TheBeijingmunicipalgovernment'sforeignaffairsofficeandtheBeijingtourismbureauhavejointlypublishedabook,ChineseMenuinEnglishVersion.Itlists170pagesofChineseandWesterndishes,andbeverages.Andnowhereis"chickenwithoutasexuallife"tobefound.
ThebookwillnodoubtcomeinhandytothoserestaurantsthatdependontranslationsoftwarefortheEnglishnamesofdishes."GovernmentAbusedChicken"isnowcorrectlyrenderedasKungPaoChicken.
Itispraiseworthythatthetranslators-twodozensofthem-conductedastudyofChineserestaurantsinEnglish-speakingcountries,whichhavedistilledthemishmashoftranslatedtermsintoamoreorlessuniversallyacceptedsetofnorms.
Inthissense,theprocessofstandardizationhasbeengoingonforatleast150years,andallthebookcompilersneededtodowastocollectasmanyoverseasmenusaspossible.
Still,itisanencouragingsignthattheyhaveoptedforacceptanceratherthandogmatism.MooShuPork(Sauteedslicedpork,eggandblackfungus)hastakentheplaceofanotherwiseunpronounceableMuxuPork.
BrandnamessuchasTsingTaoBeerandCantonesedialectssuchasWontonhavebeenpreservedtoo.Unlikethedebateonplacenametranslation,vanitygiveswaytopragmatism.
Thepamphletdoesnotincludesuchitemsas"GeneralTso's(orTsao's)Chicken"and"SingaporeFriedRice",popularmostlyoverseas.Forthatmatter,YangChowFriedRiceandeventhewell-likedEggFooYoungarenotincluded.ItseemsChineserestaurateursinNorthAmericaneednotbotherwiththistranslationaid.
SpecialefforthasbeentakentopromotethetransliterationsofitemslikeJiaozi,Baozi,Zongzi,MantouandHuajuan.Therationaleisclear:Theseitemshavesubtledifferencesthatcannotbeconveyedwith"dumpling"or"bun".
Ifwedividetransliterationsintothreelevelsofsuccess,willtheybeassuccessfulasChowMein,tofuorteaCantheyovercomeunpronounceablesyllableslikeziIttakesmorethanoneupsurgeofforeignclients.
WhatispuzzlingistheuseoftransliterationwhenthemeaningcanbeterselyputacrossinEnglish.Whyis"fish-flavored"passedupand"yu-shiang"chosenThelatterdoesnotmeananythingforthosewhoarenotintotheChineselanguage.