Screenshot Via Kevin Michael Grace's twitter
I suppose this tweeter is making fun of Black slang with a fake Chinese broken English. There is odd concealed racial slur too (bn = black negro?).
I wouldn't call it Black communication slang though, since this English is a result of an
interpretation of English to produce a language that evolved over time within a group of people.
This leads me to conclude that it is not necessarily a lack of language issue but a grammatical/logical issue where the Chinese language and grammar structure guides the language expression of these "Canadians."
For example:
- There is
no corresponding plural word to its singular in Chinese
- There doesn't appear to be any clear cut definite or indefinite article (below
explains this more):
Definite Articles: Chinese language doesn’t have the exactly word "the" at all. If one wants to say "the apple" in Chinese: 这蘋果的, one is really saying: "this apple/that apple/those apples/these apples".
Indefinite Articles: There are the indefinite articles: “A”, “An” and “Some” in English language, but if one wants to say "a dish" (一个盤), one is really saying "one dish" (一盤).appears
- Verb tenses:
1. Mandarin Chinese does not have any verb conjugations. All verbs have a single form. For example, the verb for "eat" is 吃 (chī), which can be used for the past, present, and future. [Source]
And
2. [In] Cantonese grammar...there is no need for the use of verb tense. That is, verbs always take the same form, and tense is communicated via additional words. For example:
- Instead of saying, “I am going fishing,” you’d say, “I go fishing today.”
- Instead of saying, “I will go fishing,” you’d say, “I go fishing tomorrow.”
- Instead of saying, “I went fishing,” you’d say “I go fishing yesterday.”
[Source]
Language is more than words and stringing those words together. And I think it is also more than a cultural education. It reflects the logical structure of the human mind.
How we understand each other is a function of who we are. Of course this is obvious on an individual level, but it is also the case on a racial level also.
So yes race does affect language and communication.
Some Chinese I've met have a tendency to drop articles (a/the) and also to leave out the ends of words (-ed, -s) which is probably a combination of grammar and phonetics, probably errors brought on by the actual Chinese grammar and the pronunciation that is transferred to English.
Interestingly I catch this even in those who are younger (teens to early twenties) who speak otherwise flawless English and who are interacting with other Chinese of their own age group. They have, in a way, created their own "slang."
I suppose they can be compared to Italian immigrants who produced their own particular way of speaking, replete with hand movements. But Italians, unlike Blacks, never really produced a lasting "slang." One would be hard-pressed to identify an Italian these days if one went by language alone, so much have they integrated into the mainstream society.
But I think Chinese can and, I would wager that they will.
Because I don't think the Chinese youth will reach that level of integration the Italians acquired. First, recent (the past 20-25 years) immigration policy in Canada promotes the multicultural way of life. Join in, but please don't give up your wonderful culture! Second, the Italians had much more in common, hand movements aside, with the prevalent culture. At least Leonardo da Vinci is a common reference. And third, they
wanted to join in!
What Chinese/Chinese immigrant/second-third-generation Chinese really wants to be part of the Old Stock Canadian culture? Things are just fine as they are. Canada is this benevolent place, rich enough to lead World Leaders in Davos 2018, and generous enough to "welcome" (as those CBC programs keep telling us) all these people from around the world, including their grandparents from those villages they can't find on the map.
They can sip a latte with soy milk in a Starbucks coffee counter at any street corner, but the nice barista on Queen and Spadina even puts on the current pop star from Hong Kong. They can dine on the Amazon/Wholefoods organic brown rice with tofu that reminds them of home cooking. And when the deals are good, which are pretty often now, they can catch a plane back to China/Hong Kong, assured by their round trip ticket that their stay wont be for too long.
In the meantime, they will be as Canadian as they want to be. Any maybe even join a Black Lives Matter solidarity rally the next time it comes around.
And when will this tweeter @liangweihan4, who appears to be posting from a Chinese location, pack his bags and move in?
Long Live Canada! Vive Le Canada Libre!
