英語也“入華隨華”

劉 鵬、朱一童/譯

住在中國有些時日了，發現自己說母語的能力在日漸退化，來自英語國家的同學也存在這種情況。退化有多種形式，其中一種是詞匯的大量遺忘。這種現象確實存在，那天我本想說“deport”（ 舉止， 驅逐），卻說成了“export”（出口）。語言能力的喪失歸咎于缺少使用母語的平臺，這種平臺可以是媒體，或是同本國人之間的母語交流。任何國家的語言，得不到充分練習，就會退化。

我想說一種更為潛移默化的語言退化。其根源正是中國文化，影響了我們這些說英語的人。如果母語是英語，現在又住在中國，或許已經深受其影響了。我發現自己有時把“buy”（買）說成“mai”，因為漢語中的“買”（mai）和英語中的“buy”（買）聽起來幾乎一樣，惟一是詞首輔音不同。

下面我舉幾個常見的例子，看看漢語環境對講英語人語言能力的沖擊。

Net bar： 中文叫“網吧”，這個中文名還不錯。而英語通常說“internet cafes”。中國人似乎認為“網吧”理所應當翻譯成“net bar”（net英語中表示“網”，bar英語中表示“吧、酒吧、吧臺”），這個想法“騙“過了很多粗心大意的外國人。而且是最早不知不覺間溜進英語教師們頭腦的不規范用法之一。

Name card： 在說英語的國家，商務人士舉辦很多會議討論商業問題。在商務場合，人們交換一種印刷好的特殊紙片，稱之為“business cards”（商務卡片）。在中國，人們把相互交換姓名、職位等信息的卡片叫做“name cards”（名片）。表面上看，中文的“名片”翻譯成“name card”更加直接、順暢。“name card”已經在旅居中國的外國人中間廣泛使用。同中國人做生意時，似乎早就把“business card”這個詞忘得一干二凈了。

House: 很多中國人都購買商品房，他們稱之為家。當他們購買住房時，就說“買房子”，而“房子”這個詞，經常翻譯成“house”。不過按照我們的習慣，“house”這個詞指的是只有富人才能買得起、中國人稱之為“別墅”的房子。然而我們這些居住在中國的老外卻發現，自己也把所有的中國住房統一稱為“house”了。也許我提到“你的房子”時，實際上指的是“你的別墅”。這兩者其實是兩回事。真叫人左右為難。

Bean curd: 這應該叫做“tofu”，沒錯吧？這個詞來自漢語的音譯。但據我所知，中國出售的所有詞典都將“豆腐”翻譯為“bean curd”，或許這兩個英文單詞準確無誤地表達了“豆腐”這兩個漢字的意思（bean豆類，curd凝塊， 凝結物），但是“bean curd”更像詞的直譯解釋，而翻譯為“tofu”似乎更加合適。可是已經有外國人開始撿起“bean curd”而丟掉“tofu”。哎！真可惜。

我想你們明白究竟是怎么回事兒了。母語中規范的表達方式（如internet cafe網吧， business card名片， tofu豆腐等等）被掉包，由其他英文單詞取代，蛻變成別扭的表達方式。而這樣的表達方式又非常符合某些漢語的表達方式。

諸如此類，一言難盡，然而以上寥寥數語卻開了個“好頭”。如果旅居中國已經有些時日的你發現自己也說著這樣的中式英語，那就危險了。歸國途中，很可能洋相百出。千萬要警惕！別讓中式英語不經意間“毀掉” 你說母語的舌頭。

[譯自《在中國的老外》]

English or Chinglish? That’s the question.

I’ve been living in China a while now…long enough to observe the long-term deterioration of my own native language abilities， as well as those of my fellow English speakers. This deterioration can take different forms， one of which is a general decay of one’s vocabulary. Although it is a very real phenomenon (the other day I used “export” when I meant to use “deport，” which is really kind of pathetic)， this kind of loss of mastery is due to lack of exposure， whether it be through media or human interaction with other native speakers. It would happen in any country， to speakers of any language， given that one’s native language is not being sufficiently exercised.

What I’d like to talk about is a much more insidious form of linguistic deterioration. Its source is， specifically， Chinese culture， and its target is English speakers. If you are a native speaker of English living in China， you may have already fallen victim. I find myself occasionally saying “mai” instead of “buy” because the Chinese word for “buy” sounds almost the same as “buy，” except for the initial consonant.

Below I give some of the common ways that the Chinese environment strikes down the native speaker’s linguistic competence.

Net bar. In Chinese， they’re called “Wangba”. This is fine. We generally call them “internet cafes” in English. The Chinese seem to think that“Wangba” should be translated as “net bar” in English， and many unwary foreigners have even been beguiled， by this idea. For English teachers， it’s usually one of the first nonstandard usage to creep in.

Name card. In the English-speaking world， business people have lots of business meetings to discuss business. On these occasions of business， business people exchange specially printed pieces of paper known as business cards. In China everyone calls them “name cards，” ostensibly because in Chinese they are called “Mingpian” and “name card” is a more direct translation. The use of “name card” is very widespread among foreigners living in China. In doing business with the Chinese， they seem to forget the word “business card” extremely quickly.

House. Most Chinese people live in apartments. They refer to these as their homes. When they purchase these apartments， they say they are buying a “fang zi”. This word is frequently translated as “house，” but in practice it， too， is just another apartment/condo. Only the wealthy own what one could really call a “house，” and they are called “Bieshu” by the Chinese. Yet we foreigners in China still find ourselves referring to Chinese apartments as a “house，” I might refer to “your house” when I really mean “your apartment.” It’s totally not a house， and it’s honestly kind of embarrassing.

Bean curd. It’s called “tofu，” OK? This English word comes from Chinese. I know all dictionaries sold in China will tell you “tofu” is “bean curd” in English， and that may represent the two characters nicely， but “bean curd” is more a definition than a comfortable translation. And yet some foreigners start saying “bean curd” rather than tofu. Deplorable.

I think you see the pattern. The normal native speaker way of saying something (internet cafe， business card， tofu， etc.) is replaced by a more awkward way of saying it using other English words — a way that conforms nicely to some Chinese word.

There have got to be more of these， but this short list is a good start. If you’ve been living in China a while and find yourself using all of these， you might be on dangerous ground. You’re going to start making a fool of yourself on trips home. Be vigilant! Resist Chinglish’s attempts at sabotaging your own command of your mother tongue!