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Yes, this works well in writing and it is common practice in Eastern Asia. However, how about oral conversation? Sometimes, I am not sure what is the proper wa
by xucheng 7y ago
Yes, this works well in writing and it is common practice in Eastern Asia. However, how about oral conversation?
Sometimes, I am not sure what is the proper way to introduce my Chinese name in English conversations? If I put family name at first, it would confuse English speakers. If I put given name first, the sound of my name feels so weird to me as that is not what I heard outside English environments.
- dsr_ 7y ago"Hello, I'm Cheng Xu. Please call me Cheng." or "Hello, I'm Xu Cheng. Please call me Cheng." solves the problem either way.
- klodolph 7y agoWell, it doesn't solve the problem of communicating whether you are using the family name or given name, which is an important piece of information to know since it indicates the level of familiarity / intimacy / distance. This distinction is a bit less common for personal conversations in English-speaking countries but important in many parts of the world. Perhaps I would be talking to "Cheng", but later I would be talking about "Professor Cheng".
- thaumasiotes 7y ago> Perhaps I would be talking to "Cheng" In my experience, while it is common for a Chinese personal name to be one syllable, it's not at all common for a person to be addressed by that one-syllable name. There are several strategies: 1. A person with a one-syllable name might be addressed by their whole name. For example, a 孙艺 might be called 孙艺 in speech, even though 孙 is the family name. 2. The person might have a nickname. For example, I know someone who goes by his nickname 哈哈; I've never heard his actual name. 3. The one-syllable name might be reduplicated; 袁璐 might be addressed as 璐璐. 4. The one-syllable name might be prefixed with 小; 李宁 might be addressed as 小宁. Options 3 and 4 are diminutive constructions and may be too intimate for a strange man (or even a familiar man) to use to a woman.
- klodolph 7y agoI was thinking of the context where you are talking to someone in English, but they have a Chinese name. In Chinese I assume it would be much less ambiguous how to address someone with a Chinese name.
- NotPaidToPost 7y agoInterestingly, in Chinese no-one would call him just 'Cheng'.
- dsr_ 7y agoAnd in Chinese nobody would be confused about whether his family name was Xu or Cheng. Also reasonable: "I am Doctor Xu." "I'm Xu Cheng. I prefer my students to call me Doctor Xu." "Hi, everybody calls me Frazz. Here's my card if you need to reach me."
- EliRivers 7y agoJust tell me. Honestly, I can handle the idea that other cultures do names differently. "My name is something somethingElse, <whichever_is_family_name> is my family name, please call me <choice_to_be_called>"
- sgustard 7y ago"Bond. James Bond" covers all the options.