Practical transliteration of Chinese into Arabic (from Pinyin)

[atitarev]

Hi,

This my attempt to suggest to create a guide based on my knowledge of phonology of both Chinese Mandarin and Arabic, despite the difficulties, a guide is possible. The mess in writing Chinese proper names in Arabic (arabisation or transliteration) is much more serious the romanisation situation in say Taiwan or Singapore.

Attached is a draught guide, please ask questions or criticise if you have any knowledge/interest on the subject, familiar with the Arabic script or phonology.

The Arabic letters chosen are based on the observation and some (not a very deep) research. The official spelling of many Chinese names is often different from this guide but the alternative spellings exist and are used.

I found that many names simply lack any official spelling - people write the way they hear, that's why a good consistent method is important.

You'll find a lot of duplications due to the limitations Arabic script and phonology.

Some syllables are to be changed: yi, ye, a, an, etc.

Arabic pinyin.xls

Edited November 4, 2009 at 11:28 PM by atitarev