{"id":7267,"date":"2016-09-14T00:29:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T16:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/?p=7267"},"modified":"2016-09-14T00:29:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T16:29:45","slug":"aiyo-oed-fails-to-use-pinyin-for-some-new-entries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/2016\/aiyo-oed-fails-to-use-pinyin-for-some-new-entries\/","title":{"rendered":"Aiyo! OED fails to use Pinyin for some new entries"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oxford English Dictionary has just added some new entries<\/a>, including several from Sinitic languages. <\/p>\n

A lot of these come by way of Singapore and so reflect the Hokkien language. For example, among the new entries is \u201cang pow,\u201d which is Hokkien’s equivalent of Mandarin’s “hongbao<\/a>,” which also made the list. <\/p>\n

A few of the entries, however, come from Mandarin, for example two common interjections<\/a> for surprise. Oddly, though, the OED uses “aiyoh” and “aiyah” instead of their proper Pinyin spellings of “aiyo” and “aiya.” <\/p>\n

“Ah,” you say, “but maybe the aiyoh<\/em> and aiyah<\/em> spellings are more common in English.” <\/p>\n

Nope. <\/p>\n

Even in Singapore domains (.sg), the Pinyin spellings are more common than those the OED calls for. As the tables below show, in every instance<\/em> the Pinyin spellings are also more common in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. Throughout the world, the Pinyin spellings are more common — the vast majority of the time by a factor of at least two. <\/p>\n

Google search results for “aiyo” (Pinyin) and “aiyoh” (spelling used in the OED)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
 \n <\/th>\n aiyo\n <\/th>\n aiyoh\n <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
.sg\n <\/td>\n 12,200\n <\/td>\n 5,680\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.hk\n <\/td>\n 2,570\n <\/td>\n 187\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.cn\n <\/td>\n 6,040\n <\/td>\n 984\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.tw\n <\/td>\n 4,690\n <\/td>\n 196\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all domains\n <\/td>\n 1,250,000\n <\/td>\n 137,000\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all domains \u00a0+ \u201cchinese\u201d\n <\/td>\n 97,700\n <\/td>\n 77,100\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all domains \u00a0+ \u201cmandarin\u201d\n <\/td>\n 51,800\n <\/td>\n 14,100\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Google search results for “aiya” (Pinyin) and “aiyah” (spelling used in the OED)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
 \n <\/th>\n aiya\n <\/th>\n aiyah\n <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
.sg\n <\/td>\n 17,600\n <\/td>\n 8,310\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.hk\n <\/td>\n 6,400\n <\/td>\n 2,360\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.cn\n <\/td>\n 13,200\n <\/td>\n 1,860\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.tw\n <\/td>\n 5,910\n <\/td>\n 1,710\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all domains\n <\/td>\n 3,370,000\n <\/td>\n 332,000\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all domains \u00a0+ \u201cchinese\u201d\n <\/td>\n 238,000\n <\/td>\n 63,200\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all domains \u00a0+ \u201cmandarin\u201d\n <\/td>\n 36,500\n <\/td>\n 22,800\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Searching Google Books also reveals that the Pinyin forms are more common.
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