Examineing the price service.jpgAn example of written chinglish on a signpost. The Chinese characters roughly mean: "All cashiers in the marketplace offer price-checking services". The chinglish translation on the bottom of the sign deviates from the sign's intended meaning.An example of written chinglish.
Chinglish (slang) is a portmanteau of the words Chinese and English and refers to either (a) English interspersed with English language errors common to those Chinese persons who are learning English or (b) Chinese interspersed with English, such as used by westernized Chinese (e.g. American-born Chinese) who are not fluent in Chinese and codeswitch English words into speech when they can't think of the correct Chinese word.
Notable examples include "no q" as a response to "thank you" (often sinicized in Mandarin Chinese as 三Q - san q) and ok le (了). (The second example is both chinglish and Singlish.)
Inaccurate pronunciation or misspellings through typos or poor pronunciation may result in Chinglish.
For instance, the word "temple" and "temper" may be confused, as both would be pronounced similarly to "Tem-po" or "Tem-pah". Note that the two English words, when poorly pronounced, may resemble each other to the extent that the two are indistinguishable; this further creates confusion. Sometimes, the poor pronunciation of a single English word can create a Chinglish pronunciation that is almost nothing like the original English word. For example, the company named "Zellers" (part of the Hudson's Bay Company) is often incorrectly pronounced as "Se La".
This is exacerbated in the case of English names, since there are often several names with similar pronunciations. For many Chinese it's difficult to pronounce Alan, Ellen and Aileen differently, as is the case with Shirley, Shelly and Cherry.
In most dialects of Chinese, voiced obstruent consonants (/b/, /d/, /g/, /dʒ/) do not exist properly. These dialects distinguish unvoiced aspirate and unvoiced unaspirate obstruents. Most Chinese perceive voiced obstruents as unvoiced unaspirates (e.g. /b/ becomes /p/), while unvoiced obstruents in foreign languages are all perceived as aspirate (e.g. /p/ becomes /pʰ/. This is reflected in several Romanization systems, notably Hanyu Pinyin (but not Wade-Giles). Thus, "buy" is pronounced /paɪ/, while "pie" remains /pʰaɪ/. When unaspirated obstruents occur in English (albeit non-phonemically) as in "spin" (/spɪn/), Chinese speakers would still pronounce them as if they were aspirate (/sɹ.ˈpʰin/). This applies equally to affricates, where "change", normally pronounced /tʃʰɛɪndʒ/, becomes /ˈtʃʰɛn.tʃi/ (or /ˈtɕʰɛn.tɕi/ if palatized).
In Cantonese pronunciation, some consonants are considered equivalent and interchangeable, such as L and N. The cartoon dog "Snoopy" may become "Sloopy", and the girl's name "Emily" may become "Eminy". Voiced sounds ('v' and the /zh/ sound - eg. 'pleasure') cause difficulty, and some sounds are missing entirely, leaving words like "very" to be pronounced "wewy" and 'reservoir' to come out as 'viceroy'. In speech, there is also a tendency to add the sound "see" or "chi" at the end of certain singular letters, such as the letters "S" and "H" ('es-see' and 'ay-chi' respectively).
Similarly, there are no syllable codas (consonants at the end of syllables) in Mandarin with the exception of the "n" sound. When encountering such codas, a Mandarin speaker will either modify the consonant to form a separate syllable, or drop it altogether. Thus, for example, CCTV presenters pronounce the letters "L", "M", and "N" as [aɪlə] ("ai-le"), [aɪmu] ("ai-mu") and [ən] ("n") respectively.
Most of all, most Chinese speakers are not capable of effectively pronouncing the "th" sound without great difficulty, since it is not naturally present in most Chinese dialects. Thus, it is not uncommon for "three" to be pronounced as "sree" or "tree". Similarly, it is common that people pronounce "fourth" as "fours", thus confusing it with the close sound of "first". What is most confusing is the pronunciation of "thirty three and a third" as "dirty tree and a turd". This can all be explained by the lack of the "th" sound in Chinese language, and almost all of the different dialects of China.
Some people also have difficulty pronouncing words with multiple "L"s or "R"s in them. For example, the name "Clara" may be incorrectly pronounced as "Crala", "Clala", or "Crara".
As all varieties of Chinese are tonal languages, Chinese speakers apply tonal attributes to English, which is normally a stress-based language. Stressed syllables are generally given higher and falling tones over unstressed syllables. This imparts a "singsong" quality to the accent, a feature shared by speakers of other tonal (or pitch-stressed) languages.
Vocabulary
Erroneous vocabulary usage can also result in Chinglish. Examples include "to put inJingzhang Expressway" instead of "entering Jingzhang Expressway"), and the use of "emergent" to mean "emergency" or "urgent".
As another example, when something is explained, the English learner may respond with "Oh, I know," while the appropriate response would be "Oh, I see." This is because "知道 zhīdao" is usually translated as know regardless of context. "When did you first recognize him?" is also sometimes used for "When did you first meet him?" because "认识[認識] rènshi" is usually translated as recognize as in "I recognize him from last week's party."
Some errors occur with the use of see, watch, read and look at which are all one word, “看 kàn", in Chinese and may be confused with each other or just reduced to look. The situation of speak, say and talk is similar. So, someone studying English for several years might still say phrases like "Can you say Chinese?", "I am watching a book", and "Tomorrow I will look a movie."
Another common area of confusion is "turn on/off" versus "open/close". In Chinese, "turn on" (in the sense of operating a switch or a machine) and "open" are rendered by the same character, and so are "turn off" and "close". As a result, many people would say "open the light" when they mean "turn the light on", and "close the computer" when they mean "turn the computer off". Conversely, but less commonly, "close the door" may be rendered as "turn off the door" (See below: #Examples of Chinglish expressions).
Literal pronunciation of words can be common, such as the abbreviation BBQ of barbecue will be spoken "bee-bee-kill".
Grammar
Chinglish may result from grammatically erroneous usage of English, often resulting from the writer "thinking in Chinese while writing in English" (e.g. verbatim word-for-word translation), such as "wipe out six injurious insect" (to wipe out six types of harmful insects/vermin, including cockroaches and mosquitoes) and "enjoy stand" (a scenic viewpoint).
Chinglish can result from common patterns of grammatical errors. Examples include:
using "me is" instead of "I am" (such as "Me is Jack")
using nouns as verbs (such as "No Noising")
excessive use of "the" when not needed (such as "The China is bigger than the France")
excessive use of verbs with the "-ing" ending (such as "Welcome to taking Line 52")
excessive use of "to", the use of "to" with modals, preserving "to" in infinitive form even when unnecessary (e.g. "I must to go")
confusion of -ed and -ing adjectives (e.g. "I am very boring" vs. "I am very bored"; "I was surprising" vs. "I was surprised")
the overuse of "very" between "be" and an adjective (reflecting the use of "很" in Chinese)
the use of "very" to modify verbs (e.g. "I very like it")
the use of the passive when the active is more appropriate
wrong usage of verb tenses
Typically, many of these errors are made because, in Chinese, verbs are not conjugated (either for tense or pronoun), and there is no equivalent word for "the." Often a Chinese grammatical pattern will be incorporated into English grammar, such as "I tomorrow go to Shanghai" or "I this morning eat breakfast".
Also, there is much confusion regarding countable and non-countable nouns, use of plurals, and the use of "how much", "how many", "a lot of", "much" and "many". This leads to phrases such as "I want a soup" and "There are a lot of shoe."
Another common confusion is with prepositions, such as "on", "in", "at", which in many contexts have the same Chinese translation (zai, meaning "existing at this position"). To an extent, this reflects the idiomatic, rather than logical, way these words are used in English. An example is the often used expression "onTaiwan", as in "Republic of China on Taiwan", whereas native speakers of English are more likely to say "in Taiwan". Similarly, many Chinese students of English are confused by the difference between "at home" and "in the house".
Comma splices can occur frequently. This is due to the fact that in Chinese writing, the comma (逗点 ，) is all that is sufficient to terminate a clause without needing to follow with a conjunction. The equivalent of a period (句点 。) is usually reserved for the end of an idea, which theoretically may last as long as a paragraph.
History
In the early and middle 20th century, Chinglish was known as "pidgin", or "Yangjing Bang English" in Chinese (洋涇濱, or 洋泾浜), which derives from the name of a former creek in Shanghai near the Bund where local workers communicated with English-speaking foreigners in pidgin.
Chinglish names
Some Chinese pick non-traditional English names, which they do not view as strange because they are not aware of English naming conventions.
Such names are derived from vocabulary they learned in their early English lessons, including names such as Apple, Space, Can, Sea, Mooncake, Magic, Koala, Spider, Thunder, Cloudy, Table, Bird, Eleven, Hifi, H2O, Ice, Puppy, Well and other names of animals, plants, weather phenomena, household appliances, days of the week or months. Some people have even unknowingly chosen swear words as names.
They might choose western products they like as their name, such as Cola or Nautica, or other more advanced words that may be picked for their sound or meaning such as Victory or Nation.
Also, names very easy to pronounce in Chinese, but not common in English, may be chosen, such as the very common name Coco.
Some others choose to use traditional English names but often pronounce them incorrectly or alter their spelling. For example, the name Keith is often spelled as Keif, and pronounced as "Kif".
Some choose names from other countries like Russia or Japan, such as Yuri or Jun. Since most European names are widely used in the English community, those will seem less "odd". However, Japanese names like Jun, which English-speakers pronounce as June, may cause problems in that they are unisex, whereas their English soundalikes are traditionally bound to one sex.
These names may just be viewed as nicknames, and some Chinese may choose more common ones if they have to use their name in business or other more formal occasions.
Most (but not all) Chinese people living in Asia are given only Chinese names at birth, and choose their own English name at some point after they begin learning English (if they ever do). Although rare, some parents may name their child a Chinese phonetic translation of an English name, such as Suzie (Sook-Si in Cantonese), Raymond (Wai-Ming in Cantonese), Annie (On-Lei in Cantonese), Annie (An-ni or Anne in Mandarin), Joanne (Jia-An in Mandarin), Ivy (Ai-Li in Mandarin), Eileen (Ai-Lin in Mandarin), Pauline (Poh-Lin in Cantonese), Charlie (Jia-Li in Mandarin), Elaine (Yi-Ling in Mandarin), Maggie (Mei-Qi in Mandarin), Carmen (Kah Man in Cantonese), Ada (Ai-Da in Mandarin), or Joey (Jo Yee in Cantonese). This can be observed from the majority of Cantopop singers from Hong Kong adopting an English name that is somewhat a transliteration of their Chinese name as pronounced in Cantonese. For example: 陈奕迅 (Jyutping: can yik seon)(IPA:/'tsɐn 'jɪk 'sɵn/) is Eason Chan, 谢安琪 (Jyutping: ze on kei)(IPA: /'tsɛː 'ɔːn 'kʰei/ is Kay Tse, and 容祖儿 (Jyutping: jung zou ji)(IPA: /'jʊŋ 'tɕou 'jiː/) is Joey Yung.
Language humour
File:Warm suggestion.jpg"Warm Suggestion: Keep your valuables properly" - Sign at The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China
Although most Chinglish phrases originated from poor translations, many are created deliberately as language humour. Examples include:
Open the door see mountain (verbatim translation from a Chinese idiom, meaning "to speak straightforwardly" — 開門見山). Other such example may be "five flowers eight doors" (in Chinese, wǔ huā bā mén - 五花八門), which means "kaleidoscopic" or "multifarious", and "people mountain people sea" (in Chinese, 人山人海 rén shan rén hai), meaning "a sea of people" or "a huge crowd".
Un-ding-able (it means "can't stand it". 頂 ding in Cantonese means "to stand against") (in mainland Chinese Internet culture "ding" is used to mean "Strongly agree, most appreciated", as the literal translation is either "support" or "push". In the context of a reply in an Internet forum, the thread will be pushed up towards the top. In this sense, it is similar to the English word "bump" when used in these contexts.) (English: To concur; derivation possibly onomatopoeic.)
Good good study, day day up (verbatim translation from a Chinese Communist-era saying by Mao Zedong, meaning "study hard, keep improving" (好好学习﹑天天向上 hǎohao xuéxí, tiāntiān xiàngshàng).
Chinglish is becoming a problem for major cities such as Beijing. In Beijing, in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the city authorities are clamping down on the usage of Chinglish and replacing it with proper English.[1] Among other examples, signs that previously read: "To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty" may read, in proper English, "Caution - slippery path". Other notable examples include: "Oil gate" (accelerator), "confirming distance" (keep space, distance verification), and so on and so forth.
Chinglish can also prove to be a problem for Chinese companies attempting to market products overseas in English-speaking countries. Product labeling is commonly non-sensical or unintentionally humorous, either way not communicating the intended message.
One of the more noticeable cases of Chinglish, especially on mainland China, is the phrase welcome to. This is used as a direct translation in Chinese, "歡迎". It actually means "we invite you to" or "you are welcome to", and is used more as an incentive to the activity introduced or as a form of "thank you". Its use is almost always cordial, inviting, or otherwise positive. A more confusing matter arises with the usage of the phrase welcome again. The phrase is typically displayed in such a manner that it is seen at the end of activities such as bus rides or visits to bookstores, and would be translated as a message of thanks, and that the visitor is welcome back at any time. An equivalent phrase in English-speaking countries might be "Please come again."
Examples:
Welcome to ride Line 52 Bus = Thank you for riding Bus Line 52.
Welcome to ride Line 13 again = Thank you for riding Line 13, and we would be pleased to welcome you back aboard at any time.
Welcome to take my taxi = Thank you for taking my taxi.
Welcome to listen to my news = Thanks for tuning in!
Welcome to use ATM service = (found very often on ATMs) means thanks for using this ATM.
You can use this variant too...
Welcome to ride Line 52 Bus = You are welcome to ride Bus Line 52.
Welcome to take my taxi = You are welcome to take my taxi.
Chinglish is also quite prevalent in Taiwan. In Taiwan it is more often known as "台灣英文", literally "Taiwanese English" or mockingly "Formosan English". Characteristics of Taiwanese English always include answering questions in a very regulated style:
"Do you like pizza?"
"Yes, I do."
"Do you like basketball?"
"No, I don't."
There is also a well known parody song of the English alphabet going by the lines of "A B C D, dog bites pig" (with "dog bites pig" in Taiwanese) in Taiwan.
Chinglish phrases used by native English speakers
Long time no see is often attributed as an example of Chinglish being used by native English speakers. The phrase is said to have originated from 好耐冇見(啦)(Cantonese)/好久不見(了)(Mandarin). These Chinglish phrases were used by dock workers to greet sailors from overseas.
It began in the early 1900s when British and American warships and trading ships often stayed at Chinese docks, and through pidgin communications with dock workers, started to communicate in what is now known as Chinglish. The sailors used the phrase long time no see as a joke when they got home and somehow the phrase became widely used even in English-speaking countries. A more grammatically correct phrase of English should be I haven't seen you for a long time.
The phrase has also been said to originate from trade with American Indians. Similar seemingly grammatically "incorrect" phrases (such as "no pain, no gain") are common and native to English; thus "long time no see" may have been just a coincidence.
The following are some instances of Chinglish, along with a description of where they may be found and what they mean when correctly translated into English:
Incorrect grammar
To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty. (注意安全 坡道路滑) (Beijing) = Be careful, slippery slopes.
To put out Xuanda Expressway. To put in Jingzhang Expressway. (Xuanda Expressway) = Now leaving Xuanda Expressway, now entering Jingzhang Expressway.
Smoking is prohibited if you will be fined 50 yuan. = Smoking is prohibited. Violators are subject to a fine of 50 yuan.
If you have trouble ask for the policeman. or If in trouble find police = In case of trouble, report to a police officer.
Being urgent call 110 quickly. (Beijing) = During an emergency, call 1-1-0. (1-1-0 is the police hotline in China.)
Complaining tel. (投诉电话) = Complaint hotline.
When you leave car, please turn off door and window, take your valuable object = When leaving the car, be sure to lock the doors and windows, and take all valuables with you.
Don't forget to take your thing. = Don't forget to take your personal belongings.
Deformed man toilet. and Crippled restroom. = Public toilet for the disabled.
The too longer, too higher, overweight and the dangerous things are not allowed to be carried = Escalator, Xidan, Beijing
The older, the children, the deformities, the patients and the pregnant women should take the escalator with his guardian together. = Escalator warning, Xidan, Beijing
Question Authority = If you have questions, please ask the official in charge.
Extraordinary Door (非常门) = Emergency Exit. The confusion may result in a less-common usage of 非常, where it means "Emergency" (as in "非常时期") while normally it means "Extraordinary". Incidentally, this is the standard usage in Japanese. A less ambiguous term in Chinese for "Emergency Exit" would be 緊急出口.
Protect CircumStance begin with me.(保护环境从我开始) = Protecting the environment starts with me; an environmental protection slogan found on litter bins.
Prevent Health Care Section (预防保健科) = Preventative Medicine -- a sign found in a hospital in Wuhan. The error stems from the slippery nature of word forms (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.) in Chinese grammar.
New Open (新開幕); should be "Now Open". This is commonly seen in Taiwan outside newly opened businesses.
Carefully meet (小心碰头) = Watch your head. (Convenient store in Beijing) This is to warn customers not to hit their head on the low ceiling above stairways. The word 碰头 in Chinese literally means to bump one's head, but also means to meet or to have a gathering.
Cold, hot water in Normal = Alternating cold and hot water (in the showers) is normal. Sign in No.5 Guesthouse in Old Dali, Yunnan.
Emergent Water = Water for flushing in case of faulty flush-tank. From a bucket in a toilet in Old Dali, Yunnan.
Welcome Next Time = Sign upon exiting the Cangshan Mountain Cablecar, Dali Old Town, Yunnan.
The City is Clean. The People are Happy = Do not litter, as written on the back of a bag of crisps, next to the common man-and-trashcan icon.
Series High Foodstuff Choiceness Raw Material Produced, Meticulous Best Enjoyement, Good Taste Quality Guarantee, Agreeable to Taste Give, First Choice Treasure - Dopt Adyanced Technology Possess Chinese Flavour = Written on front of a packet of "Haochigaodian" cookies.
The plot relates the Martian to invade the shocking circumstance of of the Earth. Martian ratio the Earth person more prosper, the Octopus, is bigCan shoot the hot-line with the black smoke such as the bear, their weapon. The hot-line leaves to die to rise with destruction, black smoke over the places a cityRuins. The terrestrial arms and supplies explosive is all useless to them, battleship of an England armor although with their brace war. The result still change intoeses a regiment flames. Way that Martians has no reproductive organs, then the abruption breed to multiply greatly the posterity = Blurb on the back of a homemade pirated copy of "War of the Worlds".
Ban the use for maintenance of equipment = Out of order pending repairs. On a toilet by the Great Wall, near Jinshanling.
Unusual phrases
The visitor halts (游人止步) = Restricted area to visitors. Found at the Yonghe Temple (Beijing).
Don't use it while stabilizing, Do not be occupying while stabilizing, No occupying while stabilizing = Do not use the toilet while the train is stopping at a station. (Train toilets).
Engine room is serious place. (機房重地)= Engine room - Caution.
Visit in civilisation, pay attention to hygiene! (文明旅遊，注意衛生！) This is a message mainly aimed at locals and other people who would otherwise visit somewhere in a sloppy manner.
To run business (營業中 [lit. "operating"] - commonly seen sign in mainland China and Taiwan) = Open.
Drink tea (休息中 [lit. "resting"] - commonly seen sign in Taiwan) = Closed.
Question Authority - Indicating information centre. Could be mistaken for a call to revolution.
Fragrant fragile walnut meat biscuits = type of walnut cookie, made by Dali Group
Please Drive Correctly = traffic sign reminding people to obey the traffic rules
Please Steek Gently = Please close door gently (關門 is an entry in a Chinese-English dictionary yielding steek, archaic.)
New Shipu Hotel = not a hotel but a restaurant. The confusion results from the Chinese word "飯店" which can mean both hotel and restaurant. Although alternative words are available to make the distinction, this word is often used by owners when naming their establishment.
Welcome to our fine restaurant = sign in a hotel room (see note above)
No gambling promote leagal entertainment = anti-gambling propaganda poster by the Beijing police.
Deep fried ghost or deep fried devil and oil fried ghost (油炸鬼): A literal translation of a name for Youtiao used in southern China.
Xin Zhong Guo Kids Stuff = a toy and parenting store, Wangfujing, Beijing
Bake the Cell Phone (烘手機) = Hand dryer (a result of poor parsing)
Kindly Treat the Virescence around in the Way Life is Treated: Treat the grass in the same way as you would treat life. "Virescence" is a rarely-seen word meaning "greenness." Found at Tiger Hill in Suzhou.
Waiting Office = Waiting hall. Found at Zhongdian main bus terminal, Yunnan.
Van Gogh Preferred Banking = Advertising slogan for branch of foreign bank, near the Bund, Shanghai. (Van Gogh was wretchedly poor for most of his adult life until his death).
The Chain-Bridge runs East and West like a Rainbow = Sign pointing towards a chain-bridge near Jinshanling, on the Great Wall.
Rubbish Receptacle = engraved on a stone lion garbage 'can' in Luoyang.
Rear Service (后勤）= Administrative and Student Services, as appeared in Dalian Medical University web site
The luxuring nothing rail remote controlling stretches out and draws back the door(豪华无线遥控伸缩门) = "Deluxe Wireless Remote Controlled Retractable Gate"; Label found on an electronic retractable security gate in Beijing.
