X (sh)

(see also Sh)

Firefly–Serenity Chinese Pinyinary
Chinese translations with standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization and Chinese characters for Firefly the TV series and Serenity the movie and comic books

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Chinese Dialog

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Xi1 niu2

Simplified/Traditional characters: 吸牛
Back-translation of Mandarin: Cow-sucking
Script Mandarin translation (phonetic for English speakers): Shee-niou
Translated from script English: Cow sucking
Context: “Ariel,” Jayne, referring to Alliance’s high-tech, but ineffectual, sonic rifle

xi1 niu2

cow-sucking, that sucks cows

xi1: to suck up, to absorb
niu2: a cow

Note:

Jayne correctly sounds like “Shee-niou,” but the captions (region 1 DVD) incorrectly have Se-niou!

See also:

Niu2fen4. (“Safe”)
niu2shi3 (“War Stories”)

xiao3mei4mei4

Simplified/Traditional characters: 小妹妹
Back-translation of Mandarin: little sister
1. Script Mandarin translation (Hanyu Pinyin romanization): xiao meimei [phonetic for English speakers: shao may-may]
Translated from script English: little sister
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Mal, addressing Kaylee
2. Comics Mandarin translation (simplified/traditional characters): 小妹妹
Phonetic for English speakers: shao may-may
Context: Serenity: Better Days #1, Wash, p. 19, referring to Kaylee
3. Comics Mandarin translation (simplified/traditional characters): 小妹妹
Phonetic for English speakers: shao may-may
Context: Serenity: Better Days #2, Simon, p. 11, referring to River

xiao3mei4mei4

younger sister, young girl

xiao3: to be junior
mei4 [used only in compound words]: [repeated] little sister, younger sister

Notes:

Mal sounds like “zao mei-mei” (“zao may-may”) instead of “shao may-may.” The captions incorrectly have only mei-mei on the region 1 DVD.
Unlike in mei4mei5, the repeated mei in xiao3mei4mei4 retains 4th tone instead of changing to neutral 5th tone.

Also:

Mandarin Words for Siblings
Relation / Gender	Female	Male
Older Sibling	jie3jie5 姐姐 older sister	ge1ge5 哥哥 older brother
Younger Sibling	mei4mei5 妹妹 younger sister	di4di5 弟弟 younger brother

See also:

mei4mei5 (“Serenity, Part 1,” “Safe,” “Our Mrs. Reynolds” [Cut], “Ariel,” “War Stories,” “Heart of Gold”)
Zhu4fu2 ni3, mei4mei5. (“Heart of Gold”)

Xie4xie5

Simplified characters: 谢谢 / Traditional characters: 謝謝
Back-translation of Mandarin: Thank you
Script Mandarin translation (phonetic for English speakers): Sheh-sheh
Translated from script English: Thank you
Context: “Shindig,” Kaylee, to Mal for permission to visit the buffet table

xie4xie5

thank you, thanks [expression]

xie4: [repeated with neutral 5th tone] to thank

Notes:

The captions have the Hanyu Pinyin romanization form Xie-xie on the region 1 DVD.
Also:
- fei1chang2 gan3xie4 非常感谢 (traditional: 非常感謝 ): thank you very much; fei1chang2: very, highly (fei1: not, to be not; chang2 [for this meaning, used only in compound words]: regular, normal); gan3xie4: to thank, to be thankful, thanks [noun and expression] (gan3: to feel, to feel grateful; xie4: to thank)
- gan3xie4 感谢 (traditional: 感謝 ): to thank, to be thankful, thanks [noun and expression] [see above]

xiong1can2 sha1shou3

Simplified characters: 凶残杀手 / Traditional characters: 凶殘殺手
Back-translation of Mandarin: ruthless killer
Script Mandarin translation (phonetic for English speakers): SHIONG-tsan SHA-sho
Translated from script English: ass-kicking killer
Context: “The Message,” Kaylee, telling Tracey how he makes wartime Zoe sound

xiong1can2

to be ruthless, to be savage

xiong1: to be brutal, to be ferocious
can2 [used only in compound words]: ruthless, ferocious

sha1shou3

a (professional) killer, a hit-man

sha1: to kill
shou3 [for this meaning, used only in compound words]: a professional, a person skilled at something

Notes:

Kaylee sounds like “shiong tse sha sho” instead of the SHIONG-tsan SHA-sho of the script.
Thank you to Firefly Chinese translator Jenny Lynn for the script English (and for confirming the Hanyu Pinyin romanization in this entry) before the script was published.

See also:

xiong1meng3 de5 kuang2ren2 (“Objects in Space”)

xiong2mao1 niao4

Simplified characters: 熊猫尿 / Traditional characters: 熊貓尿
Back-translation of Mandarin: panda urine
Script Mandarin translation (phonetic for English speakers): shiong mao niao
Translated from script English: panda urine
Context: “Jaynestown,” Bartender (of the Canton factory settlement), about Mudder’s Milk being unworthy of the Hero

xiong2mao1 [de5]

panda’s, of a panda

xiong2mao1: a panda
1. xiong2: a bear
2. mao1: a cat
[understood: de5 的 : [noun-modifier marker] [here: possessive (genitive), ’s, of]]

niao4

urine

Note:

The Bartender sounds like “shung mao niao” instead of the shiong mao niao of the script.

See also:

chou4 ma3-niao4 (Serenity [novelization])
niao4 shi1 de5 du3gui3 (“Heart of Gold”)

xiong1meng3 de5 kuang2ren2

Simplified/Traditional characters: 凶猛的狂人
Back-translation of Mandarin: violent lunatic
Script Mandarin translation (phonetic for English speakers): SHIONG-mung duh kuang-ren
Translated from script English: violent lunatic
Context: “Objects in Space,” Inara, referring to Early

xiong1meng3 de5

to be violent, to be fierce

xiong1: to be ferocious, to be fierce
meng3: to be fierce
de5: [noun-modifier marker] [here: integrated adjectival clause (restrictive relative clause)]

kuang2ren2

[contemptuous] a lunatic, a madman

kuang2: to be crazy, to be insane
ren2: a person

See also:

fang4zong4 feng1kuang2 de5 jie2 (“War Stories”)
kuang2zhe3 de5 (“Serenity, Part 2”)
Wo3 de5 ma1 he2 ta1 de5 feng1kuang2 de5 wai4sheng5 dou1 (“Our Mrs. Reynolds”)
xiong1can2 sha1shou3 (“The Message”)