South China Sea

English

South China Sea

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

the South China Sea

1. The western arm of the Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland and Taiwan, Borneo and the Philippines.
   • 1898 May, “The Philippine Islands”, in The Locomotive‎^[1], volume XIX, number 5, Hartford, Conn.: Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, →OCLC, page 77:

     The Philippine Islands are an archipelago southeast of Asia. They extend almost due north and south from Formosa to Borneo, and they separate the South China Sea from the Pacific Ocean.

   • 2015, Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America‎^[2], Threshold Editions, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 222:

     Ignoring international law, the Chinese have claimed sovereignty over most of the South China Sea and are embarked upon a massive land reclamation and construction program to bolster these claims.

   Coordinate terms: East China Sea, Bohai Sea

Synonyms

• East Sea (Vietnamese)
• West Philippine Sea (Philippines)

Translations

Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland and Taiwan, Borneo and the Philippines

• Afrikaans: Suid-Chinese See
• Albanian: Deti i Kinës Jugore
• Amharic: ደቡብ ቻይና ባሕር (däbub čayna baḥr)
• Arabic: بَحْر الصِّين الْجَنُوبِيّ m (baḥr aṣ-ṣīn al-janūbiyy)
• Armenian: Հարավ-Չինական ծով (Harav-Čʻinakan cov)
• Azerbaijani: Cənubi Çin dənizi
• Basque: Hego Txinako itsasoa
• Belarusian: Паўднёва-Кіта́йскае мо́ра n (Paŭdnjova-Kitájskaje móra)
• Bengali: দক্ষিণ চীন সাগর (dokkhin cin śagor)
• Breton: Mor Su Sina m
• Bulgarian: Южнокита́йско море́ n (Južnokitájsko moré)
• Burmese: တောင်တရုတ်ပင်လယ် (taungta.rutpanglai)
• Catalan: mar de la Xina Meridional f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 南海 (naam⁴ hoi²), 南中國海／南中国海 (naam⁴ zung¹ gwok³ hoi²)

  Mandarin: 南海 (zh) (Nánhǎi), 南中國海／南中国海 (zh) (Nán Zhōngguó Hǎi)

• Czech: Jihočínské moře n
• Danish: Sydkinesiske Hav n
• Dutch: Zuid-Chinese Zee (nl) f
• Esperanto: Sudĉina Maro
• Estonian: Lõuna-Hiina meri
• Finnish: Etelä-Kiinanmeri
• French: mer de Chine méridionale (fr) f
• Galician: mar da China Meridional m
• Georgian: სამხრეთ ჩინეთის ზღვა (samxret činetis zɣva)
• German: Südchinesisches Meer (de) n
• Greek: Θάλασσα της Νότιας Κίνας f (Thálassa tis Nótias Kínas)
• Gujarati: દક્ષિણ ચીન સાગર (dakṣiṇ cīn sāgar)
• Hebrew: ים סין הדרומי m (yám sin ha-drómi)
• Hindi: दक्षिणी चीन सागर m (dakṣiṇī cīn sāgar)
• Hungarian: Dél-kínai-tenger (hu)
• Icelandic: Suður-Kínahaf n
• Indonesian: Laut Tiongkok Selatan, Laut Natuna Utara (literally “North Natuna Sea”) (formal)
• Irish: Muir na Síne Theas f
• Italian: Mar Cinese Meridionale m
• Japanese: 南シナ海 (ja) (みなみしなかい, Minami Shina-kai), 南支那海 (みなみしなかい, Minami Shina-kai)
• Kazakh: Оңтүстік Қытай теңізі (Oñtüstık Qytai teñızı)
• Khmer: សមុទ្រចិនខាងត្បូង (km) (saʼmot cən khaang tboung)
• Korean: 남중국해(南中國海) (ko) (Namjunggukhae)
• Kyrgyz: Түштүк Кытай деңизи (Tüştük Kıtay deŋizi)
• Lao: ທະເລຈີນໃຕ້ (tha lē chīn tai)
• Latvian: Dienvidķīnas jūra f
• Lithuanian: Pietų Kinijos jūra f
• Macedonian: Јужнокинеско Море n (Južnokinesko More)
• Malay: Laut China Selatan (ms)
• Malayalam: ദക്ഷിണ ചൈനാക്കടൽ (dakṣiṇa cainākkaṭal)
• Maltese: Baħar Ċiniż Nofsinhar m
• Marathi: दक्षिण चीन समुद्र (dakṣiṇ cīn samudra)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Өмнөд Хятадын тэнгис (Ömnöd Xjatadyn tengis)

• Navajo: Tónteel náátsʼósí
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Sørkinahavet n

  Nynorsk: Sørkinahavet n

• Persian: دریای جنوبی چین (daryâ-ye jonubi čin)
• Polish: Morze Południowochińskie (pl) n
• Portuguese: Mar da China Meridional m
• Punjabi: ਦੱਖਣੀ ਚੀਨ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ (dakkhaṇī cīn samundar)
• Romanian: Marea Chinei de Sud f
• Russian: Ю́жно-Кита́йское мо́ре (ru) n (Júžno-Kitájskoje móre)
• Scots: Sooth Cheenae Sea
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Јужнокинеско море n

  Roman: Južnokinesko more n

• Slovak: Juhočínske more n
• Slovene: Južnokitajsko morje n
• Spanish: mar de la China Meridional m
• Swahili: Bahari ya Uchina Kusini
• Swedish: Sydkinesiska sjön c, Sydkinesiska havet n
• Tagalog: Timog Dagat Tsina
• Tajik: Баҳри Ҷануби Хитой (Bahr-i Janub-i Xitoy)
• Tamil: தென்சீனக் கடல் (teṉcīṉak kaṭal)
• Tatar: Көньяк Кытай диңгезе (Kön’yak Qıtay diñgeze)
• Telugu: దక్షిణ చైనా సముద్రం (dakṣiṇa cainā samudraṁ)
• Thai: ทะเลจีนใต้ (tá-lee jiin dtâai)
• Turkish: Güney Çin Denizi (tr)
• Turkmen: Günorta Hytaý deňzi
• Ukrainian: Південнокита́йське мо́ре n (Pivdennokytájsʹke móre)
• Urdu: بحیرہ جنوبی چین f (bahīrā janūbī cīn)
• Uzbek: Janubiy Xitoy dengizi
• Vietnamese: Biển Đông (vi) (㴜東)
• Welsh: Môr De Tsieina m
• West Frisian: Súdsineeske See

See also

• nine-dash line

Further reading

• “South China Sea”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “South China Sea”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “South China Sea”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “South China Sea” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.