Denglish, Chinglish, Hinglish and Singlish
Living and working in a foreign country has increased my English vocabulary with words described as “Denglish” - a mix between German (deutsch) and English. Two of the most pervasive Denglish terms in my life are “handy” (it’s a noun, not an adjective, meaning “cell phone”) and “beamer” (meaning “projector” as in the thing you plug to your laptop to present your PowerPoint slides).
Non-native English speakers all over the world are adapting English and inventing new words and expressions. The estimated number of English speakers in the world (including non-native speakers) has grown from 250 million to 1.3 billion in the last 40 years and the number is growing.
Variations of English are cropping up everywhere. Hinglish (Hindu-English) and Singlish (Singapore-English) both have large populations, but Chinglish (Chinese-English) with 250 million past and present English students in China has been noted as one of the prime drivers of globalization of the English language.
A few of the top Chinglish expressions include:
- No noising (Quiet Please)
- Airline pulp (food served by airlines)
- Question Authority (Information Booth)
For more fun with Chinglish, visit www.chinglish.de or Wiki.
Have you encountered words or expressions like this (half English, half something else) in your company or during your travels? Please share.
Image from chinglish.de
Tags: chinglish, drivers_of_globalization, german_deutsch, singlish_singaporeRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Customs and Culture
10 opinions for Denglish, Chinglish, Hinglish and Singlish
Miki
Jan 16, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Reminds me of the giant fight regarding Ebonics (http://www.linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/) in Oakland back in 1997.
Jean Mercedes
Jan 16, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for pointing that out. There are a number of “dialects” or regional forms of English in the US. Looking at your link, I gather that Ebonics or African American English is still very controversial. I would guess there is a higher tolerance when non-native speakers change the language as when regional or sociocultural differences change the language. Opinions?
miki@rampupsolutions.com
Jan 16, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Controversial is an understatement. I lived in San Francisco at the time. so it was high on the discussion list. Personally, I thought it was the stupidest idea to surface (still do) and one guaranteed to keep the kids using it from good jobs. The same applies to formalizing poor language skills in any curriculum. I bet that the slang of x-lish is NOT taught at any of the schools in the countries you mention.
Jean Mercedes
Jan 17, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I can see your point. However I do think it is a matter of how far you take it. Adding interesting expressions to your vocabularly will surely not limit your future, but like all dialects and many accents, if that is the only way you can speak, the mainstream will not be very accepting.
I find the Chinglish expression “airline pulp” very descriptive for the food served in the air and I could imagine this expression being used a lot more in the future. The Denglish term “Handy” for cell phone has already made it into American literature:
” ‘I can and I must. Now if you would bring me the handy, I will arrange a meeting.’ She gave him the cell phone.” Rita Mae Brown, Cat on the Scent, p. 175
And the hip hop expression “bling bling” I believe has already made it around the world. After all, it and other hip hop expressions were added to the Oxford English Dictionary back in 2003. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1471629/20030430/bg.jhtml
Miki
Jan 17, 2008 at 3:33 pm
It wasn’t about using slang, it was about teaching Eubonics in the school in the same way that Spanish, French, etc. are taught. It is not a foreign language. Further, I doubt that any college in the world accepts admission essays written in anything but the standard language including correct grammar of that country.
Ren Garcia
Jan 18, 2008 at 9:13 am
The Philippines has “taglish” from the local dialect, tagalog.
Some interesting twists:
“standby” means to loiter as opposed to “get ready”
“salvage” means to kill as opposed to “to save”
Eileen
Jan 23, 2008 at 9:17 am
Hello Jean, Stopped by your blog today for the first time and will definitely come back often. Enjoyed article about Denglish. I live here in Russia and it’s amazing what folks do to English - and what we foreigners do to Russian. Eileen
Jean Mercedes
Jan 23, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Thanks for your comments!
Eileen has a blog about Russia - check it out at http://russiawithlove.blogspot.com
Sayan
Jan 25, 2008 at 1:23 am
This is very interesting website. Just a quick correction:
Hinglish = (Hindi-English)
There is no language called Hindu. Here is another interesting insight: India has the most number of English speakers in the world if native & non-native speakers are combined.
You may find the source of this information quite interesting:
http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,,1355064,00.html
Thanks and keep up the good work !
Jean Mercedes
Jan 26, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Thanks for the correction, Sayan!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: