An advertisement in a Japanese magazine using Kyowago in 1937 (cropped)

or Xieheyu () is either of two pidginized languages, one

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

-based and one Mandarin-based, that were spoken in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. They are also known as , , and .

Description

The term Kyowa-go/Xieheyu is derived from the

state motto "Concord of Nationalities" ( ''mínzú xiéhe'') promoted by the Pan-Asian Movement. The pidgin language resulted from the need of Japanese officials and soldiers and the Han and Manchu population that spoke mainly Chinese to communicate with each other. Manchukuo officials later dubbed the pidgin language "Kyowa-go" or "Xieheyu", meaning "Concord language". However, the Japanese also wanted to implement their own language in Manchukuo, saying that

is a language which has a soul, so the language must be spoken correctly. Kyowa-go/Xieheyu died out when

fell to the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

in the last days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Documentation of the pidgin language is rare today. It was also believed that many of the expressions of Chinese characters in

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

(e.g. aru) are derived from Japanese-based Kyowa-go. Hence, it is typical of Chinese characters in

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

shows to speak in that manner. It was also believed that many of the expressions of

characters in

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

set in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

(e.g. ) are derived from Mandarin-based Xieheyu. Hence, it is typical of Japanese characters in

shows to speak in that manner. The Japanese were also known to use pidgin languages in Japan itself during the 19th and 20th centuries like

Yokohama Pidgin Japanese Yokohama Pidgin Japanese, Yokohamese or Japanese Ports Lingo was a Japanese-based pre- pidgin spoken in the Yokohama region during the late 19th century for communication between Japanese and foreigners, mainly English speaking westerners and Chi ...

Examples of Japanese-based Kyowa-go

Kyowa-go is characterized by a particle ''aru'', omission of some

particles In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...

, and many loan-words from Mandarin. :::: Original Japanese: meaning "I am a Japanese". :::: Original Japanese: meaning "Your daughter is beautiful" :::: Original Japanese: meaning "There is no chair for you" :::: Exclamation of surprise from Chinese.

Examples of Mandarin-based Xieheyu

Xieheyu sometimes uses subject–object–verb, the normal Japanese word order, which is different from Mandarin.

References

* * * * {{Japanese language Japanese-based pidgins and creoles Japanese language Chinese-based pidgins and creoles Languages of China Manchuria Languages attested from the 1930s Languages extinct in the 1940s Languages in Manchukuo

Description

Examples of Japanese-based Kyowa-go

Examples of Mandarin-based Xieheyu

See also

References