# English-influenced Chinese



## yuechu

On the subject of Chinglish, how do you call "English-influenced Chinese" in Chinese? (I mean the type of Chinese that someone like me might speak where we might accidentally use the wrong word, especially when translating from English)
英式中文 sounds like "British-influenced" Chinese, right? Would “英语式中文" work? (Chinglish, but from English to Chinese opposed to being from Chinese to English)
Thanks!

Mod note: Thread has been branched from an old thread.


----------



## Lamb67

Influence - WordReference.com 英汉词典
See under the influence of please


----------



## yuechu

Hi, Lamb67!
Thanks! Do you mean that it should be "被英语影响的中文"? (There were two entries for "under the influence of" and I wasn't sure which one you meant. The other one is 在__作用下")


----------



## radagasty

Speaking of English-influenced Chinese, « 被英語影響的中文 » is itself an example of such an expression, the structure of which, whilst not incorrect in Modern Chinese, is stylistically foreign. Under the influence of relative clauses in western languages, or constructions of the type _das_ _von Englisch beeinflußte Chinesische _beloved by Germans, the use of this construction—a clause ending in 的 preceding and modifying a noun, doubly so if it is passivised by 被—has grown tremendously. And, to me, it is a rather ugly construction, I am afraid to say, quite alien to the genius of the Chinese language.


----------



## yuechu

Thanks for the info, Radagasty! Would there be a better translation that sounds less foreign? (Maybe it is hard to translate in a way that sounds natural, right?)


----------



## T.D

The term Westernized-Chinese refers to "a pattern of written or spoken Chinese, characterised by significant influence from Western languages, with particular regards to grammar, vocabulary and syntax." 

It's called 西化/欧化/英式 汉语。


----------



## ovaltine888

翻译腔


----------



## hx1997

^ 西化/欧化汉语 are good terms, but they mean Western-language-style/European-language-style Chinese in general, not English-style in particular.

I think 英式中文, while potentially ambiguous, is good enough. In case confusion arises, you can always clear things up by further saying 英语式中文.

Edit: 翻译腔 isn't necessarily English-influenced; *英语*翻译腔 is. But will it work when the speaker isn't actually translating from English, but using their own words, although the words they say may be influenced by their English mind somehow?


----------



## T.D

ovaltine888 said:


> 翻译腔


I would say 翻译腔 is slightly different from Westernized Chinese.

翻译腔：我向上帝发誓我会用靴子狠狠地踢你的屁股。

Westernized Chinese: 我们*成功地*赢下了比赛。（while it should be 我们赢下了比赛。 “成功地”是从英语 successfully里借来的）

欧化汉语有很多元素其实已经进入现代汉语里面改不掉了。典型的例子比如上面的“成功地”，还有"这次旅行我们打算去北京，河北*和*哈尔滨"（没有意义的“和”）；“我们对这个问题*进行了*深入的研究”（无意义的多加动词）； “他被人称为是史上最好的篮球运动员”（不符合中文习惯的被动句式），等等等等。


----------



## ovaltine888

T.D said:


> “我们对这个问题*进行了*深入的研究”（无意义的多加动词）


我觉得这个例子并不正确。这个是典型的中式表达，常见于篇幅冗长但内容空洞的官话文字。如果直译成英文的话会产生不必要的动词“进行”，而成为典型的“中式英文”。

这个问题在Joan Pinkham编著的《中式英语之鉴 The Translator's Guide to Chinglish》中有详细阐述


----------



## T.D

ovaltine888 said:


> 我觉得这个例子并不正确。这个是典型的中式表达，常见于篇幅冗长但内容空洞的官话文字。如果直译成英文的话会产生不必要的动词“进行”，而成为典型的“中式英文”。


我个人觉得这是对英文里所谓“万能动词”的翻译。（比如do, take, etc） 也许有相互影响的因素在里面吧...所以这么看来其实两种语言都反对这种用法，我还一直以为英文就喜欢那样呢...


----------



## ovaltine888

其实"欧化中文"的最好的例子就是滥用“...化”...
人性化、结构化、集中化、老龄化、现代化、自由化、郑智化...


----------



## T.D

ovaltine888 said:


> 其实"欧化中文"的最好的例子就是滥用“...化”...
> 人性化、结构化、集中化、老龄化、现代化、自由化、郑智化...


我个人还是持开明态度哈哈哈，哪怕一种潮流从传统上来看是“错误的”，错的人太多了也就成为一种新的潮流了。


----------



## ovaltine888

T.D said:


> 我个人觉得这是对英文里所谓“万能动词”的翻译。（比如do, take, etc） 也许有相互影响的因素在里面吧...所以这么看来其实两种语言都反对这种用法，我还一直以为英文就喜欢那样呢...


但是在英文中，这种“万用动词”通常只是非正式的口语表达，而在正式表达中通常会使用更为简洁准确的动词。
相反，这种无意义的冗长表达却大量出现在中文语言的正式语境中，某种程度上已经成为了官话的固定格式，在体制内工作过的人应该深有感触。


----------



## T.D

ovaltine888 said:


> 但是在英文中，这种“万用动词”通常只是非正式的口语表达，而在正式表达中通常会使用更为简洁准确的动词。
> 相反，这种无意义的冗长表达却大量出现在中文语言的正式语境中，某种程度上已经成为了官话的固定格式，在体制内工作过的人应该深有感触。


我最近在看的一本英文写作书里也提到了在正式场合下英文也会出现这个问题。
书里举了很多很有意思的例子，比如医生问病人疼不疼，are you experiencing any pain, 而不是更简单直白的 does it hurt. 书里说当人们想要sound important的时候会不由自主的这样。也许这一点在更多的语言里也会有体现。


----------

