chinese and english name terms

1、Chinese and English Name TermsThesis statement：This paper is intended to make a comparison between Chinese and English name systems to see their differences and similarities, and a tentative explanation is given to the differences of these two systems from the aspect of culture as to illustrate the

2、communicative functions they play in their own societyOutline： 1. Introduction of Chinese and English name 2. Comparison between Chinese and English name terms 2. 1 Similarities 2. 2 Differences 3. Cultural connotation of Chinese and English name terms 3. 1 Cultural connotation of Chinese name terms

3、 3. 1. 1 The development of family name and its history 3. 1. 2 The meanings of first name and its culture 3. 1. 3 The connection between appellation and position3. 1. 4 The connotations change of name and the taboo 3. 2 Cultural connotation of English name terms 4. Conclusion 5. Works citedChinese

4、and English Name Terms1. Introduction Name is the symbol which will accompany you all along with a persons life. A person will have his own name since he is born and he will bring it into his social activities as well. Its an unique symbolic representation. A name is for name owners to distinguish w

5、ith others and for people to recognize each other. It is more than just an individual lifes simple appellation, and also representing the connotation of many more essence, including character, occupation, background, cultural degree, image, social position, and even the advantages and disadvantages.

6、 Namely, name transfer all kinds of information through the communication. For example, we know that Chen Jingrun was the mathematician who had proved goldbachs conjecture; and when you came up with Napoleon, we will remember he was little French big strategist. At the same time, as a representative

7、 symbol, because of its sociality, the name has its legal significance. After a public security organ registration, the name which has its nationality and census register, has become personal content, it represents part of human rights and obligations, including citizenship, reputation, etc.Names ca

8、rry rich connotations too. Along with the progress of the society and the development of the traditional culture, name also approximately changed from inchoation to evolution, gradually gave the connotation of its complex from simple code to comprehensive culture which contains psychology, sociology

9、, history, ethnology, philology, literature, aesthetics, phonology. 2. Comparison between Chinese and English name terms2. 1 Similarities Name has consistency. A name reveals a kinship, a kind of family relations, it may be said as jackleg. It represents the inheritance of a surname and shows that f

10、amily members are related by blood, life gene can be continued. Both Chinese and English name has this character. The surname also refers to a family. For examples: we call Songjia to represent the whole family and The Smith are also used in the same way in English. Names show the hope of parents. A

11、ll parents hope that their children can walk the path, so when they think about a name for their children, it often contains good expectations. Therefore the name of the new life is full of friendship and earnest expectation, we can find some examples in the following diagram .Chinese nameThe meanin

12、gEnglish nameThe meaningYong(勇)BraveAndreBrave Li（麗）BeautyBurgess Freedom Yan（燕）FreedomClark Scholars Gang（剛）StrongDon leadersZhi（智）WisdomEdgar Happy warriorMing（明）BrightGodfery God of peaceTian（恬）CalmHiram Honorable Wei（偉）GreatJason Healer Xiu（秀）ElegantKerwin Friends Bangguo（邦國(guó)）Guard countriesLeopo

13、ld Spirit of patriotismYuanhang（遠(yuǎn)航）Travel aroundMatt Gifts from the god Hongwen（弘文）Spread the cultureNick winnerNames by the times. People have different name along in fashion , names usually change according to social background, environment, situation and the spirit of the age style . We can find

14、that name is closely linked to the social politics, economic status after carefully study. It shows that in a different era，names reflect the specific period and humanistic atmosphere and value orientation.The packaging function of names. In the usual social interactions, decorous, deep name, often

15、can help a person to leave a good impression on others, wonderful like a poem or as beautiful as a picture, all of them are most memorable. In the opposite, the name can also give an unpleasant abhor or rejection feeling. Writers are always give his protagonist the names which has special meanings.

16、The following diagram shows some names in J.K. Rowlings works-Harry PotterName The meaning Albus (阿不思)White Severus（西弗勒斯）SeriousMinerva （米勒娃）Goddess of wisdoms nameRiddle (里德爾)A riddleVoldemort (伏地魔)Keep away from the death 2. 2 DifferencesIn china, name started in the spring and autumn and warring

17、states period and began to stabilize during Qing dynasty. In England, the history of name is much later than China, for most of English only have their first name for a long period.In china, people think the family name is more important than the giving name while the English have the opposite idea.

18、 We can find this phenomenon easily through the order of the name. Chinese always put their surname in front of their first name, such as: Zhang San. Here is an English name:William Jafferson Clinton. We know that William is the first name, Jafferson is the middle-name, and Clinton is the family nam

19、e. The usage of appellation has great differences between England and China too. Few English can pay attention to level, especially social rank, their conversation rarely refers to their own titles and they are not willing to be connected to their parents. But in China, this is not a good behavior.

20、Chinese like to show their great achievement. They like to be honorable. And their parents positions are really important.3. The Cultural Connotation of Chinese and English name Terms3. 1 Cultural connotation of Chinese name termsChina has many different family name. Some of them are often used whil

21、e the other has small groups. Chinese nations name cultural origins can be traced back to the early matriarchal. Only Ren，Yao，Jiang(任、姚、姜) ，three of the family name of matriarchal society still exist in our society, while others all disappeared because of the population is rare. But most surname of

22、the paternity clan remain until now. According to the statistics to today, Chinese surnames has reached 11939, including 5313 one word name, 4311 double-word name, 571 four-word name,22 six-word name,7 seven-word name,3 eight-word name and 1 nine-word name. We can see rich and profound Chinese cultu

23、re from these figures, rich and colorful. It also make us realized that name culture is accompanied by our national development. It is one beautiful crowd in our traditional culture. It is very interesting to find that Chinese first-name changed by the background of different society. The name of an

24、 era reflects the characteristics of contemporary society life, cultural background. After northern song dynasty carried out obtaine, especially in Ming and Qing, a great number of people took Yingkui(應(yīng)魁), Dengbang（登榜）as their first name. After the foundation of new China, Kangmei(抗美)，Yuanchao（援朝）ar

25、e used a lot. During the culture revolution, a lot of name called Hong(紅), Zhuan(專)，Yuejin（躍進(jìn)）are taken. Some researchers have concluded the statistics, the name Jiangsu people prefer to use are Ying(英)，while Beijing is Rong(榮), Shanghai is Bao(寶)，Liaoning is Shu(樹)，Shaanxi is Jian(劍), Sichuan is Qi

26、ng(青)，Guangdong is Ya(雅), Fujian is Zhi(志) and so on. Chinese respect the old , pay attention to the etiquette, now the appellation can be roughly divided into three categories: 1. Surname + class: teacher Huang(黃老師). 2. Surname + administrative posts: commissioner Zhao(趙局長(zhǎng)). 3. Old + surname or sur

27、name + old: Lao Li or Li Lao(老李或李老).By the way, comrade is used during 1970s and 1980s after the Reform and opening up. Chinese has many taboos when they give a name to their kids. They always care about a lot. Zodiac is the most important one. Truly, this is the ancient Chinese custom. They will co

28、mpare the zodiac with Chinese pinyin, meanings, glyph. To find out whether the name is good, bad, fierce or auspicious. 3. 2 Cultural connotation of English name termsFamily name is a production of British society in history. From scratch to mature, it has experienced over the last three centuries.

29、In the 5th century A.D., when British ancestors are invaded, they formed the tribal society, until 1066, Norman conquest British, they formed their family name system though it is still very simple. With the development of the feudal society, people have to solved distinguish identity issue. They cr

30、eate a new expression way, named after their father or mothers name and put the name behind their original name. Ultimately, these alias gradually became last name.Anglo-Saxon is British ancestors, they have fixed name system. They wont use a word as his name, but choose in a set name. This leads to

31、 name repetition. Some Old English name reflects the people worship hero and power at the social trends. Most peoples name has connection with war and army. Such as Ecgbeort(亮劍)、Hereweald(軍隊(duì)力量)、Sigeweard(獲勝的守衛(wèi)). In later centuries, people suffered war-ravaged, so they are longing for peace. So they

32、put the desire to name. Such as Leot(beloved 愛), Frith(peace和平), Wine(friend朋友). Many Anglo-Saxon has their name related to the change of society.The appellations of English are fixed. We call men Mr. and Ms. for women. Miss is used among ladies who are unmarried. Mrs. is used in who has been marrie

33、d. We can also call Sir or Madam to show respect. However, English will be unhappy if we call them Lao as we do in china which shows respect in Chinese culture. They care about their age and do not want to be treated as old ones. 4. ConclusionAfter comparing Chinese and English name terms. We find out that the name is the production of a certain degree of human