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Translating Chinese Name to Japanese 2018/11/26 07:55
Hi all,

I am on my way to embark on being an ALT in Japan and I am thinking of how I should introduce my Chinese to my Japanese students, colleagues and friends. I am aware of translating it directly using katakana, but am exploring the possibility of adopting a more "Japanese" name to assimilate into the society.

My family name is: 袁 ,and my given name is: 伟亮

Thanks in advance for the help and I greatly appreciate it.

by 亮 (guest)  

Re: Translating Chinese Name to Japanese 2018/11/26 12:37
There are usually 2 options: (1) Use the Chinese characters and read it in Japanese on-yomi (音読み); or (2) Use all katakana and write it as close to the Chinese pronunciation as possible.

If you go with the first option, you should use the traditional Chinese character 偉 instead of 伟.
袁偉亮 is read えん・いりょう (エン・イリョウ in katakana).

If you go with the second option, depending on how closely you want to duplicate the Mandarin pronunciation, it will look like ユェン・ウェィリァン.

Some people try to have it both ways (write in Chinese and pronounce like Chinese), but that will not register in most Japanese minds and will complicate the situation. The situation is the same in reverse (reading Japanese name the Chinese way).


by Mai Bumai (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Translating Chinese Name to Japanese 2018/11/26 13:52
Dear Mai,

Thank you for the detailed respond and explanation.

Both options look good. I’m kind of leaning towards the former ― just want to check if “いりょう” will sound weird to the locals? As I understand that implementing Chinese names into Japanese may cause some redundant/unwanted meaning sometimes.

Thanks!
by 亮 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Translating Chinese Name to Japanese 2018/11/26 14:35
いりょう does not sound like a Japanese name. Does it sound weird? Not really. It is obviously a Chinese name.

For reference, 医療 and 衣料 are both read いりょう, also.

You can ask your friends and coworkers to call you 亮 (りょう), which can sound Japanese.
Assuming you are a male, some examples of Japanese names that contain the character 亮 are:
亮(りょう), 亮太(りょうた), 亮介(りょうすけ), 亮一(りょういち), etc.
by Mai Bumai (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Translating Chinese Name to Japanese 2018/11/27 06:36
Dear Mai,

Thanks for the clarification. Yeah, I think I will adopt the onyomi reading of my Chinese name for official purposes and use Ryou as a nickname for colleagues and friends to address me easier.

Thanks for your help!

by 亮 (guest) rate this post as useful

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