音译 (yīnyì): transliteration

Meanings

1 transliteration
2 phonetic translation

Characters

音

Examples

“咖啡”是英语coffee的音译。

“Kāfēi” shì Yīngyǔ coffee de yīnyì.

'Kāfēi' is the transliteration of the English word 'coffee'.

外国人名通常采用音译。

Wàiguó rénmíng tōngcháng cǎiyòng yīnyì.

Foreign personal names are usually rendered by transliteration.

Tips

usage

Contrast with 意译 (yìyì, 'meaning translation'): 沙发 shāfā = sofa is 音译 (sound-based); 电脑 diànnǎo = 'electric brain' for computer is 意译 (meaning-based). Some words mix both — 黑客 hēikè = hacker preserves both the sound and a fitting meaning ('black guest').