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Chinese Tones/Translation

Started by Machete, December 09, 2011, 12:07:06 AM

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Machete

For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese, there are four separate tones used when speaking it.  The first tone is high-flat and uses a macron above the vowel; the second tone uses an acute accent mark, similar to an apostrophe, above the vowel; the third tone uses a caron, or upside down carrot, above the vowel; and the fourth tone uses a grave accent mark, similar to a backwards apostrophe, above the vowel.  Should I use tone numbers - and the aforementioned note - to indicate the correct pronunciation of names for Chinese characters, or just type the names without any mention of the tones - since vowels with macrons don't have alt-based shortcuts of insertion?

Edit: What's the most correct pinyin with tones for "stealth huntress" as a nickname?  Google Translate offers the following outputs: Yin3shen3 nu3 lie4shou3, Yin3xing2 nu3 lie4shou3, Qiang2xing2 nu3 lie4shou3, Yin3shen3 nu3 lie4ren2, Yin3xing2 nu3 lie4ren2, and Qiang2xing2 nu3 lie4ren2.

Caeli

If you have to type in romanized pinyin, use the numbers in superscript. It's best if you type it using the actual Chinese characters, though.
ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀғʟɪᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ɢᴏᴅ's ᴘʀᴏᴏғ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ʟɪғᴇ
ᴠᴇʀʏ sᴇʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇʟʏ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ғᴏʀ ɴᴇᴡ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏs

ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ❋ ғᴏʀ ɪᴅᴇᴀs; 'ø' ғᴏʀ ᴏɴs&ᴏғғs, ᴏʀ ᴘᴍ ᴍᴇ.
{ø 𝕨 
  𝕒 }
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Machete

I know this usually isn't done because of its complexity, but I'm working on a character who has a tattoo combining the Chinese calligraphy of her birth year, 1993 - the yin water rooster, with that of her sun sign, Leo (the lion), and, possibly, its element, fire.  Which combination would be the best?

Heavenly stem for Yin Water (癸) + Earthly Branch for cat (寅) + lion (狮)
Heavenly stem for Yin Fire (丁) + Earthly Branch for cat (寅) + lion (狮)
Direct translation of "yin water lion" (阴水狮)
Direct translation of "yin fire lion" (阴火狮)

Noelle

Machete, remember also that you can simply type in the corresponding tone indicators, as well, like péngyou or tiānshang. Might save your sanity a bit from having all the superscripts hanging there.