Abstract: As the single romanization of geographic names was introduced by the United Nations to the whole world, Chinese government selected Hanyu Pinyin Fang’an—Chinese Phonetic Alphabet as the only spelling system for the romanization of geographic names in China. However, many problems still exists during the single romanization process in many cities. Now, the situation is that many kinds of ill-fromed spelling froms are popular among the public but the leagle ones are disappearing. My essay introduced the development of the romanization systems for Chinese character in the history, listed out different ill-forms of romanized geographic names and analyzed the reasons that caused these problems. The aim in this dissertation is to arouse public attention in the single romanization of geographic names in China and advocate the scientific and proper romanization system. Through this, promote the healthy development of the sigle romanization in China.
Key Words: the Single Romanization; Geographic Names; Hanyu Pinyin; Chinese Phonetic Alphabet
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1. Single Romanization 1
1.1 The Origination of the Single Romanization 1
1.2 The Derivation, Development and Decline of Wade-Giles System 2
1.3 The Emergence of Postal System 3
1.4 The Derivation and Prosperity of Hanyu Pinyin System 4
2. Problems of Translating Geographic Names in China 5
2.1 Geographic Names are Translated into English 5
2.2 The Missing of the Symbol for Dividing Syllables 6
2.3 Irregular Abbreviation of Geographic Name 6
3. Analysis on the Translation of Geographic Names 7
3.1 Laws and Regulations Publicized on Geographic Names 7
3.2 International Practice for the Romanization of Geographic Names 8
3.3 Causes of the Problems 9
4. Conclusion 10
Bibliography 13
