A friend pointed out a map of Canada (jiānádà) in the bookstore today. It was only ten yuan so I picked it up and have been figuring out the Chinese names of places I know and love. The map is a curious document, since some of the names are marked in English as well but many are not, and the Chinese names are definitely based on Mandarin pronunciation rather than Cantonese. Some towns, surprisingly, seem not to exist - Peace River is nowhere to be seen, though the associated body of water is labeled 皮斯河 písī hé. Grimshaw, or 各里姆肖 gèlĭmŭxiào, is on the map but Fairview (费尔维优 fèiĕrwéiyōu) is not. And some main highways are marked, but none are numbered.
艾伯塔 àibótă is Alberta, and of the many ways of translating Edmonton the clumsy 挨德蒙顿 áidémēngdùn is the most common. On a drive from the capital up to 曼宁 mànníng, a place name that slips quite easily into Chinese, you might stop at the A&W in 怀特考特 huáitèkăotè (Whitecourt), or hold on until 福克斯克里克 fúkèsī kèlĭkè (Fox Creek). Or you might decide to go through 奴湖村 núhú cūn - Slave Lake (village) instead.
Grande Prairie comes through as 大草原成 dàcăoyuán chéng, a translation, while further north we find 帕德尔普雷里 pàdéĕr pŭléilĭ - Paddle Prairie. Most lakes are not given the Chinese word for lake, but called láikè; for example, 威廉斯来克 wēiliánsī láikè - Williams lake. On the other hand, nearly every place name starting with 'Fort' translates it; Fort Mac is 麦克默里堡 màikèmòlĭ băo, Fort Sask is 萨斯喀彻温堡 sàsīkāchèwēn băo. I was curious to see the names of places like Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw, but they are just transliterated - 梅迪辛哈特 méidíxīn hātè and 穆斯乔 mùsīqiáo. Brooks is 布鲁克斯 bùlŭkèsī.
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