Correct Chinese spelling and pronunciation guide by Haplo721

FIREFLY CHINESE TRANSLATIONS

Correct Chinese spelling and pronunciation guide

POSTED BY: HAPLO721
UPDATED: Monday, September 20, 2004 20:00
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VIEWED: 30598
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Tuesday, April 29, 2003 8:18 AM

Anyone wanna take a crack at translating the following phrases from the show into properly-spelled Simplified Chinese, with a pronunciation guide?

Gu nian zhong de gu nian: A woman among women.
Nan ren zhong de nan ren: A man among men.
Je shr shuh muh lan dong shi: What kind of rotten thing is this?
Ta ma duh: Motherhumper
Shiong mao niao: Panda piss
Ching zie lie ee bay ng ka pei: One more cup of that brand, please.
Juh hen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan: This really is a happy holiday.
Kuh-ooh duh lao bao jurn: Cruel boss.
Jen duh sh tyen tsai: Really is a genius.
Dong ma?: Understood?
Gou zao de: This can't get any worse.
Wo de tien ah: Old sky father. Used as "OMG".
Shu muh?: I beg your pardon?
Mei-mei: Younger sister, a term of endearment.
Ge-ge: Older brother, term of endearment.
Wei?: Standard telephone (wave) greeting.
Ni hao ma?: How are you?
Pigu: Butt.
Go-se: Dog crap.
Xei-xei: Thank you.
Hwin dahn: Jerk.
Wun guo pi: Smelled a fart.
Baobei: Baby.
Cai bu shi: Yeah, right!
Fei-oo: Junk.
Qu ni de: Up yours!
Guai: Devil.
Suo-yo duh doh shr-dang: All that's proper.
Jien tah duh guai: Like hell!
Nah mei guan shi: That has nothing to do with it.
Tien shiao duh: Who knows what
Fei hua: Crap talk
Ma shong: Fast, on the double
Jing tzahng mei yong duh: Frequently useless
Nien ching duh: Little girl
Da bianhua: Big change
Shuai: Suave
Liou coe shuai du biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze: Salivating son of a bitch and a monkey!
Pien doh juh juh tyaren: Not very rational
Xiao mei-mei: (Diminuitive) younger sister
Bi zui: Shut up!
Ni ta ma de. Tian xia shuo you de ren dou gaisi: Motherhumper! Everyone in the universe should die!
Dan nang: I'm almost certain of it.
Ni bu gan kai ni de hwang chiang: You must not talk so nastily.
Guan ni zi zi de shi qing: Mind your own business.
Ching-wah tsao de liou mahng: Bastard who is humped by frogs!
Se-niou: Crap-piss
Xiong meng de kuang ren: Violent madman
Fei fei pian: Fat lie
Ho-tze de pigu: Monkey's ass
Ee-chi shung-hoo-shi: Let's all take a deep breath.
Bun tien-shung de ee-duai-ro: Stupid inbred sack of meat
Suo-shi: Petty
Tzao-gao: Oh crap!
Tai-kong suo-yo de shing-chiou doh sai-jin wu di pigu: Stuff all the planets in the universe up my butt!
Huh choo-sheng tza-jiao duh tzang-huo: Mongrel scum!

Early: You ever been raped, Kaylee?
Kaylee: You know, it's funny you should mention that... ever heard of the Fox network?

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Tuesday, April 29, 2003 9:17 AM

LJC

I've actually been putting together a glossary for all my stories, which contains a LOT of the stuff in your list, in hanyu pinyin with the proper accents and diacritical marks according the a spiffy keen dictionary I picked up (Insight Pocket Travel Dictionary: Chinese ISBN 1-58573-200-1).

I'd cut and paste it, but I can't be sure all the accents will come through...

http://ljconstantine.com/fanfic/glossary.htm

--
Some take the high road. Some take the low road.
And some just go screaming down the highway, dropping flaming bits of wreckage.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2003 11:07 AM

TALRIUS

Okay I got a list like Haplo. Same problem. There might be repeats that's only cause I'm cutting and pasting the whole list to here.

Dong-Ma: Understand
Whay: Hey
Wu de ma: Mother of God
Jen dao mei: Just our luck
Tyen shiao duh: Heaven/God knows what
Tzao gao: Shit
Wuh de tyen: Dear God in Heaven
Hwoon dahn: Jerk
Gwon nee ju jee du shu: Mind your own business/affairs
Gos-se: Dog shit
Bao bei: Darling
Shuai: Handsome
Whoo dahn: Stupid
Shuh mu: What
Sheh-sheh: Thank you
Ma-Shong: On the double
Nah mei guan-shee: That has nothing to do with it
Mei Mei: Little sister
Pee Goo: Rear end
Tah-mah-duh-huun-dan: Mother-humping son of a bitch
Chao-shang tza-jiao duh tzang-huo: Animal-fucking bastard
Ni hao: How are you?
Kai: Open
Bi zui: Close lips (Shut up)
Shiong mao niao: Panda piss
Wuh dhu pee-goo: My ass
Liou mahng: Bastard
Jien tah-duh guay: Like hell
Guay: Hell
Ching zie lie ee bay Ng-Ka-Pei?: One more cup of that brand, please?
Oh juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan: Oh, this really is a happy holiday
Kuh ooh duh lao bao jurn: Cruel boss
Jen duh sh tyen tsai: Really is a genius
Zhe shi she me lan dong xi?: What kind of rotten food is this?
Chou ma niao: Stinking horse piss
Fei-oo: Junk
Chur ni-duh: Screw you.
Jeo-shung yong-jur goo-jang. Jien-cha yong-chi gong yin: Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once.
Suo-yo duh doh shr-dang: All that's proper...?
Lao pung yo nee can chi lai hun yo jing shen: Old friend, you look really well each time I see you.
Tsai boo shr: That's not it.
Da bianhua: Big change
Luh-suh: Garbage
Fei hua: Crap talk.
Jing tzahng mei yong duh: Useless
Nyen ching duh?: Youngster?
Shee-niou: Shit urine
Shi: Affirmative
Qing Jin: Enter

That's about it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks LCJ for posting you list.

--------------------------------------------------
DOBSON: I'm supposed to be meeting my wife's sister. I've only got a few days to see her...

ZOE: I wish there was another way...

DOBSON: Oh, no, no. That woman is like a dragon. I mean, I believe she has a tail. If there's any other moons we need to visit, or if we could just
fly very slowly...

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Tuesday, April 29, 2003 1:54 PM

FFYING2

I've been working on a modest contribution and have now put 11 of the terms on my site--in handy QUIZ form! I know Japanese, not Chinese, so I can't do the slang and full sentences.

Here: http://fireflyfunsite.home.att.net/misc/chineseqz.html

You'll find "Firefly" spelling, proper pinyin spelling (with tone numbers in ANSWERS), and GIF images of the traditional and simplified characters with pinyin and tone accent marks.

In the SCORING section, you'll also find the "tyen tsai" (genius) part of "jen duh sh tyen tsai."

ffying2
Firefly Funsite
http://fireflyfunsite.home.att.net

EDIT: and now also http://fireflychinese.home.att.net

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Tuesday, April 29, 2003 7:43 PM

MAKEROFPATHS

Hey you guys,

this is great stuff and obviously much work has been put into these web pages.

(inspiration) *my first post (/inspiration)

chrz
r

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Thursday, May 1, 2003 11:06 AM

TALRIUS

Bump.

Hey what ever happened to those guy's translating this stuff for us?

--------------------------------------------------
DOBSON: I'm supposed to be meeting my wife's sister. I've only got a few days to see her...

ZOE: I wish there was another way...

DOBSON: Oh, no, no. That woman is like a dragon. I mean, I believe she has a tail. If there's any other moons we need to visit, or if we could just
fly very slowly...

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Thursday, May 1, 2003 4:31 PM

GLUEHWURM

I came here in search of a few good phrases to add that needed authentic Firefly touch to some chapters I'm writing, and you folks are the answers to my prayers! Thanks for sharing.

Gluehwurm

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Monday, January 5, 2004 8:53 AM

MANIACNUMBERONE

I am reviving this thread for the sake of all those interested in some Mandarin translations.

I credit my meager knowledge to Talrius and Haplo, because without their lists, I would be quite lost.

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Monday, January 5, 2004 9:06 AM

WERZBOWSKI

I've also just recently posted a big list of translations in the reference pages...It's in the queue section for all those interested.

http://www.fireflyfans.net/reference.asp?r=831

Hope you find it useful.

"We will rise again!"

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Monday, January 5, 2004 9:15 AM

MANIACNUMBERONE

xei xei

"Zhu tamin ya min zhu yi!" is a very useful exclamation.

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Monday, January 5, 2004 12:20 PM

FFYING2

Oh, this seems an appropriate thread to plug my new site.

Firefly Chinese Pinyinary
http://fireflychinese.home.att.net ,

in which I have attempted to provide correct hanyu pinyin romanization--and Chinese characters--for the Mandarin.

I've also included some of the written Chinese seen in the show.

Ying
http://fireflyfunsite.home.att.net
http://fireflychinese.home.att.net

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Saturday, January 10, 2004 12:03 PM

JASONZZZ

BTW, there is no 'simplied Chinese' when you use the English letters to romanize the sounds. 'Simplied' and 'Full-Form' only applies to the actual Chinese ideograms - the Chinese characters if you will.

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Saturday, January 10, 2004 12:06 PM

JASONZZZ

ffying2, is there any 'system' to the way the firefly Chinese is spelled in the dialog/script? Or is it just a mish/mash of whatever/whenever the writers feel like? I do noticed that they much didn't care about at least the differences in the 2 major dialects and just rolled Cantonese and Mandarin altogether.

Quote:
Originally posted by ffying2:
Oh, this seems an appropriate thread to plug my new site.

Firefly Chinese Pinyinary
http://fireflychinese.home.att.net ,

in which I have attempted to provide correct hanyu pinyin romanization--and Chinese characters--for the Mandarin.

I've also included some of the written Chinese seen in the show.

Ying
http://fireflyfunsite.home.att.net
http://fireflychinese.home.att.net

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Monday, January 12, 2004 6:21 PM

FFYING2

Quote:

Originally posted by Jasonzzz:
ffying2, is there any 'system' to the way the firefly Chinese is spelled in the dialog/script? Or is it just a mish/mash of whatever/whenever the writers feel like? I do noticed that they much didn't care about at least the differences in the 2 major dialects and just rolled Cantonese and Mandarin altogether.

It's fairly consistent. Though I don't know why shensheng is written shun-sheng instead of shun-shung. Or why liumang is liou and xi niu/niu are niou, but diu is dio.

I also don't know where the se (pronounced suh) for shi3 in dio-se and elsewhere comes from; it doesn't seem to be a Taiwanism (shr, shi, sai) or Cantonese (si).

What Cantonese have you noticed (besides the Out of Gas warning message and Mal's drink in The Train Job)?

Ying
Firefly Funsite http://fireflyfunsite.home.att.net
Firefly Chinese Pinyinary http://fireflychinese.home.att.net

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 3:32 PM

WILDHEAVENFARM

You all know what would be really shiny? If someone managed capture and post wav files of all these Chinese phrases so that a gaijin(japanese for "gringo") like me has a chance in hell of pronouncing them. Admittedly, I could just look them up on the dvd, but that smacks of effort. I would undertake that endevour, that labor of love my own self, but for lack of adequate technology.

Mary
Always a beast, never a burden.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 7:05 PM

JASONZZZ

maybe you could also capture and post some correct pronounciations of those same phrases as they are spoken in real Chinese today - right next to the captures off of the show (compared to how the actors have murdered the dialog or as some people believe how the language sounds like in the future)

Quote:
Originally posted by WildHeavenFarm:
You all know what would be really shiny? If someone managed capture and post wav files of all these Chinese phrases so that a gaijin(japanese for "gringo") like me has a chance in hell of pronouncing them. Admittedly, I could just look them up on the dvd, but that smacks of effort. I would undertake that endevour, that labor of love my own self, but for lack of adequate technology.

Mary
Always a beast, never a burden.

Haken needs a new development system. Donate.
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=3283

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 11:00 PM

FLAMETREE

It would depend on the person I think classic, northern mandarin sounds clearer than the southern languaes like cantonese for example.

However if you are going to swear it should probably be in cantonese it always sounds angry even if someone is just saying hello!

Da jia zia jian :)
every one good bye

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Wednesday, January 21, 2004 12:14 AM

QUIXOTE13

Hey Talrius!

I know I've been away for quite a while, and now I'm pretty busy with a lot of work so I haven't had time to post and help out with the translations. It seems like everybody's faring pretty well here. I'm having a devil of a time reading the romanization because it's not standardized and there are no tones indicated, but there are some diligent and generous people who are working hard at creating the proper translations and transcriptions! Bravo to everybody's efforts!

Take care,

Q13

Ivan Chan Studio: Invite Beauty: www.ivanchan.com

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Wednesday, January 21, 2004 12:48 AM

FLAMETREE

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Wednesday, January 21, 2004 10:00 PM

JASONZZZ

Just wondering what you mean by "clearer"? The dialects are not simple differences in regions (although there is that too in just Mandarin alone) but almost completely different languages with it's own vocabulary. Spoken Cantonese (and many of the other dialects) really does not have a lot of similarities with the written or literary written Chinese either.

Besides, each region's Mandarin has it's own flavor. In fact, the closer you get to Bei-Jing, the more rolled, heavier, and harsher the r's. As in "BeiJiger". The way Mandarin sounds in BeiJing sure isn't anything that they would teach in a *standard* Mandarin course.

Quote:
Originally posted by flametree:
It would depend on the person I think classic, northern mandarin sounds clearer than the southern languaes like cantonese for example.

However if you are going to swear it should probably be in cantonese it always sounds angry even if someone is just saying hello!

Da jia zia jian :)
every one good bye

Haken needs a new development system. Donate.
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=3283

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Thursday, January 22, 2004 12:51 AM

FLAMETREE

I have friends who speak mandarin and I visited Beijing, also I have friends who speak other languages like cantonese. Here most chinese speaks do speak one of more of the southern languages like cantonese of shang hai ese

I have very little knowledge of chinese of anysort but I do have some and Mandarin "sounds" clearer.

Cantonese has shorter, more brusque sound.
I am not saying anything against any language but other have also said swearing sounds better in cantonese:)

They are all good
Tamen shi dou hao!

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Tuesday, April 20, 2004 5:01 PM

HOWDYROCKERBABY1

i wish i could remember all of these, i'll definately start saying Dong mah? and Tzao-gao though!

"Did I hear something about black market beagles? They have smallish droppings."

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Monday, May 24, 2004 11:49 PM

RELFEXIVE

A bit of resurrecting going on here, but still...

I found this site which looks very good for English-Chinese (pinyin) translation.

http://chinese.primezero.com/pzcdz/u.html

Mal: "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so... very... pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

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Tuesday, May 25, 2004 6:20 PM

DEIMOS7255

Does anyone know a site where it teaches you how to say it, because I tried, but my friend is pretty sure I'm saying the words wrong.

Thanks for your assistance!!

------------------------------------------------
Heauegerkgegerk!

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Wednesday, June 16, 2004 8:40 PM

ANONYMOUSPOSTERCHILD

Chinese pronunciation can be a bit on the difficult side, but most of the english lines you're seeing are phonetically correct (for the most part). Just reading these directly will do you fine, but your real trouble will be the accent.

--edit--

What you have to remember, though, is that there is a VERY slight "ah" sound pronounced at the end.

Also, "xi" and "ji" are prnounced quite similar and can throw you for a bit of a loop. "Qi" is pronouced a bit more like "kchi" if it were all one syllable.

"Zi" sounds a lot like "csi", but "csi" has a slightly more audible "Kuh" sound.

But other than those, you should do fine.

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Monday, August 2, 2004 10:18 PM

JAYNEZTOWN

wow! great info lads, keep it up

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Monday, September 20, 2004 8:00 PM

CHARKI127

Xiexie.
I went to your site, it was amazing. Thank you so much for further enriching my enjoyment of Firefly. charki127

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