Book contents
- Chinese Signs
- Chinese Signs
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I General Characteristics
- Part II Essential Signs
- Part III Other Signs
- 16 Advertising
- 17 Civic Signs
- 18 Dialectal Elements
- 19 The Chinese Diaspora
- 20 Foreign Infusion
- 21 (Supplemental): Mistranslated Signs
- References
- Index of Figures
- Index
19 - The Chinese Diaspora
from Part III - Other Signs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 February 2024
- Chinese Signs
- Chinese Signs
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I General Characteristics
- Part II Essential Signs
- Part III Other Signs
- 16 Advertising
- 17 Civic Signs
- 18 Dialectal Elements
- 19 The Chinese Diaspora
- 20 Foreign Infusion
- 21 (Supplemental): Mistranslated Signs
- References
- Index of Figures
- Index
Summary
Chinese can be found in most parts of the world. The signs in this chapter are mainly from the United States. A few are from Kyrgyzstan. Signs in the diaspora contexts are distinguished by the need to negotiate between Chinese and the local language(s), as Chinese is used to represent local contents. Both meaning-based translation and sound-based transliteration are used, as well as a combination of the two. Also notable are the dialectal elements. The language of the Chinese diaspora in North American is heavily Cantonese, as the earliest immigrants were from Cantonese speaking areas of China. Cantonese has also been adopted as sort of a lingua franca. Traditional characters are used as a rule, reflecting the dominance of traditional culture. The traditional vertical and right to left text orientation coexists with that of the modern horizontal and left to right format.
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- Information
- Chinese SignsAn Introduction to China's Linguistic Landscape, pp. 177 - 188Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024