Pinyin news

This week’s news provides a good example of how petty China’s language police can be.

Workers in Shanghai’s metro service must often deal with Chinese who do not speak either Shanghainese or standard Mandarin, so they began to collect useful phrases so staff members could better understand and answer some questions. They focused on Cantonese, Hoklo (a.k.a. Minnan, Southern Fujianese, Taiwanese, etc.), Wenzhouhua (although this is generally classified as part of the same language that contains Shanghainese, it is largely incomprehensible to most people in Shanghai), Wuhanhua (although classified as a Mandarin dialect, it is far removed from standard Mandarin), and Changsha (a dialect of Hunanese). More than fifty metro employees are to study the phrases.

This caught the attention of Shanghai’s Spoken and Written Language Work Committee (Yǔyán Wénzì Gōngzuò Wěiyuánhuì). On Tuesday, Zhu Lei (朱蕾), a committee official, reported that her office had “contacted the Metro management …, stating that the program could violate the country’s language policy to promote the use of Putonghua [i.e., Mandarin].”

“The right way to solve communication barrier is to speak Putonghua,” she is quoted as saying.
sources:

• Metro service snubs language watchdog, Shanghai Daily, August 8, 2007
• Shànghǎi Guǐ Jiāo yù yòng fāngyán fúwù yǐn zhēngyì — yǔ wěi jiānchí tuī-pǔ[tōnghuà] (上海轨交欲用方言服务引争议 — 语委坚持推普), August 6, 2007 (This is just one source. This story has been widely reprinted in China.)

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From the China Daily a few months ago.

A linguistics expert has claimed Shanghainese are overusing the English language.

“It’s a blind worship of the English language,”said Pan Wenguo, dean of Chinese as a Foreign Language School at East China Normal University, at a conference held Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of promoting Putonghua, or Mandarin.

He added the business sector was particularly responsible for the trend, claiming many people used English “more for following others blindly than for practical needs.”

Pan said up to one-third of Chinese are studying or have studied English, while the number of English learners in Shanghai is even higher.

“English is not bad in itself, but the present mania of learning English is really too much,”said Pan.

Last Sunday, more than 50,000 Shanghai locals sat the English Interpreter Test of middle to high levels, an increase of 20 per cent on last year.

The time set a side for English learning has been on the rise for students at various levels….

In the increasingly competitive job market, the English Certificate has become one of the most important qualifications employees look for, ranking only behind diplomas.

Many employers, especially in the business sector, tend to hire only people with good English communication abilities….

source: Linguist criticizes ‘blind worship’ of English, China Daily, September 23, 2006

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It’s a sad situation that it’s newsworthy when a play is presented in the native language of most of those in one of the world’s largest cities. But in this case it’s also an occasion for hope.

Recently, for the first time in decades, a drama primarily in Shanghainese was presented in Shanghai. (I would guess that local operas, however, have been performed in Shanghainese with little interruption.) Unfortunately, as the Shanghaiist reports, there were some problems with this production of 《乌鸦与麻雀》 (Mandarin title: Wūyā yǔ Máquè; English title: The Crow and the Sparrow).

[T]he blame is being assigned to the fact that the production was too hastily prepared, leading them to overlook things like subtitles.

You might ask, why, if most of the dialogue is in Shanghainese, would people other than non-locals need subtitles? It turns out that aside from standard Shanghai dialect, Ningbo, Suzhou, Shandong and other dialects were also thrown in—the story takes place during the Republic period (1911-1949) at a time when many immigrants were first putting down roots in Shanghai. The production team also prepared a putonghua version of the play, which they used during the last performance here and will use if they take the play to other parts of China. All in all, it seemed as if this was a less than ideal way to restart this tradition.

Nonetheless, I’m encouraged that the authorities allowed this play to be staged in Shanghainese. Perhaps its roots as a popular film from the late 1940s and its anti-KMT storyline helped it get by the censors.

The Shanghaiist also mentions an interesting-sounding book: Rendering the Regional: Local Language in Contemporary Chinese Media, by Edward M. Gunn. The introduction (663 KB PDF) is available online. I look forward to reading the entire book once I can find it in a library or locate an inexpensive copy.

sources:

• Shanghai Dialect Theater: A failed comeback?, Shanghaiist, July 26, 2006
• Yǐ Hù yǔ wéizhǔ de huàjù《Wūyā yǔ Máquè》Shànghǎi yǎnchū yù lěng (以沪语为主的话剧《乌鸦与麻雀》上海演出遇冷), Sohu.com, July 25, 2006
• Return to the dramatic nest, Shanghai Delta, July 7, 2006

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John DeFrancis — whose name should be familiar to most readers of this site, especially for his essential work The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, which contains his refutation of the ideographic myth — has just published a new article: “The Prospects for Chinese Writing Reform.”

This article is the first in the new, electronic-format releases of Sino-Platonic Papers. Moreover, these new issues will be available free of charge.

• The Prospects for Chinese Writing Reform (PDF, approx. 2.4 MB)
• The Prospects for Chinese Writing Reform (HTML format, approx. 100 KB)

I strongly recommend reading this.

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Larry Lang (Lang Xianping / 郎咸平), a professor of finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has had his popular television show on economics taken off the air in China, allegedly because the show fails to meet regulations on the use of Mandarin on the airwaves.

Lang, who was born in Taiwan and has his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Taiwan universities, is fluent in Mandarin. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and has taught at a number of U.S. universities.

He often used his television show, broadcast in Shanghai, to criticize the way the sales of PRC state enterprises are conducted.

source: Chat show economist forced off China TV, Financial Times, March 14, 2006 (via Kenyon’s Chinese list)

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The official Shanghai Language Works Commission has been keeping busy. In addition to ordering severe restrictions on the use of the language native to most people in the area, yesterday it decreed that beginning next month all companies, stores, and entertainment venues in Shanghai must include Chinese characters on their signs and in their notices and advertisements.

The regulation is aimed primarily against English-only signage.

What’s not clear, though, is if the rules declare what the Chinese characters must say or how much space must be given to them. Can the English be much larger? Can there be a full page of copy in English but just, say, the address in Chinese characters?

Those who violate the rule will be warned and told to fix the problem immediately. Repeat offenders will have their names added to a black-list published in local media outlets, but they face no fines or jail terms, according to the rule.

“Foreign-language-only signboards will probably hamper people’s understanding and deliberately set up communication barriers for most Chinese,” said Sun Xiaoxian, an official with the language works commission.

Many entertainment facilities that target foreign consumers have never set up Chinese signs, and others deliberately use English only to demonstrate they are the so-called “high-class” places, Sun said.

Only 15 of the 39 signs for businesses in front of the Shanghai Center, an office and hotel complex on Nanjing Road W., have Chinese characters on them.

Of 14 bars and restaurants along Tongren Road, only Blue Frog has a Chinese name — Lan Wa — on its sign.

A manager at Blue Angel, a bar next door to Blue Frog, said he had never heard of the new regulation.

“Most of our customers are foreigners, so we don’t need to worry that they cannot recognize the English signs,” said the manager who refused to disclose her name.

Many bars in the city don’t even have Chinese menus, according to Sun.

Blue Angel only added Chinese to its menu a few months ago, the manager said.

The language commission officials said they conduct regular spot checks beginning next month to ensure the regulation is being followed.

English only signs outlawed, Shanghai Daily, February 24, 2006

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China is stepping up its repression of Shanghainese, a language which, in its various forms (considering the Wu language group as a whole), is native to close to 100 million people, especially around Shanghai, China’s largest city.

According to rules announced on Wednesday, beginning next month most people in the public sector (including teachers and members of the broadcast media) must use Mandarin and no other Sinitic language when addressing the public.

Use of Shanghainese will be restricted to private conversations and special study programs, according to the Shanghai Language Works Commission.

The new rules, announced yesterday, represent the city’s first language standards. Radio and TV personalities, as well as government officials and teachers, are required to use Mandarin in their daily work.

Broadcasters can air Shanghai-dialect programming, but any new shows must be approved by the Shanghai Culture, Radio, Film and Television Administration.

“Residents of an international metropolis like Shanghai should speak Mandarin in public places, especially people in social service industries, government departments, schools and the media,” said Zhu Lei, office director of the language commission.

She said the city still needs to foster development of Shanghai dialect to preserve the city’s culture. But the use of dialect in public settings sets communications obstacles for the increasing number of migrants and foreigners.

Anyone who violates the new rule will be warned, and repeat offenders will have their names put on a blacklist.

Media outlets that launch new dialect programs without permission will be punished by the national radio and television administration.

There are now more than 10 city-based radio and TV programs broadcast in Shanghai dialect. Most are talk shows or entertainment series.

One of the channels under Shanghai Media Group tried to broadcast news in Shanghai dialect last year, but the effort was later halted for undisclosed reasons.

Lu Yunpeng, an official with the local TV and radio watchdog, said the agency will strictly control dialect-based news programs. For new entertainment shows, the administration will appoint a panel to examine proposals and determine their value.

At present, there are no plans to add new dialect programs or close down old ones.

Chen Mingfang, producer of the popular Shanghai dialect radio segment “Afugen,” said his show draws an excellent audience response. The daily program was even expanded from the original 30 minutes to an hour.

Chen, however, refused to comment on the new rules.

To that, I’d just add a few reminders:

• In China, words like blacklist, strictly control, and punish aren’t just empty terms.
• Although Shanghainese can be considered a dialect of Wu, calling it a dialect of “Chinese” is at best misleading. In China, the word “dialect” is used politically, not linguistically.

source: Shanghai dialect takes back seat to Mandarin, Shanghai Daily, February 23, 2006

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Some 20 percent fewer characters will have to be learned during a child’s first two years of school in Shanghai, with more attention being devoted to Pinyin. I’d be happier if this were everywhere, including areas where the native language is Mandarin, but this is good news nonetheless.

Shanghai primary school students will be required to learn 20 percent fewer Chinese characters but spend more time on pinyin in their first two school years, the Shanghai Education Commission said yesterday.

The reform is meant to ease the study burden by making language learning less of a chore.

Starting in the spring semester which beings next week, first-year students will be required to recognize 364 Chinese characters compared with the previous 460.

Altogether 205 characters will be canceled in first two school years out of the former 1,000-plus.

“Despite the city’s education reform, studies we’ve performed in the past months still suggested that young pupils were over-burdened with character recognition and writing tasks. And that reduces a child’s interest in learning,” said Qu Jun, the education commission’s vice director.

Most of the characters eliminated from the requirement list were considered complicated. The canceled contents might be left for extracurricular self-study or postponed to be taught later, authorities said.

It wouldn’t be much help if students have to learn those characters during the same years anyway, just outside of school. Postponing the memorizing of them is the only way for this to make any real difference.

But commission officials said that they haven’t worked out any punishments yet for those who violate the rule.

Also, teachers are being required to spend more time on pinyin — a system that translates Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet — during the first two years of school.

The final paragraph above has a serious error. Pinyin is not “a system that translates Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet.” This sort of thinking is behind a lot of the confusion related to the nature of Chinese characters, the sinitic languages, and Pinyin. The distinction is important: Pinyin is for the Mandarin language, not for Chinese characters.

source: Primary students learn less Chinese characters, Shanghai Daily (via Xinhua), February 10, 2006

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