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2016 Vol. 1, No. 3
Published: 2016-05-10

 
1 Facing Language Use in Society
Jiang Lansheng
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 1-1 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
5 Sociologists on Language and Language Use
San Xin
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 5-14 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
15 Language Life and Study of Language Life
Li Yuming

This article is about the formulation of Chinese School of Language Life, including its theoretical ground, its main members and their concerns, and its developing course. Language life refers to all activities associated with the application, learning and study of language and scripts, language knowledge and language technology. Application, learning and study are three dimensions of language life. The “language” concerned by language life includes language and scripts, language knowledge, and language technology. A matrix combining the three dimensions of application, learning, study and three ranges of language, language knowledge and language technology results in nine categories: language application, language knowledge application, language technology application, language learning, language knowledge learning, language technology learning, language study, language knowledge study and language technology study. This paper argues that a great deal of work has been done in the area of language life, such as: sociolinguistic observations in respective areas, carrying out quantitative study on language life through media and press, conducting analysis on language situation, and implementing investigations into public views on language issues. As a result, Chinese scholars have developed a framework for study of language use, and eventually, an emerging “School of Language Life” came into being with an objective of “to conduct language and linguistic research on language life and for language life”.

2016 Vol. 1 (3): 15-23 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
24 Theories and Practices of “Language Life” in China
Guo Xi and Zhu Xiaohong
This article discusses the theoretical development of the notion of “language life” in China, and reviews its related practices in the past ten years. In the Western academia, the notion of language life is not widely used, and its corresponding concepts may include language survey, language situation, language use, and language ecology. However, it has been a key word in Chinese sociolinguistic studies. The article first reviews the theoretical background of the notion; second, it surveys the major research fields covered by language life theories; third, it claims that a “community of practice” is emerging among a group of scholars who share similar ideas in the theorization of language life, in the methodology of exploring this notion, and in the research paradigms in which the notion of language life is rooted.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 24-33 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
34 The Use of Roman Abbreviations in Chinese over the Past 60 Years
Hou Min and Teng Yonglin
This article samples thirteen years’ the People’s Daily published between 1955 and 2015 and investigates the use of Roman abbreviations in the newspaper over a time span of 60 years. The study reviews Roman abbreviation use, explains the method of data selection, and discusses the current situation of the Roman abbreviations in Chinese texts. The research shows that the use of Roman abbreviations rapidly increased in the initial stage, became stable, and remained to be part of the Chinese texts. The Roman abbreviations fi rst occurred in the pattern of “Roman abbreviation + Chinese characters”, but this pattern was gradually replaced by alphabetic abbreviations. The article concludes that single use of a particular Roman abbreviation, use of low frequency abbreviations, inconsistent use of Roman abbreviations are common and affect information distribution and communication. Drawing on these findings, the authors also discuss its implications for language policy making.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 34-42 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
43 A Decade of Chinese Internet Language Studies
Wang Lei
Since Language Situation in China first released the Internet Language Status Report in 2006, the research on China’s domestic Internet language has gone through a new decade. This article takes the relevant reports presented in Language Situation in China as a starting point, combines it with statistical data from various documentations, and objectively presents the basic circumstances of the Internet language studies in this decade. Thousands of studies indicate that the Chinese domestic Internet language studies closely followed and traced the occurrence and the developments of the Internet language, explored the communication system of the Internet language phenomenon and its impact on social life, and provided defi nitive academic support for the society to have an accurate understanding of the Internet language phenomenon. The Internet language studies is moving toward rationality and maturity.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 43-51 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
52 Linguists on Language Maintenance
Lian Yihui
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 52-59 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
60 Public Discourse and National Language Policy
He Ziran
This paper aims to bring forward some refl ections and proposals for China’s national language policies through examining the pragmatics of language use in public discourse. With the ubiquity of the rife netspeak, language use is bound to undergo great changes in public discourse, for which we should be well prepared in order to have a proper attitude towards either the positive or the negative aspects of various emerging language phenomena, thus to further the national language policy and planning commitment. Having illustrated the actual language situation by citing a number of creative language use in a rapidly changing society, this paper holds that on the one hand, nowadays it is imperative to develop effective policies and a long term plan through establishing a unifi ed and authoritative leadership mechanism, on the other hand, to encourage language professionals to serve as the prestigious model in guiding good language behavior of the public. This includes allowing the creative use of language by the masses and enriching expressions to meet the needs for international communication. Meanwhile, we must vigorously adhere to pragmatic maxims of Chinese rhetoric, and promote appropriate language use in a given context. Finally, this paper expresses the author’s expectations for the national language policy and language planning.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 60-64 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
65 The Principles and Their Applications for Translating Chinese Thought and Culture

This paper deals with the technical difficulties and challenges encountered in carrying out an ongoing publicly-funded national research project entitled the Chinese Thought and Culture Translation and Communication Project, which aims at standardizing key concepts and terms in translating Chinese classical texts. The project was initiated to meet the needs of promoting equal dialogue and communication between the Chinese and western civilizations in an era that has seen an increasing demand from English readers for a better understanding of Chinese indigenous knowledge. The major part of the project deals with various fundamental issues in deciding the appropriate fi nal English translation in order to overcome both linguistic barriers and bridging the huge differences between the Chinese and western cultures. To achieve the goal, the following principles were established: the fi rst and foremost principle is the accurate understanding of the concepts, especially their connotations in thought and culture. Secondly, the concepts should be translated in relation to specifi c contexts. Thirdly, creative translation is encouraged, with due respect to existing translations by sinologists and specialists. Fourthly, phonetic transliteration is necessary and indispensable in the translation of concepts on which there are no English equivalents or semi-equivalents.

2016 Vol. 1 (3): 65-69 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
70 Evaluation on Newly Emerging Foul and Abusive Language in Chinese from the Perspective of Language Standardization
Shen Yang
Foul and abusive language (Liyu) in sociolinguistics refers to taboo (“bad language”) that is associated with swearing or crude expressions such as obscenity, profanity, blasphemy or other cursing utterances that strongly offend the prevalent morality in society of the time. This study attempts to evaluate the semantic and pragmatic functions of Chinese Liyu in contemporary soceity. Being rife and ubiquitous in both society and cyberspace, nowadays Liyu is increasingly popular among the teenagers. As a fashionable trend, the distinct feature of Liyu is “neutralization”. Namely, it has to be neutralized either in form or in function when it is actually used. Based on abundance of exemplar expressions obtained from various textual sources, predominantly from the print press and the Internet, this article conducts an in-depth examination of the actual use of Liyu in contemporary Chinese language. Our findings show that, as a means used to indicate a strong emotional expression and moral repugnance, Liyu serves as an ultimate linguistic device for “extreme option”. From the perspective of language standardization, Liyu is defi nitely harmful to language management. In order to prevent it from polluting language, measures should be adopted to ban its unstrained circulation or to provide guidance on its use. On the other hand, we should realize that Liyu is “useful”; its expressive power is unsubstitutional. Therefore, Liyu will not automatically disappear; it would not be eliminated without prudence.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 70-75 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
76 A Study of Language Ecology and Language Policy in Bhutan
Zhang Zhiguo
In this study, drawing upon language ecology theory proposed by Haugen (1972), I first review the language profi le in Bhutan from Cooper’s (1989) perspective of status planning, corpus planning and acquisition planning, and continue with an analysis of the features of Bhutan’s language situation and the developing course of its policy formation. There are nineteen indigenous languages being used in Bhutan, one being Dzongkha which is used as both the national language and offi cial language alongside with English. In summarizing its official commitments in language maintenance, I argue that the trajectory of Bhutan’s language policy implementation is characterized by pluralism with overarching national and official languages. The unique aspect of Bhutan’s LPP is the integration of language management with Gross National Happiness. Finally, the study concludes by revealing two implications for the language planning practice in China.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 76-82 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
83 A Survey of Linguistic Studies in Five Major Science Funds in China (2005-2014)
Su Xinchun and Chen Wenge
This article conducts a content analysis of the fi ve major science funds in China in an attempt to examine the guidelines and topics of linguistic studies funded by the five major funds between 2005 and 2014. The study describes the general situation of the five major funds, traces the directions of the funded research projects, and focuses on the hot topics in the “applied social sciences” domains. The result shows that National Natural Science Fund favors computational linguistics and language processing abilities, National Educational Science Fund focuses on language studies, and National Social Science Fund, Humanities & Social Science Fund of MOE and Fund of National Language Committee prioritize corpus studies. The authors conclude that the funded projects of linguistic studies refl ect the research demand at a national level. Based on these fi ndings, the article provides thoughts and implications for language research and language policy making processes.
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 83-90 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
91 Latest Efforts in Exploring Research Paradigm of Language Life: Language Life and Language Policy: Study of Chinese Ethnic Minorites
Zhang Jun
2016 Vol. 1 (3): 91-96 [Abstract] ( 0 ) HTML (1 KB)  PDF  (0 KB)  ( 0 )
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