Type I: Translation

Translation is a type of conversion of a text by means of an equivalent text, which involves a process of semantic extraction usually with cultural-sensitive considerations. This type of translingual practice is commonly found in multilingual menus in Cantonese restaurants. The translation practice of Cantonese culinary terms reflects a social norm in a given culture that can be used to exchange knowledge and indexes a shared value to English readers. For example, Figure 2 is a spherical egg-based waffle which consists of semi-spherical cells. The Cantonese term 雞蛋仔 (gaai daan jai) consists of three Sinographs 雞 (gaai ‘chicken’), 蛋 (daan ‘egg’), and 仔 (jai, a suffix denoting a small object with cuteness), which is commonly translated as ‘egg waffle’ in Asia. With its recent popularity across Europe and North America (see CNN, 2020), in the past few years, egg waffle is being reinvented and it has transformed as ‘(Hong Kong's) bubble waffle’ that includes a cone-wrapped egg waffle with extra topping ingredients such as ice-cream, chocolate sauce, rainbow sprinkles or fruits. This example demonstrates how a Cantonese culinary term is reconceptualised by a ‘well known’ object in another culture when there was no equivalent term in English. The translation practice could help English readers understand the food easily by what they have already known from their mental lexicon. Another example is Open Rice, which is the most popular mobile application (APP) for searching restaurants in Hong Kong. Its Cantonese name 開飯喇 (hoifaan laa) consists of three Sinographs that literally mean 開 (hoi ‘to open’), 飯 (faan ‘rice’), and 喇 (laa, a particle indicating something is about to change). This is an expression used to tell someone ‘The meal is ready’ at home, which is similar to the phrase bon appetit in English. Such ‘word-for-word’ translation practice seems also common in Hong Kong since it targets local Cantonese-speaking users. Several other examples of translated culinary terms are listed below:

• • willow branch dew 楊枝甘露 (joeng-zi-gam-lou) – a type of sago dessert with mango and pomelo

• • cart noodles 車仔麵 (cezai min) – a noodle dish formerly sold by street hawkers

• • snow skin mooncake 冰皮月餅 (bingpei jyutbeng; also known as ‘crystal mooncake’) – a non-baked, cold mooncake

• • Swiss wings 瑞士雞翼 (seoisi gaijik) – a kind of sweet soy sauce-flavored dish of chicken wings (only found in Hong Kong)

• • Singapore-style rice vermicelli 星洲炒米 (singzau caau mai; literally ‘Singapore-fry-rice’) – a dish of stir-fried cooked rice vermicelli with yellow curry powder (only found in Hong Kong; see Chan, Reference Chan2019)

Figure 2. Bubble waffles (Sassy Mama HK, 2019)

Type II: Transliteration

Transliteration (also known as romanisation) is a type of conversion of a text from the phonetic-grapheme of a language to the alphabets of another language, which entails a process of mapping between sounds and spelling. Table 1 lists 18 words in total, including the Sinograph forms of the translingual words, their local conventional spelling (from Google Search and Google Map), the OED spelling, and the romansiation forms in Yale and LSHK (Linguistic Society of Hong Kong) systems. These 18 transliterated words are Cantonese-origin culinary items found in the OED. However, considering the lexical mobility in the contemporary Cantophone world, eight words are excluded because those words are not widely used anymore (e.g. campoi, oopack, souchong, and towcok) and some of them are mostly used in Northern America (e.g. chop suey, moo goo gai pan, and subgum). In addition, the special item hoisin ‘seafood’ was also excluded because it cannot be used as an independent morpheme (see the next section for a more detailed discussion). However, eight words commonly found on digital and real-life language use (including supermarkets and restaurants) in Hong Kong and/or Singapore are included.

Table 1. Romanisation of transliterated words in different domains

Many transliterated words have different spelling variations, but the meanings are the same (see Ahn, Reference Ahn2021). Such orthographic variants are not always consistent in either Hong Kong or Singapore. Three sociolinguistic features of Table 1 can be drawn here. First, since translingual food words are generally formed from one, two or more syllabic Sinographs, transliterated words can be with or without spacing in-between each syllable. Word spacing in such translingual words is conventional, but the bi-syllablic words are sometimes irregular. For example, barbecued pork 叉燒 can be transliterated as char siu, cha siu, charsiu, and chasiu. Separating each syllable in romanised words has a long history in Hong Kong and Singapore (such as in naming practice; see Lee, Reference Lee2011), which can be found in the documentations published during colonial governance. This is because word spacing could avoid potential misunderstanding by English readers. However, it should be noted that it goes against the conventional practice of Mandarin romanisation. It also does not align with the practice on automictic typing systems while using technological devices such as phones and computers. This phenomenon might be related to one's multilingual competence, which is strongly linked to personal experiences and cognitive recognition of orthographies in learning and reading English and Mandarin (see Hamawand, Reference Hamawand2022). Second, due to huge typological differences between the Cantonese and English writing systems, the tonal marker used to indicate the stress of a syllable does not reflect in the practice of transliteration. These transliterated food words do not follow either Yale or LSHK systems, which have their own orthographical rules in visualised tonal markers by using diacritics and numbers. Third, some words have undergone semantic change by the divergent terms through translation and transliteration. For example, in Hong Kong, ‘sticky rice chicken’ 糯米雞 (no mai gai) is a steamed sticky rice parcel with mushrooms, salted egg, and meat (chicken or pork), and its variant (smaller in size; usually served in two to three pieces) is commonly called 珍珠雞 (zan zyu gai). It has no transliterated form in Hong Kong (see Figure 3). However, in Singapore, the term lo mai gai is used to refer to ‘lotus leaf rice’ in small pieces without a leaf, which is a common breakfast dish, but ‘lotus leaf rice’ 荷葉飯 (hojip faan) is only used to refer the dish served with a lotus leaf.

Figure 3. Glutinous rice parcels with pork (SBS Food, 2020)

One possible reason is that the Canto-Western encounter can be traced back to the late Ming dynasty in Canton city (nowadays Gwongjau) and Macau (see Bolton, Bacon–Shone & Luke, Reference Bolton, Bacon–Shone, Luke, Bolton, Botha and Kirkpatrick2020: 449). The residents in these two southern coast ports might not be well literate due to the lack of literacy education during the 17^th century, and there was no systemic romanisation systems back then. In this sense, some transliterated words might originally stem from the spoken interaction between English speakers and Cantonese monolingual speakers (rather than written form), with the former hearing how the natives pronounced culinary lexical items. Another possible reason relates to the English language attitude. As Kirkpatrick and Moody (Reference Kirkpatrick and Moody2009: 268) mention in their comparative research on English songs, ‘Hong Kong people are more cultured, sophisticated, and serious than the Singaporeans’. The lexical alternation shown in Table 1 further supports the idea Hong Kong people treat those transliterated word as ‘non-standard’ English vocabulary, which implies the use of transliterated words is against sociolinguistic norms in Hong Kong. Therefore, compared with Singaporeans, Hongkongers tend to resort less to the local English variety even in informal contexts.

Type III: Hybridisation

Hybridisation refers to a translingual practice that involves a linguistically acculturated process in a localised and innovative way. The hybridised words are formed through a blend of translation and transliteration into English lexicons while transferring a new cultural concept from Cantonese to English. These words may be the outcomes of code-mixing and spread by the Cantonese-English bilinguals, which can be understood as a result of bilingual creativity and language contact (see Benson, Reference Benson2000; Lee & Li, Reference Lee, Li and Kirkpatrick2021; Leimgruber, Reference Leimgruber2013: 68–69; Moody & Matsumoto, Reference Ng, Cavallaro, Montanari and Quay2003). Bilingual speakers do not have difficulty in understanding this type of lexical item. For example, Figure 4 is a spicy seafood sauce typically including dried scallops in canola oil for home cooking. The name XO sauce (also known as X. O. sauce) is formed through combining the misnomer word XO (‘extra-old’ cognac) and the English word sauce. Although XO sauce does not contain XO cognac, the term XO is used to denote high quality and luxury for branding promotion and marketing considerations. In another example found on the Internet, char siu bun (叉燒包) is a steamed bun filled with barbecue pork, which refers to a paired food combination of barbecue pork and bun. It is a coined word combined from the Cantonese transliterated word char siu and the English word bun, rather than using either fully Cantonese transliterated form char siu baau/paw nor entirely Mandarin transliterated form chashao bao. Some hybridised culinary terms are listed below:

• • hoisin sauce 海鮮醬 (hoisin zoeng) – a seafood sauce

• • egg tart 蛋撻 (daantaat) – a kind of baked dish filled with egg custard

• • yam ring/ taro basket 芋頭圈 (wutau hyun) – a dish of deep-fried ring of mashed taro (only found in Singapore)

Figure 4. A bottle of XO sauce and hoisin sauce in Singapore (2022)

Type IV: Tranßcripting

Tranßcripting is ‘a linguistic practice of creating a script with elements from different writing systems or by mixing conventional language scripts with other symbols and signs including emoji’ (Li & Zhu, Reference Li and Zhu2019). Unlike the previous type, the tranßcripted practice could denote dual meanings in two languages with unconventional usage. It also known as ‘trans-scripting’ which refers to ‘a practice of selecting a non-canonical script or orthography to graphically represent a language in ways that are neither socially expected nor technologically determined’ (Androutsopoulos, Reference Androutsopoulos2020; see also Angermeyer, Reference Angermeyer2005). Cantonese and Mandarin each have two different writing systems: Sinograph and its romanisation (phonetically based on each variety). At the same time, the romanised script of the Sinitic languages is shared with the English alphabets. The bilingual readers can easily associate the orthographic features with multiliterate play. Interestingly, this example of tranßcripting practice which involves the homophones 喜 (hei) and hey in English is also adopted by a modern Chinese tea chain 喜茶 (Hey Tea). This brand originates from Cantonese-speaking parts of mainland China (e.g. Gwongdung and Gwongsai provinces) and has expanded its tea shops to Hong Kong and Singapore. The first Sinograph 喜 (literally means ‘happiness’) of the brand name adopts an Anglicised spelling hey which is close to the Cantonese pronunciation hei, instead of using the Mandarin corresponding form xi. For example, Figure 5 is a chain fried rice shop in Singapore. The brand name Wok Hey is a type of fast food shop selling fried rice and fried noodles. It is formed through combining the Cantonese transliterated word wok ‘a kind of deep round-bottomed cooking pot’ and the English word hey. This type of tranßcripted innovation draws upon a homophonic feature of the script. Wok Hey is a homophone of Cantonese-based Sinograph for the Cantonese culinary term wok hei 鑊氣 (which literally means ‘the breath/air of the wok’). This cultural concept refers to the flavor, taste, and fleeting aroma imparted by a piping-hot wok on to food during stir-frying in Cantonese cuisine. In short, a tranßcripted brand name has its commercial and advertising function in multilingual societies. A creative brand name not only makes a distinctive feature from other competitors but also catches the customers’ eyes in the street.

Figure 5. A fried rice shop in Singapore (2022)

Type V: Sino-translanguaging

Sino-translanguaging refers to a linguistic practice of creating an English lexical item via the spread of Sinograph by multilingual speakers in a globalised era. The Sino-translanguaging practice could be facilitated by Sinograph that can in turn function as an orthographically-mediated space in the creation of translingual words. This type of practice does not necessarily involve English language directly. This is because Sinograph is a logographic script with high semantic transparency. Since the use of Cantonese is strictly restricted by the government of Singapore, proficiency in Cantonese has steadily decreased in the city over the past two decades. Non-Cantonese speakers may be able to recognise and understand these Cantonese culinary words, but they may not able to pronounce them correctly. Singaporeans tend to adopt the culinary words aligning with the Mandarin pronunciation. Therefore, the translingual words are also created through another type of romanisation by what Singaporeans have learnt in the Chinese language lessons – Mandarin pinyin. For example, Figure 6 is a traditional dish for celebrations among Cantonese-speaking inhabitants in Hong Kong's New Territories (see Chan, Reference Chan2010). This dish includes a few layers of ingredients which are served in a large metal basin at festivals, later spread to other parts of the Cantophone world in the late 2000s. The dish name 盤菜 can be romanised into Cantonese poon choi and Mandarin pencai respectively. According to Google Trends (see Figure 7), the two variants, poon choi and pencai have popularly appeared in searches online (in the category of Food and Drink) over the months of Lunar New Year and Winter Solstice every year in Singapore. It is shown that the number of searches of poon choi and pencai appeared similarly in Singapore but pencai is slightly higher than poon choi.

Figure 6. Poon Choi (FairPrice, n.d.)

Figure 7. Poon Choi and Pencai (2010 to 2022, Singapore)

Another type of festive Cantonese cuisine commonly consumed in Southeast Asia provides an interesting case of Sino-translanguaging practice. Figure 8 shows a type of Cantonese-style raw fish salad originating from the Malay peninsula (either Singapore or West Malaysia). This dish is named lo hei 撈起 (this literally means ‘tossing up’, with an auspicious connotation) by the local Cantonese-speaking communities, and it is also known as yusheng 魚生 (literally, ‘fish-raw’) in the non-Cantonese-speaking communities. This term can refer to a cultural activity during the Lunar New Year. All diners have to stand up and add different ingredients one by one while making auspicious wishes, then mixing and tossing up the dish with chopsticks before eating. According to Google Trends (see Figure 9), the two variants yusheng and lo hei have popularly appeared in online searches during Lunar New Year in Singapore and Hong Kong. The number of searches for yusheng has exceeded those for lo hei since 2020, while the overall number of searches for lo hei is dropping. However, Hongkongers have no such tradition in Cantonese dining. Thus, the numbers of searches of these two variants remain still extremely low. Based on authors’ observation, a small number of Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong sell this type of dish during Lunar New Year in recent years and all of them adopt the terms lo hei rather than yusheng.

Figure 8. Yusheng (Epicure Asia, 2022)

Figure 9. Lo Hei and Yusheng (2010 to 2022, Singapore and Hong Kong)

Both festive dishes discussed above have illustrated two possible different pathways of lexical interaction which could help us understand how lexicons are created in a multilingual context. The dish poon choi and the mixture drink yuenyeung (see Table 2) both originated from Hong Kong. When these two culinary terms reached Singapore, they might have been converted into ‘new’ English lexical items based on Mandarin pinyin. At the same time, the transliterated words from Cantonese could co-exist in Singapore. However, due to a low level of linguistic vitality of Mandarin in Hong Kong, Cantonese-English bilingual Hongkongers might tend to absorb the translingual words of the same item from Singapore, which is rooted in Cantonese language, and to disregard the words which are romanised based on Mandarin pinyin. The above examples and Table 2 demonstrate that Sinograph is a mediator for the translanguaging between the two Sinitic varieties. Sinography, a traditional logographic writing system in East Asia, is the original textual source which co-exists in both Cantonese and Mandarin. The orthographically mediated space could potentially shape lexical creation and interaction in multilingual societies (see Figure 10). Unlike transliterated practice, Sino-translanguaging does not necessarily happen through language contact with the English language. Multilinguals have a set of mental Sinographs in their minds, which can be used to automatically transfer the lexical items from Sinitic words to romanised alphabets. Thus, Sino-translanguaging practice may spread by a given individual's multilingual competencies, which may shape the global English lexicon.

Table 2. Romanisation of Cantonese culinary words via Sino-translanguaging in different domains

Figure 10. A trajectory of Sino-translanguaging practice between Hong Kong and Singapore