Tag: languages

Chinese Names in Latin Script: how to pronounce | May 18 2024, 19:25

I’m currently reading Liu Cixin’s “The Dark Forest,” and I realized that I don’t understand how to pronounce Chinese names transcribed into Latin script, like Quang or Xin. I decided to educate myself on the topic and dug up some information. Below is a little guide for the similarly curious, who were perhaps too lazy to figure it out themselves.

For transcription into Russian, there is the Palladius system (Google it if you speak Russian). Generally, all of the information below is from there and from the Pinyin system (a romanization system for Chinese).

In general, most letters can be pronounced more or less (very roughly speaking) as in the English alphabet, except that the voiceless consonants p, t, k (for example) come with aspiration, but there are exceptions:

* q — pronounced like the Russian “ч” or the English “ch” (as in the word cheese) with a light aspiration. For example, Qiang is read as “Ч’ань”. Other names: Qing, Qin.

* x — resembles the soft Russian “ш/щ” or the English sh/sch. For example, Xia is pronounced as “Ща”. Other names: Xin, Xiu.

* r — something between r and zh/ж. In the Palladius system, ran is prescribed to be read as zhàn (жань), and rang as zhan (жан), and rao as zhao (жао). In Pinyin, it’s written that r is read as in red with a slight zh hue.

* z — like “ds” in the word “reads”.

* c — like the Russian “ts” as in “cats”.

Therefore, Xi Jinping is read as Си Цзиньпин. And Dèng Xiǎopíng is cyrillicized as Дэн Сяопин.

In Chinese names, the last name comes first, followed by the given name. For example, in “Li Wei,” “Li” is the surname, and “Wei” is the given name. Máo Zédōng, the name here is Zédōng, not Mao. Or Dèng Xiǎopíng, where the given name is Xiǎopíng. In the case of the author of “The Dark Forest,” Liu Cixin, the given name is Cixin.

However, I learned that addressing Chinese people by their full name is impolite and even rude. According to Chinese etiquette (in China), it is customary to address by last name, adding a title of social status/position (engineer, doctor, professor, academic, ambassador, teacher, master, foreman, director, etc.) or a general salutation (Mr., Comrade, Ms.). For example, Mr. Wu (in Chinese: Wu xiansheng), Ms. Zhang (in Chinese: Zhang nüshi). But that’s there, in China. In the case of international teams, where someone like Li Wei is a frontend developer, of course, it’s normal to write “Hi Wei.” But not “Hi Li.”

By the way, Chinese people often change their names when moving out of China. Jackie Chan, for example, was 成龙 (Chéng Lóng) back home, Bruce Lee was 李小龙 (Lǐ Xiǎolóng).

Rediscovering Raytburt: A Look at “Physics at Half Past Nine” | May 14 2024, 22:21

A truly excellent short documentary from 53 years ago (in Russian). Highly recommended viewing. It features a bald man who perplexes a young woman with various follies. The original title is “Physics at Half Past Nine”. Tsentrnauchfilm, 1971. Scriptwriter and director: S. Raytburt. Raytburt, incidentally, received an award at the Venice International Film Festival for “The Development of Reflex Activity in Ontogeny”. It’s a shame that almost all his films are unavailable online. 

Global Variations in Finger Counting Practices | May 06 2024, 20:55

It turns out there are differences in how people count on their fingers (there’s even a term for it — dactylonomy). It could easily give you away as a spy 🙂

In Russia and countries of the former USSR, counting to ten on fingers starts by bending the pinky of the left hand and progresses sequentially to the bent thumb of the right hand. However, when it’s necessary to visibly show a number, the hand clenches into a fist and then opens first with the index finger, followed by the middle, ring, pinky, and thumb.

But in the American convention, for example, counting starts with the index finger. The thumb is kept pressed against the palm to show numbers from 1 to 4, and only extended (along with all four fingers) to indicate the number 5.

In countries like Germany, France, Italy, and others, it seems that locals generally start counting with the thumb (=1), adding one finger for each subsequent number up to five.

In Eastern countries, such as Iran, they often begin with the pinky of the right hand, and finish with the thumb. But these are all linear systems.

In Japan, however, the finger counting system is reversed. Instead of showing numbers by raising fingers, it’s the fingers that are hidden in the hand that indicate the number. It starts with the thumb and hides the subsequent fingers in the hand, counting upwards until a closed palm shows the number five.

In China, counting up to five is more or less the same as in the West, but after six it becomes peculiar; there are special configurations indicating 7, 8, 9, 10.

The way to show “2” might lead to misunderstandings if someone accustomed to the Chinese method sees the German “two” with a thumb and index finger, because it would mean “8” in Chinese finger counting (see below). I find it very fascinating (and useful!) that you can count up to 10 in Chinese using just one hand!

When showing the number “2” in the UK the American way (with the index and middle fingers), be careful not to turn your palm inward toward yourself, as this gesture is perceived (or used to be perceived, but who knows whom you’re dealing with) as an insult in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.