sid_guardian | Drive-by poll

I've seen Dixingren used more and more in fic recently so I was wondering...
To me, using "Dixingren" is the equivalent of "Shen-jiaoshou" – there is a completely cromulent translation, so why the hell wouldn't people use that instead?

I like 'Dixingren' because it mirrors 'Yashou' in basically just being the transcription of the Chinese term.
But we hear "Yashouren" fairly often? The subs just use "Yashou" for both "Yashou" and "Yashouren".

Lovely, very appropriate icon!
Thank you! :3 Shen Wei is an alien, of course he deserves a starry icon.

there is a completely cromulent translation

:DDDD Haven't heard that in *ages*!

But we hear "Yashouren" fairly often? The subs just use "Yashou" for both "Yashou" and "Yashouren".

True. But 'Yashou' by itself does get used in the show often enough to signify the species; unlike 'Dixing' which is only ever the place.

I made an executive decision early on to always use 'Yashou' because a) I didn't want people to get confused about a potential difference between Yashou and Yashouren/'Yashou people'; and also because Yashou is shorter which is always good for subs, and actually my main reason for testing the waters over Dixingren vs 'Dixing person / person from Dixing'.

shorter which is always good for subs, and actually my main reason for testing the waters over Dixingren vs 'Dixing person / person from Dixing'.
Mm. Is your objection to just "Dixingian" or to any and all demonym suffixes? English has a plethora of them, so you could pick your favorite and the fandom would talk about Dixingines, Dixingites, Dixingers, Dixingiens, Dixingenes, Dixingensians, Dixingards, Dixingese, Dixingi, Dixingiotes, Dixingegians, Dixingonians, or Dixingovians. *g*

LOL I'm very tempted by the Dixingovians. Or Dixingegians, which would remind me of Glaswegians, commonly called Weegees. Dixingegians could be Geegees.

I think I don't like any of the Englishifying demonym suffixes, and I can't really put my finger on why except that of the more realistic ones (i.e. those that don't make the word just as long as 'Dixing people'), Dixigian, Dixinger, Dixigese or Dixingites just sound silly in my head. I could go with Dixingi for some odd reason but I hesitate to throw something entirely new into an already-mixy mix.

Will ponder further.

I'm very tempted by the Dixingovians.
It's a very nice demonym! Probably my favorite of the bunch, actually. ~~Have a poll of Dixingovian vs Dixingegian vs Dixingi and see what people pick?~~

"Dixingi" might work for you because -i is used for places you don't live in (Pakistani, etc), so it's marked as foreign and you don't have the mental dissonance of "But Dixing isn't in England!" ?

(I admit I use Dixingian mostly because it's a relatively unmarked demonym suffix and reasonably short, so I'd be amenable to swapping it for something else. I would however call the language Dixingese for some reason.)

Oh! I like Dixingi! ...Probably because "-i" is a less common English suffix, typically used to make things plural in ways that aren't in common use, like "octopi" and "pegasi," so it doesn't cause the same auditory confusion for me when following something that sounds like (but isn't, I realize) "-ing."

...The latter of which I now realize shouldn't be such an issue for me, since I don't have a problem with "singing." Huh.

This is a really interesting conversation. &hearts:

Funnily enough, "Dixingi" is my least favorite of the bunch, probably because it's so marked-as-foreign and then I would have to have a conversation in my mind about exotification. *g*

-ingwise, my personal stance is that the English language is made to be broken, and any Chinese would break the English language anyway. The sound pinyin represents as "x" doesn't really exist in English and neither do tones. So the entire thing is a bit of a moot point, I guess.

This is a really interesting conversation. ♥
♥

Also, my personal preference for the plural of octopus is "octopodes" *g*

Funnily enough, "Dixingi" is my least favorite of the bunch, probably because it's so marked-as-foreign and then I would have to have a conversation in my mind about exotification. *g*

*coughs* Well, they are aliens? ;p

Argh, sent too soon. I meant to say, now I'm wondering whether the name they have (or had) for themselves is something totally different because wherever they came from, they didn't live in Dixing there.

Edited 2019-09-14 12:41 (UTC)

*coughs* Well, they are aliens? ;p
Aw! I was so taken by Dixingovians. (And Haixingovians don't quite have the same charm.)

now I'm wondering whether the name they have (or had) for themselves is something totally different because wherever they came from, they didn't live in Dixing there.
Me too! I guess they could've called their spaceship Dixing, so they got called Dixingovians 'cause they came with the spaceship, and then when the Dixingovians went to live belowground their cave complex got named Dixing because obviously the place the Dixingovians live is Dixing.

Dixing because obviously the place the Dixingovians live is Dixing.

Not Dixingovia? ;p

Not Dixingovia? ;p
Of course not, Chinese doesn't have a v sound! *g*

Funnily enough, "Dixingi" is my least favorite of the bunch, probably because it's so marked-as-foreign and then I would have to have a conversation in my mind about exotification. *g*

I know, right! As soon as I posted that I was like, "Of course I would never use that..." But linguistically I think it's a fascinating combination!

Octopodes: what! That's awesome! Okay, I had to look that up, and it was great, because it clarified a totally relevant point to this discussion (at least for me)! "Octopuses" is octopus with an English ending, while "octopi" is octopus with a Latin ending, used because "octopus" comes from a Latin word. (Which means for me personally, if I like "octopi" then I shouldn't have a problem with "Dixingren." Interesting!) And "octopodes" is octopus with a Greek ending, because apparently the Latin word for "octopus" came from the Greek word. I LOVE IT.

I know, right! As soon as I posted that I was like, "Of course I would never use that..." But linguistically I think it's a fascinating combination!
IKR? I sort of want to read some longform meta on it now.

Which means for me personally, if I like "octopi" then I shouldn't have a problem with "Dixingren." Interesting!
Personally, I like "octopodes" because I enjoy being more pretentious than thou on occasion. *g* And English has a habit of borrowing plurals from the original language – bacteria, pegasi, crises, matrices, etc – if the language is Latin or Greek. It does not, however, has a habit of borrowing demonyms wholesale. (With some exceptions from Spanish or French, though those seem to mostly have competing non-loaned-suffix versions, and stuff where the demonym isn't based on the placename per se, e.g. Cariocas for people from Rio de Janeiro.)

(I have now spent more hours of my life looking at demonyms than I ever would've imagined. Thanks, fandom! It has been interesting.)

Cariocas for people from Rio de Janeiro

If you'd thrown that word at me without context I'd have said it's either an insect, a sweet, or a dance. Brains are funny things.

Personally, I like "octopodes" because I enjoy being more pretentious than thou on occasion. *g*

Yes! Wow, we should talk more. :D Reading what you write is like hearing my own thoughts out loud. Because (again, as soon as I posted that) I thought, "but I wouldn't use octopi except with people I know, who understand that I like to use obscure language!" Because "octopi" is fun, but it's not as accessible as "octopuses." And I feel that way about "Dixingren" - I absolutely like it, no question, but if I was introducing a new English viewer to Guardian I wouldn't say, "there are these Dixingren with special powers!" I would say, "there are these people from Dixing with special powers!"

I have now spent more hours of my life looking at demonyms than I ever would've imagined. Thanks, fandom! It has been interesting.

Same!

Because "octopi" is fun, but it's not as accessible as "octopuses."
Funnily enough, part of my preference for "octopodes" is that it also feels more accessible as a plural for octopus than "octopi" does! ("Octopi" feels like it's missing a syllable, somehow?)

if I was introducing a new English viewer to Guardian I wouldn't say, "there are these Dixingren with special powers!" I would say, "there are these people from Dixing with special powers!"
+1 this. Some jargon and untranslateables are inevitable, but the barrier for entry shouldn't be piled too high. Let them be Dixingians, Dixingers, Dixingites, or Dixingovians, as long as the person figures out that we're talking about people from a place called Dixing instead of being "oh god do I have to commit another thing to memory and potentially distinguish it from Dixing???" So, yeah, I agree a lot about keeping it accessible.

Reading what you write is like hearing my own thoughts out loud.
♥ We should definitely talk more!

I have a recent soft spot for "Dixingese" after some talk about it on Twitter, due to a combination of 1) -ese being the suffix that already gets used in English for folks from China, Japan, and other East Asian areas, 2) it simply flowing better/feeling less clunky to my ear than some of the other options (possibly due to fewer syllables), and 3) the fact that it works as both singular and plural, like "Dixingren", where "Dixingian(s)" needs to be modified.

(I have no linguistics knowledge at all, so my position isn't rooted in much besides "this is what sounds good to my ear".)

Hmmm, I'm starting to be tempted to make another poll with four options: Dixingren, Dixingite, Dixingese, and Dixing person/people. :)

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