Paracel Islands

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• enPR: pä-rä-sělʹ

Proper noun

Paracel Islands pl

1. A group of South China Sea islands administered under Sansha, Hainan, China, as Xisha (claimed by Taiwan (ROC) and Vietnam).
   • 1897, Carlton Dawe, Captain Castle: A Tale of the China Seas‎^[1] (Fiction), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., →OCLC, →OL, page 31:

     ABOUT the third day out we passed the dreaded Macclesfield Bank, which, with the adjacent Paracel Islands and reefs, forms a pretty trap for the careless or unskilful navigator.

   • 1976 June 6, “ROC reiterates ownership of southern islets”, in Free China Weekly‎^[2], volume XVII, number 22, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

     The Republic of China has reiterated its sovereignty over the Nansha and Hsisha Islands (Spratly and Paracel Islands).

   • 2022 June 29, Beijing newsroom, Hong Kong newsroom, Liz Lee, “Typhoon may be forming ahead of Hong Kong handover anniversary”, in Robert Birsel, editor, Reuters‎^[3], archived from the original on 29 June 2022, China‎^[4]:

     Gales in the South China Sea, off Guangdong's east coast and near the Paracel Islands, were forecast to reach moderate magnitudes of 6-7 but the wind in some parts of the sea could be stronger, the forecasters said.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Paracel Islands.

Synonyms

• The Paracels, Paracel
• (from Mandarin Chinese) Xisha, Hsisha
• (from Vietnamese) Hoang Sa

Translations

group of islands

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 西沙群島／西沙群岛 (sai¹ saa¹ kwan⁴ dou²)

  Mandarin: 西沙群島／西沙群岛 (zh) (Xīshā Qúndǎo), (from Vietnamese) 黃沙群島／黄沙群岛 (Huángshā Qúndǎo)

• French: Paracel (fr) m
• German: Paracel-Inseln (de) f pl
• Japanese: 西沙諸島 (せいさしょとう, Seisa Shotō), パラセル諸島 (Paraseru Shotō)
• Korean: 파라셀 제도 (Parasel jedo), 서사 군도(西沙群島) (Seosa gundo), 호앙사 군도(黃沙群島) (Hoangsa gundo)
• Russian: Парасе́льские острова́ m pl (Parasélʹskije ostrová), острова́ Сиша́ m pl (ostrová Sišá), острова́ Хоа́нг Ша m pl (ostrová Xoáng Ša)
• Turkish: Parasel Adaları
• Vietnamese: quần đảo Hoàng Sa (群島黃砂), Tây Sa Quần đảo (西沙群島)

Further reading

• Paracel Islands at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
• “Paracel Islands, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Paracel Islands”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Pa·ra·cel Islands”, in The International Geographic Encyclopedia and Atlas‎^[5], Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1979, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 592, column 1
• Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Paracel Islands”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[6], volume 3, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 2361, column 2: “Known to the Vietnamese as Hoang Sa. […] Also called Xisha Islands.”