发布时间 : 星期三 文章Differences between Chinese and English Surnames更新完毕开始阅读
Differences between Chinese and English Surnames
1 Introduction
One of the most stable personal identities of human beings, a personal surname is the symbol of the distinction of the blood relationship, which is closely related to the religion, history and the tradition of a nationality and a component of the language and culture of a country. In the course of human history, Chinese and English Surnames have their own characteristics, but they may have something in common. By comparison and contrast, we will have a general understanding of Chinese and English Surnames from the origins, type of sources, meanings, forms, development and the causes of differences between Chinese and English surname
2 Comparison between Chinese and English surnames
There are some differences in origins, type of sources, meanings and forms between Chinese and English surnames.
2.1 Origins of surnames in Chinese and English
In China, the family names were originated from the matriarchal society of the ancient times, and owned a history of more than five thousand years. At that time, the family names were used to make a distinction among the different families as well as the different marriages in China. Therefore, it can be seen that family name was a symbol of the blood relationship all the time.
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In the ancient times of Britain, the ancestors (Anglo-Saxons) of the British only had their names but did not have the family names. Generally speaking, the names of Anglo-Saxons were very simple. And most Anglo-Saxon names were composed of a generally-used name. In 1066, the Normans made an incursion in Britain, and brought the family name system of Frances to Britain at the same time. During the initial period, the family names were only used in those feudal aristocracies. In the following 500 years, however, the British formed their own complete surname system with a gradual step.
2.2 Types of the sources of surnames in Chinese Language and English Language
Different types f the sources of surnames in Chinese and English language.
2.2.1 Types of the Sources of the surnames of Chinese People
The family name system of Chinese people mainly takes the family names of the Han-nationality as the basis. According to the analysis, the types of the sources of the family names of Chinese people can be concluded as follows. (1) The surnames of the mothers or the totems of the ancestors (these were the oldest family names such as JIANG, YAO, JI, YUN, LONG, NIU, MA and YANG)
(2) The titles of the ancestors in that society, such as XUANYUAN and GAOYANG
(3) The flag number, designated names, characters or names of the ancestors, such as TANG and WEN
(4) The living places, such as DONGMEN, GONGGE, XIMEN and
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(5) The kingdoms and surname fiefdoms, such as QI, LU, QIN and JI (6) The ranks of nobility, such as WANG, GONG and HOU (7) The official names, such as SIMA, SITU, SHUAI and WEI (8) The occupations, such as TAO, WU, SHANG and Yue
(9) The family names of the emperors, such as the \the Tang dynasty emperors to their meritorious statesmen (the descendants of these meritorious statesmen continued to use LI as the family name)
(10) The transliteration of the family names of minorities people, such HUYAN, YUWEN, BAI and BAO
2.2.2 Types of the Sources of the surnames of English people
According to the analysis, the types of the sources of the family names of English people can be concluded as follows.
(1) The occupations, such as Carpenter, Thatcher and Tailor, which source from the original occupations (e.g. mill-man, the persons covering the roof and the persons making clothes)
(2) The topography and landforms near the living places, such as Moor, Hill and Lake, which mean wild place, small mountains and lakes respectively (3) The names of the living places, such as York, Kent and London, which are originally the British places but changed to the surnames in English later (4) The bodies of the individuals and the individuality characteristics, such as Small and Long which mean small men and tall men respectively
(5) Some surnames in English are composed of the first name and the \such as Johnson, Wilson and Jackson, which are used to give expression to a relationship between parent and child
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(6) Surnames are composed of two words in English, such as Loyd-Jones and Bartle-Smith
(7) Surnames emerged due to the population migration (e.g. the outsiders migrated to England are usually called as Scot, Wallace, Scott, which become the surnames of these new immigrants; some new immigrants take Newcome and Travelers as surname)
(8) Some people establish unconventional or unorthodox names with the purpose of expressing the worship of the great men
2.3 Word Meanings of surnames in Chinese Language and English Language
In the \that the family name stood for the blood relation of a child with his family members, and was continued from his mother, and this meant that the family name sourced from the women who gave birth to the child. Therefore, it can be seen that the origin of the surname had a very close relationship with the action of a woman to give a birth. The children who were born by the same mother owned the same family name. The family name in English language means \top of the name\Latin, the family name stands for the name of a family.
Therefore, from the word meanings, it can be known that the family name is defined by people from the perspective of the relationship with a family, or is used to describe the relationship with the same names but not to attach importance to the blood relation with a family.
2.3 Forms of surnames in Chinese Language and English Language
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