A Research On The Prospect Of China English Lexis

English as an international language is bound to be "nativized" (Kachru, 1982), and form various varieties once integrating into cultures of the countries that use English. This is the case of China English, which is formed when English is used in Chinese cultural context. The most conspicuous of China English is its lexical level. The lexis of China English not only introduces elements unique in Chinese culture to the world but also enriches English itself. This thesis tries to explore the prospect of China English lexis from the perspective of meme and Chinese culture.Memetics is a new theory for interpreting cultural evolution. Oxford English Dictionary defines meme as an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means, especially imitations. He Ziran (2005, p.55) argues that language is a meme in and of itself. Heylighen (1998), the expert in memetics, proposes selective criteria for a strong meme to estimate the vitality of a meme. Neo- Darwinist Dawkins (1976) describes three characteristics of a strong meme, that is, copy-fidelity, fecundity and longevity, to verify the propagation capacity of a meme. Based on Heylighen's and Dawkins' theories, the present study constructs a theoretical framework and tries to combine the study of memes and China English lexis at a micro-level.In this research, the use frequency of the typical lexis of China English in China Daily and web pages based on Google search is investigated according to its cultural traits and the statistics show that the lexis has a high use frequency, for example, the use frequency of pipa is 5,550,000 in web pages and that of taichi 4,640,000. The lexis then is analyzed from the perspective of memetics and Chinese culture and proved to possess strong vitality according to its conformity to some of the selective criteria for a strong meme, including simplicity, invariance, coherence, utility and authority. In addition, the prospect of China English lexis is proved to be bright according to the three characteristics of strong memes (fidelity, fecundity and longevity). China English lexis will be accepted by more people, and be vital as long as it could and the essence-Chinese culture it conveys will be spread faithfully.Furthermore, comparison is made on the use frequencies in web pages between the typical lexis of China English and that of native English lexis in similar cultural categories. The result indicates that although its frequency is lower than that of the native English lexis, China English lexis reveals strong vitality and plays a significant part in cross-cultural communication.A new field as it is, the present study of China English from the perspectives of memetics and Chinese culture is only a tentative research with a hope to draw more attention to the vitality of China English lexis and its function in world affairs.