Abstract

The adoption of English as a medium language in international trade  dates back to the 1630s, while the first half of the 20th century saw its  solidified status as the primary means of spoken and written communication in international affairs. The cross-cultural communication between China and the west in the past century has nourished the emergence of China-related English expressions in greater variety than ever seen in past centuries, constituting an integrated section into this lingua franca of our era, broadly known as “China English”.   

English as a global language has been “localized” in various ways as it merges into the indigenous cultures. As a matter of fact, some of the localized English varieties have been well established to play an important role in international communication. China English is a collection of Chinese-featured expressions that take roots in Chinese cultural context, most notably at the lexical level. Based on the previous studies of the lexis of China English, this paper is to conduct an analysis of the lexical characteristics of China English through investigating the sample texts from three English versions of Reports on the Work of the Government in recent years. The comparative study of the Reports on the Work of the Government will bring to light the unique characteristics of China English.

Key words: China English; Chinese English; Report on the Work of the Government; lexical characteristics

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 Research Background: China English as a Variety of English-1

2.2 Definitions and Characteristics of China English in Contrast with Chinese English-2

2.3 Research Methodology-6

3. An Overview on Report on the Work of the Government-7

3.1 A Description of Report on the Work of the Government-7

3.2 Major Linguistic Characteristics of Report on the Work of the Government-8

3.3 The Relevance of Report on the Work of the Government to the Study of China English-9

4. An Analysis of the Lexical Characteristics of China English in the English Version of Reports on the Work of the Government-9

4.1 Word Formation of the China English Lexis-9

4.2 Semantic Features of the China English Lexis-12

4.3 Features of the Diction of the China English Lexis-14

5. Conclusion-15

Works Cited-17