The Great Wall, Yangtze River

[gao_yixing]

In Chinese, they are called 长城（chang cheng) and 长江（chang jiang), which mean long city(wall) and long river. What are their names in other languages?

 

[Flaminius]

Japanese:
Great Wall - 万里の長城 (banri-no chōjō)
長城 alone can be hardly understood without context.
Yangtze River - 長江 (chōkō)
揚子江 (yōsukō) has been used for a long time but is being replaced by the more accurate 長江.

 

[Tino_no]

In spanish:
长城 - Gran muralla (china) - "chinese great wall"
长江 - Río Yang-Tse-Qiang

 

[Frank06]

Hi,
[edit: Dutch]
长城 : de Chinese Muur, de Grote Muur (but the latter one only when the context is clear)
[lit. the Chinese wall, the Great Wall)
长江 : Jangtsekiang or Blauwe Rivier [the Blue River]

Groetjes,

Frank

 

[Chazzwozzer]

Turkish:
the Great Wall: Çin Seddi
Yangtze River: Yangce Nehri

 

[faranji]

En español al Tang-Tsé también se le llama Río Azul.

 

[gao_yixing]

长城 : de Chinese Muur, de Grote Muur (but the latter one only when the context is clear)
[lit. the Chinese wall, the Great Wall)
长江 : Jangtsekiang or Blauwe Rivier [the Blue River]

Hi. Thank you.
But what language is this? Is it Flemish or French?
It's interesting that Yangtze River is called Blue River. It is not so clear indeed.

 

[Frank06]

Oops, I forgot to indicate it's Dutch. The terms I mentioned are used in Flanders and the Netherlands. No idea where the 'blue' comes from . BTW, 'blue water' in Dutch means (or has the connotation of) crystal clear water...

But since you mentioned French:
长城 : la Grande Muraille (also the name of a Chinese bookstore in Brussels
长江 : Yangzi Jiang, Chang Jiang, or fleuve Bleu

Groetjes,

Frank

 

[gao_yixing]

Wow....quick response. Thank you very much!

 

[irene.acler]

In Italian:
the Great Wall: La grande muraglia cinese
Yangtze River: Fiume Azzurro

 

[DrWatson]

Finnish:

The Great Wall: Kiinan muuri (lit. Chinese wall)
Yangtze River: Jangtse

 

[Etcetera]

In Russian:
The Great Wall - Великая Китайская стена (Velikaya Kitajskaya stena)
Yangtze River: Янцзы (Yantszy).

 

[ayed]

In Arabic:
The Great Wall : سور الصين العظيم
Transliteration :Soor as-Seen al-'Adheem

Yangtze River : نهر ينقتز
Transliteration :Nahr Yungtiz

 

[Outsider]

Portuguese:

The Great Wall (of China): a Grande Muralha (da China)
the river Yangtze: o rio Yangtze (I have never heard another name for it)

 

[Tolovaj_Mataj]

Slovene:

The Great Wall: Véliki kitajski zid
Yangtze River: Modra reka

If I remember correctly from the elementary school, we were taught like this:
Jangce kiang = Modra reka (The Blue river)
Hoang Ho = Rumena reka (The Yellow river)
I always thought these are correct translations.

 

[cherine]

In Arabic:
The Great Wall : سور الصين العظيم
Transliteration :Soor as-Seen al-'Adheem

Yangtze River : نهر ينقتز
Transliteration :Nahr Yungtiz

I agree with the first, which by the way means : the great fence of China.

As for the second one, I never read the transliteration like this. In Egypt, at least, we say يانجتسي Yangetsi (the extra (e) is due to the impossibility -for the Arab tongue- to pronounce three/four consecutive consonants).

 

[mcibor]

Polish:

Wielki Mur Chiński - Great Wall of China
Jangcy - Yangtze River

In Polish we don't add word "river" to rivers. Moreover you can say, and be understood:
Wielki Mur
Mur Chiński
for the Great Wall

Regards
Michał

 

[sunchaser]

in romaneste
the great wall = marele zid chinezesc (the great chinesse wall)
yangtze river = fluviul albastru (the blue river)
(Hung he = fluviul galben)

 

[Nu971]

In Thai language we call..
กำแพงเมืองจีน (Kamphaeng Muang Jeen) -- Chinese Wall
แม่น้ำแยงซี (Menam Yang Zee) -- Yangtze River

 

[Tolovaj_Mataj]

This is so hilarious:

Polish: Wielki Mur Chiński (Great Wall of China)
Rumanian: marele zid chinezesc (the great chinesse wall)

(Slavic) Poles use a word from Romance languages and (Romanic) Rumanians use a word of Slavic origine. Yes, yes, the "naighbour's" words sound much much beter than our own.

 

[Lugubert]

Lovely thread!

In Swedish, the Wall is Kinesiska muren (The Chinese wall).

My 1937 dictionary explains, Yang-tsï-kiang, Jang-tse-kiang, by Europeans sometimes erroneously named the Blue River [...]

My normally well researched world atlas (in Swedish, 1996) has for the upper reaches Yangtze Kiang, then in Sichuan Jinsha Jiang, and finally Changjiang (one word!).

The semi-official Nationalencyklopedin writes (2007 Internet edition), "Chang Jiang, Långa floden, Changfloden, tidigare Yangzi Jiang, Yang-tse-kiang, Jangtse-kiang".

Långa floden 'the long river', Changfloden 'the Chang river'; tidigare 'previously'. Obviously, jiang = 'river'.

I have to digress when in these parts of the world: lots of geographical names are pleonasms, meaning that for example XX river in some language makes XX river River in English. Yarlung Zangbo means the 'Yarlung River' inTibetan. In Chinese, it's Yarlung Zangbo Jiang. I won't be surprised the day I see the Yarlung Zangbo Jiang River mentioned in English. Anyway, In Bangla Desh they say the Jamuna, and to me, it's the Brahmaputra.

 

[gao_yixing]

Thank you all！

I have to digress when in these parts of the world: lots of geographical names are pleonasms, meaning that for example XX river in some language makes XX river River in English. Yarlung Zangbo means the 'Yarlung River' inTibetan. In Chinese, it's Yarlung Zangbo Jiang. I won't be surprised the day I see the Yarlung Zangbo Jiang River mentioned in English. Anyway, In Bangla Desh they say the Jamuna, and to me, it's the Brahmaputra.

That's really a good point. In Chinese, we also call the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo Jiang as Bulamaputela He, which is a transliteration from Brahmaputra.

 

[apmoy70]

Greek:

The Great Wall: «To Μέγα Σινικό Τείχος» [tɔ ˈme.ɣa si.niˈkɔ ˈti.xɔs] --> The Great Chinese Wall (note that the adj. «σινικό» [si.niˈkɔ] (neut.) --> Chinese, pertaining to China, is a modern construction (1785) and reserved solely for this phrase* < Byz. Gr. masc. nom. pl. «Σῖναι» Sînai̯ --> the Chinese people < Qin state (秦), the name of China in the ancient/mediaeval Greek speaking world).

*...and the feminine form «σινική» [si.niˈci] is used in relation to the noun «θάλασσα» [ˈθa.la.sa] (fem.) --> sea & «μελάνη» [meˈla.ni] (fem.) --> ink, only. The masc. «σινικός» [si.niˈkɔs] is not used at all:
«Σινικές θάλασσες» [si.niˈces ˈθa.la.ses] --> Chinese seas (Yellow, East, South)
«Σινική μελάνη» [si.niˈci meˈla.ni] --> Chinese ink

Yangtze river: «Ποταμός Γιαγκτσέ» [pɔ.taˈmɔs ʝaŋgˈʦ͡e]

 

[bibax]

Czech:

Velká čínská zeď = lit. great/big Chinese wall;

Jang-c’-ťiang (we use a Czech transcription for the Chinese names) from 扬子江 , Yángzǐ Jiāng
(Czech pronunciation roughly ['jaŋk.tsə.'c̟jaŋk], with palatal t [c̟])
(we do not use a transcription of 長江 / 长江, Cháng Jiāng)

 

[nimak]

Macedonian:

长城 - The Great Wall of China = Кинескиот Ѕид [ki'nɛski.ɔt 'd͡zid], lit. The-Chinese Wall

长江 - Yangtze = Јангцекјанг ['jaŋgt͡sɛkjaŋg] or Јангце ['jaŋgt͡sɛ]

 

[Penyafort]

Catalan:

长城 - The Great Wall of China = La Gran Muralla (xinesa) [grəmmu'ɾaʎ̟əʃi'nɛzə], lit. The (Chinese) Great Wall

长江 - Yangtze = el Iangtsé [jaŋg't͡se] or el Iangtse ['jaŋg't͡sə], lit. The Yangtze

-- Never heard Riu Blau in Catalan, which would be the equivalent to Fleuve Bleu/Río Azul/Fiume Azzurro, though I guess it may feature in some publications. Yet Riu Groc 'Yellow River' for the Huanghe is often used.​

 

[Circunflejo]

Río Yang-Tse-Qiang

In Spain, río Yangtsé.

Never heard Riu Blau in Catalan, which would be the equivalent to Fleuve Bleu/Río Azul/Fiume Azzurro, though I guess it may feature in some publications.

You are right. It features in some publications.