accuracy of Google Translate for the name "Sadaf"

[sadaff]

Hello! So I've been trying to figure out how to write my name in Chinese characters and it spat out this: 萨达夫

My name is Sadaf (pronounced as suh-duf; don't know if that helps in translation). 

 

I understand that not all names get translated into other languages but i was hoping i could get a close enough translation for a letter i'm writing to someone. 

 

Thankyou for your help!

[Shelley]

Welcome to the forum, it is a good idea to check Google's efforts. as you say not all names translate well.

 

If you are just going for a transliteration (only the same sounds) then its a bit easier, but the characters used may have a meaning that is not suitable.

If you name has a meaning and you want to translate that, it can be more difficult.

 

Have you studied any Chinese? if so what is your level?

 

Are you writing this letter in Chinese? What sort of letter?

 

Sorry for all the questions but it may help someone decide if Google has got it right and if not what might be better. I am not sure so I will leave it to someone else who might know.

 

 

 

[Publius]

You probably want to use 萨达芙, seeing as Sadaf is a feminine name of Indo-Iranian/Arabic origin. The sound is the same as 萨达夫 which you can hear in Google Translate.

[陳德聰]

Alternatively, you could choose a name that is not based on the pronunciation of your name but on the meaning  Does it mean seashells/pearls in your language?

 

Perhaps something with 瓔

[sadaff]

2 hours ago, Shelley said:

Welcome to the forum, it is a good idea to check Google's efforts. as you say not all names translate well.

 

If you are just going for a transliteration (only the same sounds) then its a bit easier, but the characters used may have a meaning that is not suitable.

If you name has a meaning and you want to translate that, it can be more difficult.

 

Have you studied any Chinese? if so what is your level?

 

Are you writing this letter in Chinese? What sort of letter?

 

Sorry for all the questions but it may help someone decide if Google has got it right and if not what might be better. I am not sure so I will leave it to someone else who might know.

 

thankyou for your help! and yes, i figured translating the meaning would be harder than how it sounds not to mention since i live in the West where my name isn't common, transliteration was usually put first. but what do you suggest; transliteration or translating the meaning of the name?

 

Um, i just started figuring out Chinese so I guess i would say i'm in the starting the beginner level. 

 

Ahah the letter is actually a fan letter to someone so i was trying to write what i could in Chinese and my name was something i was struggling with; i was hoping if i could write it in Chinese then my name would be more recognizable since he's mentioned before he recognizes names of the people sending him letters on his Weibo.

 

noo don't worry about all the questions! if anything, thankyou for taking the time to respond

[sadaff]

2 hours ago, Publius said:

You probably want to use 萨达芙, seeing as Sadaf is a feminine name of Indo-Iranian/Arabic origin. The sound is the same as 萨达夫 which you can hear in Google Translate.

ahh okay, thankyou! just out of curiosity tho, what's the difference between the two? is it the meaning or more related to the "gendered words" concept most languages have?

[sadaff]

2 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

Alternatively, you could choose a name that is not based on the pronunciation of your name but on the meaning  Does it mean seashells/pearls in your language?

 

Perhaps something with 瓔

Yes, it does mean pearl in my language ohh i never considered that; like i said with Shelley, Sadaf isn't a common name where i live so translating for pronunciation is usually put before  meaning. would you suggest i translate for meaning or pronunciation?

[Lu]

12 hours ago, sadaff said:

i was hoping if i could write it in Chinese then my name would be more recognizable since he's mentioned before he recognizes names of the people sending him letters on his Weibo.

I think in that case the most important thing might be to include your Weibo username, that he might recognise.

 

For a Chinese name, if your name means 'pearl' I would definitely base your Chinese name on meaning rather than sound. 萨达芙 is just a transliteration, dime a dozen, but if you'd pick something like 瓔, or even simply 珠, it's instantly a lot more beautiful and meaningful and less foreign.

[Publius]

@sadaffThey are both transliterations, i.e. the characters are used for their sound values, not their meanings. But the characters commonly used to transcribe foreign names tend to have neutral or positive meanings. And there's the gender thing. Some characters are more often associated with female names, some with males, some are neutral.

芙 is definitely feminine. 夫 leans heavily towards masculine, probably because

1) in the long tradition of transliterating Russian names, the masculine version of family names ending in -v is rendered 夫, and the feminine version -va 娃;

2) you are not likely to see 夫 in native Chinese girl names, because the basic meaning of that character is 'adult male'. There is an early 20th-century writer 郁达夫. The name sounds very masculine.

So if a company or a product wants to project a feminine image, they may choose 芙 over 夫. Take Dove chocolate made by the Mars company for example. The brand name is 德芙 in Chinese. They constantly run ads that appeal to the romantic side of women. Daphne, a Chinese brand for women's shoes, is 达芙妮. Daphne is a female nymph in Greek mythology. The characters 芙 and 妮 perfectly reflect the femininity of the character.

Hope this has satisfied your curiosity.

[imron]

6 hours ago, Publius said:

They constantly run ads that appeal to the romantic side of women

Never saw their ads, but when I was living in a small town in China, Dove was the only real chocolate to be found for miles around, and because of that it's more or less the only brand of chocolate I buy in China

[Publius]

4 minutes ago, imron said:

Never saw their ads, but when I was living in a small town in China, Dove was the only real chocolate to be found for miles around, and because of that it's more or less the only brand of chocolate I buy in China

Just admit it already. There's a romantic woman inside you.

[ZC]

36 minutes ago, Publius said:

There's a romantic woman inside you.

Did he eat her because he ran out of chocolate? 

[sadaff]

12 hours ago, Lu said:

I think in that case the most important thing might be to include your Weibo username, that he might recognise.

 

For a Chinese name, if your name means 'pearl' I would definitely base your Chinese name on meaning rather than sound. 萨达芙 is just a transliteration, dime a dozen, but if you'd pick something like 瓔, or even simply 珠, it's instantly a lot more beautiful and meaningful and less foreign.

ah fair point. but the thing is, my Weibo username was characters that i used to spell out my name ( 萨达夫 ) hence me wanting to clarify the accuracy cause i think one page i looked at said it translated to "mr. swine flu" or something?

 

ooh okay, thankyou for the suggestion! my friend was telling me how most people end up just making a Chinese name since it's easier. so i'll definitely consider 瓔 or 珠

[sadaff]

@Publius ohh that's very interesting! (also i didn't realize you could reply to someone by @-ing them; this is my first time on a forum so i thought you just had to quote everything said!)

 

if that's the case, i'm glad you pointed out correcting the character 夫! is 萨达芙 one of those foreign names with a neutral meaning?

[happy_hyaena]

Do you want us to give you a Chinese name that is related to your name in meaning but not in sound?

[sadaff]

3 hours ago, happy_hyaena said:

Do you want us to give you a Chinese name that is related to your name in meaning but not in sound?

if you could, that'd be helpful! i'm still a little confused on the structure of names so figuring it out myself is tricky

[happy_hyaena]

Off the top of my head: 玉贝 

 

玉 Means jade and is a common surname.

 

 贝 Is part of the word 贝壳 which means seashell.

 

Pronounced Yu Bei. Im not a native though so I don't know if it sounds stupid or not, or if it would be better with a longer name.

[Lu]

Chinese names consist of a family name ('surname') and a given name. The family name usually consists of one character (although two-character surnames do exist), the given name can consist of either one or two characters. There is a limited set of characters that are surname (examples are 张，陈，李 etc). In theory, you can use any character(s) for your given name, but in practice people go with names that have a nice meaning (such as 'jade' or 'brave' or 'smart', or things like 'loves China').

 

When foreigners pick a Chinese name, they usually pick a name that sort-of matches their real name in either sound, meaning or ideally, both.

 

For you, 玉贝 I think would be acceptable, but I think you can do better. I hope someone good at picking names comes by here.

[ZC]

A place to start would be to pick out a surname you like since there are only like 25 that foreign people usually pick their names from. And really none are better than any other it’s just preference.

[happy_hyaena]

5 hours ago, Lu said:

For you, 玉贝 I think would be acceptable, but I think you can do better. I hope someone good at picking names comes by here.

Hey! I'll have you know I put a whole 5 minutes of thought into that name