(Family name) Ah Kau @ (Family name) Hock Tay

English translation: (姓氏)阿九/亚九 @(xxxx)福郑

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase:(Family name) Ah Kau @ (Family name) Hock Tay
English translation:(姓氏)阿九/亚九 @(xxxx)福郑
Entered by: aliasonly

07:10 Dec 19, 2012
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs / variants of Chinese names on Malaysian birth certificate
Chinese term or phrase: (Family name) Ah Kau @ (Family name) Hock Tay
On the birth certificate, the name of the father is recorded as "XXXX Ah Kau @ XXXX Hock Tay" (Family name disguised for privacy purposes.) I assume it's the same name in two dialects. Am I correct? Which dialects would they be?
Catherine Muir
Australia
Local time: 21:32
(姓氏)阿九/亚九 @(xxxx)福郑
Explanation:
The two names are definitely pronounced in Hokkien, the main dialect in Taiwan. The surname in the second full name is in fact Tay(郑)instead of xxxx in the source text, and the second name in full should therefore be xxxx Hock Tay, which in Chinese way would be 郑xxxx福, with the surname in front, precisely in the reverse order, if you know the Chinese custom.

Kau actually means "dog" in Hokkien dialect. Due to superstition, parents from the older Chinese generation used to call their children by the names of animals such as cow, dog... thinking/wishing that the children would grow more healthily that way. Having this name doesn't necessarily mean the person is No. 9 child in the large family, it's just that 九and "dog" in Hokkien are homophones in the dialect.

Selected response from:

aliasonly
Grading comment
Yes, you have all made it very clear. I am very grateful to you all, as I am a translator from Indonesian & Malay but not Chinese!



Summary of answers provided
5 +2(姓氏)阿九/亚九 @(xxxx)福郑
aliasonly


Discussion entries: 10





  

Answers


5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
(姓氏)阿九/亚九 @(xxxx)福郑


Explanation:
The two names are definitely pronounced in Hokkien, the main dialect in Taiwan. The surname in the second full name is in fact Tay(郑)instead of xxxx in the source text, and the second name in full should therefore be xxxx Hock Tay, which in Chinese way would be 郑xxxx福, with the surname in front, precisely in the reverse order, if you know the Chinese custom.

Kau actually means "dog" in Hokkien dialect. Due to superstition, parents from the older Chinese generation used to call their children by the names of animals such as cow, dog... thinking/wishing that the children would grow more healthily that way. Having this name doesn't necessarily mean the person is No. 9 child in the large family, it's just that 九and "dog" in Hokkien are homophones in the dialect.



aliasonly
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese, Native in EnglishEnglish
Grading comment
Yes, you have all made it very clear. I am very grateful to you all, as I am a translator from Indonesian & Malay but not Chinese!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for so much info. One thing--the surname in both cases is the same, which I have called XXXX. 'Tay' is the second syllable of the given name.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Wen-zhe (Clyde) Ye: learnt something new, thanks. Agree surname cannot be Tay
21 hrs

agree  Sharon Toh, MITI MCIL: Absolutely agree... speaking as a Hokkien myself, which you can also see from my surname. If this person is from SG or MY, all the more correct. We spell our names based on dialect pronunciations.
3 days 5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search