Remember, EM POC only!
This message is to my EM POC comrades: Angel loves all of you.
Especially as of late, I have truly been feeling like this community has worked wonders in keeping me stable when it comes to handling the massive jar of mayo that this site can be sometimes.
How are you all?
One thing I didn’t really notice until I read a random blog about translating and subtitling Korean dramas in English and my native language is that our naming conventions are way different than in English.
This happens with other languages of course but didn’t really realise it for the one I actually speak.
For example, the infamous example is gender neutral pronouns and no grammatical gender. Maybe even having no last names and only personal names + patronymic names. Some do have family names but depends on familial origin (often arab ancestry).
But the one I didn’t realise is how referring to yourself by your first name (ie. Referring to yourself in third person in English) is very normal and even encouraged because traditionally people have multiple names and people often only go by one of the names they are given.
And if not by first name, you either refer to yourself by your title, or your position within the family. Ie. Your dad will say “Dad thinks you should xyz” instead of “I think you should xyz”•
It sounds absolutely awkward in English but it feels very normal in my native language.
We also have names for each sibling (ie. Eldest sibling will be called “Along”, you either prefix “kak” or “abang” (“sister” or “brother”) and remove the initial a. In my family we use the gender neutral name. There’s a unique name for up to the 5-8th sibling, in which case it can repeat for more and another alternative prefix is used, but not everyone follows it.
Nicknames are also a big thing. Family can either call you by a nickname which is usually some form of your personal name, or by the “sibling name”. Sometimes sibling name + nickname for clarification. Other people outside family can use your nickname aswell.
Typing this all out also made me realise it’s really hard to explain and understand unless you actually speak a language that has that same level of complexity.
Ooh, lemme compare!
Me too with the gender neutral pronouns, and no grammatical gender (still conjugation tho), though we had surnames even before colonization, and replace Arab influence with Spanish, and the fact our names are more Europenized... (Eg. Juan Del Reyes)
For me, kuya at ate (eldest brother and eldest sister)
You know, I have a tita (auntie) Daisy and a tita King, who is an actual aunt.
Unconsciously, when I was a child, I call one of my siblings Yanang, as an example of such sibling name...
Right one thing I forgot to mention is that the “sibling name” applies for your uncles and aunts too but with a different prefix.
So your dad or mum’s oldest brother would be called “paklong”.
Those that speak English would use Auntie and Uncle for “strangers” too. In Malay, there will be a distinction on age and gender, “pakcik” and “makcik” for those older/parents age, and just akak and abang for those similar to your age. (I guess similar to the uncle/brother and auntie/sister age distinction in some English dialects).
This does not even include other major naming cultures present here, especially Chinese.
I think that’s why over here government documents just ask for your full name without any distinction between family/last/middle names. And it’s also why my full name can get cut off when I am in other countries (it’s too long lol).
Dayum, that shit's quite complex... your country may have been externally colonized, but at least it wasn't significantly internally colonized to forget such naming complexity
I recently found out my Tita doesn't actually have the name "Tita." This is a person I've known my entire life and I don't know her real name. It's like I've been going around saying "Grandma's name is Grandma."
Just to ask, which region of the Pilipinas do you hail from, on yer father's side? I'll guess Luzon, and Ilocano at that!
Yah Luzon and Manilla. I was talking to my siblings living in the motherland and was all "When you guys visit we should go to Tita's." My sister said "Oh, what's her name? I might have met her before." Me: "Tita? Her name is Tita...what else would it be?"