klortho Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:33 PM Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:33 PM Sorry if this has been covered already in another thread. I searched for a little while and didn't find anything. I'm wondering if there is any list around of "standard" transliterations of western names. In books, I always see "David" as "大卫"; "Anna" as "安娜", etc. I recently stumbled upon "Mike" as "迈克" in two independent places. Relatedly, does anyone know a dictionary that lists Chinese versions of names of famous western people and historical figures? Most online (and paper, for that matter) dictionaries I've checked don't even, for example, have the Chinese for "Clinton". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:40 PM Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:40 PM Here in Taiwan, people, newspaper, or media translate Clinton as 柯林頓, referring to the former president of usa. Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanhodges Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:43 PM Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 01:43 PM CeDict has Clinton, and I've noticed many other names there too. Not sure where Erik gets them from. I use the version in Dimsum (mandarintools.com). From link below, Adsotrans also has it. Clinton is listed as [pop=Clinton/kèlíndùn]克林顿[/pop] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted December 28, 2005 at 02:25 PM Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 02:25 PM One way of finding stuff such as this is go to the Chinese Google, or go to the international Google but select Language Tools, and then choose Chinese, and type the name in English. You are bound to find a few Chinese web pages with the name in both English and Chinese. This technique is also useful for finding unusual words and place names, etc. in Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
笨笨德 Posted December 28, 2005 at 02:56 PM Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 02:56 PM transliterations are always taken from the following set of characters... 阿埃艾愛安奧澳巴貝本比賓波博伯卜布茨達大戴德登迪蒂丁都多俄厄爾法菲費芬 夫福弗佛蓋岡哥戈格根古哈海合赫胡華霍基吉及加伽賈杰金喀卡凱柯科可克庫拉 萊來賴蘭勞勒雷累黎里利烈林盧魯倫羅洛馬麥邁曼蒙米摩莫墨姆穆那納乃 內尼努諾帕佩蓬皮匹普奇齊喬切冉薩塞桑森沙舍什史士斯索塔泰坦特圖土托瓦萬 維溫沃烏伍西希謝辛休遜雅亞延耶伊印尤澤扎詹諸茲腓胥 These transliterations are always carefully selected so they are obvious to the reader, usually by making sure they make no sense as a normal chinese word. So a native reader will instantly be able to realise the word is a transliteration even if they dont know what it actually is... http://www.taohai.com/cn/newsdetail.asp?id=43 this page has a big list... might be of some help in getting a feel for it, although certain historical figures sometimes get special names that are not neccessarily transliterations.... have fun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevelyan Posted December 28, 2005 at 04:37 PM Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 04:37 PM Relatedly, does anyone know a dictionary that lists Chinese versions of names of famous western people and historical figures? Most online (and paper, for that matter) dictionaries I've checked don't even, for example, have the Chinese for "Clinton". The link posted above by BBD looks great. I know there are specialized paper-based Chinese dictionaries of names available, as the place I work has one, but the entries are all English->Chinese. We have a lot of these sorts of names in Adso, and you can search the database at the URL below. Just remember to search first and last names separately (ie first "Brad" and then "Pitt") as they will be stored separately. If you notice anything missing and submit it through our Quick Add form with the first letter capitalized the system will tag it as a personal name automatically: http://www.adsotrans.com/adso/uniedit.pl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klortho Posted December 28, 2005 at 05:02 PM Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 at 05:02 PM Thanks, guys! These are all great responses!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingguoguy Posted December 29, 2005 at 12:52 AM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 12:52 AM 笨笨德, does the mainland and overseas use the same transliteration system? I.e. can I convert your list to simplified, learn the list, and then be able to recognize any English name? Actually I'm kinda disappointed by this. Before I started learning Chinese I'd read that transliterating names in Chinese was a very complicated and poetic process of balancing the sound of the character with an auspicious meaning. Then I realize that most names just use the same characters again and again. Who say's Chinese doesn't have an alphabet? Makes it easier to learn though I suppose end grumble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
笨笨德 Posted December 29, 2005 at 02:53 AM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 02:53 AM Yeah, its the same character set in traditional and simplified.... perhaps what you heard before is the process of giving someone a personal name. This is completely different than a direct transliteration.... remember this set of characters will be used to transliterate foreign words, not only peoples names... If you ask a friend to give you a chinese name, then the process is different, they will consider your personality, goals in life etc and try to match it loosely to the sound of your english name... but remember you will have a real chinese name at the end, not a transliteration. As you said, this is quiet a poetic and time consuming process, which explains the need for this direct transliteration method... would you really want to spend hours thinking up a name for a foreign brand of toilet cleaner ? 加油 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingguoguy Posted December 29, 2005 at 09:14 AM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 09:14 AM As it's Christmas, here is 笨笨德's list in a nice spreadsheet, with simplified chars, pinyin and definitions. Looks like I have found a task to do this weekend, memorizing all these. My god! Do they really use 喀 (vomit) and 魯 (foolish) in transliterations? Are you sure this list in comprehensive? For example 伦敦: London lundun: The list has 伦 but not 敦 华盛顿: Washington huashengdun: The list has 华 but not 盛 or 顿 洛杉矶: Los Angeles luoshanji: The list has 洛 but not 杉 or 矶 史密斯: Smith shimisi: The list has 史and 斯 but not 密 Perhaps these are older transliterations that came into common use before this system was introduced, or are there different rules for place names. (sigh) Just as it was in danger of becoming too easy. translitdefs.xls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
笨笨德 Posted December 29, 2005 at 10:07 AM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 10:07 AM Sorry man, i copied an older version of list i leeched from some software... this is the offical list from mainland china... i will give you the reference for the list when i find it... i just remember it was dated from the 1970's.... 啊阿埃艾爱昂奥巴白柏拜班邦包保堡鲍北贝倍本比彼边别滨宾玻波博勃伯卜布采蔡藏策查察昌 彻陈楚垂茨慈次聪存措达大戴代丹当道德得登邓迪底地蒂第帝丁东杜敦顿多厄恩耳尔法凡范方 菲费芬丰冯佛夫福弗辅富盖甘冈高哥戈葛格各根贡古顾瓜圭郭果哈海罕翰汉杭豪赫黑亨洪侯胡 华怀惠霍基吉季计嘉佳加贾简姜焦杰捷金津京久居喀卡开凯坎康考柯科可克肯孔扣寇库夸匡奎 魁坤昆阔拉腊莱来赖兰朗劳勒乐雷黎理李里礼荔丽历利立莲连廉良列琳林霖龄留刘流柳龙隆卢 鲁露路吕略伦萝罗洛玛马麦迈满曼芒茅梅门蒙孟米密敏明名摩莫墨默姆木穆拿娜纳乃奈南内嫩 能妮尼年涅宁牛纽农努女诺欧帕派潘庞培佩彭蓬皮匹平泼朴普漆奇齐契恰钱强乔切钦琴青琼丘 邱屈让热仁日荣茹儒瑞若撒萨塞赛三缮桑瑟森莎沙珊山尚绍舍申生盛圣施诗石什史士寿舒朔斯 思丝松孙索所塔泰坦汤唐陶特藤提惕田铁汀廷亭通透图托脱娃瓦万旺威韦为维伟魏卫温文翁沃 乌武伍西锡希悉席霞夏显香向晓肖歇谢欣辛兴幸姓雄休修雪逊雅亚延扬阳尧耀耶叶依易意因英 永尤雨约宰赞早泽曾扎詹湛章张哲者珍真芝知智治朱卓兹子宗祖佐丕谟葆薇岑弼娅缪珀瑙赉滕 斐熙鸠窦艮麟 a tad bigger i know so please dont sit in and memorise these this weekend man, go out and have some fun i know the 魯 character is used commonly in taiwan as 太魯閣 for a transliteration of a scenic place called Taroko (Gorge) not sure if the name is japanese or from the Atayal aboriginals.. Have a nice weekend all.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted December 29, 2005 at 02:02 PM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 02:02 PM The aboriginals from the Taroko-area are also called Taroko, so I think it might be aboriginal-hua. Does sound a bit Japanese, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingguoguy Posted December 29, 2005 at 02:34 PM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 02:34 PM Gulp, You know, perhaps I will leave it for another weekend. Or else maybe just print that list off and cross them off as I encounter them in daily life. There's already a whole score of those like 达 or 基 which I know the pronounciation as I see them in foreign names, but have no idea what it means. Good to know there's an official guide, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klortho Posted December 29, 2005 at 04:32 PM Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 04:32 PM yingguoguy, I guess this new list also addresses your grumble about the lack of choices when transliterating -- 457 characters I guess gives people quite a lot of flexibility to be creative and poetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingguoguy Posted December 29, 2005 at 11:25 PM Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 at 11:25 PM stupid poetic justice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetada Posted February 28, 2008 at 03:57 AM Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 at 03:57 AM Thanks everyone. I'm obsessed with transliterating western names into Chinese and this is a goldmine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooironic Posted February 28, 2008 at 04:42 AM Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 at 04:42 AM Whatever you do though, be wary of 'Chinese names' books. I bought one a few months ago a second hand book store and let's just say there for A LOT of very random names in there, like 'Schepum' and 'Toggle' LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racky Posted February 28, 2008 at 07:14 PM Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 at 07:14 PM hello everyone, i come from P.R.C.. the first thing i wanna say is the transformation of Western name into Chinese is different in Taiwan, Mainland and hong kong. Even the name of the film. The basic transformation depends on the dictionary published by XinHua publishing company. Hope it's useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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