Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Mahora Academy. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Help with Chinese names
Topic Started: Feb 27 2007, 08:35 PM (171 Views)
AnnonOMous
Member Avatar
It's coming...
[ *  * ]
Okay, based on my own experience, it seems to me that Chinese names are always back to front when being translated from Japanese to English.

Now in the culture of Japan, you introduce your self by Family name then your first name, but in negima, Negi, Eva and Zazie, all have their first names first, when Negi introduces himself in epi 1 of Negima! for example.

Now in every anime/manga I've seen read with chinese charaters, it seems to me that a) the names aren't translated, or B) Chinese characters are introduce first name first in the original Japanese, then get thier names swapped round when translated to English.

For example:

Chinese: Chao Lingshen (Original way of introsucing)
Japanese: Chao Lingshen (Left like original)
English: Lingshen Chao (Swapped round because translators don't realise what's happened.

Also (from Robotech/Macross):

Chinese: Mimmei Lynn and Kyle Lynn
Japanese: Mimmei Lynn and Kyle Lynn
English: Lynn Mimmei and Lynn Kyle

I didn't notice this at first, but in RoboTech, despite, being cousins, they had the same first name but different last names. And they kept calling eachother by last names... When I realised that Lynn must be thier surname, everything made sense.

Ahh wait, I'm confusing myself...

Err, right, basiclly what I want to know is in the Chinese culture, how do you introduce yourself, First name first or last name first.

Also, when going from Chinese to Japanese, do the names get swapped and when going from Japanese to English, do the names get swapped..?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
liubei013
Member Avatar
Middle Schooler
[ *  * ]
In a formal setting and/or if you're not familiar with the other person, you tend to introduce yourself family name first, just like in Japan. You can call someone by their 'first' name if you're a family member or close acquiantance/friend.

As for the second part...I have no idea what's with that. There may be some odd rules or guidelines the Japanese set up after incorporating the Chinese written language (kanji), including the issue regarding names but it's just speculation, since I don't know the history/nuances of the Japanese language system.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
AnnonOMous
Member Avatar
It's coming...
[ *  * ]
neh~

I forgot about this topic...

Yeah, anyway, I managed to get hold of a japanese copy of the class list (from the Classmate Music cd thingy series) and looked a chao and ku fei.

Now not being able to read either Japanese (except for the symbols for "ne", "gi" and "ma", can't think why I know those ~) or Chinese, I had to resort to common sense.

Ku Fei's family name a first name both have one syllable. not much help here...

Chao on the other hand, has two syllables in her surname, Lingshen/Rinshen. Knowing this, I looked at chao's picture, noted the space and noted, 1 syllable on the left, and 2 on the right, i.e. in the origianal Japanese manga, Chao's firstname was printed first, like both Eva and Zazie, unlike the rest of the class, who's family name was first.

Presumebly, Ku Fei's name, also being Chinese, has the first name printed first, which would mean, Tanoshimi ****ed up with the translations. For all the Japanese students, they swapped the names round, to fit with the english way of reading them, however, it would appear they swapped round Chao's and Ku Fei's name as well, meaning, for those who just pick up a Negima book in the UK, everyone (the classmates etc.) refer to Chao and Ku Fei by thier surname, which is what had me ****ing confused anyway!

Anywho, it would appear that this is a common mistake as (after watching Robotech through to check the Chinese names) every Chinese character in the series is refered to by their surname!

And now I'm starting to confuse myself again due to lack of sleep, so I'm gonna shut up...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Yuki
Member Avatar
DURRR I mean, DURARARARA
[ *  *  *  * ]
I'm not really sure what you mean by this, but I suppose it makes sense....
translators don't always pay attention to what goes on with names, and such....
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
-[-Book of Mages-]-
Member Avatar
;)
School Board Members
Hmm well I do it both ways, but it's more formal to say your surname then your first name, but since I don't live in China, but in the US, the first name, but since Negima is taking part in Japan, they should start with their surname, and not their first. D8 So I think the translater messed up or something. [-Shrugs-]
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Southrop
Member Avatar
College Graduate
[ *  *  *  * ]
Well, for Negi, he introduces first name first because he is supposedly welsh, and thats how westerners introduce themselves right?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
liubei013
Member Avatar
Middle Schooler
[ *  * ]
Hmm...yeah, it's probably a translator screwup. (And yes, I do remember the odd naming schemes in Robotech. :lol: )

From what I recall, it's more common now for the Chinese to have three syllable names. One for family, two for first name. However, modern Chinese has a higher emphasis with two-syllable words while it's more of a mixed bag with 'older' Chinese, hence the case in which we have some people with two-syllable/character names. (Sun-Tzu, Guan Yu, etc.)

@Southrop: In a casual setting, yeah, first name is introduced. But some formal settings (classroom/business/etc.) either the full name or the last name (i.e. Mr. Smith) may be used as well.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Anime/Manga · Next Topic »
Add Reply