Shanny Posted August 29, 2011 at 06:59 PM Report Posted August 29, 2011 at 06:59 PM Hi! I found a website that showed me how to write my name in chinese, and first I wanted to ask if it is really corrent. my name is shani and this is supposed to be "sha ni" I guess: 沙妮 . if it is correct, how should I write it? from left to right or up-->down? Thank you! Quote
jkhsu Posted August 29, 2011 at 07:37 PM Report Posted August 29, 2011 at 07:37 PM Most people write left to right. What is this website that gives you a Chinese name? The other thing you want to think about is that although the pinyin of 沙妮 matches "sha ni", the pronounciation does not. The pronounciation of "sh" in English is actually "x" in pinyin. So if you want the Chinese pronounciation of the your Chinese name to match as close to the pronounciation of your English name as possible, then you would look for a Chinese name with the pinyin of "xia ni". Edit: Try perhaps "夏妮" meaning "summer girl" pronounced "xia4 ni1" in Mandarin. The meaning seems better than "沙妮" or "sand girl". Quote
Hofmann Posted August 30, 2011 at 01:37 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 01:37 AM I don't like 夏. I think [ʂ] is closer than [ɕ] to the English [ʃ]. Furthermore, 夏 has a [j] in there which further deviates from how "sha" would be pronounced in English. Quote
imron Posted August 30, 2011 at 01:50 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 01:50 AM Have a read of this post, to see why the Chinese characters that the website gave you are not really your name. At best, it is an approximation of the pronunciation of your name, using Chinese characters that may make no sense when put together. For example, take the two words: 'share' and 'knee'. Put them together and you have share-knee - which kind of sounds like your name. That's basically what the site has done except in Chinese rather than in English. 1 Quote
jkhsu Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:06 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:06 AM @Hofmann - what would you suggest then? Quote
qodobop Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:31 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:31 AM I think "夏" is better than “沙”, only because "沙" has same pronunciation as "傻". To choose a chinese name, you have to take care not to choose homonym with bad meaning.... Quote
rezaf Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:51 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:51 AM Or it can be 沙泥 (sand and mud) perfect combination. But seriously “sha ni” sounds like 杀你 （kill you）。 夏 is better。 Quote
Hofmann Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:51 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 02:51 AM How about 莎? It's better in that its primary meaning isn't "sand." And 傻 doesn't sound like it. In Mandarin, a tone makes as much of a difference as a vowel in most European languages. Quote
jkhsu Posted August 30, 2011 at 03:14 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 03:14 AM But seriously “sha ni” sounds like 杀你 （kill you）。 夏 is better. That's what I had thought too but to be fair, 夏 sounds a lot like 吓 (to frighten, scare) as well. I was looking for xia1 word but couldn't find one. However, seasons are often used in Chinese names and summer sounded like a reasonable alternative. How about 莎? 莎 has a better meaning than sand. The dictionary says the name "Sarah" is "莎拉" I don't know, I still agree with rezaf that the "杀你" sound is best avoided. What about 香妮? Quote
rezaf Posted August 30, 2011 at 03:23 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 03:23 AM haha, scaring people is better than actually killing them. Quote
rezaf Posted August 30, 2011 at 03:34 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 03:34 AM Here is another one: 商妮 which sounds like 伤你（hurt you)。All I can think about with this name is hurting people。 How about 邵？ Quote
jkhsu Posted August 30, 2011 at 04:21 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 04:21 AM If you're going to go with "shan", what about just "善" (good, benevolent)? Edit: The other thing about 单 that I don't like is the other meaning (and pronounciation) "dan" is lonely. So you get a lonely girl. Quote
imron Posted August 30, 2011 at 04:26 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 04:26 AM 单 is a more common surname - or at least amongst the people I've met, which is admittedly not a representative sample. Quote
jkhsu Posted August 30, 2011 at 04:32 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 04:32 AM 单 is a more common surname but the OP didn't have a surname for us. I am assuming a two character given name here. Quote
qodobop Posted August 30, 2011 at 06:00 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 06:00 AM haha, it is really painful for a Chinese to choose a name. I spent a whole month looking up into the dictionary for the name of my daughter. Lucky for you guys for a English name, you may only need to pick some one already there in Bible... :-) Quote
jkhsu Posted August 30, 2011 at 06:46 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 06:46 AM So give us your suggestion while you are here. I hope the OP is still reading this thread. Quote
qodobop Posted August 30, 2011 at 07:34 AM Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 07:34 AM how aobut “香妮儿” if you are a young girl. it is really a cute nickname. Quote
Shanny Posted August 30, 2011 at 11:30 AM Author Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 11:30 AM thank you for all the replys! i'm a little bit confused because I don't understand so much about writing-chinese mmm I understand that "sha" in PinYin doesn't match my name, so what exactly does 妮mean? are you trying to suggest names that sound close to shani in english and also have a good meaning in chinese? did I get it right? ^^' Quote
Shanny Posted August 30, 2011 at 11:56 AM Author Report Posted August 30, 2011 at 11:56 AM by the way jkhsu - this is the webstie http://www.chinesetools.eu/names/ Quote
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