Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
My Name is... 我叫做。。。 part 2
上文提要 - 我的名字：
在1980年， 有一名中國籍男生出生于，廣東，台山，端芬， 七家村。 呵呵， 在我的平生， 我父母沒有傳授什麽給我但是他們沒有讓我忘記我的來源。 那時候我的外公正在辦排期手續拉我父母和我一家三口移民到美國。 那時候我還沒有名字但是外公需要填我的名字在證件上。 否則， 我就不能跟我父母一起到美國去。 於是，我的外公就給我起 “新洽”這個名。 我的父親姓梅，所以我的全名就是“梅新洽。”
那個是我法律上的名 （是否這麽叫的？）但是我還有另外一個名字。 我的父親也有給我起個名字。 而這個名字就跟著中國人起名的傳統。 我有幾個堂表哥。 他們的名字都用“尚“來做頭。 e.g. 尚文,尚榮, etc. 我的父親就給我起了“尚洪“ 這個名字。 日後， 我的家人親戚就這麽叫我。 其實很少叫“尚洪"; 多數叫我"阿洪" 還是"洪仔." 呵呵, 有一個網友聽見"洪仔" 就覺得好笑. 皆因我根本沒有"熊仔" (teddy bear) 那麽可愛. 在廣東話裏面, 除了"洪" 是念 "hong" 之外, '熊' 和 '雄' 也是念 "hong."
問到我的名字有什麽意思呢， 我可答不了這個問題。 我問過我父母但是他們也不知道有什麽意思. '新洽' 這個名是我外公起的. 可是我從來沒有機會認識他. 我還沒有記憶的時候,他已經不在人世了. 我的外婆還在,可是她有時候連我的名字都忘記. 問她也沒用. 尚洪這個名字呢, 我也問過我父親. 他也有給我個答案, 可是我忘了... 呵呵, 也不重要了. 你若是會看這篇文章, 你可能也猜到什麽意思了.
説到念名字呢, 我們又要看看方言對字體的戲弄啦. 在拼音裏, 我兩個名字就是 "Mei Xin Qia" 以及 "Mei Shang Hong." 尚洪多數親戚叫的所以這裡不用説明了. 主要説明是'梅新洽' 這個名字.
由於我們是台山人我們的方言就叫"台山話". 台山話以太城的口音為標準. 我講的端芬話還不算標準的台山話呢. 端芬話比台城話接近廣東話. 有時候講廣東話或者台山話我會想起一些很煩的東西. 說台山話的時候, 我可能遇到一些我在台山話裏認識的概念但是不會用廣東話來表達. 那怎麽辦呢? 我把台山口音扭一扭就變成廣東口音. 這種翻譯法有時行, 有時不行. 我的名字就是最好的例子...
我一早就知道我的名字的台山口音念法. 可是我小的時候不知道廣東口音的念法. 當時我父親也不知道用廣話怎麽念, 所以他就把台山話扭一扭, 告訴我, 我的名字是念 "Sun Jip." 皆因為'洽' 與 '接' 在台山話裏都是同一個念法 - "dep." 在小學的時候有一些來自廣東的朋友但是他們像我也不會看中文字. 我就告訴他們我叫做"sun jip." 可是我的名字是寫 Xin Qia 喔. 怎麽會是Sun Jip, 呢? 不知道怎麽弄但是我的名字被弄成 "Sin ji." 在小學的時候, 人家就叫我 Sin ji. 如果不認識我的人聽到我的名字可能以爲我是日本人 (的確有 Sin ji 這個日本名).
我記得好像在五年班還是六年班的時候有一群剛剛從台山移民到美國來的學生加入我們班. 他們都有一些有趣的別名. 有個同學叫Wei Ying, 所以我們叫他 "乌蝇" - Which is a fly in Cantonese, but I don't know what you call a fly in Mandarin. 他的哥哥叫鹹魚. 鹹魚這個外號呢, 我就不知道有什麽來源. 我知道在廣東話裏面"鹹湿"代表好色. 他可能好色吧. 又或者他懶得像鹹魚呢. 最離譜的花名就是"屎缸." 不知道這個是否因爲他多粗口講呢. 還有一位叫"炒蝦," 只豬, yat 飯 (eat rice in colloquial cantonese). 而我呢, 就被稱爲"聖旨." 威風嗎? 呵呵, 由 Sin Ji 變成 Sing Ji (聖旨在廣東話口音裏).
我的名字的變化:
Sin Ji -> Kin Qi -> Shin Chi (pretty close)-> Zin Chi -> Xin Qia (Shin Chya)-> Zin -> Sin
The above is what my teachers and American classmates called me through the years. As you can see, there is a bit of variation.
有人說廣東人不會說出流利的普通話. 其實我父親也會普通話所以我以前問過他我的名字確實怎麽念. 他告訴我"Sin Cha." 我開始上中文課的時候才知道我的名字原來念 (in English phonetics) "Shin Chya." 那已經幾年前的事了. 現在我用"Sin" 這個名字. 寫就寫Xin. Sin 翻譯就是罪惡但是我不介意. 如果有人在這邊叫做Jesus, 爲何沒有Sin 呢?
阿, 我改入美國籍的時候也有機會改我的名字,可是我沒有改. 有什麽英文名適合我呢?
_____ Mei...
在1980年， 有一名中國籍男生出生于，廣東，台山，端芬， 七家村。 呵呵， 在我的平生， 我父母沒有傳授什麽給我但是他們沒有讓我忘記我的來源。 那時候我的外公正在辦排期手續拉我父母和我一家三口移民到美國。 那時候我還沒有名字但是外公需要填我的名字在證件上。 否則， 我就不能跟我父母一起到美國去。 於是，我的外公就給我起 “新洽”這個名。 我的父親姓梅，所以我的全名就是“梅新洽。”
那個是我法律上的名 （是否這麽叫的？）但是我還有另外一個名字。 我的父親也有給我起個名字。 而這個名字就跟著中國人起名的傳統。 我有幾個堂表哥。 他們的名字都用“尚“來做頭。 e.g. 尚文,尚榮, etc. 我的父親就給我起了“尚洪“ 這個名字。 日後， 我的家人親戚就這麽叫我。 其實很少叫“尚洪"; 多數叫我"阿洪" 還是"洪仔." 呵呵, 有一個網友聽見"洪仔" 就覺得好笑. 皆因我根本沒有"熊仔" (teddy bear) 那麽可愛. 在廣東話裏面, 除了"洪" 是念 "hong" 之外, '熊' 和 '雄' 也是念 "hong."
問到我的名字有什麽意思呢， 我可答不了這個問題。 我問過我父母但是他們也不知道有什麽意思. '新洽' 這個名是我外公起的. 可是我從來沒有機會認識他. 我還沒有記憶的時候,他已經不在人世了. 我的外婆還在,可是她有時候連我的名字都忘記. 問她也沒用. 尚洪這個名字呢, 我也問過我父親. 他也有給我個答案, 可是我忘了... 呵呵, 也不重要了. 你若是會看這篇文章, 你可能也猜到什麽意思了.
説到念名字呢, 我們又要看看方言對字體的戲弄啦. 在拼音裏, 我兩個名字就是 "Mei Xin Qia" 以及 "Mei Shang Hong." 尚洪多數親戚叫的所以這裡不用説明了. 主要説明是'梅新洽' 這個名字.
由於我們是台山人我們的方言就叫"台山話". 台山話以太城的口音為標準. 我講的端芬話還不算標準的台山話呢. 端芬話比台城話接近廣東話. 有時候講廣東話或者台山話我會想起一些很煩的東西. 說台山話的時候, 我可能遇到一些我在台山話裏認識的概念但是不會用廣東話來表達. 那怎麽辦呢? 我把台山口音扭一扭就變成廣東口音. 這種翻譯法有時行, 有時不行. 我的名字就是最好的例子...
| 台山口音 | 廣東口音 | 漢語口音 | |
| 梅 | Moy | Mui | Mei |
| 新 | Thun(接近) | Sun | Xin |
| 洽 | Dep | Hup | Qia |
我一早就知道我的名字的台山口音念法. 可是我小的時候不知道廣東口音的念法. 當時我父親也不知道用廣話怎麽念, 所以他就把台山話扭一扭, 告訴我, 我的名字是念 "Sun Jip." 皆因為'洽' 與 '接' 在台山話裏都是同一個念法 - "dep." 在小學的時候有一些來自廣東的朋友但是他們像我也不會看中文字. 我就告訴他們我叫做"sun jip." 可是我的名字是寫 Xin Qia 喔. 怎麽會是Sun Jip, 呢? 不知道怎麽弄但是我的名字被弄成 "Sin ji." 在小學的時候, 人家就叫我 Sin ji. 如果不認識我的人聽到我的名字可能以爲我是日本人 (的確有 Sin ji 這個日本名).
我記得好像在五年班還是六年班的時候有一群剛剛從台山移民到美國來的學生加入我們班. 他們都有一些有趣的別名. 有個同學叫Wei Ying, 所以我們叫他 "乌蝇" - Which is a fly in Cantonese, but I don't know what you call a fly in Mandarin. 他的哥哥叫鹹魚. 鹹魚這個外號呢, 我就不知道有什麽來源. 我知道在廣東話裏面"鹹湿"代表好色. 他可能好色吧. 又或者他懶得像鹹魚呢. 最離譜的花名就是"屎缸." 不知道這個是否因爲他多粗口講呢. 還有一位叫"炒蝦," 只豬, yat 飯 (eat rice in colloquial cantonese). 而我呢, 就被稱爲"聖旨." 威風嗎? 呵呵, 由 Sin Ji 變成 Sing Ji (聖旨在廣東話口音裏).
我的名字的變化:
Sin Ji -> Kin Qi -> Shin Chi (pretty close)-> Zin Chi -> Xin Qia (Shin Chya)-> Zin -> Sin
The above is what my teachers and American classmates called me through the years. As you can see, there is a bit of variation.
有人說廣東人不會說出流利的普通話. 其實我父親也會普通話所以我以前問過他我的名字確實怎麽念. 他告訴我"Sin Cha." 我開始上中文課的時候才知道我的名字原來念 (in English phonetics) "Shin Chya." 那已經幾年前的事了. 現在我用"Sin" 這個名字. 寫就寫Xin. Sin 翻譯就是罪惡但是我不介意. 如果有人在這邊叫做Jesus, 爲何沒有Sin 呢?
阿, 我改入美國籍的時候也有機會改我的名字,可是我沒有改. 有什麽英文名適合我呢?
_____ Mei...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
My name is... 我叫做。。。 part 1
Who am I? To inquire at the most basic level of identification, what is my name? When it comes to my name(s), there is a bit of confusion - even on my part over the years. Yes, I have been puzzled by my very own name! Others may ponder the proverbial question of who they are in relation to the grand scheme of things i.e. the universe, but up until a few years ago, I couldn't even get past my own name.
The reasoning for this confusion has to do with the variety of dialects found in China and their respective pronunciations for the same characters. Well, they are considered "dialects," but differences in pronunciation may push some people to classify them as "languages."
As it stands, Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the Chinese language. Spanish and Italian are classified as separate languages altogether even though they sound very similar and are actually partially intelligible to speakers of each opposing language in question.
Actually, Cantonese is a sub-regional dialect that is part of the greater "Yue" (粵） dialect of the Chinese language which is comprised of Cantonese a.k.a. Guang Dong Hua (廣東話）and Tai Shan Hua (台山話）。
I can still recall a story from my old Chinese language teacher about an experiment that he did to determine once and for all if Tai Shan Hua and Guang Dong Hua (Cantonese) were the same. Apparently, he believed that they were the same dialect since they sounded so similar to him. He, of course, only knew one dialect of Chinese - Mandarin.
The experiment went as follows: What he did was he had one person who only knew how to speak Tai Shan Hua and one person who only knew Cantonese attempt a conversation using their native tongues to see if communication occurs and at what level of comprehension on each of their parts. The results proved him wrong. Each participant in the experiment wasn't able to make out what the other was saying at all. In other words, what came out of one person's mouth was unintelligible to the other.
This will serve to give one an idea of the differences between mere "dialects" in the Chinese language. Hm.. this is not even at the the dialectal level for disparity; such variety can be seen even in sub-regional dialects since both Tai Shan Hua and Cantonese are grouped under the Yue dialect.
With the above stated, I can go on to the topic at hand - my name. For all legal purposes, my name is (using American naming conventions and Mandarin pinyin) is Xin Qia Mei (新洽梅 - actually 梅新洽 using Chinese naming conventions). For familial matters, I am known as 梅尚洪 - Mei Shang Hong. Mei is the surname and the others are the given names.
For the sake of good taste in length and my Chinese studies, I will end this entry here and continue to explain my names, confusion in pronunciation and the various names that came about because of said confusion in my next entry using Chinese.
The reasoning for this confusion has to do with the variety of dialects found in China and their respective pronunciations for the same characters. Well, they are considered "dialects," but differences in pronunciation may push some people to classify them as "languages."
As it stands, Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the Chinese language. Spanish and Italian are classified as separate languages altogether even though they sound very similar and are actually partially intelligible to speakers of each opposing language in question.
Actually, Cantonese is a sub-regional dialect that is part of the greater "Yue" (粵） dialect of the Chinese language which is comprised of Cantonese a.k.a. Guang Dong Hua (廣東話）and Tai Shan Hua (台山話）。
I can still recall a story from my old Chinese language teacher about an experiment that he did to determine once and for all if Tai Shan Hua and Guang Dong Hua (Cantonese) were the same. Apparently, he believed that they were the same dialect since they sounded so similar to him. He, of course, only knew one dialect of Chinese - Mandarin.
The experiment went as follows: What he did was he had one person who only knew how to speak Tai Shan Hua and one person who only knew Cantonese attempt a conversation using their native tongues to see if communication occurs and at what level of comprehension on each of their parts. The results proved him wrong. Each participant in the experiment wasn't able to make out what the other was saying at all. In other words, what came out of one person's mouth was unintelligible to the other.
This will serve to give one an idea of the differences between mere "dialects" in the Chinese language. Hm.. this is not even at the the dialectal level for disparity; such variety can be seen even in sub-regional dialects since both Tai Shan Hua and Cantonese are grouped under the Yue dialect.
With the above stated, I can go on to the topic at hand - my name. For all legal purposes, my name is (using American naming conventions and Mandarin pinyin) is Xin Qia Mei (新洽梅 - actually 梅新洽 using Chinese naming conventions). For familial matters, I am known as 梅尚洪 - Mei Shang Hong. Mei is the surname and the others are the given names.
For the sake of good taste in length and my Chinese studies, I will end this entry here and continue to explain my names, confusion in pronunciation and the various names that came about because of said confusion in my next entry using Chinese.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
What's in a name? 一個名字會怎麽影響一個人的將來呢？
Shakespeare wrote "A Rose by any other name is still a rose." What I drew from this statement is that no matter what name has been bestowed upon an object, it will still be the same object - serve the same purpose, bear the same qualities, thrive in the same conditions, etc.
Now does such a statement apply to humans? If a person is labelled with a different moniker, s/he would surely live a different life, right? I believe this is so. If not, I wouldn't be able to see people going around with names like "President," "General," or my favorite - Corvette. Yes, there are people whom are named after sports cars! Maybe the parents wished for their children to grow up to be the president of something or a general in the military.
As cultures change, reactions towards such names change as well. Nevertheless, there will still be names that evoke knee-jerk reactions or inappropriate laughter. This couldn't be more evident than when watching "Meet the Fockers" which had a protagonist by the name of Gaylord Focker. I can remember a time when my cousin actually met a person named "Gaylord," he couldn't help from laughing...but he excused himself out of the room before doing so. Heh, at least he didn't laugh in front of the guy's face... Any way you look at it, a person's name has a huge effect on how others look at the person.
想起名字這個話題， 我忽然想起以前看過的日本動漫片,名為Ranma 1/2. Ranma 1/2 的世界裏面有一個好色的老伯。 他最愛做的就是到處偷村裏女士的絲襪。 我不記得那個故事的細節,但有一次那个好色的老伯帮了一位要临盆的孕妇顺利生下了孩子. 然後那個女士就讓他為剛出世的孩子起個名字。 你猜他為那個孩子起個什麽名字呢？ 你沒看過那部動漫片可能怎麽想也想不到他會為那個孩子取一個這麽有意義的名字 （對他來說有意義）。 好色老伯最喜歡女人的絲襪，所以就為那個孩子起了“絲襪太郎“ 這個名字。 是否很驚訝呢？ 是否一個万人敬佩的名字呢？ 哈哈。。。
帶着“絲襪太郎“ 這個名字，那個孩子的童年不好過 - 常常被人欺負。 他長大以後就不斷地找那位為他取一個那麽難聽的名。 而找那個老伯的原因就是要他改一個好一點的名字 （他們的風俗一定要原本起名的人幫他改名）。 最終他找到那個老伯但是那個老伯想的名字依然那麽奇怪的 - 想的名字都是“蟑螂太郎“ 類似的名字。
我原本想寫一些關於搞笑的名字的故事然後再詳細地寫關於我的名字以及我歷來認識過的相識的名字和外號但是后一半的文章要等到下次才可以寫。 <--- Would this be a run-on sentence in Chinese?
Now does such a statement apply to humans? If a person is labelled with a different moniker, s/he would surely live a different life, right? I believe this is so. If not, I wouldn't be able to see people going around with names like "President," "General," or my favorite - Corvette. Yes, there are people whom are named after sports cars! Maybe the parents wished for their children to grow up to be the president of something or a general in the military.
As cultures change, reactions towards such names change as well. Nevertheless, there will still be names that evoke knee-jerk reactions or inappropriate laughter. This couldn't be more evident than when watching "Meet the Fockers" which had a protagonist by the name of Gaylord Focker. I can remember a time when my cousin actually met a person named "Gaylord," he couldn't help from laughing...but he excused himself out of the room before doing so. Heh, at least he didn't laugh in front of the guy's face... Any way you look at it, a person's name has a huge effect on how others look at the person.
想起名字這個話題， 我忽然想起以前看過的日本動漫片,名為Ranma 1/2. Ranma 1/2 的世界裏面有一個好色的老伯。 他最愛做的就是到處偷村裏女士的絲襪。 我不記得那個故事的細節,但有一次那个好色的老伯帮了一位要临盆的孕妇顺利生下了孩子. 然後那個女士就讓他為剛出世的孩子起個名字。 你猜他為那個孩子起個什麽名字呢？ 你沒看過那部動漫片可能怎麽想也想不到他會為那個孩子取一個這麽有意義的名字 （對他來說有意義）。 好色老伯最喜歡女人的絲襪，所以就為那個孩子起了“絲襪太郎“ 這個名字。 是否很驚訝呢？ 是否一個万人敬佩的名字呢？ 哈哈。。。
帶着“絲襪太郎“ 這個名字，那個孩子的童年不好過 - 常常被人欺負。 他長大以後就不斷地找那位為他取一個那麽難聽的名。 而找那個老伯的原因就是要他改一個好一點的名字 （他們的風俗一定要原本起名的人幫他改名）。 最終他找到那個老伯但是那個老伯想的名字依然那麽奇怪的 - 想的名字都是“蟑螂太郎“ 類似的名字。
我原本想寫一些關於搞笑的名字的故事然後再詳細地寫關於我的名字以及我歷來認識過的相識的名字和外號但是后一半的文章要等到下次才可以寫。 <--- Would this be a run-on sentence in Chinese?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
