Chinese Sci-Fi Phrases

[E. Belser]

Hello!

I'm writing a science fiction novel, one of the presuppositions of which is that the Chinese started the push to other stars.

So... need a few Cantonese phrases to throw in.

In English, the name of the world government translates to The Confederation of Human Worlds - what is that in Cantonese?

How would you refer to a faster than light drive that sends ships to an alternate dimension? A Gate that makes it easier to do so?

How do you say Armor - as a reference to large battlesuits, a la Starship Troopers or Japanese mecha shows?

And what would some good, cheerfully propagandistic names for colony ships be?

Thanks for the in advance!

[geraldc]

The collective noun for a fleet of spaceships in English is an armada, you should refer to a fleet of Chinese spaceships as a " 他妈的" tarmada

[trevelyan]

If its supposed to be mainland China they won't be speaking Cantonese. Unless there's some subplot linking in Andy Lau. As far as sloganeering for aerospace efforts, I'll offer the relatively uncreative Spaceship Harmonious:

宇宙飞船"和谐"号方便你我他。

"The Spaceship Harmonious: convenient for us all!"

[Jack MacKelly]

He's talking about his stuff I reckon,

it was already done by an old Tv show

http://www.24x7updates.com/FullStory-News-Serenity_A_Review-ID-200507.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/preston200510050823.asp

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/crosby3.html

Quote

important note about Firefly: more than a little dialogue is in Chinese. In the background history of the series, two Earth cultures have come to dominate: Anglo-American and Chinese. This is reflected by the mix of Asian and Western fashions

[liuzhou]

If its supposed to be mainland China they won't be speaking Cantonese.

Why not? They could be. The last time I looked, Guangdong was still firmly attached to the mainland.

[roddy]

美丽的Starbase Alpha, 从我做起 。 。 。

同一个宇宙，同一个梦想 。 。 。

The chances of anyone knowing these in Mandarin is pretty slim, in Cantonese even slimmer. Good luck though . . .

[Ah-Bin]

and just for your information....

A lightsaber is a 光劍 guang1jian4 according to a serialisation of Star Wars I saw in a Chinese newspaper.

Star Wars in Taiwan is 星際大戰 I think in CHina it is something different.

[in_lab]

Cantonese is possible, as is any other language spoken in China, but it should make sense in the context of the novel. Even if all the characters are from HK, if they are making a speech in Beijing, then it would be in Mandarin (or translated). So, the language depends on the origin of the characters and on the setting.