Northern or Mandarin dialects, also known under the Chinese terms of Beifanghua, Putonghua,
Guanhua and Guoyu. About seventy per cent of the total population of China are native speakers of
one of the northern dialects. By decision of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the
dialect spoken by the native inhabitants of Beijing (i.e. Pekingese) has been selected for setting the
standards of pronunciation for the variety of Mandarin which has been adopted as the official language
for all China and which has been given the name of Putonghua (“the common language”) or Modern
Standard Chinese (MSC). Mandarin is also one of the official languages in Taiwan, Singapore and
Hong Kong.
Yue dialects, one of which is known in English as Cantonese. These dialects are native to about five
per cent of the population of China and are widely spoken in Hong Kong. Many overseas Chinese,
including many residents of Australia with ethnic Chinese background, are native speakers of
Cantonese.
Wu dialects. These are spoken mainly in the Changjiang (Yangtze) Delta, including the cities of
Shanghai and Suzhou. Native speakers of the Wu dialects make up about eight per cent of the
population of China.
Hakka or Kejia dialects. These are spoken by about four per cent of China’s population spread over
many parts of southern China as well as in areas of Chinese settlement in south-East Asia, especially
Indonesia.
Min or Hokkien dialects, sub-divided into Northern (Minbeihua) and Southern (Minnanhua) dialect
groups. The Min dialects are spoken mainly in Fujian, Taiwan and Guangdong provinces of China, as
well as among overseas Chinese, especially those settled in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,
Philippines, Vietnam and other countries of South-East Asia. They account for about four per cent of
all native Chinese speakers.
Xiang or Hunanese dialects. These are spoken throughout most of Hunan province. They account for
over two per cent of all Chinese speakers.
Gan or Jiangxi dialects. These are spoken throughout most of Jiangxi, southern Anhui and south-
Eastern Hubei. They account for about 2 per cent of the Chinese population.
Nowadays, almost every Chinese person in the People’s Republic of China and in Taiwan, who is
under 50 years of age and has had some formal education, will either speak Mandarin or know it to the
extent of understanding it. However many, if not most, overseas Chinese, including Chinese residing
in Australia and Chinese refugees from Indo-China, are likely to be native speakers of some non-
Mandarin dialect and may not know Mandarin. Hence, in Australian conditions, candidates for tests in
interpreting in Chinese should specify in what particular variety of spoken Chinese they are claiming
proficiency. Separate oral tests are designed for each main dialect group and the dialect will be
identified on the Certificate of Accreditation. Candidates could note, however, that at present NAATI
conducts Interpreter tests in Mandarin and Cantonese only, and provides Recognition in Hakka only.
Candidates specifying to be tested in Mandarin should be able to recognise some of the vocabulary
variations between Mandarin as spoken in the People’s Republic of China and in Taiwan.
In the written form of the Chinese language dialectal differences do not manifest themselves to the
same extent as in its spoken form. Although NAATI once offered accreditation in translation in both
Mandarin and Cantonese, accreditation in Cantonese was discontinued from 1 January 1996. This
change of policy is the outcome of the declining demand for translation work in Cantonese/English
together with the growing world-wide acceptance of Mandarin as the Modern standard Chinese
language.
Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) can be written in characters of two different forms: the
traditional full-form or the simplified form. Candidates for the Professional Translator test will be
expected to know both forms of script. In the Professional Translator test candidates will be required to
translate two passages: one selected from two passages printed in the traditional full-form; and the
other selected from two passages printed in the simplified form.
In writing out their translations into Chinese, candidates may consistently use either the traditional full
form of characters or the officially approved simplified characters, as long as the same form is used for
both passages. Marks may be deducted if candidates mix both traditional and simplified characters
and use non-standard variant forms of characters. The characters must be written either in the regular
script (Kaishu) or in a legible “running hand” (Xingshu). Use of cursive script (Caozi) is not allowed.
In romanising Chinese proper names, candidates must conform either to the Pinyin or Wade-Giles
systems. In transliterating Chinese place-names, use may also be made of what is known as the Post-
Office system.
Candidates should note that when translating names of geographical locations (e.g. Sydney) and
authorities (e.g. UN) from English into Chinese, they should use the standard equivalent Chinese term.
However, in instances where no equivalent Chinese term exists, they are advised to convey the
“accurate meaning” of the term into Chinese and may then place the English term in brackets after the
translation. Examiners will accept this practice only in exceptional circumstances where a Chinese
equivalent term does not exist. Its use will otherwise be penalised accordingly.
发表于 18-12-2009 14:06:25
收藏
赞
踩
发表于 25-12-2009 03:15:06
