How would you pronounce 'Tsang'

Post by **Foo** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:30 pm

Meeting someone tomorrow with the Taiwanese-chinese family name Tsang, can anyone confirm how to pronounce this? 'zang' was my first guess but I suspect it's wrong.

I haven't been able to find a Pinyin article listing 'Ts', so I'm not even sure if it falls under that system.

Post by **4days** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:33 pm

edit: nvm

Post by **Foo** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:33 pm

Memphis wrote:'sang' i'm guessing

99% sure it's not that simple.

Just been looking on wikipedia's article for Pinyin (which is long and complex) and I think if could either be 'zang' or 'chang'.

Post by **rgoer** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:38 pm

"Tsa" is not Pinyin, it's a Wade-Giles version of the Pinyin "Za"

So it looks like it would be pronounced Zang

edit btw I have no idea about any of this shit, this is just what google told me

Post by **o'dium** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:38 pm

Isn't it "Shang"? As in "Shh-ang"...?

As in Mortal Kombat announcer style?

Post by **4days** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:39 pm

o'dium wrote:Isn't it "Shang"? As in "Shh-ang"...?

As in Mortal Kombat announcer style?

that's what i'd posted (shan), but it's the wrong kind of chinese (according to google)

Post by **Ryoki** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:41 pm

Foo wrote:Meeting someone tomorrow with the Taiwanese-chinese family name Tsang

...have you considered asking them?

Post by **4days** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:43 pm

Ryoki wrote:...have you considered asking them?

that's just crazy talk.

Post by **Ryoki** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:47 pm

4days wrote:that's just crazy talk.

lol i know

I now have this mental image of Foo actually meeting a woman of some sort and wanting to prepare himself properly.

Post by **Ryoki** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:47 pm

Memphis wrote:There's a bird at my works who's name is Rentia Van Vuuren and i didn't half fuck that up on first attempt

I could pronounce that with ease :icon31:

Post by **MKJ** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:48 pm

wtf kinda name is Rentia?

and the v in van is lowercase. fucking anglo

Post by **feedback** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:55 pm

That isn't pinyin, but pinyin doesn't really apply because they're taiwanese, not chinese. It's probably "Zang" (and the 'a' is an 'aah' sound, not 'ae'). Bottom line though is that they're used to having their last name misprounounced on an hourly basis, I doubt they really care. If it's very important, ask them when you meet them how you should pronounce their name.

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:59 pm

I would pronounce that exactly as it's spelled - tsang.

Like an ess-tset in Deutsche.

But that's probably because I know shit about Asian languages.

Post by **[xeno]Julios** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:01 pm

In situations like these, I just ask the person:

"how do you pronounce your name?"

Post by **losCHUNK** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:03 pm

i just resort to calling them buddy

Post by **R00k** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:07 pm

I usually give the old college try myself, as most of the time I will either get it right (and impress), or close enough to get a warm smile and friendly correction.

And the rare times I get it badly wrong, it's usually a good laugh had by everyone which doesn't bother me either.

On the other hand, if you know your pronunciation skills are shit -- or if you're not socially quick enough to smooth over rough patches in conversations, your best bet is probably just to ask them.

Either way, I certainly wouldn't put too much effort into learning cultural pronunciations and such -- like memph said, anybody who is that uptight about the pronunciation of their last name by a stranger from another culture probably isn't really worth getting to know anyway IMO.

Post by **feedback** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:07 pm

losCHUNK wrote:i just resort to calling them buddy

I'd recommend "Chingy-Changy"

Post by **seremtan** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:14 pm

or 'slitty-eyes'

Post by **l0g1c** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:29 pm

I'm in agreeance with "sang" citing the Mortal Kombat character Shang Tsung as reference.

Post by **Dr_Watson** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:30 pm

losCHUNK wrote:i just resort to calling them buddy

or you could just talk at them and hope that eye contact is a valid replacement for nomenclature formalities.

Post by **l0g1c** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:33 pm

If you really want to impress him, keep referring to his home as the "Republic of China."

Post by **o'dium** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:46 pm

A girl at my old school was called:

Belindabulindabingharibondarbordingbuddyval.

TRUSPEK I shit you not.

She was happy with just "Belinda" though, thank fuck.

Post by **Foo** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:51 pm

Eh, thanks Feedback, rgoer et al. Z-aah-ng seems to be a solid interpretation.

As for asking them in person and not 'being spot on', if I'd just done that I'd have no idea about Pinyin or chinese regional family names right now, and it's interesting stuff to know. I might even have a half-correct idea of something that'll spark an interesting conversation with her.

I dunno how some of you guys have the idea that a straightforwards question translates into harbouring some kind of major social phobia, weakness or vulnerability, but top marks for comedy efforts, lolloo!

Post by **Captain** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:54 pm

o'dium wrote:Isn't it "Shang"? As in "Shh-ang"...?

As in Mortal Kombat announcer style?

You mean "Shang-Tsung"?

I believe it is pronounced "Shang-Suhng", but with a bit of a "zzz" sound. "Szang"...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:00 pm

i knew this because I buy a lot of mongolian fire oil made by house of tsang its really good and will make any food taste better its not just hot and no taste its spicy and really tasty at the same time put it on meats and youll be glad i told you

edit: i guess it would taste good on cheese too but i havent tried it im just eating a bowl of fruit and cheese right now so it reminded me but i dont want to try it cause im scared of getting some on the fruit and wasting it so i'll just assume it would taste good i guess