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Creative Use of English as Phonetic Markers in Chinese Context

Received: 17 January 2019    Accepted: 10 February 2019    Published: 22 February 2019
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Abstract

This research explored the linguistic features of English phonetic loanwords in terms of matrix, carrier, recipient and donor, the approaches from a recipient to its corresponding donor and the reasons for the creative use of English as phonetic markers in Chinese context. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) all matrix is grammatical Chinese. The carriers located in the matrix are fixed expressions, or formulaic language; most recipients are made up of two Chinese characters, a few of which are even nonwords in Chinese; Donors are closely related to famous persons, popular brands, pop songs, popular software packages, and films and TV shows, which embody popularity, modernism and prestige. (2) When a recipient is replaced by a donor, the number of Chinese characters combination is not always equal to that of the corresponding donors, for most of two-character combinations will decrease to monosyllabic English phonetic loanwords. In addition, English phonetic loanwords can derivate further both vertically and horizontally. (3) The English phonetic loanwords are used in Chinese context mainly for playful effects, low-level cosmetic effects and the marking effects of multicultural identities.

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 5, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11
Page(s) 1-8
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Loanwords, English, Chinese, Internet

References
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[2] Zhang, W. 2015. Multilingual creativity on China’s internet. World Englishes, 34 (2), 231-246.
[3] Sun, M. & Tong, M. 2016. The grammatical analysis and social function of Chinese-English code-switching in TV advertisements. Foreign Language Research, 191 (4), 105-109.
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[5] Yu, X. & Liu, A. 2017. The use and role of Chinese-English code-switching in internet discourse. Overseas English, 17 (1), 215-216.
[6] Myers-Scotton, C. 2001. The matrix language frame model: Developments and responses. Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 21 (3), 165-175.
[7] Kozinets, R. 2010. Netnography: Doing ethnographic research online. New York: Sage Publications.
[8] Botha, W. 2017. The use of English in the social network of a student in south china. English Today, 33 (4), 19-29.
[9] Li, S. 2015. English in the linguistic landscape of Suzhou. English Today, 31 (1), 27-33.
[10] Niu, R. 1993. The Culture of Chinese Place Names. Beijing: The Chinese Overseas Publishing House.
[11] Zhang, J., Lin, N. & Li, D. 2012. Mosuos’ awareness of taxonomic relations in word associations, lexicon decisions and semantic categorizations. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53 (3). 191-199.
[12] Sherzer, J. 1993. On puns, comebacks, verbal dueling, and play languages: speech play in Balinese verbal life. Language in Society, 22 (2), 217-233.
[13] Scherling, J. 2016. The creative use of English in Japanese punning. World Englishes, 35 (2), 276-292.
[14] Xu, M. & Tian, C. 2017. So many tuhao and dama in china today. English Today, 33 (2), 2-8.
[15] Zhang, R. 2015. History of Food Culture in China. New York: SCPG Publishing Corporation.
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[19] Seargeant, P. & Caroline, T. 2011. English on the internet and a ‘post-varieties’ approach to language. World Englishes, 30 (4), 496-514.
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  • APA Style

    Chuanbin Ni, Xueli Liu. (2019). Creative Use of English as Phonetic Markers in Chinese Context. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 5(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11

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    ACS Style

    Chuanbin Ni; Xueli Liu. Creative Use of English as Phonetic Markers in Chinese Context. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2019, 5(1), 1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11

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    AMA Style

    Chuanbin Ni, Xueli Liu. Creative Use of English as Phonetic Markers in Chinese Context. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2019;5(1):1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11,
      author = {Chuanbin Ni and Xueli Liu},
      title = {Creative Use of English as Phonetic Markers in Chinese Context},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-8},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20190501.11},
      abstract = {This research explored the linguistic features of English phonetic loanwords in terms of matrix, carrier, recipient and donor, the approaches from a recipient to its corresponding donor and the reasons for the creative use of English as phonetic markers in Chinese context. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) all matrix is grammatical Chinese. The carriers located in the matrix are fixed expressions, or formulaic language; most recipients are made up of two Chinese characters, a few of which are even nonwords in Chinese; Donors are closely related to famous persons, popular brands, pop songs, popular software packages, and films and TV shows, which embody popularity, modernism and prestige. (2) When a recipient is replaced by a donor, the number of Chinese characters combination is not always equal to that of the corresponding donors, for most of two-character combinations will decrease to monosyllabic English phonetic loanwords. In addition, English phonetic loanwords can derivate further both vertically and horizontally. (3) The English phonetic loanwords are used in Chinese context mainly for playful effects, low-level cosmetic effects and the marking effects of multicultural identities.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Creative Use of English as Phonetic Markers in Chinese Context
    AU  - Chuanbin Ni
    AU  - Xueli Liu
    Y1  - 2019/02/22
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11
    T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 8
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-1271
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20190501.11
    AB  - This research explored the linguistic features of English phonetic loanwords in terms of matrix, carrier, recipient and donor, the approaches from a recipient to its corresponding donor and the reasons for the creative use of English as phonetic markers in Chinese context. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) all matrix is grammatical Chinese. The carriers located in the matrix are fixed expressions, or formulaic language; most recipients are made up of two Chinese characters, a few of which are even nonwords in Chinese; Donors are closely related to famous persons, popular brands, pop songs, popular software packages, and films and TV shows, which embody popularity, modernism and prestige. (2) When a recipient is replaced by a donor, the number of Chinese characters combination is not always equal to that of the corresponding donors, for most of two-character combinations will decrease to monosyllabic English phonetic loanwords. In addition, English phonetic loanwords can derivate further both vertically and horizontally. (3) The English phonetic loanwords are used in Chinese context mainly for playful effects, low-level cosmetic effects and the marking effects of multicultural identities.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

  • School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

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