Global Injustice: On the Unhappy Death of My Cantonese Pikachu
Three years ago, Nintendo was renaming Pikachu in one of its largest markets. Cantonese-speaking HongKongese are still depressed after their protest over new translation of “Pikachu”. Do you guys still remember the unhappy death of Cantonese Pikachu? I am sure that you don’t, but I do.
In English-speaking world, Pikachu is a simple name which is directly transliterated from Japanese-made English name or wasei-eigo “ピカチュウ”(Pikachu) according to its pronunciation. After reading BBC news on the topic of why the plan to rename Pikachu has made Hong Kong angry, I just discovered even linguists from Hong Kong did not give a thorough critic on the new translation. I wonder if they try to avoid analyzing further about the cultural significance of the Chinese names in order to avoid political conflict, as education is a tool of the United Front of the Communist Party of China. They may afraid of being fired by their institutes. Indeed, I agree what Professor Stephen Matthew (Cantonese Chinese Name: Ma Si-fan, 馬詩帆) of the School of Humanities of University of Hong Kong said, “it’s seen in the current climate as creeping ‘mainlandization’.” Honestly, that’s what Hong Kong people always have been complaining for a long time since the Handover. I think it’s absurd because when China is developing its Greater Bay Area (Cantonese Province or Guangdong Province), this country is also destroying Cantonese Spiritual Civilization or Guangdong Spiritual Civilization. This is a keyword which appears a lot on the books related to Hu Yaobang.
About the destruction of Hong Kong Market
According to Eugene Nida’s Dynamic Equivalence, a good translation should obey the rule of language and culture of the target market. Before I analyze the translation, I have to ask two simple questions: Is Hong Kong still a single market in front of China? Is Hong Kong market still a target market in translation market, especially for the ACG industry and film industry?
As written Chinese characters are logograms, the meaning of translation from English or Japanese to Cantonese Chinese or Mandarin Chinese should be concerned. It’s also the art of naming. I won’t know why people in the world just focus on the changes in pronunciation. Every single Chinese word has its own meaning, which is based on the culture in the field of translation. If the international mass media only focus on the difference of pronunciation between Cantonese Chinese and Mandarin Chinese, it’s definitely not a good analysis of translation. About transliteration, the meaning of the name is more important than the pronunciation, according to Yan Fu (嚴復), a Chinese scholar and translator from the period of Republic of China, most famous for introducing western ideas. On his general standards for translation, he believes that “there are three difficulties in translation: faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance” (譯事三難：信達雅). If Nintendo disregards Hong Kong market, it definitely destroys faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance of the Chinese translation.
As Nintendo is one of the most influential video game companies in the world, at least in East Asia, which has a mission to create a better world with wide-spread of Japanese’s top game culture and human spiritual civilization, I doubt that Nintendo has a conflict with their marketing strategy. Is the Japanese company which makes its global influence going to have schizophrenia just like China? Since Nintendo challenged me and all Cantonese-speakers in the world, I have to make a response right now. I hope that it’s not too late to criticize.
Comparison Between Cantonese Pikachu & Mandarin Pikachu
As choosing a bad name is a taboo in Cantonese society, Cantonese speakers believe that “choosing a bad name will bring a bad fate.” (sense-for-sense translation), which comes from the Cantonese proverb “唔怕生壞命，最怕改壞名” (Word-for-word translation: Not afraid of having a bad fate, but always afraid of having a bad name). However, mandarin speakers seldom have such kind of culture. I wonder if westerners also care about choosing names. Yes, it’s about nominative determination. Indeed, naming can affect career, so choosing a good name can bring a good career and personality. It’s quite similar to Cantonese culture. Now, I wonder if people in western world and the rest of the world understand that choosing a bad name infringes the dignity of Cantonese-speakers. Honestly, I won’t tolerate such kind of insult.
Unlike English, Chinese is not an alphabetic language. It is a logographic language. Therefore, concerning the cultural meaning of the name word by word is essential. It’s not about “it doesn’t sound like Cantonese”, but also relate to Chinese Civilization. Of course, Cantonese has nine tones which can produce more possibilities for suitable words when it comes to transliteration, while Mandarin has four tones.
比卡超 (jyutping: bei2 kaa1ciu1; pinyin:bi2 ka3 chao1)
皮卡丘(jyutping: pei4 kaa1jau4; pinyin: pi2 ka3 qiu1)
比卡超 (jyutping: bei2 kaa1ciu1; pinyin:bi2 ka3 chao1) has a higher pitch, which makes a forceful and sonorous transliteration. It is also a linguistic characteristic of Cantonese.
In the aspect of semantics, for extended meaning, “比” signifies “competition” (比賽), “challenges” (比試) and “comparison” (比較). Moreover, for its cultural significance, “比” can be associated with Bi Gan or Bei Gon(Chinese: 比干; jyutping: bei2 gon1), who was a prominent Chinese figure during Shang Dynasty, a representative soul of conscience in ancient China. Til now, it is still an irreplaceable historical figure. “卡” comes from the sound of “Ka”, but it doesn’t have concrete meaning in the translation. “超” signifies “超級” (super), “高超” (superb), “超凡” (extraordinary). For its cultural significance, “超” can be associated with Liang Qichao or Leung Kai Chiu(Chinese: 梁啟超; jyutping: loeng4 kai2 ciu1), who was a famous Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher, and reformist who lived during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. He inspires Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements. He is exceptionally important to Modern Chinese history, especially for his native Cantonese ancestry who creates Chinese new vocabulary. Nowadays, people in Greater China Region would still associate creating Chinese new vocabulary as a representative soul of Chinese revolution.
So, what does 皮卡丘 mean? For basic meaning, “皮” means “Skin”, while “丘” means “Grave”. As death is still a taboo in Chinese societies, especially in Cantonese society, Chinese people seldom choose “grave” for naming. Obviously, it is an inelegant translation. Moreover, the whole name cannot create sonorous and forceful pronunciation in Cantonese, though it creates reasonable pronunciation in Mandarin. In the aspect of Cantonese translation, a good name must have a sonorous and bright pronunciation by obeying the law of nine tones of Cantonese. It is a kind of characteristic of Cantonese naming culture.
Now, I ask myself again. Can Bei Ka Chiu pronunciate as its Mandarin version Bi Ka Chao with the same Written Chinese name 比卡超? Yes, it works. It still sounds beautiful and easy to remember. The Mandarin transliteration is also elegant as the Cantonese one with Chinese cultural meaning. It obeys the translation principle of Yan Fu. However, Chinese mainlanders always love adapting to inelegant and ugly translations without any meaning. I wonder why this world just follows the rule of Mr.Close-Enoughs without justification.
Compare with 比卡超 (Cantonese Pikachu) and 皮卡丘 (Mandarin Pikachu), if choosing the previous one can achieve a win-win situation which can remain Chinese cultural values, I don’t know why Nintendo helped China to destroy the extraordinary Cantonese translation. As cultural value is the most important thing for doing global business, did Nintendo use wrong strategy for making Chinese mainlander customers happy with nonsense? Maybe China is really a big market, so famous companies for cultural communication in the world do not respect Hong Kong market, just because Hong Kong is a small market. Well, it’s understandable…
Is Nintendo participating in anti-globalization?
Language is the base of a country, though Hong Kong is not a country politically. As the famous American linguist Professor Noam Chomsky (aka “the father of modern linguist”) agrees that “language as a tool of politics”, I am afraid that Communist Party of China keeps destroying many languages and dialects in China, but the stupid Chinese people who don’t understand their stupidity still support the cultural destruction of Community Party. I totally understand why the famous Chinese linguist Professor Zhou Youguang (Chinese: 周有光, aka “the father of Mandarin Pinyin”) stands for anti-communism after June Fourth Incident. Yes, I am living in a “country” with a lot of absurdities, which make me sad, depressed and angry, but I still find ways to express my own feelings and thoughts.
Nonetheless, Hong Kong can be regarded as a city-state of Cantonese Province or Guangdong Province (廣東省), where will be united as Greater Bay Area- the “copy & paste version” of Bay Area in China. Simply, people from Cantonese Province shall speak Cantonese too. Make sense? Obviously, China is a country of relatives of the majority of Hongkongese. However, ethnic minorities mainly originated from Southeast Asia are always marginalized by the mainstream society due to historical and social factors, so it’s really complicated if I try not to mention their “hidden” existence in my society. I usually pay attention to the development of Guangdong Province, as it’s really the province of my relatives, but we still always have conflicts on the speaking priority between Cantonese and Mandarin for daily use. Seriously, Cantonese is a language system which is totally different from Mandarin. It’s not only a matter about pronunciation, but also a matter about mindset. Nowadays, young people in Cantonese Province tend to give up the usage of Cantonese language in order to embrace Mandarin language. I am not surprised because they are too obedient to slavery education and the ruling of Communist Party. Linguistically, I wonder why people in this world do not recognize the essence of the bullies from Mandarin to other languages in China and replace Cantonese as Universal Chinese.
In fact, Communist Party of China has been killing many dialects and writing systems according to its language policy for the goal of easy ruling people since Cultural Revolution [Honestly, I would call it as Cultural Destruction (文化大破壞), as many Chinese cultures were destroyed by Communist Party. Is it logical?]. Mandarin becomes a universal language in order to unite the whole country, maybe it will become the only one language in China in the future, as Communist Party insult the diversity of languages and cultures all the time. Now, young people in Guangdong Province nearly cannot distinguish the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese under slavery education in China. Moreover, they start refusing to speak Cantonese. Hong Kong becomes the only place to protect Cantonese cultures in China. Indeed, in the aspect of global business, China is an enormous market while Hong Kong is just a little spot in the world map, but can the famous companies in the world respect linguistic values and Hong Kong market?
In the case of renaming Pikachu, it does affect the development of local culture of Hong Kong. Changing language policy or market rule means changing cultural development. Translation problem on the death of Cantonese Pikachu reveals the deprivation of development of local culture, as the subject culture of Hong Kong is based on Cantonese language. It is because Hong Kong is the only city to protect Cantonese language in China. Besides, Cantonese language produces Hong Kong-style written Chinese. That’s why Nintendo needs to create a Cantonese Chinese name for Pikachu since 1996. It’s not based on Mandarin. When it comes to spoken language, it arouses conflict. Unlike Mandarin, Cantonese in Hong Kong is a language which is a mixture of Chinese and English. Besides, it accepts other languages too. As language is a tool of politics, Nintendo should admit that the world-known Japanese video game company insulted the dignity of Cantonese-speaking Chinese. It was a world-class linguistic bully which destroyed the Hong Kong market of translation.
Simply, can people in the world combine British English with American English without arousing conflicts? Yes, we can. It is because we also have Standard English in the world, which Hong Kong people studied since primary level. However, it cannot help to keep the linguistic and cultural characteristic of the two countries after standardization. I wonder if globalization respects all of the cultures and civilizations. Yes, absolutely. Globalization should help the world construct a better world, but not destruction. In the aspect of globalization and the right to cultural development, Nintendo just participates in this world-class destruction by following the rule of anti-globalization derived from China, so Nintendo destroys the famous company’s social responsibility. I believed that Nintendo has the responsibility for protecting human spiritual civilization; however, this company betrayed its own values and disregarded its own mission.
About The Principle Of Translation
According to Eugene Nida’s dynamic equivalence, a good translation should obey the rule of language and culture of the target market. Before I analyze the translation, I have to ask two simple questions. Is Hong Kong still a single market in the world? Is Hong Kong market still a target market in the field of translation?
As written Chinese characters are logograms, so the meaning of translation from English or Japanese to Cantonese Chinese or Mandarin Chinese should be concerned. It’s also the art of naming. Every single Chinese word has its own meaning, which is based on the culture in the field of translation. If the international mass media only focus on the difference of pronunciation between Cantonese Chinese and Mandarin Chinese, it’s definitely not a good analysis of translation. About transliteration, the meaning of the name is more important than the pronunciation, according to Yan Fu (嚴復), a Chinese scholar and translator from the period of Republic of China, most famous for introducing western ideas. On his general standards for translation, he believes that “there are three difficulties in translation: faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance” (譯事三難：信達雅). If Nintendo ignores Hong Kong market, it obviously destroys faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance of the Chinese translation.
What is the Cultural Importance of Cantonese Pikachu For Hong Kong People In The Aspect Of Language?
In my last lecture of Translation for Media in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, I still remember that Professor Judy Kong Wai-ping (江偉萍教授) told us that media translation in Hong Kong was a kind of culture which developed a silent understanding of Hong Kong people and extraordinary Hong Kong-style translation. If cultural companies in the world get the rights to translation, this decision would destroy our extraordinary translation. I still don’t know why she was so insightful, though it was already six years ago. I still don’t know why she only mentioned about Pikachu, as the older generation of people in Hong Kong never appreciate ACG cultures, while young people in Hong Kong all appreciate so much. As it’s out of syllabus, so I didn’t ask her why. Now, as Nintendo creates its own precedent, I am worried about if other cultural companies in the world would do so in the future.
When I wanted to make my own analysis, I just discovered that Professor Kong was missing in my alma mater. As Professor Lau was also my good friend, so I asked him where Professor Kong was going to do. He told me that she was retired already. Therefore, I finally give my own analysis without any supervision…Honestly, after Umbrella Movement, I am occasionally afraid of my ex-teachers being fired by my alma mater politically, as education of Hong Kong becomes a tool of the United Front of China.
To conclude, I wonder why people in the world cannot learn the native language of Bruce Lee well. After the death of Bruce Lee, I know that Cantonese becomes invisible in the world. It’s too late to apologize when the damage is done. Thank you for Nintendo for destroying the extraordinary translation. Also, thank you for Professor Noam Chomsky for supporting freedom of Hong Kong. So, It’s also a good time, though we are still struggling this hard time. I know that many protestors don’t know who Noam Chomsky is. Ridiculously, I just discover that I am the only person from Hong Kong who recognizes that language is a kind of dignity, as older generation in Hong Kong won’t speak for the death of Cantonese Pikachu. I don’t have expectation on them. I am not an authority. I don’t belong to any recognized organizations. I even don’t have an identity and a title in Hong Kong society, so Hong Kong people don’t trust me. Therefore, can students of Professor Noam Chomsky, Professor Eugene Nida and Professor Benedict Anderson, or any language lovers, or any ACG lovers in the world help me to prove if I am correct? Does this world really have miracles? I really hope that it’s not too late to criticize. Every time, I try to be optimistic in my place, but I found that I cannot…
