Tea terms and translating conventions

Goal: have a vocabulary for tea studies (note: First if there is already a common English term that is already used, it is better not to translate by creating new English words. If there are significant alternative names for the term, then usually in the description article's first sentence they can be mentioned.)

Due to various translation systems, including their changes over time, and a general misunderstanding of Chinese has lead to inconsistent and multiple English spellings for the same Chinese words. This not only causes confusion but overall disruptive misuse of Chinese derived terms.

Origin of term:  Names can be more than confusing due to several key factors. Because of old names that come from the mixing of several languages (Cantonese, Chinese, Fukienese, and others) and the differences in each area's individual name, pronunciation and spelling of the tea, as well as the fact that one tea can have many different Chinese names.

Rules and Conventions

·        For studying Chinese, punctuation is used for tones and for pronunciation help, but for English we should omit them.

·        We need to follow a common rule, either always use punctuation or never use it.

·        Most established Chinese words used in common English don't use any punctuation in their spelling, using 26 letters of the alphabet.

·        Punctuation is necessity for pronunciation help, but a hindrance for reading.

·        If punctuation is used in common spelling, then we need to insert in all Chinese derived terms or have
          rules for when and why used.

·        Whatever we decide we should follow the rules for what we decide.

Consensus and Dispute

·        What is the agreed letter spelling of the term with the 26 letters of the alphabet.

·        The necessity of punctuation or its hindrance.

·        We need to follow a common rule

Purpose: translate Chinese tea terms into English proposal

Term-Iron Goddess
Use established terms that are understandable Iron Goddess
Use Romanization(Tieguanyin ) without apostrophes(T`iehkuanyin ), capitals(TieGuanYin), hyphens(Tie-guan-yin), and, spaces(Tie guan yin)
Avoid abbreviations(T.G.Y.)

Other Terms Used

Iron Mercy Goddess; Iron Guanyin; Iron Buddha.

Origin of Term

Guanyin come from the Chinese "Guanyin Pusa 観音菩薩", "Guanyin 観音" and "Pusa菩薩, bodhisattva".

In Chinese Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is "Guanshiyin Pusa 觀世音菩薩".

The Chinese term 鉄観音 is composed of two terms the first is "鉄 meaning iron", and "観音 the Chinese name for the mercy goddess bodhisattva菩薩".

Too many Spellings

ㄊㄧㄝ t`ieh tie tye tye tiee tieh

ㄍㄨㄢ kuan guan gwan gwan goan guann

ㄧㄣ yin in yn yiin yinn

tiěguānyīn, 鉄(観/观)音

Tie Guan Yin (simplified Chinese: 铁观音; traditional Chinese: 鐵觀音; pinyin: tiěguānyīn; Min Nan POJ: Thih-koan-im; Cantonese Jyutping: tit3 gwun1 yam1.

Term-Puer

Use established terms that are understandable

Use Romanization Puer without apostrophes(Pu'er), capitals(PuEr), hyphens(Pu-er), and, spaces(Pu er)

Avoid abbreviations(P.E.)

Puer(h) Spellings

In 2007, the city of Simao (思茅) changed its name to Puer city (普洱市). By doing so, it has had an effect the size of the official Puer (普洱) tea production area.

Omit the punctuation for Pu-erh and Pu'er, just write Puerh and Puer.

tea terms and translating conventions

-a can of worms, if no rules and conventions for the use of Chinese punctuation are followed-

(steven feb2011)

More information

 Chinese English translation systems:
http://teaarts.blogspot.com/2007/08/different-translation-systems.html