# Martian language

Martian language (Chinese: 火星文; pinyin: huǒxīng wén; lit. 'Martian script'), sometimes also called brain-disabled characters (simplified Chinese: 脑残体; traditional Chinese: 腦殘體; pinyin: nǎocán tǐ), is the nickname of unconventional representation of Chinese characters online by various methods. For example, "一個人的時候" (yīgèréndeshíhòu, "When one is alone") can be changed into "ㄧㄍ人ㄉ時候" since the word ㄍ (gē) is consonant of 個 and the word ㄉ (dē) is consonant of the word 的 in bopomofo.

## Origin

The etymology of the word, "Martian language", is mostly believed to come from the 2001 Hong Kong comedy Shaolin Soccer, in which Sing (Stephen Chow) tells Mui (Zhao Wei): "Go back to Mars. The Earth is so dangerous."
Martian language originated in Taiwan with the introduction of Chinese input methods and online games. It later began to catch on in mainland China when online games like Audition Online were introduced in China.

## General aspects

The Martian language is written in Chinese using various substitution methods. Similarly to leet, where certain Latin letters are replaced by numerals (such as "3" for "e"), Martian language replaces standard Chinese characters with nonstandard or foreign characters. Each Chinese character may be replaced with:
* A character that is a (quasi-)homophone, either from Standard Chinese, Chinese dialects, or foreign languages.
* A character that looks similar, such as one with a shared radical.
* A character with identical or similar meaning.
* Pictograph characters, Emoji.
Characters used for substitution can include not only other Chinese characters, but also Latin characters, bopomofo, hiragana, katakana, SMS language, Emoji, or other characters defined in Unicode. For example, "可憐" (kělián, "pitiful") in Martian language can be replaced by "口憐" (kǒulián), which shares a homophone in Chinese. "謝謝" ("thank you") can be replaced by 3Q, a similar sound of "thank you" in English. 的 is commonly replaced with の, as it has the same intended meaning in Japanese.
In pictograph characters, Orz can express a deep sense of helplessness, frustration, or utmost sincerity, since it resembles the act of dogeza. Similarly, 囧 can indicate embarrassment because of its similar appearance to a human face.
Substituting characters by similar appearance may involve splitting Chinese radicals. For example, "强" (strong) can replaced with "弓虽". Substitutions can also use characters from another language or script. For example, 廠廠 can be understood as laughter since its simplified form, "厂厂", looks similar to ㄏㄏ, a common expression of laughter in Taiwan.
There is no universal way of encoding standard Chinese to the Martian language, though some substitutions are popular and have even leaked into standard and spoken language, such as 河蟹 (lit. river crab) for 和諧 (harmony), 葉佩雯 (lit. leaf jade essay, also having the format of a person's name) for 業配文 (advertorial).

## Usage

In the 2006 General Scholastic Ability Test of Taiwan, students were asked to interpret symbols and phrases written in "Martian language" based on contexts written in standard language. Controversies which followed forced the testing center to abandon the practice in future exams.
Chinese online netizens later followed the trend of using Martian language since they found their posts written in the new language could more easily pass keyword filtering censorship. For example, when the censorship censored information about Ai Fen, the netizens used Martian language to deceive the censorship.

## Example

Below is one example of the nearly infinite number of possible ways to substitute the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Note that this is an extreme example, as it is uncommon to write entire paragraphs in Martian language.

### Martian language

鑑於薱朲蘱傢庭葰烠宬員啇懙笙椇婡旳繜嚴忣祺鮃等啇啝bú迻嘚權利ㄖㄅ承認，迺湜卋琾臫凷、㊣礒與龢鮃啇基礎，
鑑玗譵仌權菂憮眡龢衊眎魢導緻埜蠻曓珩，這些曓荇激怒孒仌蘱嘚哴惢，
鑒玗怼ー個亻亽亯絠唁轮啝ィ訁卬垍甴倂浼予恐懼龢匱乏d迣琾魡朌朢，巳陂鍹佈蒍普通秂泯dě樶縞願朢，
鑑玗儰駛亽頛вμ緻廹朩嘚巳鋌侕赱險濧曓政龢壓廹琎荇販頖，絠鉍楆鉂秂權綬琺治d褓鹱。

### Traditional Chinese

鑑於對人類家庭所有成員的與生俱來的尊嚴及其平等的和不移的權利的承認，乃是世界自由、正義與和平的基礎，
鑑於對人權的無視和蔑視已導致野蠻暴行，這些暴行激怒了人類的良心，
鑑於對一個人人享有言論和信仰自由並免予恐懼和匱乏的世界的盼望，已被宣佈為普通人民的最高願望，
鑑於為使人類不致迫不得已鋌而走險對暴政和壓迫進行反叛，有必要使人權受法治的保護。

### Simplified Chinese

鉴于对人类家庭所有成员的与生俱来的尊严及其平等的和不移的权利的承认，乃是世界自由、正义与和平的基础，
鉴于对人权的无视和蔑视已导致野蛮暴行，这些暴行激怒了人类的良心，
鉴于对一个人人享有言论和信仰自由并免予恐惧和匮乏的世界的盼望，已被宣布为普通人民的最高愿望，
鉴于为使人类不致迫不得已铤而走险对暴政和压迫进行反叛，有必要使人权受法治的保护。

### Hanyu Pinyin

Jiànyú duì rénlèi jiātíng suǒyǒu chéngyuán de yǔ shēng jù lái de zūnyán jí qí píngděng de hé bù yí de quánlì de chéngrèn, nǎi shì shìjiè zìyóu, zhèngyì yǔ hépíng de jīchǔ,
Jiànyú duì rénquán de wúshì hé mièshì yǐ dǎozhì yěmán bàoxíng, zhèxiē bàoxíng jīnùle rénlèi de liángxīn,
Jiànyú duì yīgè rén rén xiǎngyǒu yánlùn hé xìnyǎng zìyóu bìng miǎn yǔ kǒngjù hé kuìfá de shìjiè de pànwàng, yǐ bèi xuānbù wèi pǔtōng rénmín de zuìgāo yuànwàng,
Jiànyú wèi shǐ rénlèi bùzhì pòbùdéyǐ dìng'érzǒuxiǎn duì bàozhèng hé yāpò jìnxíng fǎnpàn, yǒu bìyào shǐ rénquán shòu fǎzhì de bǎohù.

### English translation

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations...