经济学人407:汉语在台湾 迷失拼音

 　　Language in Taiwan

　　汉语在台湾

　　Lost in Romanisation

　　迷失拼音

　　Ideological¹ warfare² over spelling

　　拼写上的意识形态冲突

　　THE policy of détente with China espoused³ by Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-jeou, has caused fears among some Taiwanese that the island's rowdy democracy will be pushed into Beijing's political embrace. Fears of future reunification are even causing some Taiwanese cities to reject hanyu pinyin, the official system for Romanising Chinese words in both China and Taiwan, in favour of an older system.

　　台湾总统马英九就两岸关系主张缓和政策。这让台湾民众忧心忡忡，生恐岛内吵闹的政治局面将台湾推向大陆的怀抱。对于回归的担忧甚至引发部分台湾城市抵制汉语拼音，转而支持旧有的拉丁化方案。

　　Mr Ma's government declared more than five years ago that the country would start using hanyu pinyin. The reasoning is sensible. It is the phonetic⁴ system used virtually everywhere in the world, including the United Nations and the International Organisation⁵ for Standardisation, for transcribing⁶ Mandarin⁷ pronunciation of Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. The one problem: it was developed in Communist China in the 1950s and so, for some Taiwanese, remains⁸ suspect.

　　早在5年多以前，马英九政府就宣布台湾将开始使用汉语拼音。其理由也非常充分，这种拼音方案几乎被全球所有地区用来将汉字发音转化为拉丁字母，包括美国和国际标准化组织。唯一的问题在于：这个方案诞生于19世纪50年代共党治下的中国，因而台湾民众对它疑心重重。

　　汉语拼音.jpg

　　Officials argue that its use will improve Taiwan's economic competitiveness by co-ordinating with other Chinese-speaking societies. But some Taiwanese believe this is a ploy⁹ by Mr Ma covertly¹⁰ to integrate Taiwan more closely with mainland China.

　　官方认为使用汉语拼音的能够同其他使用汉语的社会统一标准，从而也能提高台湾的经济竞争力。但不少台湾人坚信这这是马英九暗中将台湾和大陆一体化的阴谋。

　　Hanyu pinyin is now used on street signs in the island's capital, Taipei, but some cities ruled by opposition¹¹ mayors are staging a boycott¹². They include Kaohsiung, the island's second-largest metropolis¹³, and Tainan, a popular tourist spot filled with charming temples. These cities are clinging to the Romanisation system known as tongyong pinyin, which was introduced in 2002 and is closely associated with Mr Ma's predecessor¹⁴, Chen Shui-bian, a passionate¹⁵ advocate of independence. Tongyong pinyin is unique to Taiwan, and its use was once lambasted by Xinhua, the mainland's official news agency, as a move to rid Taiwan of Chinese influence.

　　汉语拼音如今已经用于首都台北的路牌，不过由反对党市长领导的城市仍在进行抵制。其中包括岛内第二大城市高雄和寺庙充盈的旅游胜地台南。这些城市坚持使用“通用拼音”，该拉丁化方案在2002年开始使用。这套方案的使用同马的前任—激进的台独分子陈水扁，有很大关系。通用拼音仅被台湾采用，并且曾被大陆官媒新华社斥责为意图消除台湾的中华传统。

　　Expatriate newcomers who cannot read Chinese characters easily lose their way. The Altar of Heaven, a temple in Tainan, is located on a lane off Jhongyi Road on the city government website, but is off Zhongyi Road on Google Maps. A lingering third system known as Wade-Giles, used before both the others, confuses visitors even more. Mr Ma's officials say there is no legal requirement for local governments to adopt hanyu pinyin and they are reluctant to push too hard, lest theystir up memories of the harsh martial-law regime that ended over two decades ago. But, even in language, Taiwan remains divided.

　　不懂汉语的移民后代重回台湾时，很容易就会迷路。比如，台南天坛位于忠义路边上的小巷中，这条路的路牌上写的是Jhongyi Road，而谷歌地图的显示是Zhongyi Road。还有第三种拼音方案叫做威妥玛式拼音法，曾被双方使用，但是却更让游客迷惑。马英九政府的官员表示，法律上并没有要求地方政府接受汉语拼音，政府也不愿意强制推行，以免让他们觉得回到了20多年前残酷的军统时期。即便是从语言上说，台湾仍出在和大陆分离的状态。

1 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

2 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

3 espoused   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education. 他们赞同在教育方面人人机会均等的观念。
• The ideas she espoused were incomprehensible to me. 她所支持的意见令我难以理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 phonetic   

adj.语言的，语言上的，表示语音的

参考例句：

• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
• English phonetic teaching is an important teaching step in elementary stages.语音教学是英语基础阶段重要的教学环节。

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

6 transcribing   

（用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的现在分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音）

参考例句：

• They continue to remove molecules until the cell stops transcribing the gene. 他们继续除去分子，直到细胞不再转录基因为止。
• Q: Can I use Voice-to-Text software to help with the transcribing? 问：我能使用声音-到-本文的软件帮助转换吗？

7 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

10 covertly   

adv.偷偷摸摸地

参考例句：

• Naval organizations were covertly incorporated into civil ministries. 各种海军组织秘密地混合在各民政机关之中。 来自辞典例句
• Modern terrorism is noteworthy today in that it is being done covertly. 现代的恐怖活动在今天是值得注意的，由于它是秘密进行的。 来自互联网

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

13 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

14 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

15 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。