本帖最后由 阑珊心语 于 2009-4-11 22:22 编辑
A final embrace
In Xiamen - the hometown of the Hokkien dialect, the media has cried foul that the people there can no longer speak it. Over in Singapore, many also do not speak Hokkien anymore.
The people in Xiamen now speak Mandarin instead of Hokkien. But not all Singaporeans speak Mandarin. In fact, many speak only English.
Singaporean language expert Dr Goh Yeng Seng has commented that in 10 to 20 years' time, English will emerge as the ethnic Chinese lingua franca in place of Mandarin and the Chinese language will become a foreign language that one can learn only through the classroom. Should this happen, would there still be a place for dialects in Singapore society?
Mother tongue “is the first language that a person picks up and is usually the standard language or dialect of that particular ethnic group”. But English looks set to become the key language used by the Chinese in Singapore 10 or 20 years from now. This is a result of the city-state's peculiar condition and an irreversible trend.
It is a situation of “those who go along with it will thrive and those who resist it will perish”.
If Chinese Singaporeans do not want English to become the only language spoken by Chinese and if they want the Chinese language to remain as their mother tongue, they will have to bid farewell to dialects.
Dialects are already slowly dying in Singapore. If we do not want to hasten their demise, then just allow them to draw their last breath before they become history.
In 20 or 30 years's time, I think candidates standing for a General Election in Singapore will no longer need to speak in dialects to seek voter support.
But it is not a bad thing for dialects to vanish - this is the only way to give the Chinese language more space to grow and a longer life. Sadly, many Singaporeans still have a strong sense of affinity with dialects.
Even after the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts has explained why it will not ease rules to allow dialect programming on free-to-air television, many still find it hard to accept.
According to a Unesco report released on the International Mother Language Day on Feb 21 last year, about half of the 6,700 or so languages in the world are in danger of dying.
In Singapore, dialects are much less popular than the English and Chinese language.
In a globalised economy where a computer is all that is needed to access information all over the world, it is inevitable that weaker languages are replaced by the more dominant ones.
For instance, it won't be long before languages spoken by minorities in China like the Manchus and Hezhens die out. The presence of different races, languages and cultures has made the world so much more interesting and the languages and dialects of minority races do have their own small roles to play.
But Singaporeans will have to live with the fact that the country has its own unique circumstances. Even in China, the status of dialects has fallen considerably.
The Chinese government has strict rules governing the use of dialects.
Firstly, officials can only resort to them when it is absolutely necessary in order to carry out their duty.
Secondly, dialects used for broadcasting must be approved of by the State Council or provincial authorities. Thirdly, dialects are permitted only for artistic pursuits like theatre and film productions.
Lastly, for publication, teaching and research purposes.
In short, dialects are allowed only when there is a “genuine and imperative need” which makes one wonder if it is really worth the trouble to cling on to them.
In Singapore, if you're one of those who still have strong feelings over dialects and find it hard to let go, it might be a good idea to imagine them as the love of your life whom you have no choice but to part with - give her a warm and final embrace before she leaves you. ·The writer, who lives in Hong Kong, is the SPH Chinese Newspapers Division's language consultant. Translated by Yap Gee Poh. |
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