A Way With Words

By+Pan+Xiaoqiao

Chinese pinyin， the commonly used system for Romanizing standard Chinese， is a special form of the language. Compared with Chinese characters， pinyin boasts an advantage in the process of spreading Chinese culture around the world， and recent years have witnessed a growing number of Chinese words entering the English language in their pinyin form. However， until now there has been an absence of research into the Chinese languages impact on English by any authoritative institution. In light of this， the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies （ACCWS）， under the China International Publishing Group （CIPG）， has conducted a survey to fi nd out just how well Chinese is recognized outside of China.

The report was released on February 17， revealing the most recognized Chinese words overseas and that Chinese words are increasingly being used in the pinyin form as native English-speakers are developing an understanding of these words.

According to the report， words related to culture make up a majority of the 100 most recognized Chinese words， including traditional Chinese festivals such as chunjie （Spring Festival） and chongyang （Double Ninth Festival）. Particularly striking is that some Chinese words that used to be translated into English are now entirely replaced by the pinyin. Take panda for example， this cute animal is now not only known by its English name， but also as xiongmao， its Chinese name. Another example is jiaozi， long known as “dumpling” in the lexicon of English speakers， but nowadays the pinyin term jiaozi is more often used by foreigners. The latest installment of the Oxford English Dictionary even counts jiaozi among its exhaustive list of English vocabulary.

According to CIPG， the survey sought to probe how well Chinese words are recognized in English-speaking countries and chart the languages future development abroad. The survey was conducted in eight English-speaking countries， including the United States， the United Kingdom， Australia， the Philippines， South Africa， Canada， Singapore and India. Not only did the results suggest that a growing number of Chinese words are entering the English language in the form of pinyin， but it also indicated that there is rising understanding of Chinese words among foreigners.

The survey also reveals that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC）， political phrases such as zhongguomeng （the Chinese dream）， yidaiyilu （the Belt and Road Initiative）， mingyungongtongti（community with a shared future） and fanfu（anti-graft） are better recognized and understood in other countries， which implies a better recognition of the road China is on.endprint