4

I just tried to type in taipei in iOS but it didn't return any correct prediction. After my investigation, I found that it is taibei, not taipei, to get the correct pinyin result.

However, now I wonder why it is called taipei. 台 is tai like 台风 and 北 is bei like 北美洲. So why is it called taipei? I think in traditional chiese it should also be typed in as taibei...

Improve this question
3
  • You can also see Tsinghua University which is 清华大学（qing1hua2 da4xue2）.
    – Ethan Gao
    Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 2:04
  • This begs the question as to why the Wade-Giles version Taipei survives whereas the Wade-Giles spelling Peking has been largely expunged. Is this political?
    – ThomasDoe
    Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 17:30
  • @ThomasDoe: Almost all cities in Taiwan are more often seen with Wade-Giles spelling than Pinyin.
    – Olle Linge
    Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 16:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
11

From wiki: the spelling "Taipei" derives from the Wade–Giles romanization T'ai-pei. "Taibei" is pinyin, which iOS supports as an input method.

Wade-Giles used to be the standard method of romanization so it shows up in a lot of older Chinese names like "Chiang Ching-kuo".

Pinyin has its own disadvantages, especially when spoken by English speakers. Consonants like "zh", "q", or syllables like "ri", "shi" sound very different from what an English speaker might expect.

Improve this answer
2
  • It's the same reason that Beijing was spelled as "Peking" (as "peking duck")
    – YChi Lu
    Commented Dec 13, 2017 at 22:24
  • It's worth mentioning that Pinyin was invented by the PRC, and Wade-Giles continued to be used in Taiwan long after China had stopped using it.
    – Readin
    Commented Jul 29, 2021 at 5:04

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.