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Am I the only one against changing proper names for a language?
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I'm not a big fan of it, I guess it makes sense for names that are almost always adapted in other languages, such as royalty, saints and biblical characters.
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I went to an Esperanto meeting in Canada one time and there was a fellow there who didn't Esperantize his name. His name was not one I've heard before or since, it did not end in O, and it contained at least two sounds that are not found in English or Esperanto. As the evening progressed, I watched several people come in, introduce themselves to this man, ask him to repeat his name at least once, and then finally conclude with "oh" - obvious that they've given up on trying to catch it.
This is the moment I always think of when I hear people say they're against the Esperantizing of names. We anglicize names all the time. I'm sure this man's grandson or great grandson, if named after him, would pronounce their name using only sounds that Canadians are familiar with. It's the same thing with Esperanto.
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In the end it's just a question of how much effort you and your new acquaintances want to put into learning your name correctly. Same with Chinese, Polish or whatever names, you can try to teach them or just go as Jenny / Chris / ..
In other words, there are good reasons and examples for both options and it depends on circumstances what option you choose. Even if you go with your real name, most languages tend to at least pronounce it only with native sounds or sound combinations, if not spell it phonetically, and there are other languages that add endings to names already in the nominative, e.g. Latvian
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I think you're saying the same thing that I am, although I would underscore that the phrase "how much effort" should not imply that simply throwing effort at the problem will not solve it.
It seems to me that the Icelandic Esperantist in Canada was not making the proper effort to speak his name with Esperanto sounds. The people he met were making a big effort but with no success. It shouldn't be necessary to learn a new language to say someone's name.
Along these lines, I met an Esperantist named Sten. He said he's gotten used to how Esperantists say his name because in his language, there are at least two different E sounds that sound different to his hear. When it's said with the wrong E sound, it sounds the same to others but as different as "Stone" and "Stan" to us. I learned how to say the difference while I was with him. It was a bit like this scene from Babylon 5 (you can skip the first 50 seconds of space scenes and still get the point.)
Finally, there was a time in my life when everybody called me Thos. It's an easy name -- starts out like "Thought" but rhymes with "Toss." Nobody ever had a problem with it. However, when I started working and meeting new people every day, I started going by "Thomas" because it was really too much to have to explain a dozen times a day.
For that matter, when speaking German, it never once occurred to me to say "it's Tɑməs, not TOE-mahss". That is, Germans always pronounce my name the German way, not the American way, so that's what I do while speaking German.
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Sure, I didn't mean to contradict you, I just went on with my thoughts on the subject
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No, no you are not. If your name is Alfredo, I will call you Alfredo, I'm not going to call you Alfred. It's not your name... -_-
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In japanese, often native-English speakers alter their names because Japanese language conventions makes it difficult for them to pronounce words with multiple consonants together. and viceversa, Japanese people often have an 'English' name. A Thai friend of mine has an English name, because some sounds, even if they use English letters, don't translate. Especially since her name had a tone in it.
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No, but it's easier than constantly explaining to peers that it's "Jorion" and not "Jordan" or "Dorion."
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In Esperanto people try to make their names more phonetic, and all nouns are meant to end with an O. My names Brian, since there shouldn't be blends in names I'm still trying to decide on mine.... Maybe Biriano, or like my Chinese boss says "Bin", but with an O on the end..... :D
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Every time I see the name "Adam", I think of the word "man" thanks to Turkish. Ben bir adam.
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It's not "Ben bir adam." It's "Ben bir adamım." Go back to Turkish course right now! :D jk
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Not yet at the level where we learn what fartas means but prematurely i cant help but think it means fart and you're saying you fart well. I might feel thoroughly embarassed if it does not indeed mean fart.
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Best translated as 'fare', as in Elizabethan English "How dost thou fare, young master?", or "Fare thee well" = "Farewell"
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Help. My name is Zişan and it's pronounced like Zee-shaan. How do I make it Esperanto? ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡
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I'm an Esperanto beginner myself, but I think Zişan would most probably be Ziŝano or Ziŝana in Esperanto. The sh sound is written ŝ, and female names can end either in -o or -a.
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I am a beginner too but I couldn't think of that, I am so clever... Thank you, that makes sense. I guess it's Ziŝano then.
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Maybe, I don't think that you can have three consonants together (rth) If the th makes the sound in this or that, just replace it with a f or v... Personally I think Kar-vi-ko sounds pretty cool
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Kartiko. No "th" sound in Esperanto. I wouldn't use "f" instead because "fiko" is rude.
What about the name Michael? I'm guessing something along the lines of Majkelo? Not entirely sure though
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Gotta love it when actual Esperanto gets a downvote in a discussion about learning actual Esperanto.
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How about tonie? i think tonio/tono or some other are pretty weird, boyish and seems old, i hate my name :c
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nah that's a rad name, it's unique and has a very cool stylization!
as the beginning of common phrases says, girl names can end with an a. So "tonia" and "tona" work fine, very similarly to the spanish name "antonia" actually
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Hmm, what about Esperanto name for "Honza" and "Jan"?
(In czech my name is "Jan", but we have nickname for it "Honza")
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I think it is Jano. In hungary there is János (== Jan == John) and its nickname are Jani and Janó ...
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Julian (My name) would be Juliano, but what would be my nickname? Juĉjo or Juliĉjo? And what if you have a name ending with a vowel? Adèle (My mothers name) would be Adèla or Adèlo and Adènjo as a nickname, right? Jelle would be Jello and Jeĉjo, right?
Also, names for men 'generally' end with an 'o' in Esperanto, so what are some other opportunities?
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So if my name is Ruben, my esperanto name is Rubeno? And my nickname is Rucxjo, right?
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Is this how you introduce yourself in Esperanto? (Just as in English, "Hi! I'm Adam")
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Andreo, Ancxjo, or Andrecxjo. You can esperantize your name however you like. "Andio" or "Andi" would would -- Andio has the accent on the I.
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So would "Josh" just change to "Josho" or "Joŝo"? I'm unsure about the second one.
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Joŝo would probably be okay. I looked in the PIV and it doesn't have any other meaning.
Could someone also explain why Adam is Adamo? I thought names stayed the same no matter what language youre speaking.
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My opinion as a fellow beginner: If Tavion is pronounced "tay-vee-un" I would personally go with Tejviono. (I believe that's pronounced tay-vee-OH-no) But of course you can make your Esperanto name however you like it.
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What would happen to Douglas? Can you have a g and an l next to each other?
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My name is Ashley, so would it would be Aŝleyo? And for those whose name already ends in o, such as Julio, it just remains the same?
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About the second question: Yes, they would. The first question is more difficult to answer, I think you could say "Ashley" as well if you prefer.
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In case anyone is wondering, if a name does not end in -o then you'll have to indeed add an -o. So I would be Kyleeo. Adam would be Adamo. Maddie would be Maddieo, etc. :)
