Article published In:
Written Language & LiteracyVol. 3:2 (2000) ► pp.199–233
Phonetic Borrowing
Key to the vitality of written Cantonese in Hong Kong
Chinese Hongkongers express themselves increasingly in written Cantonese, resulting in the proliferation of Cantonese elements in the Hong Kong Chinese press. To overcome the orthographic gap, Hongkongers resort to phonetic borrowing and phonetic compound formation. Phonetic borrowing may be based on modern standard Chinese or on English. Script mixing is very common, suggesting that linguistic convergence has taken place. Eighteen months after the British handover to the People’s Republic of China, this situation remains unchanged. Standardization of Cantonese is desirable, but will be difficult to enforce. Despite the vitality of written Cantonese in Hong Kong, this paper argues against promoting Cantonese to the status of an official language.
Cited by
Cited by 29 other publications
ANGERMEYER, PHILIPP SEBASTIAN
2005. Spelling bilingualism: Script choice in Russian American classified ads and signage. Language in Society 34:04 
Bauer, Robert S.
2018. Cantonese as written language in Hong Kong. Global Chinese 4:1 ► pp. 103 ff.
Chen, Xiaoxin
2024. An analysis of phenomena of consonant substitution and strategies for development for Cantonese EFL elementary learners: A case study. Forum for Linguistic Studies 6:2 ► pp. 1227 ff.
Gu, Mingyue Michelle, Corey Fanglei Huang & Chi-Kin John Lee
2023. Investigating university students’ digital citizenship development through the lens of digital literacy practice: A Translingual and transemiotizing perspective. Linguistics and Education 77 ► pp. 101226 ff.
Han, Yanmei & Guowen Shang
2024. Valorizing Cantonese in the Linguistic Landscape: Mobility, Complexity and Unpredictability. In The Linguistic Landscape in China, ► pp. 125 ff.
Hok-Shing, Chan, Brian,
2015. A local voice of Macau: Traditional Characters, code-switching and Written Cantonese in an internet forum. Global Chinese 1:2 ► pp. 281 ff.
Huang, Corey Fanglei
2023. Multilingual writing in a marketised university: a critical multimodal study of student service advertisements. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff.
Lam, Wan Shun Eva
2009. Multiliteracies on Instant Messaging in Negotiating Local, Translocal, and Transnational Affiliations: A Case of an Adolescent Immigrant. Reading Research Quarterly 44:4 ► pp. 377 ff.
Li, Bing, Qiduo Lin, Hoi Yan Mak, Ovid J. L. Tzeng, Chih-Mao Huang & Hsu-Wen Huang
2021. Category Exemplar Production Norms for Hong Kong Cantonese: Instance Probabilities and Word Familiarity. Frontiers in Psychology 12
Li, David C. S
2001. L2 lexis in L1: Reluctance to translate out of concern for referential meaning. mult 20:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Li, David C. S.
2006. CHINESE AS A LINGUA FRANCA IN GREATER CHINA. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 26
Li, David C. S.
2017. The Hong Kong Language Context. In Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities [Multilingual Education, 19], ► pp. 1 ff.
Li, David C. S.
2017. Medium-of-Instruction Debate II: Teaching Chinese in Putonghua (TCP)?. In Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities [Multilingual Education, 19], ► pp. 203 ff.
Li, David C. S.
2017. Towards ‘Biliteracy and Trilingualism’ in Hong Kong (SAR): Problems, Dilemmas, and Stakeholders’ Views. In Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities [Multilingual Education, 19], ► pp. 179 ff.
Li, David C. S.
2017. Language Contact: Sociolinguistic Context and Linguistic Outcomes. In Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, Literacies and Identities [Multilingual Education, 19], ► pp. 21 ff.
Li, David C. S.
2022. Trilingual and biliterate language education policy in Hong Kong: past, present and future. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education 7:1
Li, David C.S.
2004. Review of Chan (2003): Aspects of the Syntax, the Pragmatics, and the Production of Code-Switching. Cantonese and English. English World-Wide. A Journal of Varieties of English 25:2 ► pp. 311 ff.
Li, David C. S. & Wong Tak-sum
2024. Phonetic loan, graphic borrowing, and script-mixing: key to the vitality of written Cantonese in Hong Kong. Multilingua 0:0
Li, David C. S., Cathy S. P. Wong, Wai Mun Leung & Sam T. S. Wong
2016. Facilitation of transference: The case of monosyllabic salience in Hong Kong Cantonese. Linguistics 54:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Li, David C.S. & C.Y. Elly
2002. One day in the life of a “purist”. International Journal of Bilingualism 6:2 ► pp. 147 ff.
Li, David C.S. & Sherman Lee
2006. Bilingualism in East Asia. In The Handbook of Bilingualism, ► pp. 742 ff.
Liang, Sihua
2015. The Politics and Sociolinguistics of Chinese Dialects. In Language Attitudes and Identities in Multilingual China, ► pp. 11 ff.
Lin, Angel M. Y.
2008. The Ecology of Literacy in Hong Kong. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education, ► pp. 3170 ff.
Liu, Jin
2022. Deviant Writing and Youth Identity: Transcription of Shanghai Wu Dialect on the Internet. In Digital Orality, ► pp. 129 ff.
Lock, Graham
2003. Being International, Local and Chinese: Advertisements on the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. Visual Communication 2:2 ► pp. 195 ff.
Sachs, Gertrude Tinker & David C. S Li
2007. Cantonese as an additional language in Hong Kong: Problems and prospects. mult 26:1 ► pp. 95 ff.
Sio, Joanna Ut-Seong
2020. The Dual Identity of the Post-Verbal Can1 in Cantonese: A Non-Specific Resultative Particle and a Free Choice Item. Studies in Chinese Linguistics 41:2 ► pp. 139 ff.
Snow, Don
2013. Towards a theory of vernacularisation: insights from written Chinese vernaculars. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 34:6 ► pp. 597 ff.
Tse, Shek-kam, Joseph Wai-ip Lam, Elizabeth Ka-yee Loh & Raymond Yu-hong Lam
2007. The Influence of the Language that Hong Kong Primary School Students Habitually Speak at Home on their Chinese Reading Ability in School. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 28:5 ► pp. 400 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.