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19 - The Chinese Diaspora

from Part III - Other Signs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2024

Zheng-sheng Zhang
Affiliation:
San Diego State University
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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.

Type
Chapter
Information
Chinese Signs
An Introduction to China's Linguistic Landscape
, pp. 177 - 188
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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