UNIT 5 STAGE 5 Introduction to Chinese Writing III Traditional Simplified This section is intended to upgrade your ability to read Chinese business cards and further interact with people. Specifically, this section will (1) intro- duce you to some more Chinese surnames and titles; (2) help you learn how to ask about surnames and given names, and hànzì that you don’t recognize; and (3) help you inquire about people’s occupations, majors, and addresses. I. ASKING FOR PEOPLE’S NAMES In this section, eleven more Chinese surnames are introduced: Xú 徐 徐 Sün 孙 孙 Zhü 朱 朱 Hú 胡 胡 Guö 郭 郭 Lín 林 林 Hé 何 何 Liáng 梁 梁 Zhèng 郑 郑 Dèng 邓 邓 Öuyáng 欧阳 欧阳 70 • CHINESE: COMMUNICATING IN THE CULTURE 繁体字 简体字 When meeting people for the first time, Chinese consider it polite to ask for surnames instead of full names. Nín guìxìng? 您贵姓？ 您贵姓？ May I ask what your surname is? Compared to xìng, míng is the given name. Xìngmíng 姓名 姓名 means “full name”, and is only used formally such as on IDs cards, signed forms and so on. If you want to ask about the full name, you would use another term: míngzi. When you meet someone 名字 名字 of your age or younger in an informal situation, you can ask: Nî jiào shénme míngzi? 你叫什么名 你叫什么名 What is your name? 字？ 字？ Reading Chinese surnames can sometimes be a challenging task because some Chinese surnames are uncommon characters that few people recognize. It is important to learn how to say a person’s surname correctly. You really do not want to take the chance that you might greet a person incorrectly at the first meeting by misreading his or her surname. To ask for the correct reading of a character, you can ask: zênme niàn? 怎么念？ 怎么念？ Niàn is the verb for reading aloud. 念 念 我姓冯／我姓冯。 Unit 5, Stage 5 • 71 繁体字 简体字 If you have trouble reading someone’s surname on his/her business card, you can ask politely— Duìbuqî, qîngwèn nínde xìng zênme niàn? 对不起，请 对不起，请 Excuse me, could you please tell me how to read 问您的姓怎 问您的姓怎 your surname? 么念？ 么念？ Likewise, when having trouble reading full names, you can ask— 对不起，请 对不起，请 Duìbuqî, qîngwèn nínde míngzi zênme niàn? Excuse me, could you please tell me how to read 问您的名字 问您的名字 your full name? 怎么念？ 怎么念？ Duìbuqî means “I’m sorry” or “excuse me”. This is 对不起 对不起 used to express that you have inconvenienced or will inconvenience someone, or cannot comply with a request. You can replace nín with nî, but being polite 您，你 您，你 is usually preferable. If you are meeting Mr. Chen, Chén xiänsheng, for the first time, and you would like to confirm that he is Mr. Chen, you can ask him politely— 陈先生 陈先生 Qîngwèn, nín shi Chén xiänsheng ma? 请问，您是 请问，您是 Excuse me, are you Mr. Chen? 陈先生吗？ 陈先生吗？ If he is Mr. Chen, he may respond to you— Shì, wô jiùshì. 是，我就是。是，我就是。 Yes, I am. Jiùshì means “exactly”. 就是 就是 72 • CHINESE: COMMUNICATING IN THE CULTURE 繁体字 简体字 If you look at Mr. Chen’s name card or name tag and you don’t know how to pronounce his name, you may ask— Chén xiänsheng, nínde míngzi zênme niàn? 陈先生，您 陈先生，您 Mr. Chen, could you tell me how to pronounce 的名字怎么 的名字怎么 your name? 念？ 念？ If you want to confirm the person attending the meeting is Ms. Zhu, the accountant, you can ask the person next to you: Qîngwèn, tä shi Zhü kuàijì ma? 请问，她是 请问，她是 Excuse me, is she Ms. Zhu, the accountant? 朱会计吗？ 朱会计吗？ If she is Ms. Zhu, the accountant, the response may be: Duì, tä jiùshì Zhü kuàijì. 对，她就是 对，她就是 Yes, she is Ms. Zhu, the accountant. 朱会计。 朱会计。 Bù negates verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. 不 不 Bù, tä búshì Chén xiänsheng. 不，他不是 不，他不是 No, he is not Mr. Chen. 陈先生。 陈先生。 Bù, tä búshì Zhü kuàijì. 不，她不是 不，她不是 No, she is not Ms. Zhu, the accountant. 朱会计。 朱会计。 Unit 5, Stage 5 • 73 繁体字 简体字 When you are trying to find out who the head of a department is, you can use shuí, “who” or “whom”, 谁 谁 in a general question to ask about identity. Qîngwèn, nîmen zhûrèn shi shuí? 请问，你们 请问，你们 Excuse me, who is your department head? 主任是谁？ 主任是谁？ To find out what his or her name is, you can ask in various ways— Qîngwèn, nîmen zhûrèn xìng shénme? 请问，你们 请问，你们 Excuse me, what is the surname of your department 主任姓什 主任姓什 head? 么？ 么？ Qîngwèn, nîmen zhûrèn jiào shénme míngzì? 请问，你们 请问，你们 Excuse me, what is the name of your department 主任叫什么 主任叫什么 head? 名字？ 名字？ If you think Deng might be his or her surname, you can ask— Qîngwèn, nîmen zhûrèn xìng Dèng ma? 请问，你们 请问，你们 Excuse me, is Deng the surname of your 主任姓邓 主任姓邓 department head? 吗？ 吗？ To find out who the person is that you have just seen at a party or in a meeting, you can ask someone else— Qîngwèn, tä shi shuí? 请问，她是 请问，她是 Excuse me, who is she? 谁？ 谁？ Qîngwèn, tä jiào shénme míngzì? 请问，他叫 请问，他叫 Excuse me, what is his name? 什么名字？ 什么名字？ Tä jiào Xú Dàhâi. 他叫徐大 他叫徐大 His name is Xu Dahai. 海。 海。 74 • CHINESE: COMMUNICATING IN THE CULTURE 繁体字 简体字 II. TITLES AND TERMS OF ADDRESS In Chinese, some titles may indicate people’s position and occupation. For example: zôngjïnglî 总经理 总经理 general manager dôngshìzhâng 董事长 董事长 chair of the board zôngcái 总裁 总裁 president of a company kuàijì 会计 会计 accountant göngchéngshï 工程师 工程师 engineer yïshëng 医生 医生 doctor, physician You may use these titles to address people in a professional and formal manner. For example: Hú dôngshìzhâng, nín hao! 胡董事长， 胡董事长， How do you do, Mr. Hu (the chairman of the board). 您好！ 您好！ Some of the terms can be shortened this way: Sün zôngjïnglî = Sün zông 孙总经理＝ 孙总经理＝ 孙总 孙总 Hú dôngshìzhâng = Hú dông 胡董事长＝ 胡董事长＝ 胡董 胡董 Zhèng göngchéngshï = Zhèng göng 郑工程师＝ 郑工程师＝ 郑工 郑工 Unit 5, Stage 5 • 75 繁体字 简体字 In informal situations, you may also address a medical doctor using the term dàifu instead of yïshëng. For 大夫／医生 大夫／医生 example: Qîngwèn, Hé dàifu zài ma? 请问，何大 请问，何大 Excuse me, is Dr. He in? 夫在吗？ 夫在吗？ You may ask people what their occupations are: Nín zuò shénme göngzuò? 您做什么工 您做什么工 What’s your occupation? 作？ 作？ Or Nín shi zuò shénme göngzuò de? 您是做什么 您是做什么 What do you do? 工作的？ 工作的？ Wô shi göngchéngshï. 我是工程 我是工程 I’m an engineer. 师。 师。 他是邓总／他是邓总。 76 • CHINESE: COMMUNICATING IN THE CULTURE 繁体字 简体字 If you are talking to someone in academia, you can exchange professional information by asking one’s academic field - zhuänyè, which means “major”. 专业 专业 Nínde zhuänyè shi shénme? 您的专业是 您的专业是 What is/was your major? 什么？ 什么？ Wôde zhuänyè shi wùlî. 我的专业是 我的专业是 My major is/was physics. 物理。 物理。 Or you may use yánjiü, “research”, to answer such 研究 研究 a question if you are an expert doing research in this field. Wô shi yánjiü qîyè guânlî de. 我是研究企 我是研究企 My research interest is/was business administration. 业管理的。 业管理的。 For a student, you may use xué “to learn” to ask and 学 学 answer the same question: Nî shi xué shénme zhuänyè de? 你是学什么 你是学什么 What is your major? 专业的？ 专业的？ Wô shi xué wùlî de. 我是学物理 我是学物理 My major is physics. 的。 的。 广州市／广州市 Unit 5, Stage 5 • 77 III. COMPANY NAMES AND ADDRESSES 繁体字 简体字 When talking about your occupation, Chinese would also ask about where you work. For example: Nín zài nâr göngzuò? 您在哪儿工 您在哪儿工 Where do you work? 作？ 作？ Or you may ask in a more polite way: Nín zài nâr gäojiù? 您在哪儿高 您在哪儿高 Where do you work? 就？ 就？ Gäojiù is a more polite phrase to ask where one 高就 高就 works by implying that the other person has a high or prestigious position. You should never use this term to refer to yourself. If you are working in a company, göngsï, you may 公司 公司 say: Wô zài Huámêi Màoyì Göngsï göngzuò. 我在华美贸 我在华美贸 I work at the Sino-American Trade Company. 易公司工 易公司工 作。 作。 You may find information about where people work from their business card. Besides göngsï, you will probably encounter gûfèn yôuxiàn göngsï, a joint 股份有限公 股份有限公 stock limited liability company. For example: 司 司 Huámêi Gûfèn Yôuxiàn Göngsï 华美股份有 华美股份有 the Sino-American Company, Ltd. 限公司 限公司 杭州市 78 • CHINESE: COMMUNICATING IN THE CULTURE 繁体字 简体字 Jítuán, group, is the word used for a large trading 集团 集团 and/or holding entity. For example: Zhöngguó Zhöngxìn Jítuán Göngsï 中国中信集 中国中信集 the CITIC Group 团公司 团公司 In a large organization such as jítuán or göngsï, there 集团／公司 集团／公司 will be specialized offices. Two such offices are the Foreign Affairs Office, wàishìchù, 外事处 外事处 and the Human Resources Office, rénshìchù. 人事处 人事处 Wài means “outside” or “foreign.” 外 外 Shì means “affairs” or “official matters.” 事 事 Chù means “office” or “agency.” 处 处 The Human Resources Office includes the term rénshì, which literally means “human-matters”. 人事 人事 More often than not, you may also find a foreign trade center in those large organizations. Foreign trade is duìwài màoyì. 对外贸易 对外贸易 Duìwài literally means “facing-outwards.” 对外 对外 江西省 Unit 5, Stage 5 • 79 繁体字 简体字 A “center” is zhöngxïn.