Authorities ban mixed English words in publications

Arbitrary use of English words and acronyms is now prohibited and coined terms that are not intelligible to everyone are not allowed to be used, according to a notice released by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) recently.

The administration issued the notice to further regulate language in Chinese language publications.

The notice said that with economic and social development, foreign languages are increasingly being used in all types of publications in China, including in newspapers, periodicals, books, audio-visual products, e-books and on the Internet.

Abuse of foreign languages, including arbitrary use of English words; acronym mixing in Mandarin and coined half-English, half-Chinese terms that are intelligible to nobody, are commonly seen.

All these have seriously damaged to the purity of the Chinese language and resulted in adverse social impacts to the harmonious and healthy cultural environment.

According to the notice, press and publication administration departments are required to follow vocabulary and grammar rules of used languages in publications. The translation of foreign language should be consistent with the basic translation principles and practices. Proper nouns as well as scientific and technical terms should be translated into common language according to relevant provisions.

The notice required that press and publication administration departments at all levels to further strengthen inspection and management of language usage quality control in publications. The checking of foreign languages usage is required in daily censorship and annual inspection. Violations of norms shall be required to be corrected and will be punished according to law.

(Published by People's Daily Online - December 21, 2010)