Critique: “A dialect is perhaps nothing more than a language that gets no respect”–Lippi-Green

Prestigious dialect–Cantonese

The Yuè dialects , or Cantonese, are spoken by 71 million people in the province of Guǎndōng and the city of Guǎngzhōu (Canton), as well as in Hong Kong, and in expatriate Chinese communities and Chinatowns in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States . The origins of Cantonese are not known due to absence of reliable historical records, however, it is generally agreed that it had acquired linguistics traits distinguishing it from other Chinese dialects by the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).

Cantonese is one of the major languages of China. Standard Cantonese, also known as the Guǎndōng dialect  refers to the most prestigious dialect spoken in Guǎngzhōu (Canton), Hong Kong, and Macau.

Cantonese is a most widespread dialect in China and because of its soicalhistorical reason. Like Cantonese, Shanghainese are also very  popular in China.

(http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/may/Cantonese.html)

#1 Remember ? Ali G’s language

Ali G’s language is a kind of Creole in England, which has some differences with British English. Actually it is a combination of Lodon English and  London Jamaican. The use of Ali G’s language is a represent of low-overt prestige which is associated with low class and lack of education. 

But with the wildspread of Ali G’s language on the TV show and on  the internet, this kind of languae is given another meaning. It could be a high-overt  prestiage and reprents youth culture. This kind of English cross language and culture and becomes a cultural ideology in the modern society.  

The change of Ali G’s English shows a process from an endangered English to a revitalized English.

Here’s a character like no other

If you are thinking of picking up some Chinese during your stay in the Middle Kingdom, there’s one character you will definitely want to know. 囧 (jiong), which first appeared on oracle bones about 3,000 years ago, has become one of the most frequently used icons by the Chinese Internet community.

This old character 囧 (jiong), which first appeared on oracle bones about 3,000 years ago, has become one of the most frequently used icons by the Chinese Internet community. [China Daily]

The character has gained iconic status and has come to mean “sad and frustrated”, as it resembles a frowning face. The symbol, whose original meaning is “bright”, has attracted a lot of online buzz with its new Net definition.

This new meaning has found wide-ranging use in expressions such as, “I was terribly 囧 to find myself in the same elevator as my boss after I had complained to him about a colleague”, or “It’s really 囧 that I was in such a hurry that I threw my handbag instead of the garbage bag into the trash can”.

This character has also given birth to a great many expressions appropriate for a variety of social situations. Bloggers are using it in their blog names, such as Jiong Pig. More than 500 Jiong BBS were born overnight, such as “Jiong Village” on baidu.com. And some Net users have even built an official website for Jiong, such as “Jiong Everyday” on Youku (a hot video sharing site), which hosts a daily humorous video on the emerging Jiong culture.

A recent report about Ig Nobel – a parody of the Nobel Prizes by the scientific humor magazine, Annals of Improbable Research – in a Beijing-based newspaper even used Jiong Science as a headline to describe quirky research on such questions as, does drinking coca cola kill sperm and why do people pick their nose. A cartoon of a robot carrying test tubes and wearing a Jiong face, won over many readers.

But despite its popularity, 90 percent of Chinese can’t pronounce this character, according to an online survey. It is believed 囧 is inspired by the shape of a window and the fact that a window lets in light and hence, brightness. No one is sure how this ancient character has come alive to gain increasing popularity in today’s life.

Jiong now is not just another Chinese expression but has come to represent a particular lifestyle. At first, the character was popular only on the Net but has now begun to infiltrate people’s offline lives as well.

Jiong is proving invaluable to brands wooing young consumers and turning to the Internet for inspiring ways to sell themselves. The character has found its way to handbags, shoes, and even to trademarks.

Early this year, sports brand Li Ning designed a shoe line that featured Jiong and a milk tea shop in Beijing which named itself Jiong is reportedly enjoying booming business.

Bowls and mugs feature patterns inspired by the Jiong character. [China Daily]

(China Daily Ocotber 28, 2008)

]]> http://quincygu.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/2-jiong-loss-to-revitalization/feed/ 1 quincygu This old character 囧 (jiong), which first appeared on oracle bones about 3,000 years ago, has become one of the most frequently used icons by the Chinese Internet community. [China Daily] Bowls and mugs feature patterns inspired by the Jiong character. [China Daily] http://quincygu.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/week-415minites-writing-in-class/ http://quincygu.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/week-415minites-writing-in-class/#comments Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:37:25 +0000 quincygu http://quincygu.wordpress.com/?p=4 ]]>     With more and more languages becoming endangered, what we lose is not only the language itself, but different visions for people to look at the world. Before these languages go to the extinction, people have their responsibilities to take actions to revitalize them. Documenting and recording these languages, encouraging people to learn them and passing them from generation to generation are all the solutions to those endangered languages.

    But with the ongoing process of globalization, it seems that English has becom the dominant language in the world. More and more people are more willing to learning it and become bilingual or even multilingual and many languages are inevitable influenced by English. Languages in the world become diverse and are given to other ideologies from different values. Languages are changing day by day  accompanying with the emergence of the advanced technology. It is a good trend, i think, because people keep their own languages and develop them.

    While for other minority languages, we need to reconsider it.  Less and less people speak them and these languages are going to the brink of extinction. Why?  People who speak these languages have no community to use them and also, even if they speak these languages, they feel shame.  How people will have this feeling? Because  their language cannot get respected. What do we need to do? It is a conciousness-rasing process of equalizing the status of every languages in people’s mind.  No matter what kind of language is a precious treasure in the world’s culture. It makes me think of the minority autonomy regions in China. People living there have their own community to speak their language although the dominant language in China is Mandarine. It is a good solution for minority people to keep their language and culture. But I was told by a young man form Yi minority that some youngers can speak their language but cannot write it. It signs that this language begin to lose. In contrast, some developed areas in China, such as Shanghai and Guangdong, these dialects has strong life force. They even have their own TV programs to speak with the dialects and have books to teach them.  Maybe we can see from the examples that we need government’s support and funds to save the minority languages although these areas are not well developed.

This painting on the Berlin Wall could counted to be the sociocultural literacy. The words in German means that “there are still a lot of walls need to be torn down.” It shows German people’s best wishes to be whole and united. I would like to use this picture to make a conclusion in the language world, that is, we need to tear down the wall in the langauge world. all languages should not be separated or categorized into different levels. We need to treat every language as national treature and treat them respectfully. On one hand, we accept the change; on the other hand, we have to take actions to keep them survive hamorniously.