Taiwanese Mandarin aka 台灣狗語

ECFA's cartoon character Yi-Ge speaks Taiwanese Mandarin. But, the blogosphere revealed that Taiwanese were swift in fighting back discrimination by the creative translation of the word “Taiwanese Mandarin”.

我跟他一樣會說台語、英語；我還會說希臘語、但我只會說台灣狗語！

Update: HOT NEWS!

Taiwan’s MOEA adjusted study figures to hide the negative effects of signing ECFA:

Ministry distorted ECFA study: DPP from the Taipei Times

Interesting site:

RGE Asian Economies Blogs Aggregated

老外哈上台灣，問我為何叫他阿兜仔？My friend is asking me why he is called A-DO-AH by Taiwanese

我跟布倫兄說：為什不 (Why not)？

Writer Dan Bloom sent me 2 e-mails wanting me to comment on his article about the Taiwanese word “A-do-ah”. At the end of his article, he said that the real judges would be the Taiwanese themselves.

Since the real judge will be the Taiwanese, I have written in the language that most Taiwanese will understand.

I am surprised to find that my friend Dan hates to be called “A-do-ah” (not told but I have found Dan’s comment here). Sure, if Dan doesn’t like it, I will defend his rights, but I will continue to call others who don’t mind this word because I believe that the invention behind this Taiwanese word not only has no bad intentions, but also carries the spirit of admiring of what we Taiwanese wish to have but don’t have in their facial feature, a nice-looking higher pointing nose. I have been trying to hold my glasses in its place, but it keeps slipping down, I wish I were a “a-do-ah”, but I am a Taiwanese.

My first response to Dan

Hi Dan:

Nice to communicate again. I like to call the westerners the traditional Taiwanese way "A-do-ah" because it is not only humorous but also the way Taiwanese people admire what they don't have - a beautiful sharp nose, and since for long the Taiwanese people have been using this description without any bad intentions, why should we change this "terminology" which forms part of the traditional Taiwanese language culture.

But to be fair, I am asking around some foreigners that I know living in TW, and M. Turton had replied publicly and privately that he does not mind at all. I am waiting for the others to tell me how they feel.

Άλισον

p.s. I didn't have time to read your Chinese version of the article, I will when I have time much later.

My response to Taiwanese readers and Dan

我離台時没有“哈上”這個用語，但是叫西方人“阿兜仔”可說是已經代代相傳的說法，我想可能因為台灣人羨慕西方人又高挺又英俊或美麗的鼻樑，嚮往西方人有、而自己没有的鼻子，才會發明出這種詞語。

這跟一般笑人胖廋、或中國人看輕台灣人、而稱我們“台巴子”、可不能拿來相提並論。

台灣人心地善良、用“阿兜仔”來形容西方人、不但幽默也有 稱讚的意思。

布倫兄的文章一出來、我只好檢討一下，我怕被我們的希臘台灣人部落格翻譯成“看透台灣的阿兜仔”的特登先生、會不會也不喜歡被叫做“阿兜仔”、所以 趕緊向他請叫一下他的看法，他說他一點也不介意，大概他的鼻子很好看吧？

我想如果他不介意的話、我會繼續用代代相傳的說法稱讚他，因為“阿兜仔”已經是難改口的台語文化的一部份。

但是如果我看到一個西方人、鼻子像這樣 ( link, I have seen the movie Roxanne, it’s a funny and entertaining movie)、我話說出口前、會三思而後行。

我先生笑我說、打死我叫我改口不講“阿兜仔”可能比較困難、現在醫學發達、不喜歡的話、他可以去找整形外科比較容易。

布倫兄、你的二封電子郵件我收到了，你要我作個評論、我在此回答了、希望你會看懂我的文章，否則 阿牛 (link) 弟可能可以幫你翻一下。

It’s my friend Dan again

Thanks, Άλισον, all this feedback is good........I am glad M Turton doesn't mind being called a BIG NOSE ('Αλισον's note: No it does not mean “big nose”, it means “high and pointy”, by the way, “big nose" will be translated into Taiwanese as "Dua-pi-nga" where the very last syllable is to pronounce the letter "A" thru nasal passage )

me, too, I don't mind at all ('Αλισον’s note: I am glad Dan has gradually changed his mind after my first reply).....I just want to do some research on the meaning of the word....DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA when it first started being used in Taiwan.....maybe in 1920? Maybe in 1860,,,,,maybe in 1945 after war....? is there any way to find out?

Dan

Cultural research is not my best field, maybe when I am bored of the political research one day. Taiwanese readers, do you want to solve my friend Dan’s curiosity?

‘Αλισον

Introducing Taiwan Study for International Students

Yes! Taiwan Study (not China Study!)

International (and of course local Taiwanese) students interested in the Taiwan Study may find this site http://www.ntnu.edu.tw/TCLL/ informative.

Among other graduate institutes that focus on the study of Taiwan’s multicultural society, the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture, Languages, and Literature (TCLL) at the National Taiwan Normal University is the first integrated research institution to offer three graduate programs: Taiwan’s cultures, Taiwan’s languages, and Taiwan’s literatures.

There are many Taiwanese native scholars in its faculty list, but I will introduce a member who is from Europe.

A Dutch national Asian specialist, Dr. Ann Heylen (An-kuan Ho 賀安娟), was first hired as an invited associate professor, and more recently appointed full-time Associate Professor from the academic year 2008-2009 onwards.

Among many of Dr. Heylen’s publications is the Tales of Dutch Formosa 臺灣荷蘭時期的故事

Taiwan’s Dutch connection could be traced back to the early 17^th century.

In 1603, the Dutch fleet sailed toward the Pescadores of Taiwan Straits, and landed on the main island Penghu. This was the first time that Western European power (Blogger’s note: not talking about sailors) ever set foot on the land of Taiwan.

…292 years later...a Taiwan Democratic Republic was proclaimed on May 23, 1895 but very very short lived…

Are you curious about the rest of the Taiwan’s history? This is the most complete version I have seen so far, written by a Japanese scholar Ito and translated by Walter Chen. And thanks to the Danish Taiwan Corner that linked to it. There are 14 chapters, so you may want to study it thoroughly during your summer vacation and dig more or sponser the project.

Another announcement is the first issue of the monthly e-paper (on line magazine) of the TCLL was out (in Chinese) starting this month.

台師大台文所電子報創刊！

http://ap.itc.ntnu.edu.tw/ePaperHistory/200905131033491243413332590.html

Hello Netherlands!

Welkom → Profiel

Het Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture, Languages, and Literature aan de National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) is de eerste masteropleiding aan een Taiwanese universiteit met een combinerende vakspecialisatie in de cultuur, taalkunde en literatuur over en omtrent Taiwan. Dit instituut werd opgericht in 2002 in het kader van de toenmalige maatschappij-gerichte Taiwanisering.

De studierichting heeft tot doel de studenten een grondig inzicht te doen verwerven in de relaties tussen maatschappij en taal/media, en dit tegen de achtergrond die zowel concentreert op hedendaagse als historische culturele fenomenen. Het studiedomein van de master bestaat uit drie luiken: de culturele dimensie, het taalkundig aspect en de literaire benadering. Wij bieden een coherent programma dat het multidimensionele karakter ten volle aan bod laat komen. Het accent ligt op interdisciplinariteit, met een speciale klemtoon op inhoudelijke discussie rond taal, cultuur en literatuur op internationaal vlak.

21-Feb-09 International Mother Language Day

“I hope, in particular, that governments will introduce, in their formal and non-formal education systems and their own administrations, measures designed to secure the harmonious and fruitful coexistence of the languages of each country. We shall thus succeed in preserving and promoting multilingual environments that show due respect for all expressions of cultural diversity.” said Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, in his closing message on the occasion of International Mother Language Day 21 February 2009.

Some questions for Taiwan’s scholars and academics to think about:

What is the ROC government on Taiwan doing for its language policy contrary to the above?

There are many extinct or endangered tribal languages among Taiwan’s indigenous people, where are they being listed under?

Will the UN, contrary to the mission of its sub-organization, UNESCO, facilitate to extinct the Chinese traditional written language soon?

The World Heritage List also has nothing for Taiwan’s natural or cultural sites, why? Obvious!

My comments:

In taking into account all of the following factors, a harmonious society, the preservation of one’s heritage and culture, globalization trend, and job prospect, it is good to equip a child, as much as he likes and can handle:

A mother tongue language (a language of the indigenous people in Taiwan, or Hok-lo, or Hakka), it’s good to be proud of one’s root and to feel confident of oneself, and to be able to tell other people what you know about your own cultural heritage,

A common language (Mandarin),

A global communication language (English),

A language to give your child an added advantage for a job (a second foreign language, for example: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, etc.)

No infighting only appreciation on different views please

My top link today:

Infighting over Lin vs.US case - We forget whom we should have been fighting
http://echotaiwan.blogspot.com/2009/02/infighting-over-lin-vsus-case-we-forget.html

My comments:

I agree with the above post. No matter what the outcome of the Lin. vs. USA case will be, I sincerely respect the contribution of Lin’s group to the overall promotion on Taiwan’s identity search, especially worth mentioning is the over 70 year-old volunteer in his group based in USA named Chen, Cheng-Kuang (陳辰光), who hosts a forum for Taiwan-related issue discussion. If Taiwan’s younger generation will work as hard as Mr. Chen, Taiwan will definitely have a brighter future.

And I think Lin’s US lawsuit (seeking civil rights under a temporary administration) should be treated as a separate issue from the “Who owns Taiwan’s sovereignty” issue. Indeed, Taiwanese people deserve to have some proper interim document and rights instead of the false ROC document. But the USA cannot be forced to declare sovereignty over Taiwan since it has never had any interests on the territory of Formosa. So the two issues should not be mixed together. Instead of asking the US court to admit that the temporary USMG is still in effect on Taiwan now, it is more proper for Taiwanese to ask the US to proclaim (out of its ethical responsibility) an end to the ROC agency administration that was deployed on behalf of the Allied Forces after WWII.

Update: The US administration has not disclosed Ma's US citizenship or permanent resident status, is this also part of the strategic ambiguity plan?

Other links of concern today:

囂張的國民黨清算到美國 http://www.libertytimes.com/2009/new/feb/16/today-o2.htm

“馬政府上台後，國民黨利用司法做工具，清算前總統陳水扁和綠營支持者，已引起眾怒，不僅在台灣內部強烈反彈，二十名西方學者，三次連署公開信，批評馬政府司法不公，人權倒退。”
“只按顏色、不問政績地清算本國外交界還不夠，馬政府竟把黑手伸到美國學界，清算台灣的支持者。美國知名智庫「傳統基金會」的資深研究員，在上述三封批評馬政府司法不公的聯名信上都簽名的譚慎格（John Tkacik），根據傅建中文章的資訊，就因為馬政府對基金會施壓，而被迫「退休」。”

My comments:

One of Tkacik’s research article on China’s military expansion worth our concern because the world will not see peace, and indeed Mr. Tkacik is no longer found under the list of the organization’s experts or staff anymore.

Further, if the speculation is right, we have got to thank Ma’s MOFA administration for sending pro-Taiwan diplomats to Greece. I don’t like to classify diplomats into color inclinations, as long as they are pro-Taiwan, they fit to be diplomats representing Taiwan. However, unfortunately have you ever found a pro-blue diplomat that is also pro-Taiwan yet?

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) yesterday said he planned to propose that the government cancel 228 Memorial Day as a holiday…
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/02/16/2003436230

Ma’s administration deletes the budget allocated to Taiwanese language http://www.taiwanus.net/news/press/2009/200902151653401659.htm,

The above link is not easy to understand for readers who are only English-speaking, and is being updated now with another link from the English-language Taipeitimes.  

My comments:

Before the election, Ma tried to speak to the crowd in broken Taiwanese. After the election, Ma wants to kill all sorts of spoken languages on Taiwan. Cultural genocide has revisited.

But do you know that :

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2009) — New research into language evolution suggests most Pacific populations originated in Taiwan around 5,200 years ago.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090122141146.htm

and

Taiwan’s gift to the world
Jared M. Diamond http://faculty.washington.edu/plape/pacificarchwin06/readings/Diamond%20nature%202000.pdf

related discussion also found in Chinese language:

http://ws.twl.ncku.edu.tw/hak-chia/c/chu-chin-it/han-jin.htm