Chinese language “latinization”. (On the basis of Chinese Internet communication)
The process of latinization of the Chinese language goes back to 1958, when Pinyin alphabet was created. The usage of Pinyin alphabet for a long time was limited only to the sphere of education, where the alphabet acted as an “extra tool” for studying the hieroglyphic script. Nowadays the usage of Pinyin alphabet has become wider: Chinese words in dictionaries are listed in alphabetical order; the alphabet is used for typing hieroglyphs in word processors; words written in latin letters are widely used in Chinese Internet communication, etc. While some of such “literal” words currently used in Chinese Internet communication are borrowings from other languages (mostly from English), this article is focused on wholly Chinese words that are written only in Pinyin alphabet without tone diacritics. Is it possible that writing in Pinyin alphabet will replace the traditional hieroglyphic writing? Today it seems absurd, but time will show.