唐人街未來之聲

臺山話、廣東話、普通話，唐人街方言的變遷反映著時代的變遷，人心的變遷，一切都是那么自然。

He grew up playing in the narrow， crowded streets of Manhattan’s Chinatown. He has lived and worked there for all his 61 years. But as Wee Wong walks the neighborhood these days， he cannot understand half the Chinese conversations he hears.

Cantonese， a dialect from southern China that has dominated the Chinatowns of North America for decades， is being rapidly swept aside by Mandarin， the national language of China and the lingua franca of most of the latest Chinese immigrants.

The change can be heard in the neighborhood’s lively restaurants and solemn church services， in parks， street markets and language schools. It has been accelerated by Chinese-American parents， including many who speak Cantonese at home， as they press their children to learn Mandarin for the advantages it could bring as China’s influence grows in the world.

But the eclipse of Cantonese—in New York， China and around the world—has become a challenge for older people who speak only that dialect and face increasing isolation unless they learn Mandarin or English. Though Cantonese and Mandarin share nearly all the same written characters， the pronunciations are vastly different； when spoken， Mandarin may be incomprehensible to a Cantonese speaker， and vice versa.

Mr. Wong， a retired sign maker who speaks English， can still get by with his Cantonese， which remains the preferred language in his circle of friends and in Chinatown’s historic core. A bit defiantly， he said that if he enters a shop and finds the staff does not speak his dialect， “I go to another store.”

Like many others， however， he is resigned to the likelihood that Cantonese—and the people who speak it—will soon become just another facet of a polyglot neighborhood. “In 10 years，” Mr. Wong said， “it will be totally different.”

With Mandarin’s ascent has come a re alignment of power in Chinese-American communities， where the recent immigrants are gaining economic and political clout， said Peter Kwong， a professor of Asian-American studies at Hunter College.

“The fact of the matter is that you have a whole generation switch， with very few people speaking only Cantonese，” he said. The Cantonese-speaking populace， he added， “is not the player anymore.” The switch mirrors a sea change under way in China， where Mandarin， as the official language， is becoming the default tongue everywhere.

In North America， its rise also reflects a major shift in immigration. For much of the last century， most Chinese living in the United States and Canada traced their ancestry to a region in the Pearl River Delta that included the district of Taishan. They spoke the Taishanese dialect， which is derived from and somewhat similar to Cantonese.

Immigration reform in 1965 opened the door to a huge influx of Cantonese speakers from Hong Kong， and Cantonese became the dominant tongue. But since the 1990s， the vast majority of new Chinese immigrants have come from mainland China， especially Fujian Province， and tend to speak Mandarin along with their regional dialects.

In New York， many Mandarin speakers have flocked to Sunset Park， Brooklyn， and Flushing， Queens， which now rivals Chinatown as a center of Chinese-American business and political might， as well as culture and cuisine. In Chinatown， most of the newer immigrants have settled outside the historic core west of the Bowery， clustering instead around East Broadway.

“I can’t even order food on East Broadway，” said Jan Lee， 44， a furniture designer who has lived all his life in Chinatown and speaks Cantonese. “They don’t speak English； I don’t speak Mandarin. I’m just as lost as everyone else.”

Now Mandarin is pushing into Chinatown’s heart. For most of the 100 years that the New York Chinese School， on Mott Street， has offered language classes， nearly all have taught Cantonese. Last year， the numbers of Cantonese and Mandarin classes were roughly equal. And this year， Mandarin classes outnumber Cantonese three to one， even though most students are from homes where Cantonese is spoken， said the principal.

Some Cantonese-speaking parents are deciding it is more important to point their children toward the future than the past—their family’s native dialect—even if that leaves them unable to communicate well with relatives in China.

“I figure if they have to acquire a language， I wanted them to have Mandarin because it makes it easier when they go into the workplace，” said Jennifer， whose 5-year-old daughter studies Mandarin at the language school of the Church of the Transfiguration， a Roman Catholic parish on Mott Street where nearly half the classes are devoted to Mandarin. Her 8-year-old son takes Cantonese， but only because there is no English-speaking Mandarin teacher for his age group.

“Can I tell you the truth？” she said. “They hate it！ But it’s important for the future.” Until recently， Sunday Masses at Transfiguration were said in Cantonese. The church now offers two in Mandarin and only one in Cantonese. And as the arrivals from mainland China become old-timers， “we are beginning to have Mandarin funerals，” said the Rev. Raymond Nobiletti， the Cantonese-speaking pastor.

At the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association， which has been the unofficial government of Chinatown for generations and conducts its business in Cantonese， the president， Justin Yu， said he is the first whose mother tongue is Mandarin to lead the 126-year-old organization. Though he has been taking Cantonese lessons in order to keep up at association meetings， his pronunciation is sometimes a source of hilarity for his colleagues， he said.“No matter what，” he added， laughing，“you have to admire my courage.”

But even his association is being surpassed in influence by Fujianese organizations， said Professor Kwong of Hunter College. Longtime residents seem less threatened than wistful. Though he is known around Chinatown for what he calls his “l(fā)egendarily bad” Cantonese， Paul Lee， 59， said it pained him that the dialect was disappearing from the place where his family has lived for more than a century.

“It may be a dying language，” he acknowledged. “I just hate to say that.” But he pointed out that the changes were a natural part of an evolving immigrant neighborhood： Just as Cantonese sidelined Taishanese， so， too， is Mandarin replacing Cantonese.

Mr. Wong， the principal of the New York Chinese School， said he had tried to adjust to the subtle shifts during his 40 years in Chinatown. When he arrived in 1969， he walked into a coffee shop and placed his order in Cantonese. Other patrons looked at him oddly.

“They said， ‘Where you from？’” he recalled. “Why you speak Cantonese？” They were from Taishan， so he switched to Taishanese and everyone was happy. “And now I speak Mandarin better than Cantonese，” he added with a chuckle. “So， Chinatown—it’s always changing.”

他在曼哈頓唐人街狹窄擁擠的街道嬉戲中長大。61年來他一直生活工作在那里。但這些天當(dāng)王維穿行于鄰里時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)他聽到的中文對話中有一半他不懂。

粵語是源自中國南部地區(qū)的一種方言，幾十年以來主導(dǎo)著北美地區(qū)的唐人街，如今卻正被普通話快速取代。普通話是中國的官方語言，也是大部分中國最新移民的通用語言。

在熱鬧的街坊餐廳和肅穆的教堂、在公園里、在街市上、在語言學(xué)校里，都可以聽到這種改變。隨著中國在全世界的影響力不斷增長，美籍華裔家長們要求他們的孩子去學(xué)習(xí)普通話，以享受其可能帶來的好處，而這些家長中有很多在家講粵語，這一切都加速了這一變化。

然而廣東話的黯然消退——不管是在紐約，還是在中國或世界各地——對于那些只會粵語的老人來說，就成了一個問題。如果不學(xué)會普通話或者英語，他們會變得越來越孤立。廣東話和普通話的文字幾乎是一樣的，但發(fā)音卻懸殊很大；一旦開口，說粵語的聽不懂普通話，說普通話的也聽不懂粵語。

王先生是一個已退休了的招牌制作人，他會說英語。在他的朋友圈和唐人街的歷史核心區(qū)，粵語仍然是首選語言，他還可以用。他輕蔑地說，如果他去一家商店發(fā)現(xiàn)店員不講他所用的方言，“我就去另一家店?！?/p>

但同其他很多人一樣，他不得不接受粵語——以及說粵語的人——很快就會變成這個多元語言社區(qū)的一個小部分的可能性。王先生說：“十年之后，就完全不一樣了”。

亨特學(xué)院從事亞美研究的教授彼得·鄺表示，隨著普通話地位的上升，華人社區(qū)的力量進(jìn)行了重新調(diào)整，新近的移民在社區(qū)中的經(jīng)濟(jì)和政治影響力越來越大。

他說：“事實上，一整代人都在改變，只會說粵語的人幾乎沒有了?！彼a充道：“講粵語的居民已不再是主導(dǎo)者了?！边@種轉(zhuǎn)變反映了中國正在經(jīng)歷的驚人變化，在中國，普通話作為官方語言，正在成為全國各地默認(rèn)的語言。

在北美地區(qū)，普通話的崛起也反映了移民潮的重大變化。在上世紀(jì)的大部分時間里，居住在美國和加拿大的大部分中國人追蹤認(rèn)祖至珠江三角洲地區(qū)，臺山地區(qū)包括其中。他們講的是起源并有點類似于粵語的臺山話。

1965年的移民制度改革為大量來自香港說粵語的人敞開了進(jìn)入北美的大門，粵語成為占支配地位的語言。但自20世紀(jì)90年以來，絕大部分的新的中國移民來自中國大陸，尤其是福建省，他們通常講普通話和他們的地方性方言。

在紐約，很多講普通話的人聚居在布魯克林的日落公園和皇后區(qū)的法拉盛，現(xiàn)在作為一個華裔商業(yè)、政治、文化、美食中心，法拉盛可以與唐人街媲美。在唐人街，大部分較后來的移民都住在包厘街西段的歷史核心區(qū)以外，聚集在東百老匯周圍。 44歲的李建說：“在東百老匯我甚至不能點餐?！彼且晃患揖咴O(shè)計者，一輩子都生活在唐人街上，只說粵語?！八麄儾徽f英語；我不會普通話。我同其他每個人一樣感到迷茫?！?/p>

如今普通話正在挺進(jìn)唐人街的心臟。莫特街上的紐約漢語學(xué)校在建校100年大部分時間里都開設(shè)了語言課，教的幾乎都是粵語。去年廣東話和普通話班級數(shù)基本持平。該校校長表示，到了今年，盡管大部分學(xué)生來自講粵語的家庭，普通話班級是粵語班級數(shù)量的3倍。

一些操粵語的家長認(rèn)為，把他們的孩子引向未來比引向過去，即他們的本地方言，更為重要——即使這會使得他們不能同在故鄉(xiāng)的親人進(jìn)行流暢的交流。

詹尼弗5歲的女兒正在莫特街上羅馬天主教教區(qū)變?nèi)萁烫玫恼Z言學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)普通話，該校近一半的班級教普通話的。她說：“我覺得，如果他們必須要掌握一門語言的話，我希望他們學(xué)習(xí)普通話，因為這對他們以后的就業(yè)有幫助?！彼?歲的兒子學(xué)的是粵語，不過那只是因為他這個年齡段沒有能講英語教普通話的老師。

她說：“說實話，孩子們很討厭學(xué)普通話。不過這對未來很重要?！敝钡阶罱?，變?nèi)萁烫眠€是用粵語做周日彌撒?，F(xiàn)在該教堂提供兩場用普通話進(jìn)行的彌撒，而只有一場用粵語彌撒。隨著大陸移民逐漸變成老居民，操粵語的雷蒙德·諾畢雷特牧師說：“我們開始用普通話舉行葬禮。”

中華會館是唐人街幾代華人的非正式管理機構(gòu)，其一直用粵語辦理業(yè)務(wù)。現(xiàn)任主席賈斯廷·于說，他是這個有著126年歷史的組織中第一個母語是普通話的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人。雖然為了主持會館日常會議，他學(xué)了一點廣東話，但他的發(fā)音經(jīng)常讓同事們?nèi)滩蛔」笮??！安还茉鯓?，”他笑著補充道，“你必須佩服我的勇氣?！?/p>

亨特學(xué)院的鄺教授表示，但在影響力上，福建人的組織甚至已經(jīng)超越了中華會館。對于老居民而言，感受更多的是一份傷感，而不是威脅。盡管59歲的保羅·李在唐人街他以一口“超爛”的粵語而聞名，他依然表示，但對于這一方言在這個他們家族生活了一個多世紀(jì)的地方消失，他覺得很痛苦。

“這種語言可能很快會消失，”他承認(rèn)，“我只是不想說出來而已?！钡赋鲞@些變化在進(jìn)化中的移民區(qū)是一種自然現(xiàn)象：就像是廣東話取代臺山話一樣，普通話也正在取代廣東話。

王先生是紐約漢語學(xué)校校長。他說，在唐人街生活的40年間，他一直在努力適應(yīng)其中的細(xì)微轉(zhuǎn)變。1969年當(dāng)剛到紐約時，他走進(jìn)一家咖啡店，用粵語點餐。其他的老顧客都奇怪的看著他。

“他們問道，‘你從哪兒來的？’”他回憶說?！盀槭裁凑f粵語呢？”他們都是臺山人，于是他也改說臺山話，大家都非常高興?！艾F(xiàn)在我的普通話說得比粵語好多了，”他輕聲笑著說，“就這樣，唐人街——一直都在變化著。”