Learn the basic facts about names in Cantonese
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do Cantonese names work? |
| Siuling: And is it possible to write an English name in Cantonese? |
| Michael: At CantoneseClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee hadn't heard clearly, when their new teacher was introducing herself. He asks his classmate, Michael, "What is our teacher's full name?" |
| 李龍林: 我哋先生嘅全名係咩？ (ngo5 dei6 sin1 saang1 ge3 cyun4 ming2 hai6 me1?) |
| Dialogue |
| 李龍林: 我哋先生嘅全名係咩？ (ngo5 dei6 sin1 saang1 ge3 cyun4 ming2 hai6 me1?) |
| 萬宇海: 梁樂思。 (loeng4 lok6 si1.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| 李龍林: 我哋先生嘅全名係咩？ (ngo5 dei6 sin1 saang1 ge3 cyun4 ming2 hai6 me1?) |
| Michael: "What is our teacher's full name?" |
| 萬宇海: 梁樂思。 (loeng4 lok6 si1.) |
| Michael: "It's Leung Lok See." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In Chinese culture, a full name consists of two to four characters, starting with the surname. The majority of surnames have only one character; in Cantonese, it’s called |
| Siuling: 單姓 (daan1 sing3). Such as 王 (wong4), 李 (lei5), 張 (zoeng1), 陳 (can4). |
| Michael: When a surname has two characters, it’s called |
| Siuling: 複姓 (fuk1 sing3), such as 司徒 (si1 tou4), 歐陽 (au1 joeng4). |
| Michael: After the surname, we’ll see one or two characters that make up a full name altogether. Unlike Western names that don’t usually have a meaning, Chinese names’ meanings can be recognized instantly because each Chinese character has one or more meanings. In most cases, you can see what kind of personality the parents wish for their children. |
| Siuling: Let’s take a random name as an example; let’s break down the name 陳健樂 (can4 gin6 lok6). |
| Michael: It starts with the surname “Chan” |
| Siuling: 陳 (can4), and is then followed by 健 (gin6) and 樂 (lok6), |
| Michael: which means “healthy” and “happy,” respectively. So that’s probably what the parents want the child to be, healthy and happy. |
| Siuling: Let’s look at another name, 張國強 (zoeng1 gwok3 koeng4). The surname here is 張 (zoeng1) and its English transliteration is Cheung. |
| Michael: After the surname, we see the characters |
| Siuling: 國 (gwok3) |
| Michael: “country,” and |
| Siuling: 強 (koeng4) |
| Michael: “strong.” So do you think the parents are patriotic and hope that their child will help strengthen the country? |
| Siuling: That’s possible! |
| Michael: Now, let’s look at some female names, like the one in our dialogue, |
| Siuling: 梁樂思 (loeng4 lok6 si1) |
| Michael: The two characters after the surname are |
| Siuling: 樂 (lok6) and 思 (si1) |
| Michael: meaning “joyful” and “thoughtful”. That’s a very nice name! |
| Siuling: Yes! Let’s look at one more female name, 王穎怡 (wong4 wing6 ji4). After the surname Wong, 王 (wong4), we see the two characters 穎 (wing6) and 怡 (ji4), |
| Michael: which respectively means “clever” and “pleasant.” |
| If you want to change an English name to Chinese, most people do it transliterally. This means that it sounds similar to the English counterpart, but it won’t have much meaning in the name because the characters used for transliteration don’t all have meanings; they’re just there for phonetic purposes. |
| Siuling: For example, Brad Pitt’s name in Chinese is 畢彼特 (bat1 bei2 dak6). This name does not have a meaning, but, if you insist to break down the characters, we have 畢(bat1) “complete,” 彼 (bei2) “another,” and 特 (dak6) “special.” |
| Michael: Therefore, when you ask our teachers to give you a Chinese name, don’t forget to include the meaning that you want the name to convey. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Siuling, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Ben says "What is our teacher's full name?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 我哋先生嘅全名係咩？ (ngo5 dei6 sin1 saang1 ge3 cyun4 ming2 hai6 me1?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Siuling: 我哋先生嘅全名係咩？ (ngo5 dei6 sin1 saang1 ge3 cyun4 ming2 hai6 me1?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 我哋先生嘅全名係咩？ (ngo5 dei6 sin1 saang1 ge3 cyun4 ming2 hai6 me1?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Michael says "It's Leung Lok See?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 梁樂思。 (loeng4 lok6 si1.) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Siuling: 梁樂思。 (loeng4 lok6 si1.) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Siuling: 梁樂思。 (loeng4 lok6 si1.) |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Among the Chinese superstitions, it’s believed that picking a good name will give the person good fortune or a desirable destiny. That’s why some new parents will hire a fortune teller to name their children. To do that, the child’s exact birth time, up to the minute, has to be provided for the fortune teller to calculate astrologically what element exists or is lacking in the child’s life. |
| Siuling: The birth time is called 時辰八字 (si4 san4 baat3 zi6). |
| Michael: And, with the interpretation, the fortune teller will choose a name that could balance the elements for the child’s life. |
| Siuling: And this is also why sometimes celebrities use a stage name, or even change their names after a low point in their career. |
| Michael: I know that Jackie Chan has a good Chinese stage name! |
| Siuling: Yes, his Chinese name is 成龍 (sing4 lung4), literally “become a dragon”. |
| Michael: Wow! That’s an excellent name! No wonder he has become famous internationally. So, in summary, getting a good name is believed to give you a good life! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Siuling: 拜拜! (baai1 baai3!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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