During a conversation with a Chinese friend yesterday neither of us could think of the Mandarin word for hedge or thistle, among others, so I thought I’d look it up.<\/p>\n
There appear to be a number of words for hedge in Mandarin:<\/p>\n
– \u6835 (l\u00ec) – hedge
\n– \u85e9\u7c6c [\u85e9\u7bf1] (f\u0101n\u200bl\u00ed) – hedge \/ fence; line of defence \/ barrier
\n– \u6a39\u7c6c [\u6811\u7bf1] (sh\u00f9\u200bl\u00ed) – quickset hedge*
\n– \u7c6c\u57a3 [\u7bf1\u57a3] (l\u00ed\u200byu\u00e1n) – fence \/ hedge
\n– \u67f5\u7c6c [\u6805\u7bf1] (zh\u00e0\u200bl\u00ed) – hedgerow<\/p>\n
If you want to talk about hedge funds though, there’s \u79c1\u52df\u57fa\u91d1 (s\u012b\u200bm\u00f9\u200bj\u012b\u200bj\u012bn) or \u5c0d\u885d\u57fa\u91d1 (du\u00ec\u200bch\u014dng\u200bj\u012b\u200bj\u012bn), and a hedgehog is \u732c (wei).<\/p>\n
From: MDBG Chinese-English Dictionary<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n *a quickset hedge is a type of hedge created by planting live hazel or whitethorn (common hawthorn) cuttings directly into the earth. Once planted, these cuttings root and form new plants, creating a dense barrier [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n So I’m still not sure which word to use for the hedge in my garden (a privet hedge), probably \u6835 or \u85e9\u7c6c. This is the kind of thing you often have to deal with when translating.<\/p>\n The English word hedge comes from the Old English *h\u0119cg, h\u0119gg<\/em> from the Germanic *hagj\u00e2<\/em>.<\/p>\n