Is the Jingan MRT Station in Taipei pronounced Jing’an or Jin’gan? The romanization of MRT station names in Taipei has caused confusion for some local residents and foreigners, prompting Taipei’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems to consider putting apostrophes in the names of the stations.
For example, Jingan MRT Station would be changed to “Jing’an” in accordance with regulations on the translation of place names under the Ministry of the Interior. Station names would thus not be mispronounced, the department said.
The issue was raised in Taipei’s international affairs committee on Friday after the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation said it received 10 complaints about the lack of apostrophes in station names, suggesting that the department make the appropriate changes.
Chief secretary of the department Chang Ze-hsiung (張澤雄) said the department plans to adopt the ministry’s translation regulations and insert apostrophes into the station names to avoid confusion about the pronunciation.
In addition, some mispronunciations may be considered vulgar by locals.
For example, Yongan Market MRT Station could be pronounced as “Yon’gan” (雍幹) and the Chinese character for gan (幹) carries a negative meaning, Chang said.
However, the proposal was challenged by some committee members. Allan Weston, chief executive officer of the Taipei European School, said hyphens are used to stress the pronunciation in romanization and apostrophes are used as a contraction of two words, such as “can’t” from “cannot.”
For example, Daan MRT Station should be changed to “Da-an,” as “Da’an” would be incomprehensible for most foreigners.
The city government should adopt the system used in the romanization of street names in Taipei, such as “DaAn” Road, he said.
Chang said the romanization of street names was adopted under the authority of the Taipei Department of Civil Affairs, and it would discuss the issue with the Department of Civil Affairs to reach a consensus.
“We don’t know what regulations the Civil Affairs Department are using in the translation of street names in Taipei. Our goal is to be consistent with street names and station names for the convenience of foreigners,” he said.
If changed, the affected MRT stations would include Daan Station, Qilian Station, Yongan Market Station, Jingan Station and Daan Park Station.
The department would change the station names next year once the Xinyi Line is completed, using a budget of about NT$1 million (US$34,000), he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS