China Blog Parade: May 19-25, 2007

Hi alls,

I am from Singapore, I am looking for Fuzhou Hotspring branch road, can someone tell me where is it in Fuzhou.

I neither care about nor had any 'cred'.

Anyway, language is an opinion and never static. Don't let yourself be dictated to. Some people write "I was on the phone" when other think it is incorrect unless you write "I was on the 'phone". "Phone" has become a word. For some people.

And I am not an English teacher :)

I hope that I am as thrilled as everyone else that we have aired our thoughts on the subject. And with minimal offending! Surely a step forward. Enjoy your lattes.

Trev said:

"Can we please stop using the word "Chinese" as a noun? It is not, it is an adjective."

"Chinese" is a noun as well as an adjective. See Merriam-Webster or Oxford.

But what would I know? I'm no English teacher ... I have a real job :P

Hate to agree with poopy-pants, but Trev is right. Probably. 'Chinese' can be a noun, yes, but it's not correct to use it to say 'a Chinese'. That is, you cannot say 'I saw a Chinese on the Metro'. Well, you can, but it wouldn't be correct use of English. Probably.

Let it be known that trev is so arrogant as to think he knows English better than the Oxford English Dictionary! You've lost all cred, mate.

{"What's the verdict on Chinee and Chinaman?"

[12] Posted by: James | May 29, 2007 3:04 PM }

- What's the verdict on "honky" and "cracker", you dim-witted Neanderthal?

RE: "Could Da Shan Ever be Chinese?"

-The Politburo suggested that Comrade Dashan is more useful to the Party as a non-Chinese.

Trev, OED = Oxford English Dictionary. Give it a rest and move on to the next thing to whinge about, you cantankerous Pom.

Some words shouldn't be used in this way. In the past Chinese was not a noun but the hideous monstrosity that is 'Chinglish' has made it so - but not in my book.

You can't use English, French, Spanish etc. as nouns. You can generally use countries that end in "n":

I am:

an American

a German

a Bulgarian

an Italian

but not

I am:

an English

a French

a Spanish

You can also not say

I am:

a Japanese

a Chinese

a Surinamese

it's wrong. People saying it's right does not make it so.

What's the verdict on Chinee and Chinaman?

Give it a bone Trev, you cranky ol' bugger. The OED defines the word Chinese thus:

Chinese

• noun (pl. same) 1 the language of China. 2 a person from China.

• adjective relating to China.

Are you going to argue with that?

I'm curious why someone would not like the use of "Chinese" as a noun. Just because they think it's grammatically incorrect? Or something else. If it's okay to say "American" as a noun, why not "Chinese"? And if not "Chinese" as a noun, then what?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 'Chinese' is a noun. It is primarily used as an adjective, and its usage as a noun is perhaps a bit archaic, but it is not incorrect.

Yawn.

It's wrong.

Trev, that's a bold statement, calling out dictionary.com like that.

Can you find a credible source that confirms that "Chinese" cannot be used as a noun? I think we'd all be interested in settling this little issue once and for all.

And, unfortunately, you don't count as a credible source.

Thanks!

It's wrong.

According to www.dictionary.com, Chinese can also be used as a noun:

4. a native or descendant of a native of China.

Just wanted to clarify that there was nothing wrong with the original post.

phew - thanks!

Trev: Done!

Can we please stop using the word "Chinese" as a noun? It is not, it is an adjective.

India cancels diplomatic visit to China

By Jo Johnson in New Delhi

Published: May 27 2007 13:25 | Last updated: May 27 2007 13:25

India has cancelled a confidence-building visit to China by over one hundred civil servants in an escalation of a diplomatic row over the two countries’ 3,500km-long unresolved border.

The 107 Indian Administrative Service officers were due to leave for Beijing and Shanghai for a mid-career training programme on Saturday when they were directed to return to their home states.

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The Indian move came after China granted only 106 visas to the visiting delegation, denying one to a civil servant from the eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, on the grounds that he was Chinese and therefore did not need one.

Beijing claims 90,000 sq km of land in Arunachal Pradesh, which borders Bhutan and Tibet. India in turn says that China is occupying 38,000 sq km of its territory in Kashmir illegally ceded to it by Pakistan.

Analysts said China’s denial of a visa to a government official from Arunachal Pradesh was intended to reinforce its claim to the entire state and not just the disputed tract of land around Tawang it has long asserted to be part of Tibet.

It is not the first occasion on which China has sought to remind India of its continuing claim to this sparsely-populated area of the eastern Himalayas over which the two countries fought a brief and bloody war in 1962.

China’s envoy to India Sun Yuxi said the “entire state was a part of China” last November, just a few days before Chinese president Hu Jintao’s maiden visit to India.

The Indian ministry of external affairs has repeatedly stated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

Beijing has denied visas to officials from the disputed state on several occasions in recent years. Analysts said India’s reaction, in canceling a programme that had the personal support of Manmohan Singh, prime minister, was unprecedentedly firm.

During a trip to India by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in 2005, India and China agreed on broad principles to settle their decades-long border issue. Although negotiators will meet again in July, few expect any breakthrough ahead of Mr Singh’s visit to Beijing later this year.

The border dispute has not prevented a blossoming of trade and economic ties. The countries are aiming for two-way trade worth $40bn by 2010. Bilateral trade has surged to $17.6bn in 2005/6, from $260m in 1990.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007