Sakura Momoko and dia

Development of dia.

Why do so many Chinese starlets speak in such whiny, nasal, childish voices? Is dia (嗲) really supposed to be cute? And if it is, who in the world is responsible for creating that impression?

An article in this week's New Century Weekly makes it possible to pin the blame on one person. And that person is....Chibi Maruko-chan.

Or, rather, the voice-actor behind the first Mandarin edition of the Chibi Maruko-chan (in Chinese, 樱桃小丸子) cartoon series, Feng Youwei. Feng is the voice behind several of the most popular import cartoon characters in China - besides Maruko, she did the voice of the Conan the Detective in early seasons of that series, as well as the title character in Crayon Shin-chan.

The series, created in print by Sakura Momoko in the 80s, was later adapted as a cartoon show. This year, Chibi Maruko-chan celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first print serialization. There's a live-action version out (intro credits here) that no doubt will be dubbed into Chinese before long. The animated version was dubbed into Mandarin in 1994, with Feng Youwei punching up the main character's cuteness factor:

Feng Youwei's dubbing for Maruko, in addition to preserving the traits of the original, added in an elfin vivacity to her comical pronunciation. Maruko, in Feng's hyper-cute portrayal, betrays a sort of laziness she brings the dia of Taiwanese pronunciation to new heights. Her habitual "spiced-up", drawn out final syllables, as in 也耶~ (yěyē~, vs. 爷爷, grandfather), melt the hearts of listeners....The dubbing in this version is widely believed to be "far superior to the original Japanese version," and is considered as classic by Chinese listeners. The later mainland dub was suspected of imitation.

Feng Youwei's dubbing so captured listeners' hearts that a large number of Maruko fans have continually followed her voice. When the mainland version came out, some even felt that "it wasn't Maruko" and refused to accept it. At the same time, imitating this sweetly puerile, somewhat careless "Maruko-speak" became a fad among young people.

NCW traces the development of dia-fever from cartoon fans to a wider audience through skits mocking the trend starring Cai Ming (bottom left) and Zhao Lirong. It later spread to TV hosts like Li Xiang (top right) whose affected Taiwan pronunciation was targeted by SARFT policy last year. And by all accounts, Zhang Hanyun (bottom right) is doing an excellent job of persevering with "Maruko-speak" in the face of some pretty nasty mockery.

It'll be a shame when the trend finally plays itself out, since jaded entertainment journalists will no longer be able to conduct snide interviews making fun of their subjects' pronunciation.