缅甸近五年互联网发展状况（缅甸LGBT群体与他们的秘密语言）

缅甸近五年互联网发展状况（缅甸LGBT群体与他们的秘密语言）缅甸最大的城市仰光迎来了周四，寻欢作乐的人们游荡在繁华的街区。司机放慢车速，看着在路边等待的性工作者们。三个变性女士愉快地聊着天。记者试图弄明白她们在说什么，但是即使是她的翻译也听不懂。特蕾莎，三人中最为直率的一个，从嘴里取下棒棒糖，耸了耸肩，说"是的，我们在讲班萨卡语。" WEDNESDAY HAS just turned into Thursday in Yangon Myanmar's biggest city and pleasure-seekers are on the prowl in a glitzy neighbourhood. Drivers slow down to inspect sex workers waiting by the kerb. Three of them all transgender women chat brigh

*注：本文摘自5月30日《经济学人》*每年6月又被称为"骄傲月"（Pride Month），爱无关性别，人人生而不同。

Sexual minorities in Myanmar

缅甸的性少数（LGBT）群体

Gay people in Myanmar have adopted a secret language

缅甸的同性恋群体有自己的秘密语言

Their slang can help protect them from abuse

他们的密语可以让他们免受凌辱

WEDNESDAY HAS just turned into Thursday in Yangon Myanmar's biggest city and pleasure-seekers are on the prowl in a glitzy neighbourhood. Drivers slow down to inspect sex workers waiting by the kerb. Three of them all transgender women chat brightly. Your correspondent tries to eavesdrop but even her translator cannot understand. Theresa the mostforthright of the three withdraws the lollipop from her mouth. "Yeah we're speaking bansaka " she shrugs.

缅甸最大的城市仰光迎来了周四，寻欢作乐的人们游荡在繁华的街区。司机放慢车速，看着在路边等待的性工作者们。三个变性女士愉快地聊着天。记者试图弄明白她们在说什么，但是即使是她的翻译也听不懂。特蕾莎，三人中最为直率的一个，从嘴里取下棒棒糖，耸了耸肩，说"是的，我们在讲班萨卡语。"

A dialect of Burmese spoken by gay and transgender people in Myanmar bansaka meaning slang involves switching vowels within words (coffee a loan word from English becomes keefaw) and giving new meaning to Burmese words. Puns feature heavily. Asin an adjective used to describe gemstones of great clarity refers to an attractive man. Neologisms oftenriff on popular culture. To say one likes reading Tayza magazine once popular among young men is to signal that one is attracted to such people.

班萨卡语是缅甸同性恋和跨性别者使用的一种缅甸语言，涉及在单词中转换元音，并赋予缅甸单词新的含义，如从英语借来的coffee变成了keefaw。双关语功能丰富。Asin是一个形容词，用来描述非常清澈的宝石，也用来指有吸引力的人。新词常常是对流行文化的即兴重复。说一个人喜欢曾经在年轻人中很流行的Tayza杂志，是在表明他被这样的人吸引。

The overall result is gibberish to outsiders. That's the point. Sexual minorities often invent their own secret languages to conceal their identities and speak privately. Gay and transgender Burmese switch to bansaka when they want to gossip about somebody nearby. "When an ugly customer walks in wanting to look like Beyoncé " explains Thu Yain Maung Maung a make-up artist "you'd bitch about this with your colleagues.

而这在外人看来其实就是胡言乱语。这正是问题的关键。性少数群体经常发明他们自己的秘密语言来掩藏自己的身份，以便于私下交谈。缅甸的同性恋者和跨性别者如果想八卦身边的人就会使用班萨卡语。化妆师Thu Yain Maung Maung解释说："当一位相貌丑陋的顾客想要想碧昂丝一样走进来的时候，你就会和同事八卦这件事。"

In private gay people deploy bansaka as a sign of affection and invent new words and even gestures to entertain each other. Moe Aung of Kings N Queens an LGBT advocacy group laughs as he and his friend explain the latest addition to their repertoire. The "OK" hand gesture with thumb and index finger forming a circle and the remaining three fingers flared out resembles wa lone a letter in the Burmese alphabet; "wa" also refers to a full belly. To those in the know the hand gesture therefore means "I've had enough stop" and sometimes "Stop talking".

私下里，同性恋者把班萨卡语作为爱的象征，他们发明新词，甚至用手势来互相娱乐。LGBT倡导组织Kings N Queens的莫昂(Moe Aung)和他的朋友在解释他们的最新发明时笑了起来。表示"OK"的手势是拇指和食指围成一个圆圈，其余三根手指向外展开，类似缅甸字母"wa lone";"wa"也指吃得很饱。因此，对于那些了解内情的人来说，这个手势意味着"我已经受够了，停下来吧"，有时这还表示"别说了！"

Some 90% of Burmese are Buddhist and many of them believe that being gay or transgender is punishment for sexual sins committed in a past life. LGBT people are seen as morally corrupt a view which is bolstered by colonial-era laws that still criminalize homosexual sex. The more feminine the man the fiercer the contempt. "Going from man to woman you lose status and rank " says La Min a transgender woman. LGBT people routinely endure discrimination and abuse at school and in the workplace; many also report being assaulted by family members or the police according to David Gilbert of Australian National University.

大约90%的缅甸人是佛教徒，他们中的许多人相信，成为同性恋或跨性别者是对前世性犯罪的惩罚。人们认为LGBT道德败坏，这一观点得到殖民时代仍将同性性行为定为犯罪的法律支持。男人越女性化，受到的蔑视就越强烈。"从一个男人变成一个女人，你失去了自己的地位，"跨性别女性拉敏(La Min)说。LGBT群体在学校和工作场所经常遭受歧视和虐待；据澳大利亚国立大学的大卫·吉尔伯特说，许多LGBT人士还报告说受到家人或警察的攻击。

Bansaka can provide a modicum of protection. When Mr Moe Aung who performs as a drag queen wants to go to a public toilet "I might want a friend to go with me for my safety. That conversation needs to be private. If I don't use slang in that situation people can look at me funny." He says that going solo invites rape.

班萨卡语可以为他们提供一些庇护。当变装爱好者莫昂想去公共厕所时，"为了安全起见，我可能想要一个朋友和我一起去。在这种情况下，如果我不使用我们的秘密语言，人们就会用奇怪的眼光看着我。"这样的对话要私下里进行。他说一个人行动会招来强奸。

Most gay men and transgender women learn bansaka at work in the few jobs open to them: spirit mediumship hairdressing make-up and floristry. "[These jobs] offer more than employment " says Mr Gilbert. "They operate more like alternative families." Employees typically live together in their workplaces. Younger members of staff or "children" pick up thelingo from their boss or "mother".

大多数男同性恋者和跨性别女性能找到的工作并不多，只包括灵媒、美发、化妆和花艺，而他们也正是在这些工作中学会班萨卡语的。吉尔伯特表示:"(这些工作)提供的不仅仅是就业。""他们更像是另类家庭。"员工通常一起住在他们的工作场所。年轻的员工，或"孩子"，从他们的老板或"母亲"那里学会了行话。

8. Today bansaka offers less protection than it used to. Over the past 15 years the public hascottoned on. Though most don't understand it they "do recognise that it's bansaka" says Mr Thu Yain Maung Maung and have even adopted some words. Bansaka may also be losing its utility for the young. Hein Maung a gay 24-year-old says that gay youths hardly speak it anymore; instead they communicate privately with each other via social media. But Mr Moe Aung is sceptical. His organisation hosts picnics attended by lots of youngsters who find learning bansaka fun. "The slang will never disappear " he says before flashing the "OK" hand gesture.

如今，班萨卡语提供的保护比以前少了。在过去的15年里，公众已经慢慢了解班萨卡语。Thu Yain Maung Maung先生说，虽然大多数人不理解班萨卡语，但他们"确实意识到班萨卡语采用了一些词汇。"对于年轻人来说，班萨卡语可能也正在失去它的效用。Hein Maung，一个24岁的同性恋者，说同性恋的年轻人几乎不再说这种语言了；相反，他们通过社交媒体私下交流。但莫昂对此表示怀疑。他的组织举办野餐，许多年轻人参加，他们觉得学习班萨卡语很有趣。"班萨卡语永远不会消失，"他说，然后比出"OK"的手势。

精读解析

篇章结构P1—P2：缅甸的性少数群体有自己的语言：班萨卡语。P3—P4：性少数群体用班萨卡语来交流，掩藏自己的身份。P5—P7：性少数群体在缅甸受到歧视，而班萨卡语言能够给他们提供一些庇护。P8：虽然班萨卡语能够提供的保护比以前少了，但是班萨卡语永远不会消失。

重点单词

inspect/ɪn'spekt/ vt. 检查；视察；检阅【例句】If we see something suspicious we will inspect it.如果我们有所怀疑，我们就会深入检查。

prowl/praʊl/ v. 徘徊；在…搜寻；潜行于n. 徘徊，潜行；悄悄踱步【短语】on the prowladv. 徘徊prowl car巡逻者；警备车【例句】He prowled behind an armchair his filthy curved nails clutching its back.他在一把扶手椅子后面来回走动，他污秽弯曲的手指紧紧抓住椅子的背部。

glitzy/'glɪtsɪ/ adj. 闪光的 耀眼的 眩目的【例句】A glitzy new exhibition centre dedicated to the Titanic (a ship built in Belfast) opened last spring.去年春天纪念泰坦尼克号的一个耀眼的展览中心开放了，因为这艘船是在贝尔法斯特建造的。

kerb/kɜːb/ n. 侧石 边石；限制 克制 抑制vt. 限制 克制 抑制【例句】They went along the kerb quick and alert.他们沿着马路走，步伐很快，还很警惕。If you walk into the market areas you can see people sitting on the kerb. All people are just walking around.如果走进市场，可以看到人们坐在路边，所有的人都在走动。

transgender [ trænz'dʒendə(r)] adj. 变性（者）的；易装癖（者）的（等于 transgendered）n. 跨性别者；变性人【例句】Uruguay passed such a law in 2009 but transgender Argentines have no such recourse and often have trouble when dealing with the government using documents that no longer match their expressed gender. 乌拉圭在2009年通过了这一法律，但是在阿根廷，变性人却没有这样的法律可以求助，经常会由于政府文件和自己展现的性别不相符而陷入麻烦。

eavesdrop/'iːvzdrɒp/ vi. 偷听(别人的谈话)【例句】English has another expression related to eavesdropping and the home: the walls have ears.隔墙有耳（the walls have ears）。

forthright/'fɔːθraɪt/ adj. 直率的 直截了当的; 明确的【例句】His forthright behavior shows that he is honest but he seems rude to some people.他的直率行为说明他是诚实的，可是有些人却认为他粗鲁。

withdraw/wɪð'drɔː/ vt. & vi. 取[收]回；(使)撤退[出]【短语】withdraw cash取钱；取现withdraw from (使)离开〔退出〕；从…提取【例句】One of our customers withdrawn an order.我们的同一位客户收回了一张订单。

lollipop/'lɒlɪpɒp/n. 棒糖；(用交通指挥牌让车辆暂停以便儿童安全通过马路的)交通纠察【例句】This is one of my other lollipop salesman's outfit.这是一件棒棒糖售货员外套。

gemstone/'dʒemstəʊn/ n. （经雕琢的）宝石【例句】Gemstones glittered on every finger and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold.他的每根手指头都有宝石闪闪发光，他的仆人也为他的黄色胡须擦油，亮得就像是真金。

neologism/nɪ'ɒlədʒɪz(ə)m/ n. 新词;旧词新义；新词〔新义〕的使用【例句】She caught up a popular neologism from the newspapers.她急忙采用了报刊上流行的一种新词语。

riff/rɪf/ n. 反复乐节；即兴重复段【例句】They applauded and riffed their engines when the Pope pacifically welcomed them.教皇平和地表示欢迎，他们就鼓掌、开动引擎来回应。

gibberish/'dʒɪb(ə)rɪʃ/ n. 令人费解的话 莫名其妙的话 胡扯【例句】He's wily and acrobatic but also kind of simple and the boy is hungry. He speaks in gibberish.他老谋深算像个杂技演员但也很单纯而且这个男孩很饥渴总是胡言乱语。 deploy/dɪ'plɒɪ/ vt. (尤指军事行动)使展开; 施展; 部署【例句】Members have already been deployed across the state.他们被部署至该州各个地区。

repertoire/'repətwɑː/ n. 全部节目【例句】Merely expanding the orchestra's repertoire will not be enough.可能仅仅增加乐团演出的曲目是不够的。

flare out v. 突然发怒；均匀（着陆时拉平）【例句】A disastrous foray in 1988 flaring out before New Hampshire was as far as he went in that direction.1988年，他在新罕布什尔州投票前退出党内初选，就此远离政坛。

discrimination/dɪ skrɪmɪ'neɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 歧视；辨别; 辨别力 识别力【同根】discriminate vt. & vi. 分别 辨别 区分；歧视【例句】Ethnic discrimination still exists in the U.S.种族歧视在美国仍然存在。

modicum/'mɒdɪkəm/ n. 少量，一点点【例句】I guess I was just hoping to get some modicum of closure.我只是想找到一丝丝自我。

lingo /'lɪŋgəʊ/ n. 听不懂的话(指方言、术语等); 隐语;外语

mediumship/'mi:diəmʃip/ n. 灵媒(或巫师)的能力(或功能、职业)【例句】Spiritualism and mediumship in 19th century America.19世纪美国的招魂说和灵媒学。

floristry/flɔ'ristri/ n. 花卉栽培技术【例句】Annick Van Wesemael master florist and multiple winner has won the second prize at the Belgian championship of floristry. 花店业从业者和多次比赛的获奖者，在比利时花艺大赛中获第二名。

cotton on理解【例句】Employers have cottoned on to this and now often mention a “social purpose” in their recruitment advertisements.雇主喜欢这一现象，现在常常在招聘面试中提到“社会使命”。

sceptical/'skeptikəl/ adj. 不肯相信的; 常怀疑的【例句】He denied taking money but we were sceptical.他否认收了钱，但我们对此表示怀疑。

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