Spratly Islands

English

Etymology

Named after British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted the islands in 1843.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sprǎtʹlē

Proper noun

Spratly Islands

1. A group of islands, atolls, reefs, and cays in the South China Sea.
   • 1939 April 21, T. A. Bisson, “Roosevelt Appeal Jolts Dictators”, in Foreign Policy Bulletin‎^[1], volume XVIII, number 26, Foreign Policy Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 2-3:

     On the other hand, two moves by Japan during this period may have a certain significance. The first was announcement of Japanese occupation of the Spratly islands on March 31, complemented by the annexation, on April 18, of a group of reefs and islets 300 miles long between French Indo-China, the Philippines and British North Borneo in the South China Sea. […]
     The line of least resistance, however, clearly lies toward the south. France and Britain, in particular, would have small military and naval forces at their disposal to protect their eastern possession; or the oil of the Dutch East Indies—for Japan the greatest prize of all. The occupation of Hainan and the Spratly islands has already pointed the way. Only one serious obstacle threatens attainment of this objective: the United States.

   • 1942, William Henry Chamberlin, “Can Japan Rule East Asia?”, in Japan Over Asia‎^[2], Revised and Enlarged edition, Garden City, NY: Blue Ribbon Books, →OCLC, pages 424, 430:

     Japan has strengthened its naval position during the war by occupying Hainan Island, located midway between Hong Kong and French Indo-China and squarely athwart the sea route from Hong Kong to Singapore, and the Spratly Islands, off the coast of Indo-China, a little group of coral reefs which may be useful as advanced submarine bases. […]
     Japan remained relatively passive during the first weeks of the new crisis generated by Hitler’s eastward march and the efforts of Great Britain to forge a wall of resistance among the East European countries. The seizure of the Spratly Islands, a small group of coral reefs off the southeastern coast of Indo-China, was a minor operation, although this would certainly not have taken place if France had not been too much concerned in Europe to assert its right of ownership over the Spratly group.

   • 1945 January 20, “Seven New Year's Days”, in Army Talks‎^[3], volume III, number 2, page 5:

     In the eastern hemisphere the Japanese occupied the island of Hainan off French Indo-China; annexed the Spratly islands further south, between Indo-China and Borneo; and continued local gains in north China.

   • 1975 May 11, “ROC still holds Spratly Islands; no Red challenge”, in Free China Weekly‎^[4], volume XVI, number 18, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

     The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are still occupied by troops of the Republic of China, according to Major General Li Chang-hao, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense.

   • 2015 May 21, “Chinese navy warns off U.S. reconnaissance plane over Spratlys”, in Focus Taiwan‎^[5], archived from the original on 27 September 2022, Cross-Strait:

     A United States P8A surveillance aircraft flying near the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea on May 20 was asked by the Chinese navy to leave the area.

   • 2023 December 26, Wesley Rahn, “Why the South China Sea was turbulent in 2023”, in Deutsche Welle‎^[6], archived from the original on December 26, 2023, Conflicts‎^[7]:

     On December 10, a flotilla of 40 boats set off from the Philippine coastal town of El Nido in Palawan province to a group of islets and shoals in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, parts of which are claimed by several countries.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Spratly Islands.

Synonyms

• Spratlys
• (from Filipino) Kalayaan
• (from Mandarin Chinese) Nansha
• (from Vietnamese) Truong Sa

Translations

islands

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 南沙群島／南沙群岛 (naam⁴ saa¹ kwan⁴ dou²)

  Mandarin: 南沙群島／南沙群岛 (zh) (Nánshā qúndǎo)

• Finnish: Spratlysaaret
• French: îles des Spratleys (fr) f pl, Îles Spratleys (fr) f pl
• German: Spratly-Inseln (de) f pl
• Indonesian: Kepulauan Spratly
• Japanese: 南沙諸島 (なんさしょとう, Nansa shotō), スプラトリー諸島 (Supuratorī shotō)
• Korean: 스프래틀리 군도 (Seupeuraeteulli gundo)
• Malay: Kepulauan Spratly
• Russian: острова́ Спра́тли m pl (ostrová Sprátli)
• Spanish: islas Spratly f pl
• Tagalog: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan, Spratly Islands
• Vietnamese: quần đảo Trường Sa

Further reading

• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Spratly Islands or Nansha Islands”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[8], volume 3, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 3003, column 1
• “Spratly Islands, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Spratly Islands”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.