The internet

[ralphmat123]

Hi. Was wondering what is the most common way if saying "the internet"?

In all the dictionaries they're seem to be various different options. Is there one way that is more common than others?

Thanks

[SiMaKe]

While far from definitive, google hits for 2 terms:

 

互联网  358,000,000 hits.

 

因特网  1,560,000 hits.

 

This of course does not represent 口语 use.

YMMV

[ZhangJiang]

AFAIK, the translation of "internet" is 互联网, which corresponds with 内联网 (intranet) and 外联网 (extranet). The translation of "the Internet" is 因特网, which is supposed to be one specific internet. But people don't really care the difference and 互联网 is used to refer to "the Internet" now. Maybe it's because 互联 has a meaning but 因特 is meaningless in Chinese. The other names 万维网(translation of the world wide web?), 网际网, 环球网, etc. are rarely used.

[abcdefg]

What about 网络? I've heard that quite a bit.

[SiMaKe]

-abcdefg

 

That was my first impression as well. In fact, 网路 gets 598,000,000 hits. Certainly seems quite popular.

 

But on futher research, seems this term is just generic "network" and can be used in various contexts (social, electrical, transportation, etc). For example,  

人际网络 - interpersonal network

交通网络 - transportation network

政治网络 - political network

政府网络 - government network

社会网络 - social network

通信网络 - communications network

So in discussions about the internet, it could stand alone to represent "the internet" since the context makes it clear.

 

Some additional comments from Wikipedia: 

 

互联网（英语：Internet），又称(aka) 网际网路，或音译(transliteration)因特网、英特网

[shuoshuo]

互联网。

[yueni]

互联网 is probably most used in Mainland China in a more formal manner. If speaking colloquially with friends, people would probably say 网络 (noun) or 上网 (verb as in "to go online, to get on the internet" etc.).

 

因特网 can also be heard, but similarly to 互联网, it's more of a formal-ish way of using it and it is also just a transliteration, so you might find older people who aren't literate in English who won't understand it unless you say 网络 or 互联网.

 

网路 is the Taiwanese way of saying 网络. Basically the same thing, same meaning.

 

It's similar to how in English we have "the internet" (with or without a capital "I"), "the 'net"  (with or without a capital "N", with or without the apostrophe in front...), "world wide web", "the web", "going online", etc. In general, for most usages, if you say 网络 (assuming MLC usage) you'll be fine.

[MPhillips]

It's neat that in pinyin 万维网 has the same acronym as the Eng. does!

[abcdefg]

If speaking colloquially with friends, people would probably say 网络 (noun) or 上网 (verb as in "to go online, to get on the internet" etc.).

 

Yes, that's what I've found in Kunming. The other options, although doubtless correct, seem more 书面, less 口语。

[OneEye]

网路 is the Taiwanese way of saying 网络. Basically the same thing, same meaning.

 

In Taiwan, 網路 means the internet and 網絡 means network.

[abcdefg]

In Taiwan, 網路 means the internet and 網絡 means network.

 

 

Interesting. That looks like a very reasonable refinement.

 

Being at best semi-literate, I work way too much by ear on such things and am often wrong about how they are written. Am certainly not qualified to argue.

[tooironic]

网络 (the Internet) and 上网 (to go on the Internet) are definitely the most common terms. All the other words are formal, and not used in everyday conversation.

[Kenny同志]

網 is the most common way of saying the Internet in spoken Chinese, 互聯網  and 網絡(or 網路) in written or more formal language. 

 

It has gone viral on the Internet.

這事在網上傳瘋了。

 

The Internet was one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

互聯網是二十世紀最了不起的一項發明。

 

因特網 is fading out of use.

 

Also note that 網絡 can mean a couple of things so people tend to be unambiguous by avoiding it in the second example sentence.

[MPhillips]

My husband said he once took a look at absolutely everything on the web in just one sitting--that kinda gives away how old we are!

[Johnny20270]

In English, when I was younger, it used to be called the "information superhighway"  or you would see on the TV, newsreaders referring to "The World Wide Web"  

 

Oh, and we "surfed" the web, not "browsed"  (while we waited 3 minutes for it to connect) and then be yelled at for blocking the phone line so no-one could ring