Preview

Cultural Differences Between Chinese and English Names

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
818 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cultural Differences Between Chinese and English Names
Cultural Differences between Chinese and English Names

The names are common language phenomenon, not only because it is a kind of identification code between people to distinguish each other, but also because it is a national historical and cultural information carrier.It conveys a language of a nation, as well as history, geography, religion, custom, social status and other aspects of information. Names have been interpreted in two senses:a broad sense and a narrow sense. The names ,in its narrow sense, refers to the names of things ,such as names of persons , names of places , names of companies, trademarks and so on. The names ,in its broad sense ,extend to a common names of things even to names of basic concepts. The former is generally called study of naming the object , while the latter is extended to the etymology. But there will not be a gap, it might as well put together to discuss. Names, as a symbol and sign, is not strange to us. Everyone from childhood is given their names by their parents,which closely related to their whole life. Besides, names have something to do with every single day in your whole life.They are essential tool in social interaction. What’s more, the way you addressing people’s names shows your emotion. These are the condensation of cultural tradition and social customs. Therefore, different cultures have different inheritance custom of names. Different cultural traditions and social customs in China and English-speaking countries cause the different custom of names .
Chinese Names
1.1 Names bear the parents’ expectations of children and parents’ hobbies. Parents hope that their children have a promising future ,so they named the child " Peng fei ". Parents love the winter plum, and they name their daughter " Dan mei ".
1.2 Names contain misfortunes-free ,disease-free, turn calamities into blessings, and compensate for the fate of the significance of defects. Such as the names of the child " Qubing", " Changsheng

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Just by knowing some basic knowledge of the Chinese, one would know that they are extremely family oriented. This is why in “Water Names,” Waipuo tells a tale of the ancestors to the grandchildren. The myth tells of an ancestor who “lost her mind to desiring” (178). At first, one may think that Waipuo is warning the children, so they don’t end up the same way. However, the lesson could be taken the complete opposite of that. As stated before, the Chinese are very family oriented. Waipuo’s story can be one of encouragement, not caution. The lesson is this: One should go after what he/she desires most. Even if someone is killed going after what he/she desires, at least an effort took place. That person never sat around wondering “what if.” That’s what Waipuo wants for her grandchildren; to get out of their small…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Only after Ying-ying realizes that she has passed on her passivity and fatalism to her daughter Lena does she take any initiative to change. Seeing her daughter in an unhappy marriage, she urges her to take control. She tells Lena her story for the first time, hoping that she might learn from her mother’s own failure to take initiative and instead come to express her thoughts and feelings. Lena, too, was born in the year of the Tiger, and Ying-ying hopes that her daughter can live up to their common horoscope in a way that she herself failed to do. Moreover, in this belief in astrology Ying-ying finds a sort of positive counterpart to her earlier, debilitating superstitions and fatalism, for it is a belief not in the inevitability of external events but in the power of an internal quality.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wise Men: Your son shall be named Siddharta, meaning he shall be the one whose wishes will be fulfilled. Be cautious however, this means that if the Prince sees a dead, old, sick person, or a monk, he will give up his wealth to become a monk himself.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psychological anthropology is the study of individuals and their personalities and identities, within particular cultural contexts (Miller, 2007). Although American and Chinese people are raised in different cultures, their cultures are somewhat similar. Even though individuals are raised thousands of miles apart, is it possible to possess some of the same personality traits?…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is a different way about how they treat their children between American parents and Chinese parents. American parents like to award or praise their children. They agree compliment and encouragement can help the children develop the courage and self-confident.…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bonnie Wach’s article, “What’s in a Name” explores the impact of how names can affect a person. Wach clarifies that there is nothing unique when a person has the same name as another thus many parents decide to be uncommon by naming their child something peculiar. As some may know, many parents try individualizing a child by separating those…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    It is common for languages to take words, phrases and meanings from one another, and this is no different than English taking from Greek and Latin. While some Greek or Latin words have been changed into prefixes and suffixes, others have become phrases, and even events have garnered their own meaning by today’s standards. This includes the adaptation to technology, science, military purposes and even everyday use, many of which are significant in their own respective area.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why are names important? Names allow recognition. A unique name makes it easier to remember someone. People think names can influence several things. Often, people are given a very unique name or a very common name, I name that pops out should be easier to remember rather than a name that a few thousand have. Our names often can be linked to our destiny and our personality. My name, Steven is significant to my family as well as being a unique name.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Caged Bird Sings

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, everyone reacted differently with their names. I personally, had a problem when people with could not pronounce my name when I was younger. Which made me create a solution. I decided I would go by the name “Ari.” In our society our names go a long way. Starting from respect, through disrespect.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A name is an important part of a person’s character. Some people are happy with their names and others wish to change them. I happen to love my name for many reasons. I was named after a very famous Armenian poet and writer, although growing up in La Crescenta that wasn’t well known. My elementary school teacher’s had particularly hard time pronouncing my name correctly. It was then that my nickname was born. After that day I would be called Sio by my peers, family and instructors.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Name Essay

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In conclusion, names can indicate a person’s cultural identity and also state which family they belong to. Names can hold sentimental value to people. It shows their reputation, authority and ownership.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The fun thing about being Chinese is that I have two Chinese names, a Cantonese one and a Mandarin one. They are the same name, just said two different ways. Chosen by my maternal grandmother, my Chinese name is 梅雅雯. In Cantonese it is pronounced as mui4 ngaa5 man4, and it is pronounced as mei2 ya3 wen2 in Mandarin (the numbers represent the tones). 梅 (mui4/mei2) is my surname “Moey”, meaning plum. Other surnames that share the same character are Moy, Mui, Mei, Mai and Mae. The spelling indicates where your family is from such as how Moy and Mui are from Hong Kong and other Cantonese-speaking regions, Mei from Mandarin-speaking regions, Mai from Vietnam, and Mae from Korea. In my case, “Moey” is pronounced as “Moy” but spelled so uniquely because my father is from Malaysia. 雅 (ngaa5/ya3) means elegant and 雯 (man4/wen2) means sophisticated. My grandmother chose this name because she wanted me to grow up into a graceful and ladylike…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Names are what makes up a person's personality, and affect your future. In “what's in a name?” Okaikor’s father changed his name and lived a distinctive life than he would have if he hadn’t changed his original identity. Additionally, in “The Color of Water.” The passage…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I was most surprised by the fact that Panni and I had the same favorite childhood memory, celebrating Christmas with our families. I was overly accommodating in my thinking and believed Panni would have some other favorite memory which involved a tradition unique to China. China and America are similar to each other in a sense that they are both developed, first-world countries; Children typically experience a happy childhood and are well provided for. However, China is a far more historically and culturally rich country than the U.S. Socially, people from China are more reserved than those in America. If I were to visit China, I would most like to see Beijing City. From what Panni told us, it seems to be the cultural and social hub of China…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For example, “Mordor” comes from the Old English word “morthor” which means “murder.” The character Sauron was named after a link to Old Norse or Icelandic stem meaning “filth”, “dung” or uncleanliness.” Even Saruman’s name foreshadowed his future actions because his name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, root “searu-” for “treachery” or…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics