Translating Names into Chinese
Personal Names | Names of Places | Company Names
When translating western names into Chinese often a misunderstanding exists in assuming, it would be possible to translate them letter by letter. The Chinese language, however, does not work with an alphabet, but each character does represent a syllable like "shang" or "hai" (so we need two characters for "Shanghai"). Each of the syllables again might have one or multiple meanings to it. This is why a one-to-one translation of western letters into Chinese characters does not work.
The most common methods of translating western names are the following:
a) Translating a name following its meaning: Felix => meaning is "the lucky one" => taking the Chinese character(s) for "luck". This method is rarely employed. In a business context it cannot work, because there are always a first and a last name to be translated. Finding a translation of the meaning for both is normally just impossible.
b) The phonetic translation, which means finding a combination of Chinese characters, whose pronounciation is similar to that of the name. This is the most common method. It translates "Martin" into "ma ding" and "Lucy" becomes "lu xi". Translating the last name follows the same principle: "Goethe" ends up as "ge de" while "Connor" transforms into "kang na". However, there are often different Chinese characters for one syllable like "kang", so one has to choose between several alternatives. You might know, that the Chinese are putting their last names first, followed by the first name. When translating a western name phontically, this is not done, so the name keeps its western structure.
c) Finding new names following Chinese principles. This method can use wishes like "beautiful flower" or personal characteristics like "diligent student" as a basis and transform them into Chinese characters. The resulting names are really Chinese names, a Chinese would not be able to tell, that there is a western person behind it. Sometimes these names have no connection with the original western name, sometimes the name-finding is combining Chinese principles and the phonetic approach, so that the pronounciation in the end shows similiarities with the original. Using thins method normally makes sense, if the respective person a long-standing relationship with China or lives there for several years, e.g. expats.
Translating names of places follows similar principles. The name of a street like "King's Road" could be translated phonetically or following the meaning, taking the two elements "king" and "road". It is very important to follow a consistent method within a larger translation. Take the projects of INSIDE A on the regional marketing for the city of Berlin as an example: we collected special translation databases for the names of places and persons for the numerous translations required. Only by taking that effort it is possible to guarantee a consistent external in the long run.
What's IKEA in Chinese?
Selecting an appropriate name for a company or a brand is a rather complex and difficult process. Basically the same methods and principles are applied like for names of persons or places. While for these translations readability for a Chinese audience is key, company names and brands are all about evoking the desired associations.
INSIDE A is ready to support you in finding the right name for your company or brand. We also offer to work out your corporate design for the Chinese market, of course.
Examples of successful translations of western company names/brands into Chinese:
OBI: ou - Europe, bei - double, de - Germany, virtue
Siemens: xi - west, men - gate, zi - son, gentleman
IKEA: yi - fitting, comfortable, jia - family, jiaju - at home
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Simplified and Traditional Characters
When planning your Chinese media you should consider one specific aspect - the choice between simplified and traditional characters.
In 1956 more than 2000 Chinese characters were simplified in order to make it easier for the Chinese themselves to learn them. At the time the rate of illiteracy had been extremely high and Mao Tsetung wanted to bring it down quickly. The simplification was mainly done by sometimes even drastically reducing the number of strokes of a given character. Look at the characters for "tree" (shu) to see the difference:
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While simplified characters are used as official character set in the People's Republic of China and also in Singapore, Chinese in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao or in Chinese Communities (e.g. in the U.S.) still use the traditional form.
We offer you both versions. The important question for you is to decide, who your target group is. In most cases your communication will be directed towards mainland China - here the simplified characters should be used. For some applications, e.g. websites, it might make sense to produce two different versions.
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