The unprecedented success of Kongish in recent years has aroused considerable scholarly attention (Sewell & Chan 2017, Li Wei et al. 2020, Lee 2022). As a bilingual city with a predominantly Chinese population, the reciprocal translingual practice, namely New Saamkapdai (literally tri-layered, champion style), captures an even wider readership than that of Kongish, yet not thoroughly examined. I argued elsewhere that such a unique style of Hong Kong Chinese encompassing English, standard Chinese and Cantonese, has become the writing norm of bi/multilingual Hong Kongers’ in the 21st century (Tsang 2021). This study extends the argument and unveils the present development of New Saamkapdai by adopting translanguaging as a theoretical perspective (Li Wei 2018) with case study as the method (Duff 2018). Two sources will be examined: 1. Literary texts of Hong Kong writers; 2. Postings on social media.

I aim to illustrate that New Saamkapdai has become the major (trans)languaging practice of bi/multilingual generations of Hong Kongers; using of which also reveals Hong Kongers’ unique linguistic and cultural identity. The implications of this study in relation to Sinophone Studies (Shih 2011) as a bourgeoning paradigm of postcolonialism will also be discussed.

Lee, T. K. (2022). Kongish: Translanguaging and the Commodification of an Urban Dialect. Cambridge University Press.

Li, W. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied linguistics, 39(1), 9-30.

Li, W., Tsang, A., Wong, N., & Lok, P. (2020). Kongish Daily: Researching translanguaging creativity and subversiveness. International Journal of Multilingualism, 17(3), 309-335.

Tsang, A. (2021). On Saamkapdai Writings: East and West. Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly, 530, 138-139.

Sewell, A., & Chan, J. (2017). Hong Kong English, but not as we know it: Kongish and language in late modernity. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 596-607.

Shih, S. M. (2011). The concept of the Sinophone. pmla, 126(3), 709-718.