foreign names in chinese

rizen suha

状元
new names in chinese
(talking about present day)
how do they come into being?
so "mr" trump is
特朗普
special/exceptional +
bright/clear +
universal/vast
who is to be credited with this sarcasm?
are chinese government agencies involved when it comes to "diplomatic" "dignitaries"?
american agencies?
or is it just whatever news outlet comes up first with an accepted term (perhaps influenced by personal interests?)
and so on with my questions
that i could probably google (already tried)
but easier to ask here (and maybe more fun)
 

Shun

状元
Interesting question! There is some agency that sets standards for foreign names in Chinese. What I do know is that a relatively small, fixed set of syllables are used for phonetically transcribing most foreign names. So in the case of 特朗普, the meanings associated with the characters may be purely coincidental.

See also this article: (including a transcription table)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_into_Chinese_characters

I haven‘t read it all yet, but it should answer quite a few questions.

Cheers,

Shun
 

rizen suha

状元
many thanks shun
will have a look
yeah maybe its a coincidence
at first "hear" it doesnt seem like a very normalized transcription
more like a specifically designed name (within the hanzi/phonetic restrictions for naming)
(so by first read... abnormous irony)
(i have close to
zero experience with this, so purely my intuition, and as i said, i will have a look at your link, thanks)
and if somebody knows the concrete mechanics/examples of how present day "popular" transcriptions come into being/are decided upon, please say
 
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Shun says right, I think it is purely a phonetic transcription.
If you see the Chinese name of some personality, don't pay too much attention to which characters are used.
In fact, in Taiwan the name of Trump is different, it is 川普, also because of the pronunciation (which is not really identical, I give you that).
 

baowenbei

Member
Shun says right, I think it is purely a phonetic transcription.
If you see the Chinese name of some personality, don't pay too much attention to which characters are used.
In fact, in Taiwan the name of Trump is different, it is 川普, also because of the pronunciation (which is not really identical, I give you that).

Funny enough, 川普 is referring a specific "language dialect" in Mainland China - When people from Sichuan province speak Chinese mandarin with strong local accent, we say that they are speaking 川普 (Chuan-Pu, or "Sichuanese-style Pu-Tong-Hua").
 
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Shun

状元
Interesting, thanks! Sichuanese Putonghua may perhaps be the most different from standard Putonghua—if we look at the geographic distance, at least.
 

baowenbei

Member
Interesting, thanks! Sichuanese Putonghua may perhaps be the most different from standard Putonghua—if we look at the geographic distance, at least.

Not exactly, at least not as different as the Cantonese from Mandarin. You know what, Sichuanese is categorized in northern Chinese language family - indicating it shares a large part in common with Pu-Tong-Hua. Most Mandarin speakers can easily understand local Sichuanese, as long as the latter refrain from using too many local slangs.
 

Shun

状元
Yes, I wasn't clear enough—"Sichuanese Putonghua" may be the most different form of putonghua from Mandarin. Once you leave the sphere of the northern Chinese language family, like with Cantonese, of course the language differs much more.
 
I know this is probably not what either of you meant but 广普 and 港普 can also be fairly unintelligible. 渣渣辉 is a good example of this.
 

Shun

状元
Thanks, true. There may even be three different language layers many well-educated Chinese are able to speak in:
  1. Their vernacular (spoken within the family and among locals)
  2. Putonghua with a local accent
  3. Strict putonghua (spoken on formal occasions, to foreigners with a limited command of putonghua, in learning materials or high-level political speeches)
3. is probably optional.
 
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