Wànlǐ Chángchéng / A Great Wall

by Baal Bunny

Appendix - Bèi Kǎo (The Names)

People:

Xīng Xuán Wō (星漩涡) for Starswirl
Mèng Huàn (梦幻) for Luna
Mèng Yǎn Yuè (梦魇月) for Nightmare Moon
Tiān Shàng (天上) for Celestia
Bómù Guāng Shǎn (薄暮光闪) for Twilight
Dào Gōu (倒钩) for Spike
Jié Zòu (节奏) for Cadance
Tǐ Léi Kè (体雷克) for Tirek
Hóng Ruì Qì (虹锐气) for Rainbow Dash
Píng Guǒ Jiǔ (苹果酒) for Applejack
Lín Láng (琳琅) for Rarity
Fěn Hóng Bǐng (粉红饼) for Pinkie Pie
Wēi Fēng Fǔ (微风抚) for Fluttershy
Tiāngǒu (天狗) for just, y'know, Tiāngǒu
Grampa Bīnzǐ (槟子) for Granny Smith
Hǎi Táng Huā (海棠花) for Big McIntosh
Yúhuī Yì Yào (余晖熠燿) for Sunset Shimmer
Mr. and Mrs. Dàn Gāo (蛋糕) for the Cakes
Dìyù Quǎn (地狱犬) for Cerberus
Jīng Yíng Jiă (晶莹甲) for Shining Armor

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Places:

Cōng Mǎ Guó (聪马国) for Equestria
Yuè Mǎ Jīng (跃马京) for Canterlot
Xiǎo Mǎ Chéng (小马城) for Ponyville
Yǒng Yě Shēng (永野生) for the Everfree
Tián Píng Mǔ (甜苹亩) for Sweet Apple Acres
Jì Xiāng Yī Xuān (骥骧衣轩) for Carousel Boutique
Fāng Táng Diàn (方糖店) for Sugar Cube Corner

---

Things:

Yè Biān Zǐ (夜鞭子) for the Tantabus
Jīng Pò Yǔ (精魄语) for the Language of Names

Comments

[Nagaina]

This is great, thanks!

[TitaniumTao]

Nice and neat.

[Chicago Ted]

Will this be updated as the story progresses?

[Cross Lament]

Now I have to wonder if everyone in Cōng Mǎ Guó gets an amazing nickname, like the Heroes do in stories like The Water Margin...

[Lainofthewired]

Huh, I'd thought Yè Biān Zǐ was Nightmare Moon. Go fig.

[batran]

does wei feng fu mean gentle breeze/wind?

[M1Garand8]

7153436
Yes, "gentle breeze" + "caress".

[Misago]

Question, will this story ship Twilight with Luna's R63 counterpart/Luna with Twilight's R63 counterpart?

[Handyman]

To enhance your reading experience:

[Baal Bunny]

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7153389

Thanks!

I think I've pretty much introduced all the story's characters at this point, but if I do have any more--like Mèng Yǎn Yuè (梦魇月) being Nightmare Moon, for instance--I'll definitely add 'em in.

7153377
7153436
7153853

M1 and I must've gone back and forth five or six times trying to find a name for the stallion version of Fluttershy. I don't think anypony else gave us as much trouble!

7155997

Everybody dance!

Mike

[Chicago Ted]

7155997
Oh. My. God.

I freakin' LOVE that composer!

[M1Garand8]

7156090

M1 and I must've gone back and forth five or six times trying to find a name for the stallion version of Fluttershy. I don't think anypony else gave us as much trouble!

Yep. o_o

[Cross Lament]

7156164 That's just a phonetic transliteration of "Cerberus", isn't it? Still totally valid, of course.

Huh, so if everyone is the opposite gender here, does that mean the stallion : mare ratio is flipped too?

[Baal Bunny]

7154586

All I'll say is:

The "Romance" tag is there for a reason.

Mike

[Misago]

7157443 Thanks for the reply.

I looked through the recent comments, and that actually seems to answer my question.

[Killerokie]

Píng Guǒ Jiǔ
Apple alcohol?

My son's Chinese name is 马赫 (apparently, I don't know written Chinese and my spoken is crap) = Mǎ hè = Mach (as in speed) = fast horse?
He was born in the year of the Horse.
Maybe should have been male Rainbow Dash's Chinese name?

[Baal Bunny]

7225062

马赫:

Would work well in a name for the Winderbolts, I'd think. If I ever do anymore stories in this setting, I'll have to keep it in mind...

Mike

[Baal Bunny]

7252663

It all goes back to:

The 1970s and the novel/movie Love Story. The key line from there is "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

Mike

[Starlight Nova]

You should also say how to pronounce those names.

[Harmony Muse]

Very good story. Love to see a sequel, to see more of this world you have built.

[Misago]

Okay, why is this in the F/F ships and Twilight's Marem groups?

[son_of_heaven176]

In Chapter 2, you have 永野森林 as the Everfree, but here you have 永野生. Did you change your mind partway in? Given my limited knowledge of Chinese (i.e., Google Translating every character), it seems that the Chapter 2 version is the more accurate translation.

[SPark]

Well, that was delightful. If very hard to pronounce. But I definitely enjoyed it!

[Donraj]

I finally got around to reading it. It's cute, and the pinyin gimmick does make it easier to get the names right even if it comes off as a bit pretentious.

[ChaoticLuna]

Every language has its own beauty,the best way to learn a language is to 入乡随俗(while in Rome ,do as Romans do)
I have to say ,some translations just made it weird to read (just from my perspective)
In mainland of China ,we have two versions of translation
the fandom on the Internet:
Twilight Sparkle 暮光闪闪
Rainbow Dash 云宝黛茜
Apple Jack 苹果杰克(阿杰 in short)
Rarity 瑞瑞
Fluttershy 小蝶
Pinkie Pie 萍琪派
the Everfree forest无尽之森
Sometimes there's no need to translate the name specificlly
Like Rainbow Dash,we use 云宝黛茜 instead of 彩虹冲刺
while the official translation version made by the TV station is much different
Twilight Sparkle 紫悦
Rainbow Dash 云宝
Apple Jack 苹果嘉儿
Rarity 珍奇
Fluttershy 柔柔
Pinkie Pie 碧琪
the Everfree Forest永恒自由森林
and they even use the translation 小马宝莉(My little pony)
actually they sound really er...childlike I guess.
The TV station's translation is made for the need of most kids under 14 in mainland but they never know how magical the show was and it ended up drawing many teenagers' attention.
No offense
Forgive me of my poor English
:D

[Frustration in Excelsis]

I don't know if this was explained elsewhere, but I am very curious as to what the alternate names' meanings are.

[Baal Bunny]

10116102

I used the Yabla online dictionary when I was putting the story together, so if you copy-n-paste the Mandarin characters from the list above into the search box on that page, it'll tell you what they each mean individually.

Glad you enjoyed the story!

Mike

[Accurate Balance]

These not-so-translation-ish names do have their own charm. This should mean something considering it's from a Chinese translator.

[Baal Bunny]

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Thanks! I had a lot of help from M1Garand8 during the course of writing this. I'd come up with a name, he would tell me why it didn't quite sound right to him, and we'd go back and forth till we got something that kind of worked for both of us. 'Cause those mirror universes are tricky places!

Mike

[Cyan6]

Wow, I must say ,Lín Láng (琳琅) for Rarity is really romantic. and Yuè Mǎ Jīng (跃马京) for Canterlot is also a fantastic name. I'm a native Chinese speaker, these names have a kind of beauty of Chinese antiquity.

[Baal Bunny]

10129917

Thanks! I'm glad some of them reach beyond my grasp, as the saying goes. At university, I got my masters degree in ancient Greek and Roman, so any feeling of antiquity I have must come from there.

Mike