The Ruins of St. Paul in Macao is referred to as “Da Sanba” in Chinese. The term “Sanba” comes from the Portuguese name of Saint Paul, and the Cantonese pronunciation of Saint Paul closely resembles “Sanba.” Photo: IC PHOTO

Chinese dialects have played a pivotal role throughout the history of cultural exchanges between China and foreign nations. China has exerted significant influence on its neighboring countries, particularly those within the Sinosphere. These countries have historically incorporated numerous Chinese loanwords into their languages, and Chinese characters were once extensively used in their writing systems. While the adoption of alphabetic scripts in Korea and Vietnam during the modern era led to the gradual abandonment of Chinese characters, Japan has preserved kanji (Chinese characters) as an important component of its writing system.

Loanwords in Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese are derived not only from standard Chinese but also from ancient Chinese dialects. For instance, the classifications of Go-on (Wu Pronunciation), Kan-on (Han Pronunciation), and Tō-on (Tang Pronunciation) in Japanese represent layers of Chinese influence derived from different historical periods and regional dialects. Another example is the introduction of ancient Indian Buddhist scriptures into China via both the land-based and Maritime Silk Roads. These two routes led to different destinations—one reaching northern China and the other reaching southern China. When Buddhist scriptures were translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, the distinct phonological and lexical characteristics of northern and southern Chinese dialects resulted in notable differences in the transliterated terminology of Buddhist texts. 

China-West cultural exchanges

Beginning in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), cultural exchanges between China and the West became increasingly frequent. Numerous Western merchants, missionaries, and others arriving in China engaged in cultural dialogue across various regions, during which Chinese dialects played a critical role as linguistic intermediaries. Many aspects of Chinese culture were transmitted abroad through both southern and northern dialects, while numerous Western names and terms were introduced into Chinese through these same regional linguistic pathways.

A prime example of this linguistic interplay is the character 茶 (cha, meaning “tea”), which serves as a linguistic artifact of dialectal influence in China-West cultural exchanges. As tea spread from China to the rest of the world, its name took on different forms in target languages depending on the transmission routes and the dialectal variations involved. Tea that was exported from southern China carried the influence of Southern Min or Fujian dialects [dialects widely spoken in southern Fujian, some parts of Guangdong, and Taiwan of China], in which the pronunciation of 茶 is similar to “de” in pinyin. This pronunciation entered European languages via the Maritime Silk Road, and evolved into terms like “tea” in English.

Conversely, when tea spread from northern China to regions such as Russia, the northern pronunciation cha became the basis for transliterations, such as the Russian чай (chay). These variations illustrate the pivotal role of both southern and northern Chinese dialects in shaping the cultural exchanges between China and the West. 

Names of places

In the early stages of cultural exchanges between China and the West, numerous Western concepts and terms, particularly names of people and places, were introduced to China through direct transliteration. For instance, the English term “Asia” was rendered in Chinese as 亚细亚 (Yaxiya), while “America” became 亚美利加 (Yameilijia). It is worth noting that these transliterations were not necessarily derived directly from English; rather, they may have been introduced through Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, or French. However, for the sake of simplicity, English will be used as a reference point in this discussion.

Many of these transliterations, such as 亚细亚 (Yaxiya) and 亚美利加 (Yameilijia), reflect the phonetic features of southern Chinese dialects prevalent during the period. For example, the name “Canada” was transliterated as 加拿大 (Jia’nada), and its pronunciation likely aligns with the phonological characteristics of early southern dialects. In particular, the initial character 加 (jia) approximates the “Ca” sound in “Canada” more closely when pronounced in certain southern dialects than in modern Mandarin. Similarly, the American place name “New York” was transliterated as 纽约 (Niuyue), which may also be attributed to southern dialectal influences. In many southern dialects, the character 约 (yue) is pronounced as “yok,” phonetically closer to “York.” The modern Mandarin pronunciations of these transliterated terms often differ significantly from the original phonetic approximations found in southern dialects. This highlights the significant impact that regional dialects had on early transliterations, as variations in pronunciation inevitably led to differences in the resulting translations.

The opening of the five ports—Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai—along China’s southeast coast facilitated significant cultural exchanges between China and foreign nations in modern times. Analyzing the linguistic contributions of the regional dialects spoken in these areas provides valuable insights into the historical processes and channels of China-Western cultural interaction.

One illustrative case is the transliteration of place names, many of which diverge from their Mandarin pronunciations today. For instance, “Bangladesh” would logically correspond to 邦格拉 (Banggela) in modern Mandarin based on its English pronunciation, yet it is rendered as 孟加拉 (Mengjiala). This discrepancy arises because the transliteration was originally based on Southern Min dialects, in which the pronunciation of “Meng” closely approximates “Bang.” Similarly, Brunei, once referred to as 渤泥 (Boni) in ancient Chinese records, is now called 文莱 (Wenlai) in Mandarin, while Bandung, a city in Indonesia, is transliterated as 万隆 (Wanlong). In Southern Min dialects, words beginning with the “m” or “w” initials in Mandarin, such as “Meng,” “Wen,” and “Wan,” are often pronounced with “b” initials instead. This phonetic regularity underscores the systematic influence of Southern Min dialects in the creation of transliterated terms.

A significant portion of Chinese emigrants to Southeast Asia originated from southeastern coastal provinces, particularly from regions where Southern Min dialects, including the Teochew (Chaozhou-Shantou) dialect, were spoken. Today, numerous speakers of Southern Min dialects exist in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. As such, many Southeast Asian place names were originally transliterated into Chinese using Southern Min phonology. This historical connection often renders these transliterations challenging to interpret when read in Mandarin or other Chinese dialects. Understanding the historical and linguistic ties between Southeast Asia and Southern Min dialects offers a clearer perspective on the evolution of place name transliterations.

Names of people and things

The role of Chinese dialects in facilitating cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries is evident in the transliteration of foreign names. For instance, the name “John” is transliterated into Chinese as 约翰 (Yuehan). The German missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell (known in Chinese as 汤若望, Tang Ruowang) served in the Ming and Qing courts and was appointed as the head of the Imperial Board of Astronomy under the Qing. His name, “Johann,” was transliterated as 约翰 (Yuehan) in accordance with the pronunciation patterns of the official language in southern China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, Schall von Bell personally preferred the transliteration 若望 (Ruowang).

Similarly, the English name “Peter” is today transliterated as 彼得 (Bide), but in earlier translations, it was rendered as 伯多禄 (Boduolu). The continued use of the older transliteration can be observed in St. Peter’s Church (圣伯多禄堂) in Shanghai. This earlier version likely came from southern official language or a direct transliteration from the Latin word Petro, whereas 彼得 (Bide) reflects later adaptations in southern official pronunciations. Today, “Peter” is occasionally transliterated as 皮特 (Pite) based on contemporary Mandarin pronunciations.

The famous Ruins of St. Paul in Macao, originally a Catholic church, provides another example. In Chinese, the site is referred to as 大三巴 (Da Sanba). The term 三巴 (Sanba) comes from the Portuguese name of Saint Paul, São Paulo. The Cantonese pronunciation of São Paulo closely resembles 三巴 (Sanba), which became its accepted transliteration in the region.

In another example, the English name “Beckham” is translated as 贝克汉姆 (Beikehanmu) in northern dialects but as 碧咸 (Bixian) in Hong Kong. In the Hong Kong variety of Cantonese, 碧 (bi) is pronounced “bek,” and 咸 (xian) is pronounced “ham,” which together produce “Bekham,” closely mirroring the English pronunciation. The differing transliterations of “Beckham” in northern and southern Chinese dialects illustrate the impact of pronunciation differences between these regions. These transliterations provide concrete examples of the specific roles that various Chinese dialects have played in mediating cultural exchanges between China and the West.

The translation of certain terms further reflects the role of dialectal pronunciations in facilitating cultural exchanges between China and the West. For instance, the Mandarin pronunciation of 沙发 (shafa) differs slightly from the English word “sofa,” whereas the Shanghainese pronunciation of 沙 (sha) is closer to “so,” making the overall pronunciation of “sofa” in Shanghainese much more similar to its English counterpart. During modern history, many foreign words were introduced into the Chinese language through Shanghainese, and terms such as “sofa” continue to be widely used in Mandarin today.

Beyond Shanghai, Guangdong also contributed to the adaptation of foreign words. For example, the word “bus” was transliterated as 巴士 (bashi), and “taxi” as 的士 (dishi), both of which are derived from Cantonese pronunciations. 

Dictionaries and documents

The earliest known Chinese-foreign language dictionary is the Portuguese-Chinese dictionary of 1583, which provides a translation of Portuguese words into their corresponding Chinese equivalents. It further annotates the pronunciation of these Chinese words using Portuguese or Latin, following the Chinese southern official pronunciation of the period. Notably, the dictionary also incorporates words from southern Chinese dialects. In the early 17th century, both Matteo Ricci’s The Miracle of Western Letters and Nicolas Trigault’s Aid to the Eyes and Ears of Western Literati employed the Latin alphabet to represent the pronunciation of Chinese characters. 

After the 19th century, there was an increasing number of dictionaries, grammar books, and textbooks based on Chinese dialects. A prime example is Robert Morrison’s Erudition Syllabic Dictionary, which spans over 5,000 pages and stands as the first English-Chinese bilingual dictionary in modern history. Each Chinese character in this work is annotated with a Latin transliteration, with the pronunciations based on the Nanjing dialect, while corresponding pronunciations in Cantonese as they were understood at the time are also provided.

This period saw a proliferation of dialect textbooks, dictionaries, and grammar books, many of which were written in Latin or Roman script. Notably, some of these works include historical documents from the Southern Min region that employed “vernacular script.” The “vernacular script” refers to a system of Romanized transcription developed in the 19th century, used to represent the local pronunciations of Southern Min dialects. This Romanization system transcribed the spoken language phonetically, offering a direct representation of the dialects. Such phonetic characters gained widespread usage in publishing and writing during this time. Examples of this practice include A Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy (1873) compiled by Carstairs Douglas, The Amoy Colloquial Dictionary (1894) by John Van Nest Talmage, and A Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular (1913) by William Campbell.

Liu Xiangbai is a research fellow from the Institute of Linguistics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Edited by REN GUANHONG