Words vs meaning

I recently read an article in The Economist newspaper about Brazilians and the way they use Portuguese.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2013/05/brazilians?fb_ref=activity

The writer suggested that when a Brazilian says sim a foreigner would probably think it meant ‘yes’, because that is what it says in the dictionary, but in fact it might also mean ‘maybe’ or even ‘no’. Talvez seems to mean ‘perhaps’ but probably means ‘no’. And Vou aparacer mais tarde doesn’t actually mean ‘I’ll be coming later’ but ‘I won’t be coming at all’.

There were a lot of comments especially from Brazilians. Some readers thought this was negative stereotyping; some gave reasons for saying one thing but meaning another (e.g. to be kind). But most of the Brazilians seemed to agree that they did use this kind of indirect language, but it didn't matter because at least they knew what it meant.

This reminded me of two things. Firstly, of when I invited some Japanese friends and some Brazilian friends to a dinner party many years ago. I asked all of them to come “about 7.30”. The Japanese arrived at 7.15 - when I was still in the shower and hadn’t finished cooking. For the rest of the evening we waited and waited for the Brazilians. They finally turned up at 9.45, just as the Japanese were leaving, and they didn’t think they were late at all.

Secondly,the article also reminded me about, ‘crosstalk’, which I wrote about in this blog quite a while ago. Crosstalk is when people think they understand each other because they understand the words and grammar that are used, but actually fail to grasp the meaning behind the words. This can happen within a culture and between people who speak the same language, but of course it is more likely to happen across cultures and between people who have different first languages.

Anyway, just for fun I wondered what kinds of misunderstandings might occur when people from English-speaking countries visit Asia, or when Asians from one country visit another Asian country. This is not so serious, and you may not agree, but please send any suggestions. I have only referred to three or four languages so perhaps you have some examples in other Asian languages.

I thought of three categories: (1) Things that probably don’t mean what you think they mean; (2) Things that seem similar but are probably different; and (3) Things that seem different but are probably the same.


THINGS THAT PROBABLY DON’T MEAN WHAT YOU THINK THEY MEAN

私にはもったいないです (Japanese)

This looks like "You are too good for me" but it probably means "I am too good for you" and is often said when turning down an invitation of marriage.

はい (Japanese)

This sometimes means "Yes" but sometimes "No' and often "I have no idea but do carry on talking."

日本語御上手ですね (Japanese)

While this seems to mean "You are good at Japanese" it probably means either (1) "Wow! You can say ‘thank you’ in Japanese: that’s amazing for a foreigner!" or (2) "Hmm, your Japanese is not bad for a foreigner. What is wrong with you?!"

没有 (Chinese)

This seems to mean "We don’t have any/ we’ve sold out" but can also mean "I’m too busy/tired/ hungry to serve you." Actually it nearly always used to have the second meaning, especially when you could see the thing you wanted right on the counter, but in the new capitalist China it is not used so often.




THINGS THAT SEEM SIMILAR BUT ARE PROBABLY DIFFERENT

On da way lah! (Malay/Manglish)

This does indeed look very much like "I’m on the way" but is more likely to mean "I have just got home and am going to have a shower. Later I will set out for your the house but I will probably be stuck in traffic for hours.

途中だよ (Japanese)

This also looks like "I’m on the way" but in Japan is more likely to mean "I have already arrived and I am standing outside your door right now."

Pasti sudah siap esok petang (Malay)

This could be translated as "It will definitely be ready by tomorrow afternoon" but really means "I have no idea when it will be ready – perhaps you could call me next month?"

約束できませんが明々後日までに努力します (Japanese)

In Japan this would be said by a service provider very apologetically and suggests "If we are really lucky it just might be ready in four days". What it means is "It will be ready tomorrow morning."

Waa, u pandai cakap Melayu (Malay)

Don't be fooled into thinking this means "You are really good at Malay." It actually means "I don’t really know why you foreigners try speaking Malay when we all speak English but I guess you spent a lot of time in Indonesia."

Pintar bicara Bahasa Indonesia, Pak! (Indonesian)

This ought to mean more or less the same as the previous phrase for Malay but means "It’s really nice that you are trying to speak Indonesian but I’m afraid you sound like a Malay."


THINGS THAT SEEM DIFFERENT BUT ARE PROBABLY DIFFERENT THE SAME

Pergi kemana? (Indonesian = Where are you going?)

お出かけですか (Japanese = Are you going out?)

你出去啊 (Chinese = You’re going out!)

你回来了 (Chinese = You’ve come back!)

下班了吗 (Chinese = You’re home again!)

吃饭了吗 (Chinese = Have you eaten?)

跑步啊 (Chinese = So you are out jogging then!)

All these and many other phrases around Asia have a single meaning: Hello!


Highlighting the indirectness of speech in Asian languages can, of course, lead to the impression that English speakers always say exactly what they mean. Some Asian students are even taught to be as direct as possible when speaking English. But this would be misleading. When an American says 'I could care less!' they always mean 'I couldn't care less'. When an Aussie says 'Well that's a lot of use to me!' they are very likely to mean the opposite. And when a Brit says 'How do you do?' it simply means Hello. It's not an invitation to start telling them about your holiday or your health or your problems at work.

Not quite everywhere

With English becoming a part of life for all kinds of people all around Asia, I sometimes wonder if there are still areas where it is of little importance. I certainly hope there are at least a few left! Well, last week I found one. I attended a Malay wedding at a town near the capital of Kuala Lumpur, where English is widely spoken alongside Malay, Chinese or Tamil. I was accompanying Malaysian friends who regularly use English both at work and in their social life. But for the few hours that I was there, the only English I heard was when people addressed me.

The happy couple and their families were Malay , so not surprisingly this was the main language. The wedding invitation had been sent out in Malay, the banners and signs were in Malay, the MC gave his announcements and told his jokes in Malay, and I did my best to speak Malay - though, typically, most people, except for the older ones, replied to me in English. (While Indonesians seem happy enough to talk to foreigners in their national language, most Malaysian rapidly switch to English.)

There was also some Arabic in the ceremonial functions and the greetings people gave to one another. In Malaysia, all Malays are Muslim, and matters regarding marriage, family affairs and inheritance are regulated according to Muslim law and tradition, so the Arabic language plays an indispensable part in Malay life.

Then there was one more language there that at first I didn't notice: Minang. This is a language related to Malay spoken widely in western Sumatra as well as in some Minang migrant communities that have settled in other parts of Indonesia or in Malaysia. Nowadays few people in Malaysia speak it, but it survives there in songs and sayings and ceremonies. As in almost any wedding anywhere, the celebrations were punctuated by songs, with enthusiastic audience participation, and a number of these were in Minang.

Which reminds me, English was not entirely absent, in fact. Towards the end of the afternoon when younger members of the audience got up to sing, they tended to favour current English-language favourites.

As for me, I used to spend time in Sumatra and know a couple of Minang songs. But - perhaps fortunately - no one asked me to go up and sing...in any language.

The other imperialists

English is a relative latecomer among the languages brought to Asia by European imperialists. Long before the British or Americans had any bases on the continent, Portuguese traders were active from the Middle East to Japan. By the 17th century their language had become a lingua franca for many Southeast Asian seamen. Portuguese words adopted by Asian languages include almariya (cupboard) and iskolaya (school) in Sinhala, jendela (window) and meja (table)) in Indonesian, and pan (bread) and tabako (tobacco) in Japanese. Some people believe arigato comes from obrigado.

Despite the long colonial influence, however – Macau was the first European colony in Asia (1557) and also the last, returning to Chinese control in 1999 – how many Asians today speak Portuguese? While it continues to be an official language of Macau and remains important in the legal system, Cantonese is far more widely spoken, with 93.4% using it as a first or additional language. Many people in Sri Lanka have Portuguese names, but very few can speak what was once a lingua franca there.

We see a similar situation with other European languages. The Philippines were a Spanish colony for 350 years and both Tagalog and Philippines English are full of loanwords such as fiesta and presidente; yet a mere 2,658 of the 93 million Filipinos use Spanish as a first language. The Dutch, who controlled the East Indies for 400 years, brought numerous everyday words such as hantuk (towel) and kamar (room) to the Indonesian language. We also find many Dutch words in Malay and Sinhala. But very few Indonesians, Malays or Sri Lankans speak the language.

In all the above countries, English is now much more important than European languages that preceded them. Even in Macau, which was never a British colony, over 12% of Macanese claim to speak English, compared to only 2.7% using Portuguese as a first or additional language there. The fate of Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch in Asia seems to suggest that colonisation is not the main reason for the spread of languages. Military alliances and access to jobs and global trade may be more important.

In recent years, some Asian countries have re-emphasised their links with former European occupiers. In August 2007, for example, Philippine President Arroyo announced that Spanish would be reinstated as an official language. But it will be trade with Spain and Latin America rather than government policy that determines whether the language increases in importance.

There was some surprise when Timor Leste chose Portuguese as an official language when it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. Most of its 220 million speakers are in far-away Europe, Africa and South America, and few Timorese know the language as well as Indonesian or the local lingua franca, Tetum. However, Timor had been a Portuguese colony for 500 years before being invaded by Indonesia, and Portuguese had symbolic importance for groups resisting Indonesian rule. Tetum was considered too underdeveloped to be used exclusively for education and law, and Indonesian is too closely associated with the military occupation. So Portuguese and Tetum were made co-official languages. This complex situation has created a growing unofficial role for English, which many locals hope will help them get jobs with Australian and other international NGOs operating in the country.



In recent decades France has gained a reputation for resisting the global spread of English, promoting French language and culture through L’organisation internationale de la Francophonie, which now has 55 member states. It might therefore be expected that French would have fared better than Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch in former Asian colonies. But it is probably only in Lebanon, in the far west of the continent, that French is as important as English. Although neighbouring Syria was under French rule for as long as Lebanon, it has been less exposed to international business. Few Syrians know any language other than Arabic, but those who do are more likely to speak English than French.

We find similar stories in the region once ruled by France as Indochine. As late as the 1970s most private schools in Laos, and the one public lycée (secondary school) in Vientiane, taught in French, but Lao seems largely to have displaced the language in the public sector and English in the private.


The first wave of Vietnamese escaping communism tended to know French and headed for Paris, but subsequent groups were more interested in the United States and English. In Cambodia, French – and even Russian and Vietnamese – were more important than English until the 1990s, but in recent years Phnom Penh has seen protests by university students against compulsory French classes.

Conferring and conferencing

While there are obvious connections linking the Muslim societies of the west of Asia, or those in the east that have Buddhist and Confucian traditions, there are few strong links across the whole continent. While pan-Asian identity remains weak, new Asian networks are gradually evolving through the work of international bodies based in Asian cities. Many of these function largely in English. UNESCAP (the Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), for example, requires staff to be fluent in English. SAARC (the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) holds all its meetings in English.

As well as helping to construct Asian identity, English also plays an important role in conflict resolution between Asian countries. Israeli leaders usually speak to their Arab counterparts in English since fewer and fewer of them study Arabic and almost no Arabs speak Hebrew. Indian and Pakistani army generals hold their discussions in English, even though their respective national languages (Hindi and Urdu) are very similar.


ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) is one of Asia’s most active organisations. When it was formed in 1967, there was a proposal to make Malay its working language since it is spoken in four of its founder states (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei). 30 years later there was an attempt to make Malay its second language. Neither succeeded. In practice the organisation has always conducted business in English.

ASEAN is starting to develop its own style of English, rich in bureaucratic acronyms such as HOGs (Heads of Government), HOSs (Heads of State) and IMT-TG (Indonesian Malaysian-Thai Growth Triangle). However, if we search through ASEAN speeches and literature we can find very few uniquely ‘Asian’ words or expressions.

Leaders of several Asian countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines and the Subcontinent, have traditionally known English as well as or even better than their own national language. Sri Lanka’s S.L. Bandaranaike, Pakistan’s General Zia and Malaysia’s Dr Mahathir, for example, became famous for promoting Sinhala, Urdu and Malay respectively, yet in private mostly used English. Singapore’s first leader, Lee Kuan Yew, was educated in English and didn’t learn Chinese until he was an adult. Many of Israel’s leaders, including the late Golda Meir and the current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were educated mostly in the USA. Thailand’s current leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, went to Oxford University.

Other Asian leaders have tried to learn English later in life. Jiang Zemin
was too old to become fluent, but his efforts encouraged younger Chinese
leaders to study the language. Even Iran’s Mahmood Ahmedinejad, a fierce critic of American culture and politics, has an English blog www. Ahmadinejad.ir/) for people from all over the world to exchange messages about politics. Not surprisingly, most of these messages say what a wonderful leader Ahmedinejad is and what a terrible country the USA is.

But not every Asian leader makes effective use of English The poor English of Korea’s Kim Young Sam was the source of many jokes. And few of Japan’s leaders have been able to conduct conversations in English. When Japanese premier Yoshiro Mori met US President Bill Clinton, he managed to say "Who are you?" instead of "How are you?". Thinking this must be a joke, Clinton joked back "I'm Hillary's husband". Mori replied “Me too.”