<Regenaxer>
I should look more often into HN, always forget about it
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<beneroth>
hi all
<beneroth>
Regenaxer, I should pick usernames for some Japanese people. Do Japanese prefer first name or family name used for such things?
<beneroth>
or it doesn't matter?
<Regenaxer>
I think it is like here. People choose according to taste
<Regenaxer>
Are these login names? If so they are abbreviations anyway
<Regenaxer>
eg. initials
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<beneroth>
its login names. project leader proposed using their first names, as they are quite short. it will be rather long login names as we add some suffixes, but should not matter as they probably will save the login credentials.
<Regenaxer>
yeah
<beneroth>
Regenaxer, afaik in Japan the ordering of names is the same as in German? not like other Asian countries where the family name comes first?
<Regenaxer>
No, family name is the first one
<beneroth>
oh ok
<Regenaxer>
Like in Bavaria ;)
<beneroth>
is it so? didn't know
<Regenaxer>
T
<Regenaxer>
Der Huber Sepp :)
<beneroth>
in CH we usually have personal name first, but context of list of names/participants (e.g. on a sport tournament or military) it is also that style :)
<beneroth>
thanks Regenaxer
<Regenaxer>
:)
<Regenaxer>
Same here, but with a comma: Huber, Sepp
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<aw->
beneroth: you can try translating the Japanese lastname to English, and use that as username ;)
<aw->
example: 'Matsumoto' could become 'pinebook'
<aw->
Matsumoto Hanako would become 'pinebook_flowerchild'
<aw->
:P
<aw->
there's many ways to play around with that
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<Regenaxer>
aw-, Matsumoto usually means "under the pine" 松下
<Regenaxer>
not 本
<Regenaxer>
Ah, sorry, no
<Regenaxer>
Masako just tells me "book" is common
<Regenaxer>
The other meaning of 本 is "Origin" which is meant here
<aw->
yes 本 has many readings
<aw->
and many meanings
<aw->
that's why i said there's many ways to play around with that.. pinetree_book, pine_origin, etc..
<aw->
so if many people have the same last name, you can still make a different/unique username for each
<aw->
Regenaxer: for your wife, maybe crown_princess ;) ;)
<aw->
i don't know the kanji, it's probably different
<Regenaxer>
Hmm, no idea ;)
<beneroth>
aw-, haha, nice ideas :)
<beneroth>
I find it beautiful that Japanese has these different meanings of names preserved.
<beneroth>
Or is it just the written name which coincidences with the same symbols, so that the meaning of the symbols is not rooted in the words?
<Regenaxer>
?
<beneroth>
in European languages the original origin of names is often forgotten or hard to tell
<Regenaxer>
yes, in German often professions
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<Regenaxer>
In Japan usually a place where they lived
<beneroth>
Regenaxer, my question is if the secondary (and more) meanings of a name come from the name itself, or if it comes from the written representation
<Regenaxer>
Ah, it is from the meanings of the kanji
<beneroth>
ah okay, so not inherent from the names itself, but stemming from their written representation then
<Regenaxer>
moto can be read as "hon" (Nihon, origin of sun)
<Regenaxer>
and it also means "book"
<Regenaxer>
So almost all kanji have several meanings and several pronounciations
<Regenaxer>
at least two, onyomi and kunyomi (Chinese and japanese reading)
<Regenaxer>
Though the Chinese pronounce the same kanji completely differently today
<Regenaxer>
It is quite a mess :)
<aw->
indeed
<Regenaxer>
grown historically
<beneroth>
but there is only one Japanese language, is there?
<beneroth>
I mean compared to Chinese, where there are multiple different languages with the same writing system
<Regenaxer>
yes, besides dialects
<Regenaxer>
right
<aw->
beneroth: there's actually 3 Japanese writing systems for just 1 language
<aw->
it's quite painful
<aw->
even for Japanese people
<Regenaxer>
Or 4 including romaji (latin)
<aw->
but i wouldn't survive without all 3
<aw->
reading a 100% hiragana text makes my eyes bleed