Was on MRT Downtown Line arriving at King Albert Park station. When the train announcement read: 阿尔柏王园，the wife turned to me: “Is this translation correct or not? Somehow, it sounded strange.”
阿尔柏 is the transliteration of Albert, 王 is King which was correctly placed as a postfix, then 园 is Park, no problem. So King Albert Park = 阿尔柏+王+园, the translation seems right.
Maybe the problem is indeed the “sound”. The announcer read: 阿尔柏/王园, subtle pause at the slash changes the meaning to “Albert, the Imperial Garden”.
Should it be 阿尔柏王/园 then? Yes, meaning-wise this is much better but sound-wise it is even stranger. How so?
Chinese is a tonal language and its syllable has tone patterns and rhythms that depend on the proper and often deliberate arrangement of words to achieve a certain desired outcome. Having a harmonious arrangement will not only make a huge difference in delivering the intended meaning precisely but also enhance how it would sound pleasantly to the ears. (Think idioms and Tang poems)
Some common patterns are 2+2, 2+3, 3+2, 4+3 etc.
e.g
2+2： 一落/千丈
2+3： 千山/鸟飞绝
4+3： 每逢佳节/倍思亲
阿尔柏王/园 in a 4+1 arrangement will definitely sound lopsided. Try 4+2 阿尔柏王/公园.
