Chinese Pidgin English (CPE)China Coast Pidgin(CCP).ppt

Chinese Pidgin English CPE China Coast Pidgin CCP Origins, Context, Features J. Lloyd Ling. 455 Introduction Three Types of CPE identified in Arends ,et. al. 1994 1.China Coast Pidgin mainland coastal ports from Guangzhou to Shanghai 2. Taiwan Pidgin English between maids taxi drivers and Europeans 3 Nauru Chinese Pidgin/Hamsoi Cantonese business owners, restaurant personnel, and other Naurans—mix of CPE and Mid-Pacific Pidgin English Characteristics of China Coast Pidgin CCP is a trade pidgin developed in commercial ports: first at Guangzhou Canton , and later at Ningbo, Xiamen Amoy , and Shanghai CCP is extinct like a T-Rex. “Looking at China Coast Pidgin English is like studying dinosaurs. Only the barest traces of the pidgin survive.”—Selby Selby 1995 CCP was an English-lexifier pidgin mostly + Portuguese vocabulary + French vocabulary + Malay + Hindi Sociolinguistic Environment British East India Company – 1711 Official trading port established at Canton Trade on Chinese side is monopolized and tightly controlled Chinese working with the English are often literate and educated Chinese forbidden to teach the foreigners the native tongue Prestige of literacy in the Chinese context 紅毛通用番語 Hongmao tongyong fanyu, “Everyday barbarian speech of the Red Hairs” 19th century Some phonological features of CCP Extra syllabic “spellings” Early primers for local traders were lists of words “spelled” phonetically with Chinese characters Chinese is largely monosyllabic and each graph represents one and only one syllable. So, “spellings” often inserted extra syllables for gaps in Cantonese phonology, ex. ‘year’ 夜啞 yeya no –r Some Phonological Features of CCP cont. Initials of Guangzhou Cantonese: p- p’- m- f- w- t- t’- n- l- ts- ts’- s- k- k’- ?- h- ?- Final consonants of Guangzhou Cantonese: -p -t -k -n -? Phonetic Substitution Shi Dingxu 1993 provides examples from Hongmao Tongyong Fanyu of Cantonese substit