# What would China, and India, and Japan name a lunar base? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156 "2010-08-23T14:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/1 "2010-08-23T14:34:14Z")
Lets say in a few hundred years China, India and Japan work together and found their first base on the moon, what would they name it? Is the word for moon similar enough in their languages for them to use something like that (or something similar)? Or do they share a root tongue like Romance languages do where they could call it “luna”? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/2 "2010-08-23T15:30:42Z")
Indo-Aryan languages use variations on “chandra” and “chand” for “moon.” But they also use related mythological terms. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/3 "2010-08-23T16:14:34Z")
Moonzilla. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/4 "2010-08-23T16:29:50Z")
Chinese and Japanese are unrelated languages, but they share a writing system, in which 月 is the character for “Moon”. It’s pronounced “yuè” in Chinese, and as “tsuki”, “gatsu” or “getsu” in Japanese. (Chinese characters typically have at least two pronunciations in Japanese.) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/5 "2010-08-23T17:10:59Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Chinese and Japanese are unrelated languages, but they share a writing system, in which 月 is the character for “Moon”. It’s pronounced “yuè” in Chinese, and as “tsuki”, “gatsu” or “getsu” in Japanese. (Chinese characters typically have at least two pronunciations in Japanese.) And while many - but not all - Indian languages are Indo-European, Chinese and Japanese are not. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/6 "2010-08-23T17:45:22Z")
Probably either Customer Service or Tech Support. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/7 "2010-08-23T18:19:55Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Chinese and Japanese are unrelated languages, but they share a writing system, in which 月 is the character for “Moon”. It’s pronounced “yuè” in Chinese, and as “tsuki”, “gatsu” or “getsu” in Japanese. (Chinese characters typically have at least two pronunciations in Japanese.) Not to mention, both can call their base **RUNAR ONE** ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/8 "2010-08-23T18:30:13Z")
Right now, English is the closest thing to a “common” language between those three countries. I expect it will be called something like “International Lunar Base”, with each country having an official native-language version of this name. Of course, it’s conceivable that by the time this happens, Chinese (Mandarin?) will replace English as the worldwide standard language for technology and science. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-china-and-india-and-japan-name-a-lunar-base/551156/9 "2010-08-23T19:10:47Z")
Is it conceivable? I doubt it.