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Name of places in Shar-Pei literatures can be quite confusing due to different translation from different Chinese dialects. The translation also depends on the translator who may speaks only a certain dialect. Thus the confusion in names when put into English in various English literatures.
The People in Guangdong province predominantly speaking a local dialect or Cantonese while the official language of China is called Mandarin, Guoyu or Putonghua depending on the time of history you are talking about.
There is one comment that there are over 100 different local dialects spoken in the Guangdong province, and the common language in Guangdong province is Cantonese or sometimes called Pakwa (literally meaning "understandable language").
Then for official language, in older days in English literatures, they referred to language spoken by the Chinese officials as Mandarin, and then during the Republican times (1911-1949) the educational reform turned it into Guoyu (literally meaning "national language" ). After the Chinese Communist took over in 1949, Putonghua (literally meaning "common language") became the official language of China.
Guoyu and Putonghua use different alphabetical phonetic spelling add to complication of difference in pronunciation between Cantonese and Putonghua. The glossary here helps you organize all the different names.
For simplicity, (P) means Putonghua, (C) for Cantonese, (D) for other local dialects, (E) for English and (T) stands for other translation.
Canton (E): An old name often used by older English literature referring to the area around the city of Guangzhou (P) today. The provincial capital of Guangdong (P) province. Due to British presence in the region since the 1840's (Opium War), it is one of the most used name in western historical literatures. Before the British influence to the region, the center of commercial activity is actually in Panyu (P) or Poonyu (C) 20 km south of Guangzhou (P).
Dailack (C): The name used by Nelson Lam in his discussion paper on "What is the Sharpei For?".
Dai Lek (C): The name used in Sharpei Club Hong Kong web site.
Dailick (C): The name used in Sharpei Club Hong Kong web site in a discussion on "Future of the Sharpei" .
Dali (P): Depending on the translation and pronunciation, it is also written as Dai Lek, Dailet, Dailik, Dailick, Dailack, Dialak, Tailack, Tailek, Tailet, Tailik, Tai Li etc. The official translation today is Dali in just the same way as Beijing stands for Peking.
Dialak (T): The name used in the FCI standard which should means Dali (P). It could be Dailak but lost in translation. It should use the same translation rule as Beijing for Peking, so it should be Dali in this case.
Dai Lek, Dailet, Dailik, Dailick, Dailack, Dialak: The various Cantonese pronunciation for Dali (P).
Guangdong (P): A province in Southern most China. Also named Canton (E), Kwangtung (T) or Kwun Tung (C) in some older literatures.
Guangzhou (P): The capital of Guangdong province. Also named Canton in older literature.
Guongdong (C): Same as Guangdong (P). The name used in Sharpei Club Hong Kong web site in a discussion on "Future of the Sharpei" .
Gwongchow (C): Same as Guangzhou (P), the capital of Guangdong (P) province. The name used in Nelson Lam paper on "The height and the weight of Sharpei".
Hong Kong (E): Situated at southern edge of Guangdong (P) province. 130 km southeast of Guangzhou City. About one hour by train from Hong Kong (with China visa).
Kwantung (C): The name used in the AKC Dog Book. Same as Guangdong (P).
Kwangtung (T): Name of Guangdong province used in older literatures.
Kwun Tung (C): The name used in the FCI standard for Guangdong (P). Should use the same translation rule as Beijing for Peking, so it should be Guangdong in this case.
Nanhai (P): A place about 20 km southwest of Guangzhou (P) city. Used to be Nanhai City in the 1900's but now became a district of Foshan city.
Tai Li (C): The name used in the AKC Dog Book. Same as Dali (P).
Tailack, Tailek, Tailet, Tailik, Tai Li: The various Cantonese pronunciation for Dali (P).
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Introduction
Geogrphical Names
