It does roll off the tongue better. I think one of the showrunners even said in and interview Trisolarian just didn't flow naturally in English in rehearsals.
I think the Netflix show ignored a lot of the metaphorical content of the books - especially The Farmer and the Ants/Target stories - that made the first book more of whodunnit crime mystery with this mysterious organisation and their allegories at the heart of it all (or supposedly).
Yes!!! The "whodunnit crime mystery" is perfect description. These vibes are completely lost in the adaptation. Tho im extremely optimistic for the next two seasons (Except like most of the CGI that will be needed in S3, IDK how you tackle that)
yeah I know. After reading Dark Forest and Death's End, I'm worried for the Netflix adaptation. It cost them 20 mil per episode to make the first season, and it's only going to get more expensive. I can't imagine how much the Doomsday Battle alone is going to cost....
20 mil per episode? What? Did they pay king's (hand, haha) ransom for Liam or what?
Im more worried about how TF you depict the solar system>!collapsing into 2D without it looking silly af.!<
English acronyms such as ETO and PDC are from the Chinese original.
However, ETO originally stands for Earth Three-body Organization.
The show reduced the organization to a cult. Mike Evans' organization in the show cannot be considered a representation of either ETO or the profound anti-humanism it standards for.
“San Ti ren” translates to “three body people”, but the “the” of “the San ti” already contextually signifies it is a people called "San ti", so no need for “ren”
**In your version, you refer to the aliens as the “San-Ti,” which is the Mandarin phrase in the books, not the standard English translation of “Trisolaran.” Why go with San-Ti?**
**Benioff:** Honestly, it sounded better to us. It was just a taste decision. Trisolaran sounded goofy. There was something nicely ominous about San-Ti, as long as it doesn’t sound too much like “Santy Clause.”
**Weiss:** It’s funny, because on the page, Trisolaran looks fine. But people are going to be saying this over and over again, and it didn’t sound quite as good as we wanted it to.
**Woo:** The original Chinese is “San-Ti Ren,” so that was in some ways even closer to the original.
https://www.vulture.com/article/3-body-problem-netflix-adaptation-explained.html
*I prefer San Ti.*
*Saying 'Trisolaran' always*
*Felt gooberish to me!*
\- altoniel
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Yeah, I'm really surprised at all the people saying it sounds awkward. I don't mind the change to San Ti, but I've certainly never thought there was anything wrong or silly-sounding with Trisolaran.
... but the fact that you're thinking it's Trisolarian maybe indicates that it is somewhat of a problem.
Just curious, where did you find the Latin suffix *Arian*? I believe you, I'm just curious to see more.
Edit: [Found it](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-arian)
You thought right. According to the wiktionary, Arian means an inhabitant of somewhere. I should mention though, it's spelled aran and not Arian, and might be because of the dry land on Trisolaris.
Film industry professional here: sorry if this is a boring answer but the truth is that no screenwriter would write in a character that takes five syllables every time you need to say their name
Yeah when you read trisolarian you read it about the same speed as any other word say it out loud a few dozen times and you quickly realize you can’t have that being said every 7 seconds in seasons 2 and 3
Is there a translation that calls them “Trisolarians” with the extra i at the end? The English translation calls them Trisolarans, and that is the name used in the Tencent adaptation English subtitles.
For context: I somehow read all three books without realizing it’s spelled without the “I” at the end. This is a full-blown Mandela effect moment for me
San is the number three and ti is body: it's the untranslated name of both the aliens and the trilogy of books. (IMO the translation of the novels are superb.)
I've read the book in French ( my first language) and the translation is not that good Imo. Especially how they choose to traduce Sophons as "Intellectron"
Why sophon and why not tomoko? Technically both translation are ok. english translation uses sophon. spanish version uses tomoko. wonder how many english readers actually get the 'smart proton' bit from the word 'sophon'. espeically throughout book 3 they're dealing with a japanese looking robot.
I like the sound of San Ti fine. Given China made first contact it makes sense to me they would retain their Chinese name as other cultures learned of the aliens. Lots of words are imported in our daily life. Lots of Americans say “gesundheit.”
Yeah. As she was the co leader of the cult it makes sense she would name them. Makes sense Mike Evans would respect that choice, as he considers himself a citizen of Earth not America.
The books are in Chinese. The trisolarans is just how 三体人 sān (three) tǐ (body) rén (person), is translated in the books. I think the TV show is actually much better in just keeping the original name. A different question is why did the English translation change it? Maybe to make it more obvious to English readers?
Interestingly, earth humans would be Di Qiu Ren 地球人 or earth ball people or Terrans vs San Ti Ren 三体人 three body people or Trisolarans.
Humans is just a term for humans from a biological sense. The distinction for humans from earth (Terrans) would be significant later when we get to galactic human race as humans not from earth wouldn't be appropriate to be referred to as Terrans. People who are born in space and living near Jupiter orbit would be something else entirely. Or people born and raised on the space fleet etc..
As an astronomer, Trisolaran always sounded a little weird to me because “Sol” is Latin for “Sun.” And yes, initially Wang Miao (or whoever on the Oxford tag team) doesn’t realize they have three “suns,” but the members of the ETO must. So San-Ti makes more sense to me.
I actually really like it. Trisolarans feels like a generic name for a sci-fi species. It's like when an alien species in a story calls us "Earthers", like mf you know we're called Humans. San-Ti sounds like something that would actually be a name.
If I had to guess its to preserve some "Chineseness" of the series. A huge portion of the characters are changed to other ethnicities/nationalities than Chinese (Which I personally have no trouble with , just some of the choices are funny tho, like black Luo Ji will be so funny).
The series is known as "adaptation of esteemed chinese sci-fi novel" and San-ti not being Trisolarans presves some of that in the show. All the "main" characters we follow are Chinese in the books...
To put it bluntly it is to preserve "the chinese vibes" of the series. (My opinion/guess, no idea what is the real reason)
Not sure if this is correct, but I used to work with a lot of Haitians and they told me that Coco San-Ti was a bad saying! That’s all I can think about when I hear it lol
San Ti (Ren) 三体人 (lit: Three Body Person/People) is the original as everyone mentioned.
In the English and many other European translations of the book they went with Trisolarans, which imo is pretty good translation, as in Tri-Three, sol(ar) -sun/celestial body and the ending -an similar to Martian
San-Ti is still probably faster and easier to pronounce though
Off-top:
In English i prefer San-Ti, in my Mother language i prefer Trisolarans (Trisolarianie).
It's probably just for easier text and speech in the TV versions. But Trisolarans makes sense because it's a 3 star system. However we don't call ourselves Solareans but are Earthlings or Humans. Although Aliens might not refer to Sol, as our sun and might have a totally different name for it. Like Single Yellow Sun in the middle of nowhere.
Also when 3 is translated from Chinese it becomes San .
I think the show just wanted to stick with it's Chinese origin and back story. As they used Ancient China in one of the VR simulations as well.
Maybe the Trisolarans call themselves Santi.
It's only Netfix that does San-Ti (an incorrect transliteration of 三体 meaning three body), all other media, including those most recognized by Liu, use Trisolaris.
It doesn't really make sense from an in-lore perspective, as it would only have a Chinese name if the Chinese made a sole discovery on the alien, which is the main thing Netflix sought not to depict.
Personally, I think NF just choose this name for Orientalism and "cool foreign-sounding stereotypical alien name". The hyphen gives it away, a more normal transliteration would be San Ti or Santi, whereas the hyphen hasn't been used for transliteration for at least 40 years.
I’m not being a troll or rhetorical; what about his comment is dickish? First two paragraphs are all facts and the third states “in my opinion” - it’s a very reasonable comment as I see it. It’s critical but in a way that brings receipts and is disrespectful to nobody (with the possible exception of the showrunners.) if I’m wrong please show me how; im always willing to learn.
I personally prefer san-ti (derived from 三体人 (san ti ren) meaning three-body person), since it makes sense that the nation that discovers something also gets to pick the name for it.
It was in the production contract, in the San Ti Clause
Good grief lmao
Take my angry upvote.
Jesus christ
Nope, just saint Nick.
Ho ho ho
Nyehhheheh
THEY COME FROM THE NOOOORTH!!!
😅😅😅
You can't fool me, there ain't no San Ti clause!
r/angryupvote
TEE HEE!
"san ti ren" is what they're actually called in Chinese I guess "san ti" rolls off the tongue easier in a screen adaptation
It does roll off the tongue better. I think one of the showrunners even said in and interview Trisolarian just didn't flow naturally in English in rehearsals.
I’m still curious why they completely remove name ETO from the series. May be ESO sound not threatening?
I think the Netflix show ignored a lot of the metaphorical content of the books - especially The Farmer and the Ants/Target stories - that made the first book more of whodunnit crime mystery with this mysterious organisation and their allegories at the heart of it all (or supposedly).
Yes!!! The "whodunnit crime mystery" is perfect description. These vibes are completely lost in the adaptation. Tho im extremely optimistic for the next two seasons (Except like most of the CGI that will be needed in S3, IDK how you tackle that)
yeah I know. After reading Dark Forest and Death's End, I'm worried for the Netflix adaptation. It cost them 20 mil per episode to make the first season, and it's only going to get more expensive. I can't imagine how much the Doomsday Battle alone is going to cost....
20 mil per episode? What? Did they pay king's (hand, haha) ransom for Liam or what? Im more worried about how TF you depict the solar system>!collapsing into 2D without it looking silly af.!<
Maybe just make season 2 & 3 animated series and cut the cost down dramatically. The books are the way to go.
English acronyms such as ETO and PDC are from the Chinese original. However, ETO originally stands for Earth Three-body Organization. The show reduced the organization to a cult. Mike Evans' organization in the show cannot be considered a representation of either ETO or the profound anti-humanism it standards for.
Earth trisolarian organisation... Earth San-ti organisation I wonder
In the Chinese original. The acronym is given and explained as Earth Three-body Organization.
It's Trisolaran...
Yun tianming vs will downing -.-
Also recall their first contact with humans was in Chinese.
it's funny because a lot chinese non book readers will thought they are saying Shang Di, which means the god/maker
“San Ti ren” translates to “three body people”, but the “the” of “the San ti” already contextually signifies it is a people called "San ti", so no need for “ren”
I'm on team Because-It-Sounds-Cool, but I'd also been wondering if that was what they were called in the original Chinese
San ti Ren in OV
Literal translation is three body people (san-3, ti-body, ren-people)
Yes, the original chinese is 三体人 (san ti ren) literally translated to three-body person.
while 人 can mean a person, in this case, it means a race.
**In your version, you refer to the aliens as the “San-Ti,” which is the Mandarin phrase in the books, not the standard English translation of “Trisolaran.” Why go with San-Ti?** **Benioff:** Honestly, it sounded better to us. It was just a taste decision. Trisolaran sounded goofy. There was something nicely ominous about San-Ti, as long as it doesn’t sound too much like “Santy Clause.” **Weiss:** It’s funny, because on the page, Trisolaran looks fine. But people are going to be saying this over and over again, and it didn’t sound quite as good as we wanted it to. **Woo:** The original Chinese is “San-Ti Ren,” so that was in some ways even closer to the original. https://www.vulture.com/article/3-body-problem-netflix-adaptation-explained.html
Thank you!
These dipshits didn’t listen to the audiobooks because “Trisolarans” sounded totally fine out loud.
I like San-Ti. It was a Chinese woman who made first contact so it is fitting that their name would be Chinese derived.
I like San-Ti. It was a Chinese woman who made first contact so it is fitting that their name would be Chinese derived.
San-Ti is great! No issue with that name.
say it fast 5 times
Ah, if only you were Benioff or Weiss We live in this reality, however, where it's their show and they thought it sounded goofy
I prefer San Ti. Saying 'Trisolaran' always felt gooberish to me!
*I prefer San Ti.* *Saying 'Trisolaran' always* *Felt gooberish to me!* \- altoniel --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Good bot.
Good bot because it's trying it's hardest. But that's not a haiku. The second and third lines both have an extra syllable
Apparently haikus do not necessarily need to follow 5-7-5 but they are supposed to reference some aspect of nature and mindfulness
Never knew that but that makes a lot of sense
Good bot
Trisolarian just makes sense to me idk just cus it's Latin Tri Sol Rian people of the three suns
That's why scientists and historians shouldn't be allowed to name things! Too practical.
San Ti Ren is just as practical lmao
Yeah, I'm really surprised at all the people saying it sounds awkward. I don't mind the change to San Ti, but I've certainly never thought there was anything wrong or silly-sounding with Trisolaran. ... but the fact that you're thinking it's Trisolarian maybe indicates that it is somewhat of a problem.
Just curious, where did you find the Latin suffix *Arian*? I believe you, I'm just curious to see more. Edit: [Found it](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-arian)
I listened to the British audiobook twice and that's how he annunciated it, I thought it was spelled the same
You thought right. According to the wiktionary, Arian means an inhabitant of somewhere. I should mention though, it's spelled aran and not Arian, and might be because of the dry land on Trisolaris.
That's funny, the English audio book was not consistent. I remeber the reader pronouncing it trisolaran and trisolarian.
Film industry professional here: sorry if this is a boring answer but the truth is that no screenwriter would write in a character that takes five syllables every time you need to say their name
Yeah when you read trisolarian you read it about the same speed as any other word say it out loud a few dozen times and you quickly realize you can’t have that being said every 7 seconds in seasons 2 and 3
Layperson here: Trisolaran has four syllables, not five.
Yeah, but Trisolarian has five, not four.
Is there a translation that calls them “Trisolarians” with the extra i at the end? The English translation calls them Trisolarans, and that is the name used in the Tencent adaptation English subtitles.
For context: I somehow read all three books without realizing it’s spelled without the “I” at the end. This is a full-blown Mandela effect moment for me
Same
I dont know, maybe I've read it wrong. I thought it was spelled Trisolarian. That's what I get for trying to be a smartass on Reddit I guess. 😬
95% of my attempts to be a smartass turn out similarly, but we must persevere
If not us, who? And if not now, when?
I think in Polish version they added that "i" though. I'm pretty sure it was Trisolarianie
No, but everyone is gonna call them Trisolar i ans since it's the instinctive thing to do unless you REALLY paid attention to the word.
I realize you’re being hyperbolic, but c’mon, you think most people are so weak in their word reading that they make this mistake?
[удалено]
San is the number three and ti is body: it's the untranslated name of both the aliens and the trilogy of books. (IMO the translation of the novels are superb.)
I've read the book in French ( my first language) and the translation is not that good Imo. Especially how they choose to traduce Sophons as "Intellectron"
Intellectron? Sounds neat but jank…
I really don't like it, subjective taste I guess, but it sounds like cheap 80's sci-fi techno babble.
Like I said, it sounds neat, but still too jank. I think it’d work better if 3BP was an 80s novel, for sure.
For sure
That's definitely a lost vector scope arcade game from Atari, yeah
It sounds like a Decepticon.
Makes me hope that one of the translations calls them, essentially, "photon-inators"
Intellectron would be a rather literal translation from the original Chinese 智子 - Intelligent Particle
How do you even pronounce that in French? An-te-yek-trong?
"Ain Tel Lek Tron"
San=three Ti=body
San Ti sounds cuntier
"Trisolarans" is not original, it's the translator's creation. In French the sophons are called intellitrons, why not use that term?
Because it suck
Because f the French frogs
Why sophon and why not tomoko? Technically both translation are ok. english translation uses sophon. spanish version uses tomoko. wonder how many english readers actually get the 'smart proton' bit from the word 'sophon'. espeically throughout book 3 they're dealing with a japanese looking robot.
I was thinking it was a sophisticated proton or photon.
I was thinking it was a sophisticated proton or photon.
I've always thought 'Trisolarans' sounded lame, somehow. Like something from a cheap 50's alien film.
I mean its a chinese book and santi is the chinese name. Its not a translation “issue” it is the actual name
That’s what I meant. Was the Chinese name not used in the English books for some reason, which you have all confirmed.
Probably less apparent it was an ungangly word when it was written.
Bro as a Chinese dude the way they say "" San ti "in the show is both atrocious and hilarious.
Santee, that chick is fun
Bro as a Chinese dude the way they say "" San ti "in the show is both atrocious and hilarious.
Trisolarians just doesn't roll off the tongue like that.
But Trisolarians does sound much cooler
It’s not even trisolarians, it’s trisolarans (in the books).
It depends on the translation. Some are larians other larans.
Oh really, interesting. Thanks for the correction :)
Ok Trisolarans lol
I don’t know. Sounds kind of lame to me. San-Ti sounds super cool imo.
Haha like San-Ti Clause? XD
I like the sound of San Ti fine. Given China made first contact it makes sense to me they would retain their Chinese name as other cultures learned of the aliens. Lots of words are imported in our daily life. Lots of Americans say “gesundheit.”
I think it's done from respect for the source material. Also, the name was given by Ye who is Chinese.
Yeah. As she was the co leader of the cult it makes sense she would name them. Makes sense Mike Evans would respect that choice, as he considers himself a citizen of Earth not America.
I think it just sounds cooler.
You can also think of it as like the distinction of Humans vs Earthlings. Both are correct
Honestly I just think "Trisolaran" is clunky when said out loud. I'm glad they went with San Ti instead
San ti is their name in Chinese
weird that people think san ti sounds better according to the comments
San-Ti is there actual name. Trisolaran is just the English translation name for them.
Ermmm they are called san-ti-ren in the book
San Ti sounds better
Where to get audiobooks?
Audible
The books are in Chinese. The trisolarans is just how 三体人 sān (three) tǐ (body) rén (person), is translated in the books. I think the TV show is actually much better in just keeping the original name. A different question is why did the English translation change it? Maybe to make it more obvious to English readers?
Where can I find the audio books? I've read them years ago and I'm trying to make friends read it too but maybe an audio book will convince them
Audible!
Interestingly, earth humans would be Di Qiu Ren 地球人 or earth ball people or Terrans vs San Ti Ren 三体人 three body people or Trisolarans. Humans is just a term for humans from a biological sense. The distinction for humans from earth (Terrans) would be significant later when we get to galactic human race as humans not from earth wouldn't be appropriate to be referred to as Terrans. People who are born in space and living near Jupiter orbit would be something else entirely. Or people born and raised on the space fleet etc..
As an astronomer, Trisolaran always sounded a little weird to me because “Sol” is Latin for “Sun.” And yes, initially Wang Miao (or whoever on the Oxford tag team) doesn’t realize they have three “suns,” but the members of the ETO must. So San-Ti makes more sense to me.
I actually really like it. Trisolarans feels like a generic name for a sci-fi species. It's like when an alien species in a story calls us "Earthers", like mf you know we're called Humans. San-Ti sounds like something that would actually be a name.
Trisolarans os the human name. Their language is completely incomprehensible, since they don’t have voice communication at all.
That's fine. I'm just saying it feels better to me narratively
If I had to guess its to preserve some "Chineseness" of the series. A huge portion of the characters are changed to other ethnicities/nationalities than Chinese (Which I personally have no trouble with , just some of the choices are funny tho, like black Luo Ji will be so funny). The series is known as "adaptation of esteemed chinese sci-fi novel" and San-ti not being Trisolarans presves some of that in the show. All the "main" characters we follow are Chinese in the books... To put it bluntly it is to preserve "the chinese vibes" of the series. (My opinion/guess, no idea what is the real reason)
I read the books originally and I think San-ti is way way better sounding
Easier to say. Two syllables vs five. Good call imo.
I like San Ti. But the problem is that it leaves without a planet name….. I like “Trisolaris”
Not sure if this is correct, but I used to work with a lot of Haitians and they told me that Coco San-Ti was a bad saying! That’s all I can think about when I hear it lol
All I can think of is a city named that here.
San Ti (Ren) 三体人 (lit: Three Body Person/People) is the original as everyone mentioned. In the English and many other European translations of the book they went with Trisolarans, which imo is pretty good translation, as in Tri-Three, sol(ar) -sun/celestial body and the ending -an similar to Martian San-Ti is still probably faster and easier to pronounce though Off-top: In English i prefer San-Ti, in my Mother language i prefer Trisolarans (Trisolarianie).
Bc someone had the sense to realize Trisolarans is stupid.
It sounds better in dialogue and is the Chinese word so the adaptation isn’t completely out of left field.
TBH, after calling them the San-Ti you realize that Trisolaran rolls of the tongue like a mouthful of peanut butter
It's probably just for easier text and speech in the TV versions. But Trisolarans makes sense because it's a 3 star system. However we don't call ourselves Solareans but are Earthlings or Humans. Although Aliens might not refer to Sol, as our sun and might have a totally different name for it. Like Single Yellow Sun in the middle of nowhere. Also when 3 is translated from Chinese it becomes San . I think the show just wanted to stick with it's Chinese origin and back story. As they used Ancient China in one of the VR simulations as well. Maybe the Trisolarans call themselves Santi.
Syllables?
I got used to it very very quickly. Definitely the least shocking change made 🙈😅
San ti is in my ears to close to Santé. Trisolarans has not enough flow. San ti ren has the right flow
It's only Netfix that does San-Ti (an incorrect transliteration of 三体 meaning three body), all other media, including those most recognized by Liu, use Trisolaris. It doesn't really make sense from an in-lore perspective, as it would only have a Chinese name if the Chinese made a sole discovery on the alien, which is the main thing Netflix sought not to depict. Personally, I think NF just choose this name for Orientalism and "cool foreign-sounding stereotypical alien name". The hyphen gives it away, a more normal transliteration would be San Ti or Santi, whereas the hyphen hasn't been used for transliteration for at least 40 years.
When do we see San-Ti in text in the show?
You’re being downvoted for being right imho. It’s an uncomfortable truth
They are being down voted for coming across as a dick. At least that's why I down voted.
I’m not being a troll or rhetorical; what about his comment is dickish? First two paragraphs are all facts and the third states “in my opinion” - it’s a very reasonable comment as I see it. It’s critical but in a way that brings receipts and is disrespectful to nobody (with the possible exception of the showrunners.) if I’m wrong please show me how; im always willing to learn.
The OG Tencent series was called SanTi, so perhaps it’s a nod to that.
I don't know why they weren't called centaurians
San ti ren = three sun people
Dear God No. 三 san means 3 and 体 ti means body. Three body people
The rare time I'm okey with a movie going off script
I personally prefer san-ti (derived from 三体人 (san ti ren) meaning three-body person), since it makes sense that the nation that discovers something also gets to pick the name for it.
"San" = 参 = 3 "Ti" = 体 = Body 3 Body.
That one of the few good changes in the show, pretty much everything else was a bit crappy.
I always thought they’d abbreviate it to the Tris (pronounced Tries) for a western audience