Transliteration in Chinese characters

When one considers the Translitération of not-Chinese terms in Chinese characters , it is advisable to consider the following elements:

the Chinese Langue is written with Sinogramme S monosyllabic S. Consequently, a word of three syllables will be transcribed in three characters, associating three consequently meaning units ;
the Chinese language comprises very many characters Homophone S, all the more many if the Your is not relevant. Consequently, it exists a multitude of possibilities written to make way phonetic a mot. There is thus advisable at the origin to make choices, in particular as for the significance associated with the characters.

An Chinese transliteration generally tries to associate and the significance of the word and the way in which it is marked. For example, usual end Russian - ва for female family names is generally transcribed by 娃 (Pinyin: wā; " bébé" , " fille"), and the - в of family names maculins in 夫 (pinyin: fū; " homme") ; Utopie was manifestly transliterated by Yan Fu in 烏托邦 (simp. 乌托邦; pinyin: wūtuōbāng; " country fabriqué") ; and the name of Pantagruel is transliterated in 龐大固埃 (simp. 庞大固埃; pinyin: pángdàgù' āi), where 龐大 means " gigantesque" and 固 " solide".

Fidelity with the sound of the original is often sacrificed to the direction in contexts not-techniques. In the same way in the transliterations of names of people, companies, stores and marks, the name having to be carrying significances positive and easy to memorize. In many cases, one can speak even sometimes with difficulty about " translitération". A traditional example is the Chinese name that of not-Chinese adopt, which does not raise really of the transliteration, but of the inspiration or the adapation of the original. (See for example, the Chinese name of the governors of Hong-Kong on.)

Since a word can be translitéré by stressing the direction or on the sound, a transliteration " neutre" can possibly lend to an interpretation in the way in which he is written. During the Dynasty Qing, Chinese students were dissatisfied to discover that China was on a continent called 亞細亞 (simp. 亚细亚; pinyin: yàxìyà), i.e. Asia, where 亞 means " secondaire" and 細 " petit" , thinking that the Européens deliberately disparaged the Eastern ones by thus naming them. Asia is generally returned on its traditional behalf of 亚洲 (pinyin: Yàzhōu).

There exist thus in numerous way of naming a place name if no convention were issued, in particular from many the way of representing a sound or if the significance were kept. The Ivory Coast for example is returned in 科特迪瓦 (Kētèdíwǎ, transliteration), but also in 象牙海岸 (Xiàngyá Hǎi' àn, translation).

History

The transliteration was very early practiced in the old Chinese texts, from the relations for a long time maintained with other civilizations, the such Xiongnu, that the Chinese fought.

The traditional texts of the Bouddhisme started to be translated into Chinese during the Dynastie Han. Many terms Sanskrit S were translitérés and were early integrated in Chinese. In fact, celebrates it monk and translator Xuanzang suggested that the Sanskrit terms were to be translitérés instead of translated when those are:

of mysterious nature, such of the Incantation S;
Polysémantique S;
unknown in China;
usually translitérés and not translated;
complex and subtle, and that a translation could darken the direction of them.

At the end of the XIXe century, when the ideas and the goods arrived from occident, the translitéartions were done more.

In Japanese, the foreign terms are generally translitérés in Katakana, a writing spelling-book. Some are however returned Kanji, a writing inspired of the Sinogramme S, of which one of the most famous examples is 俱楽部 (Club, reads. " together joyeusement pièce"). Those directly and were literally taken again of Chinese at the end of the XIXe century or at the beginning of XXe.

Official recommendations

The current official guide of the transliteration for the proper names people is the Names off the world' S peoples: has understanding dictionary off names in Novel-Chinese (), published by Proper Names and Translation Service, the Xinhua News Agency. The majority of the transliterations of the characters used in the official transliterations use conventional characters. For example, the sound east must be officially translitéré in 努 (hard). The official transliterations are based on the Mandarin. It may be however that gives a transliteration which deviates from original such as it can be expressed by people speaking about the Chinese dialects others that Mandarin of Beijing.

Examples

Transliterations with negative or unusual connotations

the India was named 身毒 ( reads. " Poison corporel") in old China, translitéré of Sindhu.
Bhutan is named 不丹, 不 being a character returning the Chinese negation (" non" , " pas")
the Africa is named 非洲 ( reads. “not continent”), with the transliteration supplements 阿非利加洲.
Mozambique is returned in 莫三鼻給 (莫三鼻给), where 莫给 means " nothing donner" , and 三鼻 " three Nose ". Nowadays, the name of the country is more often translitéré in 莫桑比克.
Aberdeen, proper name several localities and people, returned in 鴨巴甸, where 鴨 (鸭) means Canard.
a street of Macao named Avenida C Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida , according to Ferreira de Almeida. Ferreira was translitéré in 肥利喇, according to the street name in Chinese, where 肥 meant " gros".

Transliterations with positive connotation

Firenze is written 翡冷翠 (Fěilěngcuì, imagined by the poet Xu Zhimo 徐志摩 (1897-1931)), 翡翠 meaning " Jadeite " and 冷 " froid". Please note that nowadays the city is generally translitérée in 佛羅倫斯 (佛罗伦萨 - Fóluólúnsà), a transliteration based on the English name of Florence, and not on the Italian original.
Athens is written 雅典 (Yǎdiǎn), meaning " élégant" and " classique"
Ithaque (Ithaca) is written 綺色佳, literally " fantastic color beau"
Coke is written 可口可樂 (可口可乐 - Kěkǒu kělè), meaning " who is good and who returns joyeux"
Yosemite is written 優山美地 (优山美地 - Yōushānměidì), meaning " elegant mountain (and) beautiful pays"
Fontainebleau is written 楓丹白露 (枫丹白露 - Fēngdānbáilù), meaning " red maple (and) dew blanche"
Fields-Élysées is written 香榭麗舍 (香榭丽舍 - Xiāngxiè lìshè), meaning " house (S) scented (S) (and) beautiful (S) house (S) "
Rheims is written 兰斯 (Lánsī), meaning " orchis odoriférante"
World-wide-Web is written 万维网, (Wàn wéi wǎng), meaning " fabric with: 10000 dimensions"

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