If you are learning Chinese (Mandarin), you must have already noticed that the pronunciation of certain words is very similar to their pronunciation in western languages. In fact, these words are actually borrowed from English and other languages, which is why their pronunciation sounds so familiar. So, let’s try to learn some of them. I promise that they are very easy to remember.

 

Food

 

The most important thing that we will discuss in this article is food. Some of these words have been translated directly into Chinese, while others require the addition of one or more characters. For example:

 

Direct Translation:

 

Original Word

Pinyin

Character

whiskey

wēishìjì

ćšćŁ«ćżŒ

champagne

xiāngbīn

銙槟

coffee

kāfēi

撖敡

latte

nátiě

æ‹żé“

mocca

mókǎ

æ‘©ćĄ

chocolate

qiǎokèlì

淧態抛

hamburger

hànbǎo

æ±‰ć Ą

sandwich

sānmíngzhì

䞉明æČ»

pie

pài

掟

pudding

bùdÄ«ng

枃䞁

pizza

pÄ«sà

披萚

 

Partial translation + character(s):

 

Original Word

Pinyin

Character

beer

píjiǔ

敀酒

rum

lángmǔjiǔ

æœ—ć§†é…’

sardine

shādÄ«ngyú

æČ™äžé±Œ

salmon

sānwényú

䞉文鱌

 

For those words that require adding one or more characters, here is how they break down:

 

  • píjiǔ can be separated into + jiǔ, where is pronounced in a way that is similar to “beer” and jiǔ means “alcohol.”
  • lángmǔjiǔ can be separated into lángmǔ + jiǔ, where lángmǔ is pronounced in a way that is similar to “rum” and “jiǔ” once again means “alcohol.”
  • shādÄ«ngyú can be separated into shading +, where shādÄ«ng is pronounced in a way that is similar to “sardine” and means “fish.”
  • sānwényú can be separated into sānwén +, where sānwén is pronounced in a way that is similar to “salmon” and once again means “fish.”

 

There are also some other words that have a similar structure. Examples of these are:

 

  • mótuƍchē (摩托蜊, motorcycle), where mótuƍ is pronounced in a way that is similar to “motor” and chē means “car.”
  • mínǐqún (èż·äœ èŁ™, miniskirt), where mínǐ is pronounced in a way that is similar to“mini” and qún means “skirt.”

 

Brands

 

The names of certain famous brands have also been translated directly into Chinese:

 

Original Word

Pinyin

Character

Nike

Nàikè

è€ć…‹

Adidas

ĀdídásÄ«

阿èżȘèŸŸæ–Ż

Cartier

Kǎdìyà

捡朰äșš

Tiffany

Dìfúní

è’‚èŠ™ć°Œ

Gucci

Gǔqí

ć€ć„‡

Channel

Xiāngnàiěrn

éŠ™ć„ˆć„ż

 

People and places

 

The names of certain well-known people and places have been translated directly into Chinese as well:

 

Original Word

Pinyin

Character

Obama

Àobāmǎ

ć„„ć·Žé©Ź

Hillary

Xīlālǐ

ćžŒæ‹‰é‡Œ

Elizabeth

YÄ«lìshābái

䌊䞜莎癜

Charles

CháěrsÄ«

æŸ„ć°”æ–Ż

New York

Niǔyuē

çșœçșŠ

London

LúndĆ«n

䌊敊

Paris

Bālí

淎黎

Sydney

XÄ«ní

æ‚‰ć°Œ

 

Sports words

 

The same can be said of certain sports words:

 

Original Word

Pinyin

Character

Olympics

Àolínpǐkè

ć„„æž—ćŒč態

golf

gāoěrfĆ«

é«˜ć°”ć€«

marathon

mǎlāsƍng

é©Źæ‹‰æŸ

ballet

bāléi

芭蕟

 

Miscellaneous

 

Here are some other words that have been directly translated:

 

Original Word

Pinyin

Character

tank

tǎnkè

杩態

sofa

sāfā

æș揑

poker

pĆ«kè

æ‰‘ć…‹

model

mótè

æšĄç‰č

humor

yƍumò

ćčœé»˜

logic

luóji

逻蟑

hysteria

xièsÄ«dǐlǐ

æ­‡æ–Żćș•é‡Œ

gene

jīyīn

ćŸș曠

clone

kèlóng

態隆

 

Abbreviations

 

Sometimes we don’t even have to translate words, we just use them. This is true of certain abbreviations. For example, WTO, SOS, DNA, NBA and so on.

 

Examples of really good translations

 

Sometimes when we translate words into Chinese, we simply translate their original pronunciation. However, there are occasionally instances in which we can successfully translate the word’s pronunciation and meaning at the same time. Here are two very good examples of this.

 

The first one is the brand name “Benz.” This has been translated as bēnchí (愔驰) in Chinese. As we can see, the word bēnchí is pronounced in a way that is very similar to “Benz.” However, the best part is that the word bēnchí (愔驰) also refers to a horse or car that moves quickly and freely through a field. As you can see, this is a very vivid translation, as well as a very successful one.

 

The second good example is Coca-Cola. At first, Coca-Cola was translated as kēdǒu kěnlà (蝌èšȘć•ƒèœĄ). However, while we have to admit that the pronunciation of kēdǒu kěnlà sounds very similar to “Coca-Cola,” the meaning presented some unfortunate problems. Specifically, the word kēdǒu means “tadpole,” while kěn means “to bite” and means “wax”! Oh my goodness! Would you really want to drink something called “tadpoles bite wax”? Never!

 

Luckily for them, Coca-Cola decided not to use this silly name, and instead changed it to kěkǒu kělè (揯揣揯äč). This was a great move because this has become the most successful brand translation in history. Why is this? Well, it’s because the word kěkǒu refers to something that is very tasty or delicious and kělè means something that is worth being happy about! You see? Now you know why Coca-Cola is so popular in China. Of course we also have Pepsi, and Pepsi was translated in a similar way. Specifically, the name is bǎishì kělè (癟äș‹ćŻäč), which means “everything is worth being happy about.” In addition, bǎishì is also pronounced in a way that is similar to “Pepsi” in English.  

 

Thus, as I said before, languages are always changing, and English is no exception. In fact, English has also absorbed a lot of new words from Chinese, with “tofu” “tai chi,” “qi” and “feng shui” being just a few examples. And even though the pronunciation of these words has been somewhat altered from the original Mandarin, Chinese people are still able to understand them almost immediately when they hear them. Therefore, it’s just another way that globalization has manifested itself in our lives, as well as a very convenient way for us to learn more about another language.