Patrick Andries scripsit:
> >So the change is more like Beijing -> Peking than Berlin -> Kitchener.
>
> Without a political change Constantinople would not have changed name in
> a matter of days (at least as far as the officials were concerned). In
> any case, it is not a transliteration problem (Beijing --> Pékin).
Not just a transliteration problem, either: Mandarin Chinese underwent
a sound-shift in the 17th century that changed the second syllable from
"ging" to "jing", but the English name was already set (and the change
did not affect Southern Sinitic in any case; cf. Cantonese "pak king").
In addition, when it isn't the capital (bei jing = "North-capital"),
i.e. 1928-49, its name is Beiping ("north-peace").
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