Tag: Multilingualism

Hong Kong English Internet Slang

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

by Psy Poon

The Origin of Internet Slang

Hong Kong English Internet Slang was initially developed mainly because of the limitation of words on early appeared online chatting platforms like ICQ and MSN Messenger, just like how the English community uses a lot of abbreviations when only 140 characters(now it is 280 characters) were allowed on Twitter before 2018. During then, Hong Kong people created a few Internet slangs, for example, c replaces ‘see’, and u replaces ‘you’. However, most of them were buried with the downfall of ICQ until the revival of Internet Slang.

The Revival of Internet Slang

With the rise of social media during the 2000s, Internet Slang captured attention once again. Especially in the early 2010s when platforms like Facebook and Twitter were gaining popularity rapidly, people sought convenience and speed in typing while they might have tens of friends in chat room or inbox. Here are the major advantages of using Internet Slang:

  • Is fun to use
  • Has shorter spelling
  • Enables faster typing
  • Implies informality
  • Indicates identity
  • Expresses in trendy way

After knowing all these pros, are you surprised why the use of Internet Slang is still growing?

The Development of English Internet Slang

Well affected by world trends and globalization, online forums dedicated to Hong Kong people such as HKGolden were established and they often got influenced by foreign cultures, but only the ones that are popular.

For example, the graph below shows the timeline of different acronyms in history of Internet Language. However, only YOLO(You Only Live Once), a slang developed in the black culture, survived with its discernible use in the Hong Kong Internet. It is even included in the Oxford English Dictionary. The hit of the song The Motto(YOLO) by Drake in 2011 was probably the cause, making the phrase ‘YOLO’ popularized.

Picture retrieved from: https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hss-language-evolution/wiki/chapter-12/)

Its appearance in the chorus part of BTS(a famous Korean boy band)’s song Go Go further proves the popularity of the slang ‘YOLO’ in different countries under the effect of globalization.

Another similar example is how the phrase ‘Nae Nae’ blew out when Watch me by Silentó was released in 2015. There used to be a Nae Nae dance craze which many teenagers were into in Hong Kong because of the catchy music and simple movement. Since the dance move seems like one is waiving and stepping back, ‘nae nae’ as slang could hold a variety of meanings like ‘saying bye to something in a cool/stupid way’, ‘a (cringey) no-no’, etc.

We see how Internet slang borrows cultures or originates from a specific place but ending up in being popular everywhere!

Common Hong Kong English Internet Slang in category

As mentioned before that Hong Kong is under the influence of popular culture, we developed our own set of Internet slang, the characteristics are as belows:

I. Shortened form of words

A. Abbreviations(the most common in English, the formation of slangs like lol as ‘laugh out loud’, btw as ‘by the way’ and omg as ‘on my god’, etc.)

  1. Places, e.g. HKBU(Hong Kong Baptist University), NP(North Point)

2. People, e.g. KOL(key opinion leader), LKS(Li Ka Shing)

B. Initialisms regarding syllables or pronunciations(the formation of slangs like hbd as happy birthday and bbq as barbeque, etc.)

  1. Places, e.g. MK(Mongkok), CWB(Causeway Bay)

2. Platforms, e.g. FB(Facebook), IG(Instagram)

3. Foul or vulgar language, e.g. cls(癡[ci1]撚[nan2]線[sin3], meaning ‘insane’ or ‘crazy’), dllm(屌[diu2]你[nei5]老[lou5]母[mou2], meaning f*** your mother)

C. Single word contractions(the formation of slangs like good → gd, what → wt, okay → k and though → tho, etc.)

D. Replacement of letters(the formation of slangs like good → gud and what → wut, etc.)

E. Clipping(the formation of slangs like sorry → sor and post → po, etc.)

II. Konglish

A. Loan translation

  1. Foul or vulgar language, e.g. seven(柒[cat1], one of the vulgar names for penis, also the capital form of the chinese numeral seven ‘七’, meaning one is acting stupid), on nine(戇[ngong6]鳩[gau1], meaning similarly with ‘seven’)

2. Common expressions or Cantonese puns

a)add oil(加油, meaning an encouragement like ‘fighting!’)

b)laugh die me(笑死我, meaning something is funny to the point that can make the person died from too much laughter)

c) no eye see(無眼睇, meaning something is like an eyesore to oneself)

d) nine not following eight(九唔搭八, meaning that someone is providing irrelevant responses)

(For more examples, please visit https://zolimacitymag.com/tag/cantonese-language/)

III Typing out English syllables that sound similar to Cantonese

A. Interjections

B.Cantonese dialects that no Chinese words can represent, e.g. hea(the state of being lazing or chilling out), chok(acting cool)

IV Direct use of English inflectional suffixes

A. -ed indicating past event, e.g. doed(did)

B. -ing indicating progressing event, e.g. walking street(shopping)

C. ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ indicating comparatives and superlatives, e.g. gooder, goodest

V Mix-and-match of slang formation(for example, thx is first contracted or clipped that ‘th’ represents the sound /θaŋ/, and then ‘s’ is replaced by ‘z’, similar to what happened to plz)

From the list above, it can be observed that vulgar languages or Cantonese expressions have contributed a lot to the creation of various Internet slang in Hong Kong. These characteristics act as another proof that the use of Cantonese profanity and code-switching are prevalent, shedding light on the local linguistic culture.

English used as inclusivity: Variations between Hong Kong and Australia

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

by Casey Morrison

In my experiences so far in Hong Kong I’ve noticed that even though English is one of the recognised languages, as with most places, there are varying degrees and social settings where English is used. Local Hongkongers code switch between Cantonese, English and Konglish (a merging of both Cantonese and English) which can allow for broader inclusivity between Cantonese and non-Cantonese speakers. As a native English speaker, I wonder then how and to what extent this overlapping of languages happens? Within University and other academic spaces more intricately phrased English conversations tend to happen when compared with the English used in the streets of Hong Kong. Casual conversation in stores or at food vendors tend to use much more simplified language and with frequent hand gestures to enhance meaning of speech. Despite these different degrees of English, communication is still occurring. Depending on the social setting or the audience, Cantonese speakers also switch between Cantonese and English in order to interact with listeners better. I have experienced Hongkongers speak in English to me then turn to speak Cantonese or Konglish to their classmates seeking translation or clarification. In this circumstance, I am able to understand some of their dialogue because of the incorporation of English words. Inadvertently culture and language are being shared and understood.

So how does English in Hong Kong compare to English used in Australia?

Australian Cultural Diversity Image retrieved from: https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/10/why-has-multiculturalism-worked-downunder/

Although Australia is a very multicultural, cosmopolitan community, English is the main mode of communicative speech. In a public setting English is used to encompass everyone and it is only in private settings or in small same-culture groups that other cultures use their native language. In this way, English becomes the inclusive language spoken in Australia. Because Australia has many different cultures and languages interwoven within the very fabric of the country, if every culture was to speak their native language/s in public settings our society would become exclusive and confusing. Compared to Hong Kong where English and Chinese (Cantonese, Putonghua, Mandarin) are the officially spoken languages, Australia could potentially have over 200 languages being commonly spoken. Therefore, as English is the most predominant, is it by default the official spoken language and all people who choose to immigrate to Australia must prove competency in English when sitting the Australian Citizenship test, “The test assesses your English language skills and what you know about Australia and Australian citizenship” (Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, 2019). With this in mind, it’s very interesting to look at how English impacts and shapes the way that societies interact and communicate. In order for me to interact with locals in Hong Kong in their own language I would need to master 2 to 3 languages, whereas if I was to talk with every culture in their native language in Australia, I would need to learn more than 200 languages. 

In Hong Kong during the 1970’s English was established in the “…creation of ‘modern’ Hong Kong society…” and even as ‘Chinese’ was seen to be an official language during this period, textbooks within classrooms were still written in English (Bacon-Shone & Bolton, 2008). This allowed for students in Hong Kong to be immersed in and live the English language. This is in contrast to Australia’s teaching and learning of secondary languages where, as outlined by the Western Australian Department of Education (n.d.), “Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and Japanese” are taught in Primary Schools, but as an independent subject unrelated to other subjects. This approach allows for a broader scope of language and cultural learning however, non-language lessons are still taught in English and outside of the classroom it is hard to practice a foreign language in everyday life. 

Bilingual Road Signage Image retrieved from: https://yp.scmp.com/over-to-you/columns/article/108582/face-should-all-hong-kong-schools-be-bilingual

As can seen in this image, multilingualism is inherent in Hong Kong life, allowing English speakers easy access to day-to-day living in Hong Kong because signs, menus and even road markings are translated into English alongside the Cantonese characters. Our multicultural environment is something I cherish about Australian culture however, if we were to facilitate the same level of language incorporation as Hong Kong, it would be very difficult, if not impossible to include every nationality and language represented in Australia. Even if only 30 of the more common languages were adopted as official languages in Australia, exclusive cultural groups would be fostered and language barriers and hierarchies would arise, which would not be in the social interests of Australian communities. 

Bilingual Street Sign Image retrieved from: https://www.hk-victoria-peak.com/how-to-go-to-the-peak-hong-kong-from-mongkok.html

English is a unifying language that enables numerous nationalities to be included at both global and national levels. Hong Kong incorporates English alongside the official Chinese languages, as a secondary language, to deepen global interactions and participation of people in society. On the other hand, in Australia, English as the primary and predominant ‘official’ language in our society means that all Australians regardless of culture, background or primary language are able to communicate through a common language. 

Despite English being used in different ways its implementation in both countries is used to create one thing…

Inclusion for all.

References

Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. (2019). Immigration and Citizenship.          Retrieved from: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/test-and-interview

Australian Government Department of Education. (n.d.). Languages in Primary School.    Retrieved from: https://www.education.wa.edu.au/languages

J, Bacon-Shone & K, Bolton. (2008). Bilingualism and multilingualism in the HKSAR: language      surveys and Hong Kong’s changing linguistic profile. Open University of Hong Kong           Press: Kowloon, Hong Kong. Pp 25-51.

Lost in Translation

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

by Sneha Lalwani

Once you roam the streets of Mong Kok or pass by any local “Dai Pai Dong”, you’ll see oddly put together sentences in English that make sense…. But also don’t.

The English side of the menu has weird translations. Translations like: “Stir-Fried Wikipedia, Steam Eggs with Wikipedia, Stir-Fried Wikipedia with Pimientos, etc…”

Now, we all know Wikipedia is inedible, right?

(“Jimmy Wales Grows Them Good and Organic“, 10/10/2007)

But it’s not only the restaurant menus here that have a random cluster of words stuck together to resemble something of a sentence, no. Some signs, notices and advertisements also have the same problem. 

No matter how crazy funny these translations may be, they simply could be errors. Spelling errors, grammar errors and a lack of understanding in English.

Or just Google Translate not being able to translate ‘Street Speak Cantonese’ into coherent sentences.

The problem is, with certain restaurants, they may not feel the need to hire professional translators everytime they change the menus. And ‘notice-makers’ may believe the general audience is Chinese so they will understand the sign without having to read the English translation.

You see, the reason is that even fluent translators may find the task of translation difficult, and food menus are especially challenging. Certain phrases, words and meanings get lost in translation. 

We’ve all tried to tell a joke and translated it, but it just didn’t sound as funny in the other language! This is a common occurrence in translation. Meanings often get left behind.

These mistakes are more apparent with languages as different as English and Chinese. Chinese is an ideograph language, while English is an alphabet based language. 

Which would explain why certain dishes like “毛血旺” would be translated literally into “Wool Blood Flourishing” instead of “duck blood and beef tripe soup”

and signs like “汀步路,小心滑倒!” would be translated into “Slip and fall down carefully!” instead of “Downwards slope, Caution-Slippery!”

(35 Hilarious Chinese Translation Fails, Lina D, Bored Panda, 2013)

Chinese sentence structures are vastly different from English sentence structures. So much so, that if you translate word for word, you get weird sentences. These badly translated words can be rephrased and arranged grammatically only if the context is known.

The main problems in translation are:

  1. The Grammar

In Chinese there is no singular or plural form. It also doesn’t have verb conjugations to indicate tenses. It means you should figure the translation out only by getting the context.

  1. Idioms and Proverbs

There are a number of indirect expressions in Chinese. We all know tradition and culture is deep rooted in Chinese, and when it comes to translating idioms, you may need to read the idiom over and over again. It may seem incomprehensible at first and difficulties may arise when describing things too.

  1. Sentence Structure and Construction

In Chinese, the two types of sentences are simple and complex sentences. 

The complex sentence is made up of a big combination of simple ones. Therefore it is quite important for a translator to have good command of sentence patterns.

(It’s never your successful friends posting the inspirational quotes, Facebook, 29/03/19)

In this photo, the Chinese ‘proverb’ “遠睇如絲如畫近睇係猪扒” is translated as “you talk like angel walk like model but your body look like buffalo.”

But if you translate the phrase without translating the unnecessary parts, the translation would be “You look better from a distance, Ugly up close.”

Now the thing here is that in Chinese, the phrase rhymes, but in English, creativity and knowledge is needed to make the phrase rhyme.

We may think this is entertaining, but bad translations like this often hurt a country’s image. Posing a threat to a country’s multilingual status.

In some cases, the translations can get so horrible that they contain hurtful slurs or slang that may damage the city’s image more.

Public signs and English menus are a good way to ensure tourists come around, especially if they are done right. But of course, this job relies heavily on the translators. Literal translation, should not be the answer to things like this, as it may be classified as ‘Bad English’ 

To end this on a lighter note, some translations are perfectly fine! Just tragically mistyped, like the picture below.

(Irene Raun, Pinterest)

How social factors affects one to be multilingual in Hong Kong

Posted on by Benedict J. L. ROWLETT

by Junny Law

Being able to speak multi languages in Hong Kong seems to be a feature of high class, as people think they have more prestige. The ability of speaking in a wide variety of language is influenced by many factors. Where we live, which sex we belongs to and how old we are are the common reasons. In this article, it takes a deep look at these factors and how multilingualism affects one’s impression, the prestige.

(Wong Tai Sin in 1924, Chuk Yuen Village is where Wong Tai Sin Temple stands now. p. 347 of Historical cum Social Study on Kowloon City district in connection with Kai Tak area.)

Firstly, regions show that the use of languages varies across geographical places. With regards to Bacon-Shone, Bolton and Luke (2015), residents in the eastern part of the Hong Kong Island (eastern) can speak English, Cantonese and Putonghua well, while Wong Tai Sin (WTS) residents has the lowest ability. WTS people cannot speak as great and many types as the eastern part since the accessibility of WTS is lower. Many decades ago, it was a slope with many rivers, which was inconvenient to have interactions. Even until now, there remains hills and slopes in that area, like the Diamond Hill, which separates residents to have much connections. Meanwhile, Hong Kong island provides more opportunities to speak these languages even though there are also many slopes. Since Hong Kong Island is a known commercial center, the core for business development, places around Central are the nice accommodations for international elites. With the global perspectives and the diversified culture, eastern residents have better understandings on different languages and even can socialize in multi languages. Therefore, districts affect us to be multilinguals.

Secondly, gender brings effect on being a multilingual. According to the Census and Statistics Department in 2019, men have higher ability to speak different languages totally. Take English and Putonghua speaking as the examples, the differences between the abilities of male and females are the lowest, 1.7%, and the highest, 3.6%, respectively. Shocked by the result, more men can speak Mandarin well, even though the reality gives impressions that many mainland women come and live here and women gossip lots. They seem to know more languages or dialects. However, the fact shows an opposition. Men are better to languages since they are required to talk more formally. For instance, it is a phenomenon that there are more men to say rules in the occupational situations, so they usually interact with others in a more official and formal way. They need to have their speech more carefully. Unlike women, who mainly speak languages to show opinions. Thus, sex is a factor of being multilingual.

Thirdly, the use of languages is affected by ages. Teenagers are more familiar with different languages than the elderly. As stated by Bacon-Shone et al. (2015), there are nearly 60% of the adolescents can speak Cantonese, Putonghua and English while it reaches to lower than 10% at elderly in 2011. There is a continuously decline of the percentage, which means that the younger the citizens are, the higher rate they are the multilinguals. As during 15-19 years old, teens receive education or work in societies, where they receive the up-to-date information and can follow the trends to upgrade themselves, they use and speak more languages. However, the elderly, who may feel satisfied with their life, are not willing to receive further education. Besides, their body functions are poorer that it is difficult to have mouth movements and memorize the languages that once they are used to speak. They do not speak as frequently as the youngers. Thus, whether we can be the multilinguals dependents on our ages.

(See the green line.)

Last but not least, being a multilingual can add marks on the first impression. As speaking more languages can get higher prestige. Oppositely, if one can speak mother-tongue only, it decreases his/her own marks. Imagining you want others help you, but you can express the ideas clearly in mother-language only, with none of the colleagues can understand your language, except the janitor. It is assumed that you will think that the janitor is more educated than the business partners since he/she is the only one who knows you well. It is like seeking help from an uninhabited island. The janitor is the only one who can help you and it is meaningless to scream to other captains. It is noticed that people do not judge others in one perspective, but even consider the language proficiency. We usually want to be like the one who can speak more than 20 languages as we think that the speakers have more power and are in high status. Thus, being multilinguals can give better images and get higher prestige.

In all, there are many social factors affecting us to be multilinguals. While it is not easy to learn every language, it brings advantages to us, especially our prestige. Therefore, it is hoped that we can strive our best to learn different languages.

References

Bacon-Shone, J., Bolton, K., & Luke. K. K. (2015 August). Language Use,            Proficiency and Attitudes in Hong Kong. Social Sciences Research Centre, The University ofHong Kong. Retrieved from http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/2184 37/1/Content.pdf.

(2019). Demographic Statistics Section (2), Census and Statistics Department.      Retrieved from https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_1149/T0     1_12.xlsx.

Ho, P. P., Lo, K. Y., Ng, W. Y., & Lam, S. M. (2009 December). Historical cum Social      Study on Kowloon City district in connection with Kai Tak area. Retrieved from        https://www.heritage.gov.hk/en/doc/conserve/kowlooncityfinalreport.pdf.