Analysis of the China English in Translation

【Abstract】English has developed into a world-wide language. Its wide application has led English to various varieties which have their various national characteristics along with the normative English. China English can be found in China Daily and many other publishings. The article presents an introduction to China English， discusses about China English in translation from three aspects—vocabulary; sentence; grammar and meanwhile speculates the future of China English.

【Key words】China English; transliteration; Chinese culture

【作者簡介】朱雯杰（1984.01-），女，汉族，江苏镇江人，南京实验国际学校，研究方向：英语教育。

Ⅰ. The History and Definition of China English

Mr Ge Chuangui is the first person who proposed the term “China English”. In his work “Talk about Chinese-English Translation”， he pointed out that English is the national language. Any other countries can use English， but they should follow the English conventions to deal with various situations concerning themselves（李文中， 1993：18）. No matter in ancient China or modern China， when we write or speak English， we have something unique which need to be expressed. For example： Four Books（四书）， Five Classics（五经）， etc.Thus it starts the first step to study the China English system.

Ⅱ. The China English in Translation

Now， well discuss the China English in three parts—vocabulary， sentence， grammar.

1. The Rank of Vocabulary

Transliteration

The vocabulary transliteration was used at the beginning of 19th century. At that time， when we translated some personal names or geographical names， we used Wade System.

In the early use of Wade System， we would use Guangdong dialect and Minnan dialect， for example， chow mei（炒面）， wonton（馄饨）. After 1958， our country issued some related Chinese Pinyin plans about some personal names and geographic names. Many examples as follows：

（1） Words concerning historical phenomena：

xiucai（秀才） ya men（衙门）

（2） Words concerining clothing and food：

changsam（长衫） jiao zi（饺子）

2.The Rank of Sentence

The difference of thought mode between Chinese and English forms the sentence linear difference in the language. Some examples as follows：

Different thinking modes are reflected in the arrangement of sentence pattern

English： subject → predicate → object → adverbial

Eg： Tom/bought/a bicycle/yesterday。

Chinese： subject → adverbial → predicate → object

Eg： Tom/yesterday/bought/a bicycle。

Ⅲ. The Distinction of China English and Chinglish

In English literature， there are two concepts： China English and Chinglish. The latter is called “Chinese- like English”， it is one kind of substandard English which uses Chinese grammar rules and customs， even it is wrong. But China English is standardized， it can express Chinese culture which are not familiar to some foreigners. Translators must have a good mastery of Chinese culture and English language.

1.紙包鸡：paper-wrapped chicken（Chinglish， maybe you cant know whether the chicken is uncooked or cooked）

deep-fried paper-wrapped chicken（China English）

2.三角债：triangle debts（Chinglish）

chain debts（China English）

Li Wenzhong once stressed that Chinglish is a kind of morbid language phenomenon. For Chinese students， Chinglish is one of the major problems which affect the quality of their Chinese-English translation.Here are two suggestions：

First， read the English masterpiece as much as possible to master the standard English. When you do translation， you should use standard English as soon as possible;

Second， frequently read the authority foreign publication， like China Daily， study and use those new words and expressions from the experts and interpreters.

Ⅳ. The Significance and Prospect of China English

Owing to the economic development of our country， the importance of Chinese culture，more and more Chinese concepts have been translated into English. Chinas education has taken English as foreign language.Under this circumstance we should combine the English teaching material with the China English. Especially for middle school students， they should not exclude the China English， but add more about Chinese culture to language teaching. They should learn more excellent translation versions written by Chinese people and some masterpieces about China written by foreign authors. In this way， the students competence in research and analysis of China English can be improved.

References：

[1]Crystal， David. The English Language[M].New York： Penguin Books Ltd，1998.