Anyway, that is not the main point of this text. This text is talking about the bilingual features of the news. Since one of its main focus is on coffee, which is a term related to exchange of cultures, it is not unexpectable to see the bilingual features embedded in it.
Although Italy isn' t coffee's origin, it has played an important role when engaging in the evolution of the beverage (Click here for more information). From the news, you can see that noth "latte" and "cappuccino" are among the important types of coffee. They are not English, but Italian words. Latte means milk while Cappucino comes from Capuchin friars. This shows that coffee is a product which follows the trend of globalization. Because of the increasing trend of cultural exchange, drinks, which can represent part of a culture, is prone to influence of cultural exchange. Different types of a particular drink can keep on evolving along with human history. In the case of coffee, although "latte" and "cappucinno" did not exist when such beverage as coffee was invented, Italians can still take part in the process of coffee's evolution and develop their own coffee. They can use their own language to name after their newly invented latte and cappuccino. This shows how the increasing trend of globalization draws different cultures together. One's culture can be enriched after absorbing a new comer from exotic lands.
The words "latte" and "cappuccino" are Italians. However, from the news article, you can clearly see that these words have been absorbed into an English article naturally. Even we are not Intalians, we are still get used to these phrases. This tells how the effects of globalization are absorbed among us. Since we are living in an age at which international communication becomes more and more important, it is common for words from one language to be abosrbed into another language. For the case of "latte" and "cappuccino", since they have become quite popular around the world, it is not surprised to see them being accepted into an English passage. It is a use of code-mixing and terms related to food makes quite much use of it.
In short, from "latte" and "cappuccino", it can be discovered that language can be placed under the influence of cultural exchange. Different codes can be mixed together without downgrading the readability of a text as long as those terms are common enough to be recognized. Those words would not lose their abilities in representing a particular culture, but represent it well.
Hello Winnie, thank you for your contribution.
ReplyDeleteI'm a coffee lover too. My choice is usually between skimmed latte and espresso. I do like the bitter, sobering taste of sugar-free black coffee.
In China, they have odd translations for coffee names. I always hesitate if I should order a 拿铁 for myself! (How can one drink a piece of metal bar?)
Do you think coffee names should best be transliterated, or translated? For example: http://www.360doc.com/content/06/0111/23/0_57039.shtml
I think coffee names should best be transliterated. Although we may not know what names like "latte" and "cappuccino" mean, we can guess it has its evolutionary process in Italy, which can be a symbol for a culture. By the way, although it is odd to see latte becomes 拿鐵 after transliterating it, it may add a sort of exotic feels to the term "latte" due to its weirdness. Coffee would become a more interesting existence to us.
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