Quick Mandarin question

Discussion of natural languages, or language in general.
Post Reply
User avatar
Zaarin
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1136
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:00 pm

Quick Mandarin question

Post by Zaarin »

Would the correct Mandarin equivalent of New Earth/Terra Nova be Xīn Dì?
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

User avatar
Ser
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1542
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:55 am
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia / Colombie Britannique, Canada

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by Ser »

新地, yeah.

User avatar
Zaarin
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1136
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:00 pm

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by Zaarin »

Thanks.
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

User avatar
kodé
Lebom
Lebom
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:25 pm
Location: Trojan Country

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by kodé »

Zaarin wrote:Thanks.
You mean, xiexie 谢谢! :P
linguoboy wrote:
GrinningManiac wrote:Local pronunciation - /ˈtoʊ.stə/
Ah, so now I know where Towcester pastries originated! Cheers.

User avatar
Zaarin
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1136
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:00 pm

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by Zaarin »

To be fair, I'm trying to find a name for a planet in a sci-fi story without resorting to the extremely overused Terra Nova, not learn Mandarin. :P
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

User avatar
clawgrip
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1723
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:21 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by clawgrip »

Zaarin wrote:without resorting to the extremely overused Terra Nova
How about calling it Newfoundland!

(Terre-Neuve in French)

That would be great, Planet Newfoundland.

M Mira
Lebom
Lebom
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:21 pm
Location: Taipeium, Respublica Sinarum

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by M Mira »

As a native, it sounds okay, and has real-life equivalent: Novaya Zemlya is Xīn dì dăo (lit. New land island) in Chinese. However, dì is not exactly English "earth", it's more "land", "soil", or "surface" and less "planet" or "planet Earth".

User avatar
linguoboy
Sanno
Sanno
Posts: 3681
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2002 9:00 am
Location: Rogers Park/Evanston

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by linguoboy »

M Mira wrote:As a native, it sounds okay, and has real-life equivalent: Novaya Zemlya is Xīn dì dăo (lit. New land island) in Chinese. However, dì is not exactly English "earth", it's more "land", "soil", or "surface" and less "planet" or "planet Earth".
Couldn't Xīndì be considered an abbreviation for Xīndìqiú (in keeping with the strong modern Chinese preference for bisyllabic words)?

User avatar
Zaarin
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1136
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:00 pm

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by Zaarin »

clawgrip wrote:
Zaarin wrote:without resorting to the extremely overused Terra Nova
How about calling it Newfoundland!

(Terre-Neuve in French)

That would be great, Planet Newfoundland.
That could be interesting, especially since I already blew up the province (along with the rest of the Earth's crust). :p
linguoboy wrote:
M Mira wrote:As a native, it sounds okay, and has real-life equivalent: Novaya Zemlya is Xīn dì dăo (lit. New land island) in Chinese. However, dì is not exactly English "earth", it's more "land", "soil", or "surface" and less "planet" or "planet Earth".
Couldn't Xīndì be considered an abbreviation for Xīndìqiú (in keeping with the strong modern Chinese preference for bisyllabic words)?
That works for me.
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

Vijay
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 2244
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 3:25 pm
Location: Austin, TX, USA

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by Vijay »

kodé wrote:
Zaarin wrote:Thanks.
You mean, xiexie 谢谢! :P
You mean xièxie (or xièxiè)! ;)

User avatar
kodé
Lebom
Lebom
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:25 pm
Location: Trojan Country

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by kodé »

Vijay wrote:
kodé wrote:
Zaarin wrote:Thanks.
You mean, xiexie 谢谢! :P
You mean xièxie (or xièxiè)! ;)
Oh yeah, forgot to write in the tones. Whoops!

User avatar
masako
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1731
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 4:31 pm
Location: 가매
Contact:

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by masako »

Zaarin wrote:
linguoboy wrote:
M Mira wrote:As a native, it sounds okay, and has real-life equivalent: Novaya Zemlya is Xīn dì dăo (lit. New land island) in Chinese. However, dì is not exactly English "earth", it's more "land", "soil", or "surface" and less "planet" or "planet Earth".
Couldn't Xīndì be considered an abbreviation for Xīndìqiú (in keeping with the strong modern Chinese preference for bisyllabic words)?
That works for me.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Xindi

Image

User avatar
Zaarin
Smeric
Smeric
Posts: 1136
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:00 pm

Re: Quick Mandarin question

Post by Zaarin »

masako wrote:
Zaarin wrote:
linguoboy wrote:
M Mira wrote:As a native, it sounds okay, and has real-life equivalent: Novaya Zemlya is Xīn dì dăo (lit. New land island) in Chinese. However, dì is not exactly English "earth", it's more "land", "soil", or "surface" and less "planet" or "planet Earth".
Couldn't Xīndì be considered an abbreviation for Xīndìqiú (in keeping with the strong modern Chinese preference for bisyllabic words)?
That works for me.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Xindi
Despite having never watched an episode of Enterprise, I am aware of them--I'll spell it "Shindi," except perhaps once to point out its etymology. ;)
"But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?”

Post Reply