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Languages and Linguistics

raccoon

(31,994 posts) Tue Oct 31, 2023, 06:48 AM Oct 2023

Since Chinese has to be transliterated into English, why are we spelling it "Xi"?

7 replies

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Highlight:

Why isn't "Xi Jinping" spelled phonetically, as "She Jinping"? [View all] raccoon Oct 2023 OP

Is it actually pronounced 'she'? Voltaire2 Oct 2023 #1

That's how I've heard it. raccoon Oct 2023 #2

I think it is more like 'hsi' Voltaire2 Oct 2023 #3

Think of it as "sharp" versus "flat", Igel Nov 2023 #6

"sh" and "x" are pinyin for different consonants HariSeldon Oct 2023 #4