“鬼话”东来:“红毛番话”类早期英语词汇书考析

The Introduction of “Devilish Language” to China: An Examination of the English Vocabulary Books such as “Words in Use among the Red-Haired People” in the Qing Dynasty

晚清英语在华传播过程中,"红毛番话"是较早记录英语单词或词组的小册子,最晚在19世纪30年代已经在广东出现,成为在民间颇为流行的教授学习广东英语的教材或工具书,直至19世纪80年代还屡有翻印和再版。本文以新发现的"五桂堂本"《红毛番话贸易须知》为切入点,通过存世的6种"红毛番话"刻本的对比,梳理了它们的翻刻轨迹、流布年代以及读者群等内容,并由此透视19世纪中西文化交流的特征以及早期中国人学习英语的历史图景。

In the process of the dissemination English in China in the late Qing period, ＂Words in Use among the Red-Haired People＂ （Hongmao fan hua） was one of the earliest pamphlets with English words or phrases. Texts like this appeared in Guangdong in the 1830s at the latest and were the popular texts or reference books for Chinese people to teach or to learn English. Until the 1880s, these works were frequently reprinted. Based on the newly found ＂Words of the Devilish Language of the Red-bearded People Commonly Used in Buying and Selling＂ （ Wugui Tang edition） , and comparisons of six versions of ＂Vocabulary of Words in Use among the Red-Haired People＂, this article explores the republication, circulation history, the readers, and other aspects of these publications to view the characteristics of Sino- Western cultural exchanges and the historical efforts of the Chinese people to learn English in the nineteenth century.