Words of Chinese origin are playing a key role in driving the ongoing globalization of English, experts in both languages say.
一些中英文語言專家表示具有中文淵源的單詞在英語中出現是英語全球化的重要驅動力之一。
"The fact that some 300 million Chinese people are now studying or have studied English means the important impact of Chinese on the language can't be denied, " said Paul J.J. Payack, president and chief analyst at Global Language Monitor.
“三億中國人正在學習或曾經學習過英語，這意味著中文對英語的影響力是個無法否認的事實，”位于美國德克薩斯州全球語言監測機構主席Paul J.J. Payack在接受采訪時表示。
It says some 10, 000 words are added to the English language annually, with about 1.83 billion people using English as their native, second, business or technical language.
該機構數據顯示，每年新增英文單詞在10，000個左右。目前全球大約18.3億人在使用英語，包括母語、第二語言使用者以及用于商業或技術用語。
But the global figure was only about 250 million in 1960, with English-speakers mainly located in Britain and its Commonwealth of former colonies, as well as the United States.
全球使用英語的人在1960年大致只有2.5億人，他們主要集中在英國和它之前的殖民地以及美國。
"It's estimated that a new English word is created every 98 minutes, " Payack said.
“預計每98分鐘一個新的英語單詞就被創造出來，”Payack說。
"One example of a word used in English that originated from Chinese that has appeared recently is chengguan (city patrol officer). A quick Google search results in nearly a million citations, far in excess of our minimum number of required citations."
“例如，最近出現的含有中文淵源的單詞是chengguan (城管)。谷歌搜索中有接近100萬次的引用，遠遠超出我們機構對新詞要求出現的最少引用次數，”他說。
The Oxford English Dictionary, which waits 10 years before entering a word to ensure it has "staying power", now has about 1, 000 words of Chinese origin, such as taikonaut.
牛津英語詞典中目前大概收錄了1，000個左右含有中文淵源的詞，例如taikonaut (中國宇航員)。
In China, taikonaut refers to a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a spacecraft crew member.
Payack認為中文作為英語全球化的重要驅動力，其影響力在整個21世紀將會一直持續。
"It's estimated that Chinese, one of the prime drivers of the globalization of the English language, will continue its influence throughout the 21st century, " Payack said.
今年華爾街日報專門使用“dama”(大媽)這個用漢語拼音得來的單詞關注中國大媽不容小覷的黃金購買力。
In August, The Wall Street Journal used the term dama, which is Chinese pinyin for "big mother", to describe the middle-aged Chinese women driving the global gold market.
華爾街日報的報道說正是因為有了大媽，中國已經可以與印度競爭成為影響全球黃金市場的一支主力軍。
In a video report, it said it is largely because of dama that China can compete with India as the world's largest gold consumer. Many Chinese people saw the use of dama as evidence that the more advanced a country becomes, the more influential its language is.
很多人認為“大媽”一詞的使用證明一個國家影響力越大，這個國家的語言影響力也會越大。
Wei Chongxin, dean of Beijing Foreign Studies University's School of Chinese Language and Literature, said he believes such influence is rooted in China's growing global clout.
北京外國語大學中國語言文學學院院長魏崇新認為這種現象根源于中國在世界范圍日益增長的影響力，包括政治、經濟和文化等多方面。
"When more native English speakers come to learn more about China and have closer relations with the country in daily life, it's normal to see the Chinese and English languages infiltrate with each other's words, " he said.
“當更多英語使用者來到中國或者在日常生活中與中國產生密切接觸時，中英兩種語言互相滲透便是一個自然而然的趨勢，”他說。
The convergence of the main languages of global powers has many precedents in history, including the Greek and Roman conquests and the unification of ancient China. In more recent times, the languages of Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Britain dominated many of the colonies they established from the 16th to 19th centuries, according to GLM.
全球語言監測機構認為大國間語言的互相滲透和影響在歷史上有很多先例。
However, compared with the impact of English on the Chinese language in the past, experts say Chinese still has a limited influence on English.
但語言專家們認為相對于英語對中文的影響力來說，中文對英語的影響力還是相當有限的。
"One reason for the difficulty in translation between English and Chinese is that they stemmed from entirely different language families, " Payack said.
“中英文互譯存在困難的一個重要原因是這兩種語言源于不同的語言家族，”Payack說。
He added that English, with Proto-Indo-European roots has some kinship with Greek, Latin, Celtic, the Romance languages (which include French and Italian), Polish and Russian, and even Kurdish, Farsi and Sanskrit. Meanwhile, Mandarin stems from the Proto-Sino-Tibetan family of languages.
英語，源于原始印歐語系，與希臘語、拉丁語、羅曼斯語等等有著密切的關系；而漢語則發源于原始漢藏語系，他解釋說。
"This makes the contemporary mixing, melding or mash-up of English and Mandarin even more interesting and complex, which is one reason why some 'Chinglish' phrasing strikes outsiders as confusing and even amusing, " Payack said.
“這種差異使得兩種語言的融合變得有趣和復雜，這就是為什么一些Chinglish(中國式英語)讓外國人迷惑甚至發笑的原因，”他說。
But Han Baocheng, a language professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the use of "Chinglish" phrases cannot be regarded as Chinese words having an influence on the English language.
來自北京外國語大學的語言教授韓寶成認為Chinglish的使用不能被看作是中文對英語的影響力之一。
"At present, most of the limited number of new words with Chinese origins that have been regarded as entering the English language are those that cannot find proper words in English to express the original meanings in Chinese, " he said.
“目前，有限數量的有中文淵源的英語新詞出現主要是因為從英語已有的詞匯中無法找到對應表達中文確切意思的詞，”他說。
But Wei Chongxin, who is also a senior professional in cross-cultural communication, said such mixing of the two languages provides Chinese- and English-learners with an opportunity to improve their studies and make them easier.
但同時，作為跨文化交流方面的資深專家魏崇新院長也指出這兩種語言的融合為中、英文學習者提供了更有利的學習機會，并使學習這兩種語言變得相對簡單一些。
"Moreover, because the two languages can absorb from each other, both can be more vigorous and have a wider range of users, " he said.
“而且，正是因為這種互相滲透和吸收，這兩種語言才具有更強的活力和更廣泛的使用者，”他說。
The 24-year-old Canadian can speak Mandarin fluently.
Lisa Hoffman，24歲，是一位加拿大來華留學生。她今年畢業于對外經貿大學，可以說一口流利的普通話。
"Since the two languages are completely different, it's really difficult for foreigners, especially those living overseas, to remember Chinese words, " she said.
她說：“因為中英文是完全不同的兩種語言，所以特別是對于那些生活在國外的人，想要記住中文詞匯是非常困難的。”
"For instance, my mom, who can't speak any Chinese, has to remember ni hao (hello) by 'knee' and 'how', " she said. "But she can easily say words with Chinese origins, such as baijiu (liqor), as those words frequently appear in her daily life."
“比如我媽媽，她一點中文也不會說。她需要借助英文單詞：‘knee’和‘how’的發音記住中文的‘你好’。但她可以很容易記住一些有中文淵源的詞，比如白酒(baijiu),因為這些詞頻繁地出現在日常生活中。”她說。
發表于 2013-11-10 12:25:10
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