Intergenerational language variation in Hong Kong

by Aliver Sheng

Although the official language of Hong Kong is Cantonese, with the development of science and technology and the progress of society, the language differences at different times are not small. Here, I divide them into the generation of young people, parents’ generation and grandparents’ generation generally. I mainly analyze the language differences among them in Hong Kong.

On account of the living environment, the development of science and technology and personality characteristics, young people often use homophonic, simplified, global, novel and nonstandard language. Homophone refers to use simple forms with the same pronunciation to replace other complex forms as “I c” means “I see”. Simplify is to shorten or abbreviate the way words are originally written, such as “bbl” means “be back later”. These two languages are the most popular among them in HK. Therefore, it is not uncommon for young people in Hong Kong to make up a sentence almost entirely with simplified words in their online communication, like “plz tell me sth abt the consultation” means “please tell me something about the consultation”. Globalization also is common either in spoken or written language, the most obvious is that Cantonese is intermingled with English in expression which is named Kongish. The phenomenon is also widespread in the parents’ area. The most important feature of young people’s language is that it is rich in content and changes quickly. Even in the same school, the language used by year 3 students is outdated for freshmen. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that modal particle (/læ/，/lʌ/，/wɒr/，/ar/) and dirty words are common in the language used by young people. Written language for exams still very official. All of these language impacts literariness with individuality and makes the language of young people full of flexibility and expressiveness.

Further information about modal particle：https://youtu.be/P-a0k9xS5Io

Our parents’ generation used formal and normative language, because of the work environment and grandparents’ education. However, they know some of the languages that young people use, and most of them are interested in learning about them, and some parents even use them with their children. Their language is more applicable to social life, as there are lots of words and phrases, which can avoid FTAs and maintain interpersonal relationships as well as social structure. For instance, when you visit someone’s home, the host will say “There’s no need to bring so many presents, you are too kind”, which can relieve the awkward atmosphere. This kind of euphemism is also common among the older generation, while the younger generation will say “thank you” directly. Sometimes, parents’ generation can be a medium of translation between young people and grandparents’ generation because they know something about both languages.

Due to limited technology and the social environment, grandparents’ generation neither know the language used by young people nor use it. In addition, many of them have immigrated from mainland China, such as Shanghai, Chaozhou, and Fujian, so they may speak Wai Tau, Taiwanese, Hakka or other dialects. Some of them speak Cantonese with an accent. For example, “你食飯未?” and “你食飯免?”, both of them means “have you eaten yet?”, the first one is normal Cantonese, the second one is different in the last word which is Hakka. In the past, these dialects were as a dominant language in Hong Kong as Cantonese is today. Now, these dialects are gradually disappearing and only a few elderly people can speak them. At the same time, young people born and raised in Hong Kong do not understand their language. There is a big generation gap between their language and that of the young.

See more about dialect information in HK. Please click:  http://archive.rthk.hk/mp4/tv/2018/HKCVET2018M00600010.mp4

They have many of the same expressions as the mainland, such as the number 886 represents “goodbye”, “520” which means “I love you” and they apply the same abbreviation skills and homophonic ways. One difference is that the mainland rarely mixes English with mandarin, but mainland people speak Chinglish. Generally speaking, the language variation of parents and grandparents and young people in HK also applies to the mainland. However, young people in the mainland have a language for chasing stars, namely, the language of fans circle, which is unknown to their parents and grandparents. Not only that, most of the Internet language has become the daily oral expression of parents and young people, but the written language is still very formal. Another difference lies in the universality of dialects. Most grandparents speak mandarin or a dialect with an accent. Young people who can speak dialects can master both dialects and mandarin at the same time. They can communicate smoothly with their grandparents who speak dialects at home, while young people who cannot speak dialects cannot communicate with them. The ability to speak dialects declines over time. (More information about Chinglish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn3OQWP9br4)

In general, language variation increases with between different generations. But with the rapid popularization and dissemination of the network as well as the widespread use of orthodox language, the variation is gradually narrowing. Besides, more and more daily expressions are affected by the network language, even to the point of intergenerational communication.