plump - 22 August 2008 12:31 AM

I always read the last page then the first page and then I decide if I want to read the rest of the book.  Works for me!

Welcome to the board, plump!

Oddly, the Japanese pronounce Beijing “Peking”. You’d expect they’d be closer to the Chinese pronunciation what with long historical ties. However, they also say Mao Tak Toe for Mao Zedong from the way they pronounce their borrowed Chinese characters.

I remember Wilfred De’Ath from letters in early ‘80s Private Eyes (satirical British magazine) and googled http://www.pickabook.co.uk/bookdetails.aspx?ISBN=9781857252248

Actually, they say Pekin, and it’s a far older Chinese pronunciation than Beijing, which is modern Mandarin.  This reflects the fact that Japan borrowed the word in the Tang dynasty.  See here for a discussion.

languagehat - 11 September 2008 01:24 PM

Actually, they say Pekin, and it’s a far older Chinese pronunciation than Beijing, which is modern Mandarin.  This reflects the fact that Japan borrowed the word in the Tang dynasty.  See here for a discussion.

Fascinating article, wish it was longer.  Thanks for the link.

Regarding Koran vs Qur’an, I much prefer Qur’an as a more accurate transliteration, although eliminating the apostrophe is fine too.  Regarding Muhammad, I prefer this spelling when referring to the Profit.  One can spell one’s own name however one likes.

And, I applaud Fox News for using Usama instead of Osama.  Since there is no Arabic letter analogous to the English o, I see no validity for its use in transliterating Arabic to English.

Irene - 22 September 2008 07:20 AM

I prefer this spelling when referring to the Profit.

Shouldn’t that be prophet or am I missing something here?

Yes, of course!  Although I do advocate simplified English spelling.