论文总字数：28642字

摘 要

作为不同语言之间的桥梁，翻译在国际政治、经济和文化交流中起着十分重要的作用。但是，在汉英翻译过程中，中式英语广泛存在。如果不认识中式英语的形成原因，就很难加以注意并纠正。鉴于此，本文从母语负迁移出发，在词汇层面、句法层面以及文化层面分析中式英语产生的原因。词汇层面的原因包括词语冗余和错用，句法层面的原因包括语序错乱和连词误用，而文化层面的原因包括习语形象和礼貌表达的错误。本文同时也尝试探寻能让学生避免中式英语的有效方法，比如认识汉语和英语的差异，使用英语思维和提高综合英语能力。

关键词:汉英翻译；中式英语；语言负迁移；成因

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 Previous Studies on Chinglish 1

2.2 An Introduction to Language Transfer 3

3. Detailed Analysis of Chinglish in C-E Translation 3

3.1 Chinglish at Lexical Level 4

3.2 Chinglish at Syntactic Level 6

3.3 Chinglish at Cultural Level 9

4. Strategies of Avoiding Chinglish in C-E Translation 11

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

Chinglish originates from Chinese Pidgin English (CPE). It is an English-based Pidgin used in coastal cities in East and South China for the purpose of business activities between China and Britain. Webster Dictionary defines “Pidgin English” as English used in commerce in Chinese ports. CPE got its start in Guangzhou in the 17th century, and became popular in coast cities in the middle and late 19th century.

In the early of the 20th century, Standard English teaching was started to be practiced in Chinese schools. Chinese people’s English proficiency was improved gradually. In the middle of the 20th century, CPE eventually fell out of the use.

Chinglish is considered as the language of post-CPE. With the rapid development of globalization, the communication between China and other English-speaking nations has become more and more frequent. Translation plays a very important role in international information exchange. However, due to the language users’ mother tongue interference, some problems may arise. This can be obviously seen in the emergence of Chinglish in the process of Chinese-English translation.

We are now living in an era of information explosion. The mass media makes Chinglish spread widely. Chinglish has become a very popular term nowadays. It is even jokingly called the “New Second Language of China” by some people. Some expressions of Chinglish are accepted by English-speaking people nowadays. For example, the expression “long time no see” has been included in Urban Dictionary recently. However, we should realize that they are just a few. Chinglish actually cannot be understood by most English-speaking people. It hinders the outside world from knowing China, and it also hampers China from embracing the whole world. Chinglish is a big obstacle in international communication. We should find out the causes of Chinglish and explore the effective solutions to achieve the aims of exchange and publicity.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Previous Studies on Chinglish

The term “Chinglish” has been studied by a lot of scholars home and abroad.

Joan Pinkham points out in her book The Translator’s Guide to Chinglish that “Chinglish, of course, is that misshapen, hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese but that might be described as ‘English with Chinese characteristics.’” (Pinkham, 2000: 1)

Professor Deng Yanchang believes that Chinglish “shows the interference or influence of Chinese”. He further explains that “some sentences are translated literally... Chinglish may be grammatically correct, but the choice of words or phrases and the manner of expression do not conform to normative English usage. ” (Deng Yanchang, 1989: 150).

Li Wenzhong defines Chinglish as a “kind of misshapen English which does not conform to the standard English expressions or English culture as well as custom”. He holds that “when Chinese learners and users of English are interfered or influenced by their mother tongue, they would impose the Chinese grammatical rules and idiomatic expressions on their English expressions during the communication. In this situation, Chinglish appears.”(Li Wenzhong, 1993: 18).

The definition given by Lin Qiong is similar to that of Li Wenzhong. She argues that “Chinglish is the misshapen speech or writing in English. It emerges when Chinese people, subject to the influence or interference of ways of thinking and relevant culture background of their mother tongue, apply the rules of Chinese language into English expressions.”(Lin Qiong, 2001: 6)

The latest definition in Chinese academic circle is put forward by Li Shaoming. “Chinglish is Chinese-like English in structure and in diction. It may result from poor English, bad habit of Chinese writing, or from uncritical way of thinking and writing in a Chinese context.” (Li Shaoming, 2003: 22)

A lot of people may confuse Chinglish with China English. Professor Li Wenzhong holds that “based on normative English, China English bears the Chinese characteristics in vocabulary, sentence structures as well as discourses, and finds its way in English communication through transliteration, translation and semantic creation.” (Li Wenzhong, 1993: 19) From the mentioned above, we can see that China English is an English variety. Its core is still standard English. China English can be understood and accepted by native English users through some necessary explanations. Therefore, we should take different attitudes towards Chinglish and China English. The former should be eliminated while the latter should be advocated on the basis of appropriate usage.

2.2 An Introduction to Language Transfer

“Transfer” is originally a psychological term, meaning during the period of studying , learners will apply the previous knowledge and experience to the learning and mastering of new ones. The concept of “language transfer” was first proposed by Lado in his book——Linguistics across Cultures. He holds that “learners rely on their mother tongue extensively when learning a second language, and they often take the forms, meanings and cultures associated with the native language into the second language learning.” (Lado, 1957: 5)

In 1994, in his book The Study of Second Language Acquisition, Rod Ellis summarized the transfer of native language into the following four aspects——positive transfer, negative transfer, avoidance and overuse. He argues that when the rules of native language and foreign language are the same, if learners apply the rules of native language to foreign language, the burdens and mistakes of learning would be reduced, and the effects of learning can be improved. In this situation, the mother tongue imposes a positive effect on foreign language learning, and it is called positive transfer. In reverse, it is called negative transfer.

Deng Yanchang points out that “the positive transfer is also called ‘the encouraging transfer’, which refers to the promoting effect that learning of one kind of language imposes onto that of the other; the negative transfer is also called ‘the restrained transfer’, which refers to the hindering effect that learning of one kind of language imposes onto that of the other.” (Deng Yanchang, 1989: 18)

From the mentioned above, we can draw the conclusion that Chinglish is caused by interference of users’ mother tongue. In other words, it results from the negative transfer of Chinese.

3. Detailed Analysis of Chinglish in C-E Translation

With China’s further reform and opening-up, more and more Chinese begin to use English as their communication tool today. At the same time, Chinglish has become a common phenomenon in the process of Chinese-English translation. There are many discrepancies between Chinese and English, and the language users’ mother tongue interference is the main feature that causes Chinglish. From the perspective of negative transfer of native language, the cases can be analyzed at lexical, syntactic and cultural levels.

3.1 Chinglish at Lexical Level

Vocabulary is the basic element of language. In C-E translation, many people incline to translating word by word. However, Chinese words cannot totally correspond to English words. Polysemy and homonymy are very common in English. Actually, some Chinese words even cannot find their equivalents in English. The causes of Chinglish at lexical level include redundant words and misuse of words.

3.1.1 Redundant Words

“Almost every text translated into English from Chinese, (or that has been written directly in English by a native speaker of Chinese) contains unnecessary words. Unnecessary words are the hallmark of Chinglish.”(Pinkham, 2000: 2) Just as mentioned above, Chinese and English are not totally corresponding. Unawareness of connotation of English words leads to the lexical redundancy in C-E translation.

Here are a few examples of C-E translation. “A” is the Chinglish translation while “B” is the suggested revision.

1. ……加快经济改革的步伐

A: ...to accelerate the pace of economic reform

B: ...to accelerate the economic reform (Pinkham, 2000: 3)

In version A, “加快” is translated as the verb “accelerate” while “步伐” is translated as the noun “pace”. It seems to have no problem, but in English, “accelerate” is equivalent to “increase the pace of”. We can see the noun of “pace” is included or implied in the verb “accelerate”, so this word is redundant in this sentence. This version is typical of translating word by word. The student ignores the inner sense of the English word “accelerate”. In version B, the redundant word “pace” is deleted and the whole translated text is more accurate.

2. 城乡地区的居民生活水平不断地提高。

A: Living standards for the people in both urban and rural areas continued to rise.

B: Living standards in both urban and rural areas continued to rise. (Pinkham, 2000: 8)

In English, the notion of “living standards” applies to people only, so “the people” is not needed in version A. The student is affected by his mother language. He does not recognize the applied scope of the English words, considering “living standards” can also apply to other subjects. In version B, “for the people” is deleted and the translation is more accurate.

Redundant words are one of the reasons accounting for Chinglish. They make the translated texts more difficult to understand. In order to avoid this kind of mistakes in C-E translation, Chinese students should get rid of the inertia of trying to find the equivalent of words in English when translating. They should figure out the inner senses and applied scopes of English words chosen.

3.1.2 Misuse of Words

In English, some words may have the similar Chinese meaning , but they are used in different situations, or they should collocate with different words. Some students often choose English words according to Chinese interpretation, and on this occasion, misuse of words would emerge, which can also result in Chinglish.

The following is a typical example of misuse of words in C-E translation.

3. 你愿意参加我们星期六的派对吗？

 A: Would you like to join our party on Saturday?  

 B: Would you like to come to our party on  Saturday?  (Chen Hongwei, 2010: 45)

In this circumstances, “join” and “come to” can both mean “参加” in Chinese; “join our party” and “come to our party” seems to be both right. However, in English, the verb “join” is often used with the word “club” or “association”, such as “join a literary club”, or “join the Republican Party”. On the other hand, “party” is always collocated with the verb “come” or “go”, such as “go to a birthday party”, or “come to a Christmas Party”. The word “party” in translated texts should refer to a social event at which people enjoy themselves not a political organization whose members have similar aims and beliefs. Therefore, we should translate “参加我们的派对” into “come to our party” not “join our party”.

Here are some more examples.

Misuse of words is often seen in the improper collocation, including the improper collocation of verb and object , adjectives and adverbs, and preposition and object, etc. To avoid such mistakes, students should not choose words according to Chinese interpretation in translation. They should master right collocation in English .

3.2 Chinglish at Syntactic Level

English and Chinese are two quite different languages. The structure of Chinese is not as close with that of English as other European languages. Chinese is paratactic, diffusive and analytic while English is hypotactic, compact and synthetic. The problems at syntactic level always occur in C-E translation.

3.2.1 The Wrong Word Order

Declarative sentences are organized by the order of “S-V-O” both in Chinese and English, so simple Chinese declarative sentences pose few negative transfer effects on English. However, word orders of Chinese interrogative sentences and English ones are quite different, and the places where attributive and adverbial modifiers are put are also different in Chinese sentences and English ones. In C-E translation, the negative transfer of Chinese is more serious in the two cases above.

Some examples are shown in the following.

4. 你有几件夹克衫？

A: You have how many jackets? 

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