European country names in Chinese

[Maciamo]

Always wondered what your country's name looks like in Chinese (and how it is pronounced) ? Don't wonder anymore with this list.

Note that 国 (guó) means "country". Big countries (Britain, France, Germany, Russia) have the distinction to have only one character followed by 国.

The Chinese do not really distinguish between the sounds "b" and "p", "d" and "t", "g" and "k", or "j" and "ch". The "r" are pronouned like a French "j", except final ones like in "er" which sound more like an (American) English "r".

You will see that many phonetic rendering in Chinese are very approximative. Sometimes the first syllable of the name only is taken (e.g. "bō hēi" for Bosnia-Herzegovinia, which would be much too long and complicated to render in Chinese). A few are semantic translations, like Montenegro which is "黑山". literally "Black Mountain". Some are completely outlandish ("xīlà" for "Greece", "xiōng" for "Hungary" ?)


Europe : 欧洲 (ōu zhōu)
European Union : 欧洲联盟 (ōu zhōu lián méng)

• Albania : 阿尔巴尼亚 (ā ĕr bā ní yà)
• Andorra : 安道尔 : (ān dào ĕr)
• Austria : 奥地利 (ào dì lì)
• Belarus : 白俄罗斯 (bái é luó sī)
• Belgium : 比利时 (bǐ lì shí)
• Bosnia-Herzegovinia : 波黑 (bō hēi)
• Bulgaria : 保加利亚 (bǎo jiā lì yà)
• Croatia : 克罗地亚 (kè luó dì yà)
• Czech Republic : 捷克共和国 (jié kè gòng hé guó)
• Cyprus : 塞浦路斯 (ài pǔ lù sī)
• Denmark : 丹麦 (dān mài)
• Estonia : 爱沙尼亚 (ài shā ní yà)
• Finland : 芬兰 (fēn lán)
• France 法国 (fǎ guó)
• Greece : 希腊 (xī là)
• Germany : 德国 (dé guó)
• Hungary : 匈 (xiōng)
• Ireland : 爱尔兰 (ài ĕr lán)
• Italy : 意大利 (yì dà lì)
• Kosovo : 科索沃 (kē suǒ wò)
• Latvia : 拉脱维亚 (lā tuō wéi yà)
• Lichtenstein : 列支敦斯登 (liè zhī dūn sī dēng)
• Lithuania : 立陶宛 (lì táo wǎn)
• Luxembourg : 卢森堡 (lú sēn bǎo)
• Macedonia : 马其顿 (mǎ qí dùn)
• Malta : 马耳他 (mǎ ĕr tā)
• Monaco : 摩纳哥 (mó nà gē)
• Montenegro : 黑山 (hēi shān)
• Netherlands : 荷兰 (hé lán)
  • note that the region of "Holland" is 菏兰 (same pronuciation but slightly different first character)
• Norway : 挪威 (nuó wēi)
• Poland : 波兰 (bō lán)
• Portugal : 葡萄牙 (pú táo yá)
• Romania : 罗马尼亚 (luó mǎ ní yà)
• Russia : 俄国 (é guó)
• San Marino : 圣马利诺 (shèng mǎ lì nuò)
• Serbia : 塞尔维亚 (sāi ĕr wéi yà)
• Slovakia : 斯洛伐克 (sī luò fá kè)
• Slovenia : 斯洛文尼亚 (sī luò wén ní yà)
• Spain : 西班牙 (xī bān yá)
• Sweden : 瑞典 (ruì diǎn)
• Switzerland : 瑞士 (ruì shì)
• Ukraine : 乌克兰 (wū kè lán)
• United Kingdom : 大英联合王国 (dà yīng lián hé wáng guó)
  • England : 英国 (yīng guó) => no distinction with "Britain""
  • Northern Ireland : 北爱尔兰 (bĕi ài ĕr lán)
  • Scotland : 苏格兰 (sū gé lán)
  • Wales : 威尔士 (wēi ĕr shì)

[MikawaObasan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maciamo Always wondered what your country's name looks like in Chinese (and how it is pronounced) ? Don't wonder anymore with this list. Note that �� (guó) means "country". Big countries (Britain, France, Germany, Russia) have the distinction to have only one character followed by ��. The Chinese do not really distinguish between the sounds "b" and "p", "d" and "t", "g" and "k", or "j" and "ch". The "r" are pronouned like a French "j", except final ones like in "er" which sound more like an (American) English "r". You will see that many phonetic rendering in Chinese are very approximative. Sometimes the first syllable of the name only is taken (e.g. "bō hēi" for Bosnia-Herzegovinia, which would be much too long and complicated to render in Chinese). A few are semantic translations, like Montenegro which is "�K�R". literally "Black Mountain". Some are completely outlandish ("xīlà" for "Greece", "xiōng" for "Hungary" ?) Europe : ���F (ōu zhōu) European Union : ���F联�� (ōu zhōu lián méng) Albania : ��尔�b��亚 (ā ĕr bā ní yà) Andorra : ����尔 : (ān dào ĕr) Austria : ���n�� (ào dì lì) Belarus : ����罗�z (bái é luó sī) Belgium : �䗘时 (bǐ lì shí) Bosnia-Herzegovinia : �g�K (bō hēi) Bulgaria : �ۉ���亚 (bǎo jiā lì yà) Croatia : ��罗�n亚 (kè luó dì yà) Czech Republic : �������a�� (jié kè gòng hé guó) Cyprus : �ljY�H�z (ài pǔ lù sī) Denmark : �O�� (dān mài) Estonia : 爱����亚 (ài shā ní yà) Finland : �兰 (fēn lán) France �@�� (fǎ guó) Greece : ��腊 (xī là) Germany : ���� (dé guó) Hungary : �� (xiōng) Ireland : 爱尔兰 (ài ĕr lán) Italy : �ӑ嗘 (yì dà lì) Kosovo : �ȍ��� (kē suǒ wò) Latvia : �f�E维亚 (lā tuō wéi yà) Lichtenstein : ��x�֎z�o (liè zhī dūn sī dēng) Lithuania : ������ (lì táo wǎn) Luxembourg : 卢�X�� (lú sēn bǎo) Macedonia : 马��顿 (mǎ qí dùn) Malta : 马���� (mǎ ĕr tā) Monaco : ��纳�F (mó nà gē) Montenegro : �K�R (hēi shān) Netherlands : ��兰 (hé lán) note that the region of "Holland" is 菏兰 (same pronuciation but slightly different first character) Norway : 挪�� (nuó wēi) Poland : �g兰 (bō lán) Portugal : ������ (pú táo yá) Romania : 罗马��亚 (luó mǎ ní yà) Russia : �⍑ (é guó) San Marino : 圣马��诺 (shèng mǎ lì nuò) Serbia : ��尔维亚 (sāi ĕr wéi yà) Slovakia : �z������ (sī luò fá kè) Slovenia : �z������亚 (sī luò wén ní yà) Spain : ���lj� (xī bān yá) Sweden : ���T (ruì diǎn) Switzerland : ���m (ruì shì) Ukraine : 乌��兰 (wū kè lán) United Kingdom : ��p联������ (dà yīng lián hé wáng guó) England : �p�� (yīng guó) => no distinction with "Britain"" Northern Ireland : �k爱尔兰 (bĕi ài ĕr lán) Scotland : 苏�i兰 (sū gé lán) Wales : ��尔�m (wēi ĕr shì)

Hello Maciamo, looks like you are here also. I knew you were quite fluent in Japanese, but I never knew you had a command of the Chinese language also.