Explanation
A. (Correct Response) The author uses the term "transliterated terms" to refer to words from American English that have been adapted into Chinatown Chinese while retaining their original sounds, which implies that both the sound and the meaning of the words have been incorporated into another language. This is indicated by the examples provided in the passage, such as "dang-tang" for "downtown" and "gong-ngihn ngiht" for "Labor Day," which maintain the phonetic elements of the English terms within the Chinese dialect.
B. Although the transliterated terms name local objects, places, and events, this option does not capture the essence of transliteration as it pertains to the adaptation of sounds between languages.
C. Transliteration involves adapting the phonetic sounds of words from one language into the script of another, but it does not mean they are written identically in the other language.
D. Transliteration is about the sound conversion, not direct translation of meanings from one language to another.
E. The mention of transliteration does not address differences in sounds across dialects but refers to the adaptation of words from one language into another.
In the context of the passage, the author most likely mentions "transliterated terms" to mean words whose sounds and meanings have been directly incorporated from American English into the Chinese dialect used in Chinatown.