What is a false cognate? By definition, it is a “word in one language that is similar in form or sound to a word in another language but has a different meaning and is not etymologically related.”
As a foreigner to another language, mishearing some false cognates can be dangerous. Homonyms across languages can be mistaken for slurs.
On Aug. 20, Greg Patton of University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business led a Zoom communications class about filler words in other languages. In the class, he used the word 那个 — pronounced na-ge or nei-ge — in Mandarin Chinese as an example. 那个 is an everyday word used by native speakers as an equivalent to um, er or that. It is also used as a demonstrative pronoun.
This lesson was meant to help business students gain familiarity with various cultures and languages that would aid them in their future global ventures. Thus, it was all the more relevant to teach a word that is so commonly used in a major language. Personally, I think it was a well-chosen example that could help prepare students for the use of the word in the real world and prevent any potential misunderstandings.
Yet following this incident, a group identifying themselves as “Black MBA Candidates c/o 2022” wrote a letter to USC administration stating: “This phrase, clearly and precisely before instruction is always identified as a phonetic homonym and a racial derogatory term, and should be carefully used, especially in the context of speaking Chinese within the social context of the United States.”
In light of increased police brutality in the media and the ongoing systemic racism in our country, it is important to acknowledge the mental health of Black students across the nation — they are impacted by traumatic, racist and anti-Black events. But I also think it’s unfair to attack a professor for his correct use of another language.
That’s not to say that the voices and concerns of Black students should go unaddressed. But, focusing on this situation undermines more legitimate examples of anti-Blackness both on and off campus that we need to be using our platforms to speak out against. A better, actionable response might be for the University to provide better mental health resources for its Black students.
While hearing the slur can certainly be alarming and triggering for Black students, Patton also clearly prefaced his usage by saying that 那个 was a Chinese filler word. Contrary to that, the letter claimed that 那个 was “a clear synonym with this derogatory N-Word term.”
It should be logical that another language could have cognates for an English slur. It should be obvious, too, that a language such as Chinese has completely different etymology and roots from English, and that 那个 has absolutely no relation in origin or usage to the oppression of Black people.
Chinese is not the only non-English language that uses words that happen to resemble the N-word.
In Korean, commonly used words have also been targeted: 니가, ni-ga, meaning you or you’re; 네가, ne-ga, meaning you; and 내가, nae-ga, meaning I or me. In Japanese, the word bitter, 苦い, is also pronounced ni-gai.
We can broaden our scope to look beyond East Asian languages as well. For example, in Hindi, निगाह, nigaha, means look or view. The Spanish word for “to deny” is negar. In Persian and Iranian cultures, Nigar or Negar are also variations of a female name that means sweetheart and beloved image. The Bulgarian and Russian word for book is книга, pronounced kniga.
I could go on and on with homonyms across languages that sound like English pejorative terms. But, the world does not revolve around the United States, the English language or Western society. The phenomenon of canceling a part of another group’s language and culture is just a byproduct of Western ethnocentrism.
This bastardizes an innocuous part of a foreign culture and imposes hateful connotations that do not belong to it. It’s straight up disrespectful.
Incidences such as the USC misunderstanding also risk perpetuating xenophobia against Asian Americans. My parents have told me before to be careful speaking Chinese out in public, for fear that others would mistake our equivalent of stuttering for a slur.
Even outside of the U.S., Chinese people have a track record of experiencing difficulties and even encountering violence when speaking their native tongue — all as a result of misinterpretations of the word “那个.” However, we should not be ashamed of, apologizing for or made to stop speaking our own languages.
This incident may even drive a wedge further between the Black and Asian communities, a dangerous consequence when the younger generations have been trying to unify our groups in the fight against white supremacy — our relationship is shaky as is.
This situation shouldn’t pit our two groups against one another. Anti-Blackness does exist, and is frankly prevalent, in Asian communities, but this particular discussion is unproductive and harmful to both sides.
Furthermore, given that this incident has been the only one of anti-Blackness that USC addressed so publicly, the University’s response seems to be largely performative.
One student on the @Black_at_USC Instagram page voiced the same concerns: “It’s ridiculous and genuinely and upsetting that, of all the actual racist actions and microaggressions that have been reported, this is conveniently the situation where USC chooses to take action … I feel like Dr. Patton is being used as USC’s scapegoat so that they don’t have to address the true issues we’ve been facing.”
Certainly, there are anti-racist measures that could be implemented — and student demands that should be met — that would be much more productive and beneficial to the USC community.
The complaint against Patton has since been met with ridicule from both inside and outside the USC community. As a result, I fear that this discussion will end up hurting the movement and water down the significance of more pressing issues.
