魔性“坡式英語”走紅

As an Asian country, Singapore has a reputation for being highly Westernized (西方化的), with English among the country’s four official languages. But a couple of signs found on local buses that have recently gone viral (走紅) online may say otherwise.

新加坡作爲一個亞洲國家，一直以來都以高度的西方化著稱，並將英語作爲該國的四種官方語言之一。但是最近網絡爆紅的當地公交車上的標識，或許表明事實並非如此。

Quite different from the English we are familiar with, the signs read, for example, “Here cannot go in!” instead of “You cannot go in from here”, and “Here can charge phone!” instead of “You can charge your phone here”.

這些標識讀起來與我們所熟悉的英語有很大的不同，打個比方說， （牌子上寫着）“不可由此入內”的英文是“Here cannot go in!”而不是“You cannot go in from here”，以及“您可在此爲手機充電”的英文寫作Here can charge phone!”而不是“You can charge your phone here”。

This language that resembles (類似) English is called Singaporean English, or “Singlish”.

這種與英語相類似的語言被稱爲新加坡英語，或者“坡式英語”。

The New York Times calls Singlish a “patchwork (拼湊品)” because Singapore consists of migrants (移民) from a variety of countries, including China, India and Malaysia, and they all speak their own versions of “English”.

《紐約時報》將“坡式英語”稱爲“拼湊品”，因爲新加坡有很多來自中國、印度和馬來西亞等多個國家的移民，他們都說着自己版本的英語。

“Everyone who speaks it shapes it,” wrote the newspaper.

“ 這一語言是由每一個講它的人塑造的，”該報寫道。

For example, in Singlish you can easily recognize influences from Chinese. It includes vocabulary such as “mee siam (米線，rice noodle)” and “da bao (打包，pack food to go)”. Sentence structures like “Toilet where?” instead of “Where is the toilet?” are also adapted from Chinese.

比如，你很容易發現中文對坡式英語的影響，包括“米線”和“打包”等詞彙。句式結構如“Toilet where?”（廁所在哪）也來源於中文。

Interesting and diverse as it may seem, the trend for Singlish is worrying Sinagapore’s government. It is concerned that the dialect is lowering the country’s English standard and may affect its relationship with foreigners. It even launched the Speak Good English Movement in 2000.

儘管坡式英語看起來有趣且多元，但新加坡政府正爲這一趨勢感到擔憂。他們擔心這種方言正在逐步降低國家的英語水平，而且或許會影響到和外國人的關係。新加坡政府甚至還於2000年發起了“講純正英語運動”。

But the movement didn’t wipe out the problems as it aimed to. Instead, Singlish has thrived (繁榮), especially among young people who think of it as a sign of being cool and a way to identify themselves as Singaporean.

但這一運動並沒有奏效。相反，“坡式英語”繁榮發展，尤其是在年輕人當中。他們認爲此舉很酷，還能證明自己是新加坡人。

But this doesn’t mean that standard English is being abandoned (拋棄) by young people. In fact, they are much more capable (有能力的) than the government gives them credit (認可) for – many can speak both.

但這並不意味着標準英語正在被年輕人所拋棄。事實上，他們比政府認爲的更有能力，很多人都會說兩種英語。

“We are a nation good at code-switching (語碼轉換) – we know that the way we speak to our friends or bus drivers (yes, often in Singlish) has to be different from how we present ourselves in the boardroom or at school,” wrote Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, a Singaporean author, in Time magazine.

“我們是一個擅長語碼轉換的國家 —— 我們知道和朋友以及公交車司機說話的方式（沒錯，通常是‘坡式英語’）有別於在會議室或者學校表現自己的方式。”新加坡作者Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan在《時代週刊》雜誌中這樣寫道。

“To actively urge us to give up a language that speaks to the very heart of who we are, that so beautifully represents the melting pot of Chinese, Indians, Malays and Eurasians that we are, is shortsighted (鼠目寸光的), surely.”

“急切地促使我們去放棄一門能表達內心，且美妙地代表着中國人、印度人、馬來人以及歐亞人這個大熔爐的語言，肯定是鼠目寸光。”