Persian words in the army

[rezaf]

I just saw a Chinese troop marching on the TV and they were using the Persian words"yek-do-yek" instead of "一 二 一". Is it really what I heard? Do they use these words in the army?

[kenny123]

It is impossible

[davidj]

The Hindi words for one and two are ek /ek/ and do /do/, so it wouldn't surprise me if similar words extended into western China.

[liuzhou]

it wouldn't surprise me

it would me.

[dalaowai]

If they were Xinjiang boys they might have been. Xinjiang language has a lot of Farsi words in it.

[liuzhou]

I'm well aware that China absorbed and assimilated and ...

But the idea that the PLA, defenders of the faith, flag launchers and all, will walk about China yelling "1 -2 -1" in any language other than Chinese, I don't believe. Whichever province they are from.

Anyway, everyone knows they count "1-2-3-4" when marching.

Edited October 5, 2008 at 02:39 PM by liuzhou

[Lu]

I've never heard mainland Chinese troops march, but the TW military kid in Niezi marches to 1-2-1-2 (very last scene of the series). In Chinese, though, not in anything else.

[lemur]

Could what rezaf has heard be due to a problem of articulation? I'm not a military man by any measure but I've had enough exposure to the military to learn that officers are likely to express marching orders in a language best labeled as "gibberish" or maybe "canine-ese" (because it really sounds like barking).