Then i apologize for completely misunderstanding you. 
[/quote]
NP. XXX 
Then i apologize for completely misunderstanding you. [/quote]
Yeah, looks like I misunderstood too.
Though as many locals aren’t familiar with Hanyu Pinyin, it might actually be fun to go around saying “Gaoksiong”, “Ban-kwee-ao”, and “Ksin-dz-hu” to persuade people that that was the correct “English” pronunciation. 
Actually, it should be pronounced with neither. The Chinese “b” sound is unvoiced, like the “p” in the French pronunciation of “Paris”. The closest sound in English is the “p” is the “p” in “spot”.
Don’t you know that someone in the government would hear that and believe it? Remember the old MRT pronunciations: Tam-shoo-ee, Koo-ting, Xiao Nanmen (with an emphatic fourth tone on xiao)?
Writing “Taipei” as “Taibei” when you are using the English language has always annoyed the crap out of me. Like somebody said earlier, Taipei is a city that has a name in English. Should we go find out the real pronunciation of every city in the world as used by the native speakers of that country? That would be impossible.
Another thing that annoys me is when people ask “How do you write that in English?” when they are referring to places that don’t have English names, just because those places are so small and insignificant in the world that nobody would bother with giving it an English name. Why can people not understand that English and romanized Chinese/Mandarin/whathaveyou are not the same? Why would anybody be arguing about how “sh” or “x” is pronounced in English, when it is a system that has nothing at all to do with English?
I wish they would just stick to using bopomo which would make it all much easier. 
Let’s just call it “fat City” to be done with any confusion…
I refuse to write “B a n c i a o” or “S i n d i a n”.
I think it would make sense if:
-
People got the sound of the local name right before writing it in their own language (although this is problematic for Slavic languages, for instance, where the case endings change). Okay, I know not every language has every sound, but try to get it fairly accurate I mean.
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People could understand that not every language or writing system pronounces letters exactly the same way as in English, especially since those letters didn’t even originate in England anyway. I mean, seriously, why is it so hard to get one’s head around an x not making a “ks” sound?
What’s so hard to understand about Taipei being pronounced as Taibei by the locals and calling it as such? Or Budapest as being pronounced as Budapesht by the locals or Melbourne as being pronounced as Melbun by the locals or Edinburgh as being pronounced as Edinbruh by the locals? Didn’t Piaget think people could do this abstract reasoning stuff from about twelve years of age?
Don’t you know that someone in the government would hear that and believe it? Remember the old MRT pronunciations: Tam-shoo-ee, Koo-ting, Xiao Nanmen (with an emphatic fourth tone on xiao)?[/quote]
Haha. Thought that would wind you up. Don’t worry, I’m not really that evil.
Or Louisville, for that matter? (It seems to be pronounced differently by everyone who lives there!)
[quote=“Chris”]
Or Louisville, for that matter? (It seems to be pronounced differently by everyone who lives there!)[/quote]
Or “Oregin,” as the locals like to say.
Yes, I had a kid called Louis in my class once, and they insisted that I call him something that sounded closer to Lewis. I was like okay whatever.
Your point being … ?
I was responding to the Louisville post more than to the topic, I guess. I hadn’t realized that you pronounced Louis (loo-ee) like Lewis in the States. I found it unusual but went along with it to make the kid happy.
[quote=“twonavels”]I was responding to the Louisville post more than to the topic, I guess. I hadn’t realized that you pronounced Louis (loo-ee) like Lewis in the States. I found it unusual but went along with it to make the kid happy.[/quote]You’ve never heard of King Lewis XIV* of France ? Lewis Armstrong?
*Pronounced “ksif” probably.
I’ve brought this up before, and I’m going to bring it up again, because it gnaws at my ass. We don’t spell places “Sow Theffrica” or “Kyanadah” merely because that’s how they are pronounced. So what the fuck is it with this “Taibei” political correctness?
I move to call it Daipak as it should be called.
Meh, who cares?
The “B” and the “P” are so similar anyways that it hardly matters.
[quote=“Rabidpie”]
The “B” and the “P” are so similar anyways that it hardly matters.[/quote]
Not the point. We don’t write “Amerika” just because the “C” and “K” are so similar (unless, of couse, we are trying to piss Tainan Cowboy off).
jp. The world is filled with stupid annoying pedant peasants. You KNOW that. Let it go!