Chinglish – it's a word in a million

Edited from an article in the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times February 05, 2006
John Harlow, in Los Angeles

CHAMPIONS of the English language are about to mark a momentous point in its 1,500-year history — the creation of its one-millionth word.
The growing use of Chinglish (Chinese-English) and dozens of other ethnic hybrids has pushed the number of words in the language to 986,120, according to Paul Payack, a Harvard-educated linguist monitoring its growth.
Chinglish terms include “drinktea”, meaning closed, derived from the Mandarin Chinese for resting; and its opposite, “torunbusiness”, meaning open, from the Mandarin word for operating.
While some are amusing to the British ear, others are abrasive. Public toilets for disabled people in Beijing are marked “deformedman” and in Hong Kong “kweerboy” denotes a homosexual.
The Chinese government has vowed to sweep Chinglish from road and shop signs before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but is fighting an uphill battle.

The one-millionth word is likely to be formed this summer, confirming the domination of English in the global linguistic order. “Global English is no longer just dominated by either British English or American, but is running free and developing uniquely regional forms,” said Payack.
Chinglish and up to 60 cousins such as Spanglish (Spanish-English), Japlish (Japanese-English) and Hinglish (Hindi-English) owe their rise largely to the Internet.
Thanks to its influence a language that evolved in Anglo-Saxon England now reaches billions of homes in the developing world, where it is radically transformed for local taste while remaining recognisably English.
New words are also spread — although rarely created — by celebrity “transmitters” such as Madonna and Snoop Dogg, who is credited with a form of rap-speak known as “shizzle”.
“The creators of new words usually remain anonymous, except for President George Bush’s Bushisms such as ‘misunderestimate’,” said Payack. “Those are special.”

Although it excludes proper names, Payack’s database includes text-message words, which are evolving as consumers start buying reading matter over their mobile phones. “This is changing their language too,” said Payack.
He believes that English has triumphed because it is open to change. “In the 1960s, 250m people spoke English, but now it’s closer to 2 billion, or one in three people in the world.
“That English became the first truly global language in the 1990s is beyond dispute, but there is debate about where it goes from here.
“Does it splinter into a loosely connected family of English languages, which become mutually incomprehensible again, like old Latin, or do we develop a standard global English that can be understood by all? We don’t know what will happen.”
“The average Briton uses about 40,000 words, although not all every day, and can understand another 20,000. The richness and flexibility of English ensures we shall never be at a loss for words.”

Momentous – very important
Hybrids – a word made by combing two different elements derived from different languages
Abrasive – harsh or rough in manner
Anonymous – with a name that is not known or not made known
Triumphed – achieved a great victory
Splinter – break into very small pieces
Incomprehensible – not able to be understood