Considerations for The Selection of Written Chinese Variants In The Process of Translating and Linguistically Validating Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAS)

Abstract

There are several predominant variants of both written and spoken Chinese. The written variants are Traditional and Simplified Chinese, and well-known spoken variants include Standard Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taiwanese. Understanding the relationship between these written and spoken variants and the appropriate circumstances for usage is vital to successful translation and linguistic validation of COAs targeted for use in populations that speak and write these variants of modern Chinese. Modern spoken Chinese is divided into at least seven major dialectical groups containing over 200 total dialects. Although many of these spoken dialects are not mutually intelligible, historically, there has been a common written system underlying the spoken variants. This common written system officially diverged in 1956 into two variants, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. Confusion frequently arises from the fact that use of these variants is not interchangeable, but dictated largely by national boundaries and political tensions. Traditional Chinese is used predominantly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and overseas Chinese-speaking communities. Simplified Chinese is used predominantly in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia. Furthermore, formal education is typically given in only one of the written variants, and although the two are related, and most speakers are exposed to both in daily life, they differ enough that knowledge of and literacy in one variant does not perfectly transfer to the other. There are important differences between the Traditional and Simplified variants of written Chinese, as well as geographic and national variation in their use. Additionally, most formal education occurs in only one variant, and there is no clear relationship between spoken variants and their underlying written forms. Together, these factors necessitate careful consideration of the written variant and the subject population requested for translation services and linguistic validation of COAs in locations where modern Chinese is used.