Say that the Chinese ambassador Gan Ying (Old Chinese *kˤam ʔraŋ) arrives in Rome in the year 97 AD, in the reign of Emperor Nerva. This leads to at least some degree of contact, enough for a few big Chinese names to be transliterated into Latin.
The thing is that Old Chinese, the type of Chinese spoken in the first century AD, was a very... strange-sounding language. Really. Its consonant clusters are on par with Georgian.
Here's a few guesses at how the Romans might write a few major Chinese names:
In a hypothetical world, the Roman Emperor might have sent an envoy to Cetrananum (Chang'an) and Craclagnum to ask his good friend the Grand Quantex of Narsquecia for the books of Chontseus and Merantseus.
Feel free to critique!
The thing is that Old Chinese, the type of Chinese spoken in the first century AD, was a very... strange-sounding language. Really. Its consonant clusters are on par with Georgian.
Here's a few guesses at how the Romans might write a few major Chinese names:
- Gan Ying
- Modern Mandarin Chinese:
- Old Chinese:
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Camranus (I feel ˤ and ʔ would be ignored)
- Confucius
- Modern Mandarin Chinese: 孔子 Kŏng zĭ
- Old Chinese: 孔子 *Kʰˤoŋʔ tsəʔ
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Chontseus (Greek Kʰ was written "ch" by Romans)
- Mencius
- Modern Mandarin Chinese: 孟子 Mèng zĭ
- Old Chinese: 孟子 *mˤraŋ-s tsəʔ
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Merantseus
- Han Dynasty
- Modern Mandarin Chinese: 漢朝 Hàn cháo
- Old Chinese: 漢國 *n̥ˤar-s C.qʷˤek
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Narsquecia
- Emperor of China
- Modern Mandarin Chinese: 皇帝 Huáng dì
- Old Chinese: 皇帝 *Gʷˤaŋ tˤek-s
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Quantex
- Luoyang (capital of the Han dynasty)
- Modern Mandarin Chinese: 洛陽 Luò yáng
- Old Chinese: 洛陽 *kə.rˤak laŋ
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Craclagnum
- Qin Shi Huang (first Chinese emperor)
- Modern Mandarin Chinese: 秦始皇 Qín shĭ huáng
- Old Chinese: 秦始皇 *dzin l̥əʔ Gʷˤaŋ
- Hypothetical Roman transliteration: Tsinlequanus
In a hypothetical world, the Roman Emperor might have sent an envoy to Cetrananum (Chang'an) and Craclagnum to ask his good friend the Grand Quantex of Narsquecia for the books of Chontseus and Merantseus.
Feel free to critique!