Words of Chinese origin are playing a key role in driving the ongoing globalization of English, experts in both languages say.
一些中英文语言专家表示具有中文渊源的单词在英语中出现是英语全球化的重要驱动力之一。
"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.
“三亿中国人正在学习或曾经学习过英语，这意味着中文对英语的影响力是个无法否认的事实，”位于美国德克萨斯州全球语言监测机构主席Paul J.J. Payack在接受采访时表示。
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.
该机构数据显示，每年新增英文单词在10，000个左右。目前全球大约18.3亿人在使用英语，包括母语、第二语言使用者以及用于商业或技术用语。
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.
全球使用英语的人在1960年大致只有2.5亿人，他们主要集中在英国和它之前的殖民地以及美国。
"It's estimated that a new English word is created every 98 minutes, " Payack said.
“预计每98分钟一个新的英语单词就被创造出来，”Payack说。
"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，最近出现的含有中文渊源的单词是chengguan (城管)。谷歌搜索中有接近100万次的引用，远远超出我们机构对新词要求出现的最少引用次数，”他说。
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.
牛津英语词典中目前大概收录了1，000个左右含有中文渊源的词，例如taikonaut (中国宇航员)。
In China, taikonaut refers to a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a spacecraft crew member.
Payack认为中文作为英语全球化的重要驱动力，其影响力在整个21世纪将会一直持续。
"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.
今年华尔街日报专门使用“dama”(大妈)这个用汉语拼音得来的单词关注中国大妈不容小觑的黄金购买力。
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.
华尔街日报的报道说正是因为有了大妈，中国已经可以与印度竞争成为影响全球黄金市场的一支主力军。
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.
很多人认为“大妈”一词的使用证明一个国家影响力越大，这个国家的语言影响力也会越大。
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.
北京外国语大学中国语言文学学院院长魏崇新认为这种现象根源于中国在世界范围日益增长的影响力，包括政治、经济和文化等多方面。
"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.
“当更多英语使用者来到中国或者在日常生活中与中国产生密切接触时，中英两种语言互相渗透便是一个自然而然的趋势，”他说。
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.
全球语言监测机构认为大国间语言的互相渗透和影响在历史上有很多先例。
However, compared with the impact of English on the Chinese language in the past, experts say Chinese still has a limited influence on English.
但语言专家们认为相对于英语对中文的影响力来说，中文对英语的影响力还是相当有限的。
"One reason for the difficulty in translation between English and Chinese is that they stemmed from entirely different language families, " Payack said.
“中英文互译存在困难的一个重要原因是这两种语言源于不同的语言家族，”Payack说。
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.
英语，源于原始印欧语系，与希腊语、拉丁语、罗曼斯语等等有着密切的关系；而汉语则发源于原始汉藏语系，他解释说。
"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.
“这种差异使得两种语言的融合变得有趣和复杂，这就是为什么一些Chinglish(中国式英语)让外国人迷惑甚至发笑的原因，”他说。
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.
来自北京外国语大学的语言教授韩宝成认为Chinglish的使用不能被看作是中文对英语的影响力之一。
"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，有限数量的有中文渊源的英语新词出现主要是因为从英语已有的词汇中无法找到对应表达中文确切意思的词，”他说。
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.
但同时，作为跨文化交流方面的资深专家魏崇新院长也指出这两种语言的融合为中、英文学习者提供了更有利的学习机会，并使学习这两种语言变得相对简单一些。
"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，正是因为这种互相渗透和吸收，这两种语言才具有更强的活力和更广泛的使用者，”他说。
The 24-year-old Canadian can speak Mandarin fluently.
Lisa Hoffman，24岁，是一位加拿大来华留学生。她今年毕业于对外经贸大学，可以说一口流利的普通话。
"Since the two languages are completely different, it's really difficult for foreigners, especially those living overseas, to remember Chinese words, " she said.
她说：“因为中英文是完全不同的两种语言，所以特别是对于那些生活在国外的人，想要记住中文词汇是非常困难的。”
"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."
“比如我妈妈，她一点中文也不会说。她需要借助英文单词：‘knee’和‘how’的发音记住中文的‘你好’。但她可以很容易记住一些有中文渊源的词，比如白酒(baijiu),因为这些词频繁地出现在日常生活中。”她说。
发表于 2013-11-10 12:25:10
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