Free Chinese Lesson - Foreign words/names trasnliteration/pronunciation in Chinese - any changes needed? -

> Extras > Other cultures and language
Foreign words/names trasnliteration/pronunciation in Chinese - any changes needed?
Home New Posts

Login: Pass: Log in or register for standard view and full access.




View Poll Results: Foreign words/names transliteration/pronunciation in Chinese
Leave it as it is now. I don't want any changes. Please comment. 3 50.00%
Need a new script (somewhat like Japanese kana, Korean Hangul). Please comment. 1 16.67%
Write foreign names in Roman scripts or provide pronunciation in Roman letters. Please comment. 3 5
0.00%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 6. You may not vote on this poll



Page 1 of 4 1 23 > »






atitarev -

Hi all,

I heard different opinions about foreign words/names transliteration/pronunciation in Chinese -
learners and natives. Is everyone happy with the status quo? That is, transliterating foreign
words into Chinese using Chinese characters somewhat reminding the original pronunciation and
adjusting to make it sound or mean better?

Issues with this approach are well-known, names become unrecognisable. It's probably OK for
well-known names.

Our Chinese teacher mentioned that foreign names are often written in 2 versions - Chinese
characters and Roman in brackets to show the pronunciation and the original spelling.

Questions:
1) Do you think this needs to be reformed or should it stay unchanged? Which method is needed?
a) New phonetic characters or diacritics to show missing sounds/combinations.
b) borrow and adjust characters to Mandarin from another language/script - Japanese, Korean,
English, etc.
c) No change but provide Roman/other scripts spelling next to the Chinese characters.
2) If you're against the reform (note: I am NOT suggesting to reform Chinese language but the
methods to render some foreign words.
3) Do you think Chinese people need to learn to pronounce SOME sounds/combinations that don't
exist in Chinese, V, R, etc. I had a discussion with Japanese people about their phonetical system
an dif they are happy with it. A few languages borrowed foreign sounds that didn't exist in their
language, a good example is German.

Please don't overreact, by no means I don't want to offend Chinese culture and I like Chinese
language and its writing system.

The vote allows multiple choices. I selected the bottom 2, as I think something needs to change
but I'd like to see your opinion on this.



Pleco Software Learn Chinese with our Dictionaries for Palm and Pocket PC.
Learn Chinese in China Learn to speak Chinese 1MonthChinese.com -Mandarin School in China.
Chinese Textbooks Wide range, cheap, varied languages. Also Chinese cartoons, toys, gifts.
Study Chinese in Beijing Affordable Mandarin language courses at BLCU with ChinaUnipath.com.
HNHSoft Dictionary Learn Chinese on Smartphone and PDA with real person's voice.
XueXueXue IQChinese Get beyond the plateau.Take your Mandarin to a new level.
Chinese in Lijiang Short term Chinese study in a beautiful town with a focus on daily life.
MandarinTube Chinese Access to current everyday Chinese language and culture, 24/7.
Learn Chinese Homestay Chinese course, cultural activities & volunteer events in China.
Learn Chinese Online 1-on-1 instant tutoring, diverse courses, native teachers. FREE trial now!
Nihao Chinese Progam Free one-on-one Chinese lesson. Win 5-years of free lessons now!


About Ads (and how to hide them) -- Your message here









wix -

Increased use of roman script is the best solution. It eliminates ambiguity and it accommodates
most of the world's languages.

It is not necessary to expect Chinese people to pronounce the words perfectly. Non-Chinese
speakers won't pronounce words written in pinyin perfectly either. However, the written form will
prevent confusion and when spoken it is more likely to be intelligible than words transliterated
using characters.










wushijiao -

Since most people can’t pronounce foreign names, and instead just pronounce them in a pinyinized
way, I say keep it as it is.










wix -



Quote:


Originally Posted by wushijiao

Since most people can’t pronounce foreign names, and instead just pronounce them in a pinyinized
way, I say keep it as it is.


Of course they pronounce them in a pinyinised way. They are just reading the characters.

For example, they will read 湯母克魯斯 as tangmu kelusi. However, if presented with Tom
Cruise instead, they might say something that more closely resembles the English pronunciation.










wushijiao -



Quote:

Of course they pronounce them in a pinyinised way. They are just reading the characters

.

Haha! I meant when you speak your name to them. For example, almost no one who has not studied
English can pronounce the name Bill. Try getting a 50 year-old man to say that name (I have many
times)! You'll settle for 比尔, or some sort of Chinese name sooner or later. Try saying names
like Hans Blix to Chinese people. You are as likely to get older Chinese to magically understand
final constonants as you are to get older Americans to start pronouncing tones in Chinese names.
It just doesn't register.


I suppose in a generation or so, when the majority of people will have had practice at pronouncing
foreign sounds, it might be easier to convert to another system.










Quest -

I suggest keeping the characters approach but standardizing what characters to use for what sound.
The only reason the roman alphabet would work better is because every country has some sort of
romanization in place for its names in order to communicate with the western world. But this is
not an intrinsic advantage of the roman alphabet, more to do with the status of English. Japanese
and Korean place names, for example, do not cause confusions in China.










gato -



Quote:

Japanese and Korean place names, for example, do not cause confusions in China.

Isn't that only true those city names that mutually agreed upon Chinese character names? But the
controversy over changing 汉城 to 首尓 (Seoul) shows that this isn't always going to be the
case.










atitarev -

Japanese and Korean names don't cause confusion as long as they are not pronounced, IMHO, well
almost. Shénhù (神户) has nothing in common with Kōbe (神戸) or Dàbǎn (大坂/大阪)
with Ōsaka (大阪)

Even if Osaka were rendered phonetically, there is no common character in Mandarin with KA
pronunciation used for foreign words, so it would be something like Ou-sa-jia. KA is not hard to
pronounce for a Mandarin speaker (there is KE, KAO, etc), should there be new characters created
for sound combinations non-existent in Mandarin?

EDIT: thanks Gato










gato -



Quote:

Even if Osaka were rendered phonetically, there is no character in Mandarin with KA pronunciation

You can try 欧萨卡. Kind of ugly, but that's how transliterations are, which is why most
foreigners and foreign companies in China take up a Chinese-sounding name instead.










Quest -

IMO, any method that would require adding sounds to the language should be avoided, because it
will never accomodate sounds of all the languages in the world. Keep it systematic, simple, and
local.












All times are GMT +8. The time now is 05:56 PM.














Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,