Western words add flavor

More than 100 scholars have complained that the sixth edition of the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary has broken a code by including 239 Western terms such as "NBA". The scholars say that by introducing Western words in Chinese dictionaries the compilers have caused the "most severe damage" to the Chinese language. But such barriers are not good for the Chinese language, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

According to the "commonly used language standard", there is nothing to prevent dictionaries from using Western words in Chinese dictionaries.

Chinese characters were created thousands of years ago and have developed and changed with the times. For instance, punctuation marks were borrowed from Western languages and introduced to the Chinese language only during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Chinese culture is inclusive in nature. From the inscriptions on oracle bones of the Yin-Shang Period (1600-1046 BC) and parallel prose composed during the Wei Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280) and the Jin Dynasty (265-420) to the eight-legged essays of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and vernacular Chinese of modern China, the development of the Chinese language is a story of cultural integration, which reflects its all-inclusive character.

The most important use of language is for communication. Today, cultural exchanges have become common and, hence, it is not wise to create "barriers" that would stunt a language's growth. For example, "NBA" is widely accepted worldwide. So it is meaningless to use pinyin to express its meaning just because it is not a Chinese word.

Almost all Chinese know the 239 words added to the dictionary. Therefore, their use will help communication. As Chinese is becoming a significant language worldwide, familiar words can make it easy for even foreigners to use Chinese dictionaries.

(China Daily 08/31/2012 page9)