中式英语特点及发展趋势

摘要本文首先探讨了中外学者对中式英语的不同定义，指出中式英语是一种有中国特色的英语变体；然后将中式英语和中国英语进行了对比分析，总结出中国英语是由中式英语发展而来，并已自然而然地被外国人所接受；其次，阐述了中式英语的四个特点，即语音特点、词汇特点、语法特点，和语用特点，并从母语干扰、不同的思维方式、不同的文化背景这三方面分析了产生中式英语的原因；最后讨论了中式英语发展的趋势，对其发展的必然性和合理性进行了阐释。

关键词：中式英语；特点；原因；趋势ABSTRACTThis paper first explores different definitions of Chinglish given by the scholars home and abroad and points out that Chinglish is a kind of English variety with Chinese flavor. It then compares Chinglish with China English and concludes that China English is derived from Chinglish and is accepted by native speakers naturally. In addition, it elaborates the four characteristics of Chinglish: characteristics of pronunciation, characteristics of vocabulary, characteristics of grammar, and characteristics of pragmatics, and analyzes the causes of Chinglish from three aspects, namely mother tongue interference, different thinking patterns, different cultural background. It finally discusses the development trend of Chinglish and elaborates its inevitability of development and rationality of development.Key words：Chinglish; characteristics; causes; trendContents1. Introduction (50)2. What is Chinglish (51)2.1 Definition of Chinglish (51)2.2 Differences between Chinglish and China English (52)3. Characteristics of Chinglish (54)3.1 Characteristics of pronunciation (54)3.1.1 V oice substitution (54)3.1.2 Mixture of allophone (55)3.1.3 Confusion of voiced and voiceless sounds (55)3.2 Characteristics of vocabulary (55)3.2.1 Verbosity (55)3.2.2 Catachresis (56)3.2.3 Neglect of word order (57)3.2.4 Unsuitable match (57)3.3 Characteristics of grammar (57)3.3.1 Confusion of article (57)3.3.2 Omission of predicate (58)3.3.3 Inconformity between modifier and subject (58)3.4 Pragmatic characteristics (58)3.4.1 Mechanical use of Chinese structure (59)3.4.2 Simplified transfer of concept (59)4. The Causes of Chinglish (60)4.1 Mother tongue interference (61)4.2 Different thinking patterns (62)4.3 Different cultural background (64)4.3.1 Linguistic knowledge (64)4.3.2 Values (65)4.3.3 Customs (65)5. Trend of the Development of Chinglish (66)5.1 Inevitability of the development of Chinglish (66)5.2 Rationality of the development of Chinglish (66)6. Conclusion (68)Acknowledgements (69)References (70)1. IntroductionAs we know, English is the most widely spoken language in the world and has been a multinational, multicultural and multifunctional language. With more and more communication between Chinese and English speakers in the fields of business and education, English is playing an important role among Chinese and has become a necessary tool in today’s competitive world. However, with an impressive command of English vocabulary and good master of grammar as well as phonetics, which, to some extent, are beyond the native speakers’capacity, they are confronted with quite a few problems when they are talking or writing in English. Their gestures, either shrug or shake their heads, usually make the foreigners confused and at the same time make themselves trapped in an embarrassed situation. What has happened to the Chinese speakers? Why does the language they use sound alien to the foreigners? Retracing the cause, I find most of the Chinese learners’mistakes are not made due to their lack of grammar or vocabulary but due to an odd language they use, namely Chinglish, an excrescence of standard English, which is defined as a portmanteau of the two words Chinese and English and refers to spoken or written English which is influenced by Chinese. In order to make English learners convey their views more efficiently both in speech and writing, I attempt to illustrate the characteristics and causes of Chinglish in detail and predict the trend of the development of Chinglish so as to help people make proper use of Chinglish when they communicate with native speakers of English.2. What is ChinglishChinglish appears in many aspects. This thesis will especially focus on the Chinglish appearing in the writing and speech of college students. In order to let readers have a thorough comprehension of Chinglish, definitions of Chinglish will be a first important part to be studied. From the various definitions of Chinglish, we get to know what Chinglish really is. Of course, Chinglish can hardly be understood fully without being studied in connection with the characteristics of Chinglish. According to a variety of studies, I believe we will get a better understanding of the development trend of Chinglish.2.1 Definition of ChinglishIn early and mid-20th century, Chinglish was derogatorily called“pidgin”in Chinese. Pidgin English is another term for Chinglish: A simplified form of speech that is usually a mixture of two or more languages, has a rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, is used for communication between groups speaking different languages, and is not spoken as a first or native language (Definition from the American Heritage dictionary). Thus, expressions like “People mountain, people sea”are taken as “Pidgin English”. Pidgin English occurred when Chinese began to trade with the native speakers of English. In China, Chinglish has been profoundly discussed since 1980’s. It is Professor Ge Chuangui who first puts forward the difference between Chinglish and China English in 1980’s. He pointed out that some peculiar language, such as 科举（imperial examination）、五四运动（May Fourth Movement）can not be taken as Chinglish, but can be taken as China English [1]5.Many teachers and scholars home and abroad have noticed this language phenomenon and studies on Chinglish are scattered in books and articles in the field of English teaching and learning. Nevertheless, due to the unsystematic and unsteady nature of Chinglish, people do not always resonate a clear and unanimous voice on what Chinglish is and hereby present diverse and incomplete definitions from different angles in light with their ownunderstanding. The famous professor Pinkham defines it is a misshapen, hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese but that might be described as “English with Chinese characteristics”[2]4; Deng Yanchang and Liu Runqing view it as speech or writing that shows the interference of Chinese [1]9. They believe Chinglish may be grammatically correct, but the choice of words or phrases and the manner of expression do not conform to Standard English usage. Although its understanding may not be a problem, Chinglish is unacceptable; Li Wenzhong considers it as abnormal or deformed English that is produced by Chinese English learners or users when they are influenced by Chinese language rules [1]9; He Mingzhu regards it as an awkward mixture in which ideas conceived in Chinese are ungrammatically or unidiomatically expressed in English[1]9; Li Guowen thinks Chinglish is misshapen English which is produced by Chinese learners who draw upon Chinese rules and structures mechanically as a result of mother tongue interference [1]9. From the above, we can conclude that the main cause of Chinglish is the interference of language learners’ mother tongue and their Chinese thinking.To sum up, Chinglish is defined differently by different scholars. It can be believed that to some extent, Chinglish has a very strong “Chinese flavor” in it. Chinglish is usually found in written form in which the choice of words or phrases and the manner of expression do not conform to standard English usage.2.2 Differences between Chinglish and China EnglishThe differences between Chinglish and China English have been a focus for a long time in the field of linguistics. Preliminary to the detailed discussion of Chinglish, it is necessary to draw a clear discrepancy between these two concepts.The concept of China English was first put forward by Ge Chuangui in the early 1980s [3]6. It has experienced three periods: the period of Pidgin English, the period of Chinese English (or Chinglish or Sinicized English), and the period of China English, which is the well-developed period. A Pidgin is a lingua franca that arises in order to facilitate communication between speakers of different languages who are in sustained contact with each other, e.g in trade or plantation situations (William, 1992:224). Although it is not anyone’s nativelanguage, a pidgin usually involves mixture or compromise between the native languages of its users. In comparison with these, it is restricted in social roles, and simplified or reduced in linguistic resources. As to China English, I think it is derived from Chinglish. Professor Ge said: “English is the language of th e English people. The other people who speak English should certainly follow the idiomatic ways of the English people. However, each nation has its own peculiarities. So far as China is concerned, there are some phenomena unique to Chinese political, economic, cultural and social fields that need to be expressed in written or oral English [4]8.”So, in his view, China English is created to translate or depict things and concepts typical of China. It exists objectively and contains four implications: China English is used only by Chinese people in China; China English takes normative English as its nucleus English and completely conform to international normative English grammar; China English has its own characteristics to carry forward China’s civilization; China English can realize the function of language communication. But the first implication doesn’t correspond to practice nowadays, because some words are used not only by Chinese people but also by western people [4]15. Chinglish is a kind of defective and arbitrary English. On the ground of influence of Chinese thinking and superficial understanding of words, Chinese English learners usually directly put Chinese meaning or usage into English, which easily leads to Chinglish. Furthermore, for lack of certain cultural background of English-speaking countries, English learners get into habit of applying English mechanically, especially in the translation of idioms. On these circumstances, Chinglish comes out naturally and causes misunderstanding among native speakers.Therefore, we can conclude that the main difference between China English and Chinglish lies in the communicative effect depending on the recognition of Normative English speakers. Say further, China English is better and widely accepted among communicators home and abroad, rather than Chinglish. However, I want to point out that the development of China English, to some extent, inevitably experiences the period of Chinglish.3. Characteristics of Chinglish3.1 Characteristics of pronunciationPronunciation of Chinglish influenced by Chinese is non-standard. It has a negative effect on fluent communication for English learners. Based on their mother tongue Pu Tong Hua, Chinese English learners easily make a mistake in voice substitution, mixture of allophone, confusion of voiced sound and voiceless sound and the like. Most of mistakes are produced owing to the limitation of the rules of Chinese pronunciation. Another cause is for lack of full understanding of English pronunciation. I explain these mistakes above in more detail.3.1.1 Voice substitutionV oice substitution means Chinese English learners always use some sounds of their mother language to replace some sounds of English. It is a common mistake and often creates ambiguity. For example, value [v ae lju] is replaced by [w ae lju], three[θri:] is replaced by [sri:], this[ðis] is replaced by [dis]. In addition, English learners replace the pronunciation “-er” in words, such as later, player, summer, with Chinese “儿”.3.1.2 Mixture of allophoneUnder the influence of the rules of Chinese pronunciation, many Chinese English learners believe each letter should conform to its own pronunciation. For example, speak [spi:k] is pronounced /spik/ in Chinese phonetic alphabet. They neglect allophones. In the same syllable, the pronunciations of /p,t,k/ in the front of /s/ are different from those when they are after /s/. Take / p/ for an example. There is a rule in English: if /p/ is after /s/, aspiration will not occur. In other cases, aspiration occurs. Accroding to the rule, speak should be pronounced [sp=i:k], span should be pronounced [sp=ae n].3.1.3 Confusion of voiced and voiceless soundsConfusion of voiced and voiceless sounds is another aspect of pronunciation of Chinglish. In the pronunciation of English, the letter “s” as a symbol of plural words, which is behind voiceless consonants, except [s, tʃ, ʃ], should be pronounced [s]. The letter “s”, which is behind vowels and voiced consonants, except [z, d] should be pronounced [z]. Chinese English learners always pronounce “s” as [s] no matter what letter is in the front of it.3.2 Characteristics of vocabularyThe characteristics of Chinglish are also reflected in vocabulary. According to the study of writing and translation from English major students and non-English major students, there are four types in the vocabulary of Chinglish, which is verbosity, catachresis, neglect of word order, and unsuitable match.3.2.1 VerbosityJoan Pinkham pointed out that there are unnecessary words appearing in the translation and writing, which do not conform to the need of the conciseness of an English sentence. Let’s look at this sentence:There have been good harvests in agriculture.Analysis: In English, harvests include the meaning of agriculture.Therefore, we can omit “in agriculture” to achieve conciseness.More examples come from students’ language use.1) We will share the information resources together(“Share”implies having something with somebody together, so “together” should be deleted.)2) My mother has gone to the shops to buy things.(The notion of “go to shop”implies buying things, so “to buy things”should be deleted.)3) Fish must stay in water. If they don’t, they die.(Repeated reference to the same thing is another type of verbosity in Chinglish. The notion of “if they don’t”can be replaced by “or”to compound the sentence.)3.2.2 CatachresisTo many English learners, catachresis is often seen in practice. The main reason to cause it is that English learners believe that there is absolute equivalence between Chinese and English. But in fact, there is not. Take some sentences as examples:1)Later, many people found that the beggars were using their sympathy.(“Use” is usually used to modify something concrete, while sympathyis an abstract noun. So “Sympathy”is suitable to be used with “playon”, instead of “use”. )2) Their hearts become cold and detached.(Cold usually modify one’s attitude or weather. “H eart” can be modified by “chill”.)3) Cut hundreds of buildings down(“Cut down” usually modifies “trees, price, and expense”. “Hundreds of buildings” shouldn’t be modified by “cut down”. We can say “Hundreds of buildings fall down”.)4) You shouldn’t change the law of nature.(“Change should be replaced by “violate”. “Change” means something is totally different from the original one. “Violate” means being against something. “Law of nature” is an objective law and cannot be changed or created. But it canbe violated.)3.2.3 Neglect of word orderIn the Chinese and the English languages, there are many expressions in which the component words are arranged in just the opposite order. The neglect of word order often gives rise to Chinglish. For example:1) Industry and agriculture ( Chinglish )Agriculture and industry ( Normative English )2) Clothing and food ( Chinglish )Food and clothing ( Normative English )3) Forth and back ( Chinglish )Back and forth ( Normative English )3.2.4 Unsuitable matchWord match has become one of the difficult points for Chinese learners of English, and commonly unsuitable match appears in Chinglish, for many English learners ignore the difference of word match between Chinese and English and translate English to Chinese or Chinese to English mechanically. For example, Chinese English learners would say “deep sleep”, “big rain”, “receive the telephone”, instead of “sound sleep”, “heavy rain”, “answer the telephone”. The following are the typical examples of the kind:We can learn a lot of knowledge by reading good books. ( acquire/obtain ) We want the newest information. ( the latest )The demand draws the particular concern of the public. ( arouses )3.3 Characteristics of grammar3.3.1 Confusion of articleConfusion of articles, including omission of articles and redundance of articles is a common mistake made by English learners. For example:1).我们每个人有一套桌椅。