Chinese-Ordered English
Encyclopedia
Chinese-ordered English (COE) is the use of English
words to represent the meaning of Chinese
phrases and sentences that maintains the word order (syntax
) of the original Chinese.
COE was conceived as a technique by the Confucius Institute
at Michigan State University
to help English speakers learn Mandarin Chinese. COE allows English speakers with no or little knowledge of Chinese to discover the similarities and differences between English and Chinese grammar
and syntax
. The similarities between English and Chinese (both being analytic languages with canonical subject-verb-object word order) are sufficient for most COE phrases and sentences to be understood by English speakers with little or no knowledge of Chinese, with differences between English grammar
and Chinese grammar
also being readily apparent.
For teaching purposes, COE is described to students as "the Chinese way" as in "How would we say 'Yesterday I went to the park with my friend' the Chinese way"? This is opposed to saying (or writing) something "in Chinese" which has all of the words in Chinese, none in English.
The COE above ("Yesterday I with friend go park.") shows that Chinese (a) has no past tense, (b) keeps the preposition phrase "with friend") next to the subject of the sentence (which it modifies), and (c) has no definite article equivalent to "the" in English. Other examples of COE can be found in the "literal translation
s" from Chinese to English provided in Chinese grammar.
Another example of COE that English-speaking readers should have no trouble understanding:
The preceding example shows that Chinese has no plural form and does not always express grammatical subjects and copulas.
The following example of COE is taken from a news article of August 24, 2006.
The well-known phrase 好好学习，天天向上 ("study hard, improve every day") is often literally translated by Chinese speakers as "good good study, day day up".
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
words to represent the meaning of Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
phrases and sentences that maintains the word order (syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
) of the original Chinese.
COE was conceived as a technique by the Confucius Institute
Confucius Institute
Confucius Institutes are non-profit public institutions that aim to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally, as well as facilitating cultural exchanges. They are sometimes compared to language and culture promotion organizations such as France's...
at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
to help English speakers learn Mandarin Chinese. COE allows English speakers with no or little knowledge of Chinese to discover the similarities and differences between English and Chinese grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
and syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
. The similarities between English and Chinese (both being analytic languages with canonical subject-verb-object word order) are sufficient for most COE phrases and sentences to be understood by English speakers with little or no knowledge of Chinese, with differences between English grammar
English grammar
English grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences...
and Chinese grammar
Chinese grammar
Standard Chinese shares a similar system of grammar with the many language varieties or dialects of the Chinese language, different from those employed by other language families, and comparable to the similar features found within the Slavic languages or Semitic languages...
also being readily apparent.
For teaching purposes, COE is described to students as "the Chinese way" as in "How would we say 'Yesterday I went to the park with my friend' the Chinese way"? This is opposed to saying (or writing) something "in Chinese" which has all of the words in Chinese, none in English.
Examples
Here is an example of a Chinese sentence, Pinyin, COE and English:- Hànzì : 昨天 我 和 朋友 去 公園.
- Pinyin : zuótiān wǒ hé péngyou qù gōngyuán.
- COE : Yesterday I with friend go park.
- English: I went to the park with my friend yesterday.
The COE above ("Yesterday I with friend go park.") shows that Chinese (a) has no past tense, (b) keeps the preposition phrase "with friend") next to the subject of the sentence (which it modifies), and (c) has no definite article equivalent to "the" in English. Other examples of COE can be found in the "literal translation
Literal translation
Literal translation, or direct translation, is the rendering of text from one language to another "word-for-word" rather than conveying the sense of the original...
s" from Chinese to English provided in Chinese grammar.
Another example of COE that English-speaking readers should have no trouble understanding:
“But Grandmother! You de (possessive) ear so big” Little Red Riding Hood towards bed walk to.
“Dear, this way good hear you speak” wolf answer.
“But Grandmother! You de eye so big” Little Red Riding Hood say.
“Dear, this way good see you” wolf answer.
“But Grandmother! You de tooth so big” Little Red Riding Hood de voice somewhat quiver.
“Dear, this way good eat you”. Wolf roar. He from bed in leap, begin chase little girl.
The preceding example shows that Chinese has no plural form and does not always express grammatical subjects and copulas.
The following example of COE is taken from a news article of August 24, 2006.
Locate at JiLin province JilinJilinJilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
city border in de (possessive) Songhua RiverSonghua RiverThe Songhua or Sunggari River is a river in Northeast China, and is the largest tributary of the Heilong River , flowing about from Changbai Mountains through Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. The river drains of land, and has an annual discharge of .As the Second Songhua River, it joins the...
branch Mengliu River recently happen chemical pollution incident. Through JiLin city government emergency treatment, so far pollution already get control. Shonghua river in no test out feature pollutant. Through JiLi city Environment Protection Bureau staff on-spot examination, find part water appear red, and accompany small amount bubble. Incident happen after, national Environment Protection Bureau、JiLi province government and provincial Environment Protection Bureau relevant leaders on-spot direct monitor prevention control work. JiLi city Environment Protection Bureau with thousands min (measure word) local police、fireman day night fight, at from Mengliu river enter Shonghua river spot 8 kilometer place build one dao (measure word) interception dam and two dao (measure word) activated carbon absorption dam. Now, pollution area through absorption dam absorption after already enter Shonghua River, dam under water appear no color, no test out feature pollutant. According to understanding, incident pollution reason already basically investigate clear, by JiLi Changbai Mountain Chemical Limited Corp. towards Mengliu River in deliberately release chemical waste water cause.
The well-known phrase 好好学习，天天向上 ("study hard, improve every day") is often literally translated by Chinese speakers as "good good study, day day up".
Teaching
For teaching Chinese to English speakers, COE can be used along with a gradual replacement of English words with their Chinese equivalents (starting with the highest frequency words) so that the texts students read gradually change ("morph") from COE to Chinese as students' knowledge of Chinese vocabulary increases.See also
- Chinese grammarChinese grammarStandard Chinese shares a similar system of grammar with the many language varieties or dialects of the Chinese language, different from those employed by other language families, and comparable to the similar features found within the Slavic languages or Semitic languages...
- Chinese Pidgin EnglishChinese Pidgin EnglishChinese Pidgin English is a Pidgin language between English and Chinese. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, there was also Chinese Pidgin English spoken in Cantonese-speaking portions of China...
- ChinglishChinglishChinglish refers to spoken or written English language that is influenced by the Chinese language. The term "Chinglish" is commonly applied to ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative or deprecating connotations, reflecting the attitudes of those who apply...
- English-ordered ChineseEnglish-Ordered ChineseEnglish-ordered Chinese is the use of Chinese words to represent the meaning of English phrases and sentences that maintains the order of the original English.-As a Learning Tool:...
- English-ordered JapaneseEnglish-Ordered JapaneseEnglish-ordered Japanese is Japanese that is written in English word order for the purpose of teaching English grammar to Japanese people...
- Literal translationLiteral translationLiteral translation, or direct translation, is the rendering of text from one language to another "word-for-word" rather than conveying the sense of the original...
- Mother tongue mirroringMother tongue mirroringMother tongue mirroring is a technique for teaching languages. It is the adaptation of the time-honoured practice of literal translation, or word-for word translation for pedagogical purposes. The aim is to make foreign constructions salient and transparent to learners and, in many cases, spare...