Chinese Englishes A Sociolinguistic History [Paperback]

Explores the spread of English in China from the seventeenth century to the present day.This book explores the history of the English language in China from the arrival of the first English-speaking traders in the early seventeenth century to the present. Kingsley Bolton uses early word-lists, satirical cartoons and data from journals and memoirs, as well as more conventional sources, to uncover the forgotten history of English in China and to show how contemporary Hong Kong English has its historical roots in Chinese pidgin English. The book also considers the varying status of English in Mainland China over time, and recent developments since 1997.This book explores the history of the English language in China from the arrival of the first English-speaking traders in the early seventeenth century to the present. Kingsley Bolton uses early word-lists, satirical cartoons and data from journals and memoirs, as well as more conventional sources, to uncover the forgotten history of English in China and to show how contemporary Hong Kong English has its historical roots in Chinese pidgin English. The book also considers the varying status of English in Mainland China over time, and recent developments since 1997.Kingsley Bolton uses early word lists, satirical cartoons and data from journals and memoirs to uncover the forgotten history of English in China, from the arrival of the first English-speaking traders in the early seventeenth century to the present. Demonstrating how contemporary Hong Kong English has its historical roots in Chinese pidgin English, the book considers the changing status of English in mainland China over time, particularly recent developments since 1997.List of maps; List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. New Englishes and World Englishes: pluricentric approaches to English worldwide; 2. The sociolinguistics of English in late colonial Hong Kong, 19801997; 3. The archaeology of 'Chinese Englishes', 16371949; 4. ThlC#