Monday, August 11, 2008

Hey, folks, it's NOT bey-zhing

Beijing: it's bey-djing. Isn't it easier to imagine how "bey-djing" might have been heard as Peking than "bey-zhing"? Will someone clue in all these media announcers, please!!
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2008 at 12:15 PM

    Actually, according to Wikipedia and Webster's, it's pronounced " ba-jin' ". of course it is pronounced differently in China according to your dialect and whether you are speaking Cantonese or Mandarin. Which do you speak that has enabled you to become the Henry Higgins of the internet? GET A CLUE YOURSELF!

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  2. Veronica WaldSeptember 14, 2008 at 3:31 PM

    According to Merriam-Webster's, in English Beijing is pronoinced bā-jiŋ, which is not the same as ba-jin (ā is not interchangeable with a, and ŋ is not interchangeable with n.) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beijing
    Go there, turn on your sound, and click on the little red horn; compare what you hear at Merriam-Webster Online to how the "two Chinese characters" pronounce it.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 20, 2008 at 9:27 PM

    And the Webster pronunciation you now allude to is not the same as the one stated in your original blog- the nuance is unappreciable to anyone but an anal retentive pin head-
    Do we really need to pronounce everything as it is done in the foreign country? Why aren't you upset that we say Germany instead of Deutchland ? Japan instead of Nippon, and on , country by country- Ect....The Chinese don't refer to themselves as Chinese- why do we?
    Having spent many years in China, being referred to as a "Meiguo" instead of an American , I really can't get too excited about the subtleties of Beijing pronunciation.
    DO YOU SPEAK MANDARIN OR CANTONESE? What are you basing your Chinese language expertise on??
    GET A CLUE YOURSELF- better, GET A LIFE!!!!

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  4. Veronica WaldSeptember 21, 2008 at 9:52 AM

    http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-tv-whatcity&prov=ap&type=lgns

    Here you go, so now you know I'm not alone. You, of course, may pronounce it however you see fit, I doubt anyone including the Chinese care. My blog comment was directed to the mass media, who should know better. Remember how the media struggled to pronounce "Nevada" as the locals do (as opposed to the correct Spanish pronunciation and all its correct variations?) during the presidential primaries?? Why not extend the same courtesy to the Chinese?

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