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	威士忌
champagne	xiāngbīn	香槟
coffee	kāfēi	咖啡
latte	nátiě	拿铁
mocca	mókǎ	摩卡
chocolate	qiǎokèlì	巧克力
hamburger	hànbǎo	汉堡
sandwich	sānmíngzhì	三明治
pie	pài	派
pudding	bùdīng	布丁
pizza	pīsà	披萨

 

Partial translation + character(s):

 

Original Word	Pinyin	Character
beer	píjiǔ	啤酒
rum	lángmǔjiǔ	朗姆酒
sardine	shādīngyú	沙丁鱼
salmon	sānwényú	三文鱼

 

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

 

• píjiǔ can be separated into pí + jiǔ, where pí 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.”
• shādīngyú can be separated into shading + yú, where shādīng is pronounced in a way that is similar to “sardine” and yú means “fish.”
• sānwényú can be separated into sānwén + yú, where sānwén is pronounced in a way that is similar to “salmon” and yú once again means “fish.”

 

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

 

• mótuōchē (摩托车, motorcycle), where mótuō is pronounced in a way that is similar to “motor” and chē means “car.”
• mínǐqún (迷你裙, 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	耐克
Adidas	Ādídásī	阿迪达斯
Cartier	Kǎdìyà	卡地亚
Tiffany	Dìfúní	蒂芙尼
Gucci	Gǔqí	古奇
Channel	Xiāngnàiěrn	香奈儿

 

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	奥巴马
Hillary	Xīlālǐ	希拉里
Elizabeth	Yīlìshābái	伊丽莎白
Charles	Cháěrsī	查尔斯
New York	Niǔyuē	纽约
London	Lúndūn	伦敦
Paris	Bālí	巴黎
Sydney	Xīní	悉尼

 

Sports words

 

The same can be said of certain sports words:

 

Original Word	Pinyin	Character
Olympics	Àolínpǐkè	奥林匹克
golf	gāoěrfū	高尔夫
marathon	mǎlāsōng	马拉松
ballet	bāléi	芭蕾

 

Miscellaneous

 

Here are some other words that have been directly translated:

 

Original Word	Pinyin	Character
tank	tǎnkè	坦克
sofa	sāfā	沙发
poker	pūkè	扑克
model	mótè	模特
humor	yōumò	幽默
logic	luóji	逻辑
hysteria	xièsīdǐlǐ	歇斯底里
gene	jīyīn	基因
clone	kèlóng	克隆

 

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 (奔驰) 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 (奔驰) 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 (蝌蚪啃蜡). 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 là 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 (可口可乐). 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 (百事可乐), 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.