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Language Log: Sea Bay Restaurant

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Thomas Lumley sent in this nice multilingual pun from Sydney, Australia: The Chinese part of the sign reads: Xīběi fànzhuāng 西北飯莊 ("Northwest Restaurant"). While the quality of the sibilants is quite different (Mandarin "x" is a postalveolar sibilant, viz., a voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative; English "s" is a voiceless alveolar sibilant), the person who thought up this clever English name for the Xīběi fànzhuāng 西北飯莊 ("Northwest Restaurant") recognized them as being close enough for the pun to work. Now would someone in Sydney please call up the restaurant to ask whether they serve northwestern Chinese cuisine or seafood? The telephone number is right there on the sign.

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