China bars English words in all publications

[Richard D]

Source: ANTARA

Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country`s publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril.

The General Administration of Press and Publication, which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language".

Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the body said on its website.

"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language," it said.

Read more: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/428567-china-bars-english-words-in-all-publications/

[krispos42]

1. So... now's the time to invest is 7,000-key keyboards? n/t

[The Second Stone]

4. It seems to me that the written Chinese language is

desperately outdated and disadvantaged when compared to alphabetic languages.

[HEyHEY]

2. I think it's a good move.

There's alot of stuff people miss out on cause it's in english out of nowhere. So, if you're a farmer from the country and are trying to read a paper there suddenly an alphabet you don't know in your face.

It should be noted the papers here are all state-run. So it's more of a policy than a law.

[Lucinda]

3. Thanks for the perspective.

It's always interesting to hear from someone who can relate to the news story at hand.

[Cutatious]

13. Then I guess it could apply here in America

Most people out here in farmland only know the official English language.

[Heywood J]

5. I guess they'll go back to describing things in loose metaphor,

rather than using the English name for things invented in English-speaking countries. That and they'll be throwing out the QWERTY keyboards that allow for typing characters. I don't think they even thought about the English URL that leads to their Chinese websites.

Besides, it's not like Chinese language "purity" or confusion was at stake with Mandarin vs. Cantonese.

[Duppers]

10. really!

Besides, all modern languages borrow from one another.

I don't know how they're going to be able to write and publish scientific papers w/o using some English words....or how they're going to resolve which Chinese language (Mandarin or Cantonese) should be used. Are they going to require all product packing to remove all English words too? How about all those signs in Hong Kong? Shanghai, which hosted Expo 2010 this past year, has really tried to accommodate foreigners speaking English. Will all the English signs in those two great cities be removed? I certainly hope not.

[alp227]

6. I remember seeing broken English aka Chinglish all the time in China

when i visited there during the early 2000s. Basically what the Chinese sign writers do is like using a primitive version of Google Translate! It's about damn time that Chinglish be extinguished.

Some examples,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinglish

[aquart]

7. Good grief. They think they're France.

[Art_from_Ark]

8. Vive l'Academie Chinoise!

:rofl:

[wtmusic]

9. Yeah, next they'll open a Department of Rock and Roll.

Heaven help us. :scared:

[dipsydoodle]

12. Don't you mean

Lock 'n Loll ?

[toastbutter]

11. You beat me to it

Nice job

[elleng]

14. Oui! Vive le hambourgeur!!!