「全球化」與「在地化」：從新經濟的角度看台灣的拼音問題

Between Globalization and Indigenization:
On Taiwan’s Pinyin Issue from the Perspectives of the New Economy

摘要
台灣中文拼音標準之僅存爭議在於採用通用拼音或漢語拼音。前者有著強烈「在地化」的象徵意義，後者有最廣泛「全球化」的實質分佈。本文針對拼音系統的訊息介面功能，從資訊時代新經濟的角度探討台灣的選擇。檢視新經濟中「利益增長」與「路徑取決」的特質，全球「市佔率」最高且已「標準化」的漢語拼音是最合理的選擇。採行通用拼音需付出雙重的轉換代價；且通用85%與漢語重疊，若作為政治符號反而造成台灣的分裂。拼音議題的情緒化與政治化已使得台灣的選擇落入了兩難的局面：選擇漢語拼音，付出不必要的政治代價；選擇通用拼音，付出不必要的經濟代價。因此和解的方向在於將台灣拼音標準「在地化品牌、全球化規格」推展至極限。

關鍵詞：台灣、拼音、漢語拼音、通用拼音、新經濟、全球化、在地化

Abstract
The only remaining controversy in Taiwan’s efforts to standardize its pinyin system for Chinese is whether to adopt Tongyong or Hanyu; while the former has an intense symbolic value of indigenization, the latter enjoys a substantial globalized distribution. This paper first makes clear the nature of ‘interface’ of any pinyin system and examines this seemingly domestic issue from the perspectives of the New Economy in the global Information Age. Given the characteristics of ‘increasing returns’ and ‘path-dependence’, Hanyu Pinyin, with its universal standardization and dominant global market share, is the obvious choice. Taiwan’s implementation of Tongyong Pinyin must necessarily incur the cost of dual interfaces. Given the 85% overlap between the two systems, Tongyong, as a politically meaningful symbol, ironically, creates a division among Taiwan’s population. The unfortunate politicization of the pinyin issue has cornered the nation into a dilemma: Tongyong costs economically, Hanyu costs politically. The ultimate reconciliation thus hinges upon the implementation of a system that optimizes Tongyong’s indigenized symbolic value and Hanyu’s globalized substance, to the furthest extent possible.

Key words: Romanization, Taiwan, Hanyu Pinyin, Tongyong Pinyin, New Economy, Globalization, Indigenization

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