What is Xinning?

[-Jrabbit]

But mostly, thank you for
"pronounced close to 'shin' but the shape of mouth is flatter with teeth almost closed" + "ing"

= xinning.

[sirsnuggles]

Well it's about time, Xin. I was wondering if you were ever going to get around to settling the matter.

I think you were just sitting there watching and laughing at everyone until you couldn't stand it any longer.

Fortunately, my girlfriend is Chinese , so I a was able to get the answer from her (except for the exact tones).

[rah]

I would call that the definative answer.
Thanks Xin.

RAH

[Xin Yu]

Xin : pronounced close to "shin" but the shape of mouth is flatter with teeth almost closed.

Yu: very close to the last part of French greeting 'Salut'.

[rah]

Well than I've been wrong for all these years, because I though it was pronounced as zin you.

Still waiting for MING to respond since he has met him in person.

[-Jrabbit]

Thanks, Alinestra. Thanks, Mercator.
Oh, and Boco, too.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Xin Yu is supposed to be pronounced like "Shin Yu".

The "Yu" sound does not rhyme with "You", either. It sounds a lot more like the French word "tu".

My British friends have a lot of difficulty pronouncing this, but my French friends have no problem.

"Zhong guo" is the Chinese name for China and the 'zh' sound you're thinking of is just that - zh. It's pronounced a bit like a guttural "j" sound.

More like "dzh" than a simple "j", actually.

[Boco]

I work with a Zhong (sounds like 'Jong' coming from him) and a Xaio-Yu ('Shau You'), but I suspect my monolinguistic ears are missing a lot of subtlety.

[Mercator]

Well, I think "zh" is spelled exactly like that... um... Like in Wuzhou (a Chinese city near Hong Kong) or Zhongdu (the name of Beijing during the early Mongol conquests)

As you can see, most of my "knowledge" of Chinese comes from my Atlas and history books.

... So I bet Allie can be more helpful than me and my buddy Google.

[-Jrabbit]

Interesting. Thanks.

Now -- I've heard names pronounced with a "zh" (like a voiced ""sh"). What spellings produce that sound??

(Sorry to wander further OT, but this has been bugging me. I used to do radio, and correct pronunciation is a bit of a thing with me.) Enlightenment sought. (Actually, a Web link would be better... )

Anyway, thanks, Alinestra and Mercator.

[Mercator]

If it's using the "regular" (pinyin) Chinese romanization rules the x is pronounced like sh, and the q like ch... I think those are the only two unintuitive characters used for romanization.

So it would be "shin you".
The "z" pronunciation is what you would expect if it were an English word, I guess.

Not that I actually know any Chinese...

[rah]

That's what I thought too. Maybe Ming will answer since he's actually met him.

[-Jrabbit]

So how would the name Xin Yu be pronounced? (I always assumed it was "zin you"...)

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by obiwan18
Elephant:



Not a word that exists beyond Apolyton, in the real world.

I say it with a "z" for "zinning."

Actually, Xinning is a fairly common Chinese female name. It's pronounced a bit like "Shinning". One of the graphic artists on our newspaper is named Xinning.

[duke o' york]

On the subject of AI units throwing themselves against formidable opponents, has anyone ever done a Civ 2 variation of the Aztec Jaguar Warrior mass attack?
This wouldn't work with Leo's obviously, but going into fundy without gunpowder or feudalism and then creating massed hordes of either warriors or archers to throw themselves against the AI city walls. I know it'd take over a hundred probably and use all the allowed units in the game, but it'd be fun to see how many poor warriors it took to wear down the HP of a musketeer behind city walls.
Or will I just be wasting my time.