Engrish and Its Intercultural Signification 35

101 12 35-55
Providence Forum: Language and Humanities Vol.VI, No.1 (December 2012), 35-55
Engrish and Its Intercultural Signification



E-Chou Wu

Department of English Language, Literature, and Linguistics
Providence University, Republic of China (Taiwan).


Patricia Golemon

Department of English,
University of Houston - Downtown, USA




101.3.22 101.9.3
36 Providence Forum, VI:1 (December 2012)

Engrish and Its Intercultural Signification

E-chou Wu & Patricia Golemon

Abstract
English has now become the most usable lingua franca in todays world and
it, of course, like any widely spoken language, will deviate and evolve with the
increasing number of its non-native speakers. One of the most widely
documented of the English variations is Engrish, which originates in Japan, but
it is not uncommon in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. The paper is to
discuss some of the more humorous and egregious examples from Taiwans
products, menus, signs, and written notices that have been documented by
Engrish.com users, and by virtue of the analysis to explore its intercultural
signification.

Keywords: Engrish, Intercultural communication, Taiwanese English.











E-chou Wu is Associate Professor at the Department of English Language, Literature, and
Linguistics, Providence University, Republic of China (Taiwan). He is currently carrying out his
second Ph.D. study at the Department of Translation, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Patricia Golemon is Associate Professor at the Department of English, University of
Houston--Downtown.
Engrish and Its Intercultural Signification 37





(Engrish)

Engrish.com