Swimming in a sea of words
Actions may speak louder than words, but words, at least some of them, can crystallize the zeitgeist in less space than anything else.
"Harmonious society", for example, outlines the goal of the Chinese people in this age of fast economic growth and constant adjustments in social values. The phrase tops the list of buzzwords from 2006, which was released last week.
But the road to harmony is marked with detours and turbulence, and a year is remembered not only for the dreams and aspirations, but also for the pitfalls and failures.
In the economy category, both "self-made branding" and "business corruption" are included. In the culture list, high-brow events such as "the Culture Expo" and "Confucius" rank side by side with the "grassroots culture" phenomena, including "parody" and the scandalous "hidden rule" involving filmmakers and actresses in shady deals.
However, if you move from the mainstream to the cutting edge, you'll see whole different sets of hot words and phrases, which do not as much reflect events of the year as suggest the state of mind surrounding these events.
One such list, compiled by famed wordsmith Huang Jiwei, gets into slang territory of coined words and Netspeak.
For example, the official list has "food safety", "turbot fish", "Amazonian snails" and "red-yolk eggs" in the medical and health category, while Huang simply lists "food terrorism" as an inventive catch-all.
"The official lists are not as representative as the grassroots list," commented Chen Qijia, associate professor of Chinese language at Renmin University of China. "The terms often cluster around a single event."
For example, China Central Television took four of the 10 slots in the culture category, said the professor.
Besides "original style", referring to an unpolished way of singing folk songs made popular during a prolonged television contest, there is the educational show "Lecture Room", which turned at least two of its lecturers, Yu Dan and Yi Zhongtian, into superstars. Both names have confirmed their cachet on the list.
Sea of key words
For the past five years, the Beijing Language University has been compiling the biannual list of "top 10 buzzwords from mainstream Chinese newspapers". This time, sampling was increased dramatically. And four other organizations participated in conducting the survey.
Full texts of 15 newspapers, totalling 648,607 texts and 490 million words, were scanned. In addition, seven radio stations, with 1,600 programs and 64 million words, and 12 television stations, with 12,135 programs, were skimmed for meaningful words that were representative of news and trends. The results were computer culled, tabulated and then a human touch added.
There is one general category (see sidebar) and eight specific ones, roughly reflecting the division of news. Two ad hoc categories cover the special events of "natural disasters" and "Taiwan".
"These buzzwords, in one sense, do not portray the whole picture," said Wang Xiaofeng, senior writer for Sanlian Life Weekly and prominent blogger, "because they come from only 34 media organizations. It'll be a different turnout if non-mainstream media are represented."
But he did not quibble because the compilers stated that the words were "popular among certain demographics and in a specified timeframe".
Sharp ear
Huang Jiwei's list, on the other hand, is even more modest in ambition. Some of the words and phrases were collected from one published article, blog posting or even mobile short message, but many of them eventually gained traction and made way into unexpected corners of the society, sometimes with variations.
Even though it is a one-man operation, Huang has monitored linguistic trends for 10 years, and his notes and ruminations are published in annual collections. "His list has too narrow a focus," remarked Chen Qijia, the Renmin University professor, "but it's entertaining and thought-provoking."
"Erlang shan" is a sound-alike of "erlang shen", a mythical god, but it is actually one person's description of Brokeback Mountain.
If you delve into the literal meaning of each character, "two-men mountain" is truly an ingenious way of encapsulating the gay love story.
Huang discovered "decorative" in a news analysis on failed diplomatic breakthrough. The figurative use fascinated him, he said, because it captures the shallowness of our time. "So much of our joy and celebration is only decorative," he illustrated to China Daily.
One phrase that Huang calls "insightful" is originally applied to sexologist Li Yinhe: The appearance is as tame as the heart is wild.
Professor Li was making headlines with her tradition-busting taking on social mores, but she keeps a calm and meek facade. Huang feels that this paradox is perfect for the "cultural traits of the Chinese people per se".
Viability
Are hot words from a specific year ephemeral or can they survive the test of time?
The official list highlighted "16th Party Congress", "World Cup", "short messaging", "falling interest rates", "Three Represents", "anti-terrorism", "digital images", "Yao Ming", "automobile market" and "CDMA" for 2002.
Reading the annual lists is like reviewing news stories, trends and personalities that defined that year.
Huang's private list, on the other hand, broadens the expressiveness of the Chinese language. Case in point: "YOU are the entertainment reporter. Your whole family is in entertainment reporting."
This started as a putdown of paparazzi, but now that almost every profession can be substituted in the sentence, it proves the suspicion that nothing is sacred any more and all the occupations held in high regard are brought down from the pedestal.
Huang is unaware that his work is eerily similar to that of the American Dialect Society that singles out word of the year for the US.
They both pick hot words for fun and not in an official capacity to induct them into the linguistic pantheon of formal speech. Just like "Plutoed", meaning demoted or devalued, the 2006 choice by the American scholars, "hidden rule", one of the selections by Huang, is a noun that can double as a verb, meaning trading sex for favors.
"We don't need to heed fallouts of such endeavors," analyzes Professor Chen. "Publicizing the words won't make them last. It all depends on circumstances. Media should exercise caution, but ultimately it is the survival of the most expressive and useful."
(China Daily 01/18/2007 page18)
