Wang Chien-ming, or Chien-ming Wang?
An American expat in Taiwan Boston asks in a
letter to the editor to the Taipei Times:
Dear Editor,
Why is Wang Chien-ming’s (王建民) name in US newspapers and on US TV
sports networks written and spoken out loud as “Chien-ming Wang” in
the wrong order?
According to usual Taiwanese style, he should be known as Wang
Chien-ming, even in the West and even in English-language newspapers.
When Wang first went to play baseball for the Yankees in New York many
moons ago, he was always called Wang Chien-ming in the
English-language newspapers in Taiwan and the US, but after a few
years, newspapers in the US gradually started writing his name as
Chien-ming Wang. TV newscasters followed suit.
The New York Times’ and the Washington Post’s sports pages and all US
TV sports channels now write and say his name “Chien-ming Wang.”
From some e-mails I exchanged with a Washington Post sports reporter
last year, I was told that this new order was the way Wang wanted his
name to be used in the US, so “the Washington Post and the Associated
Press wire service are just following his wishes,” to quote the
reporter.
Was this really Wang’s wish, or was it the idea of his agent or of the
US sports community to give him a Western-style name order in US
media?
It is true that Japanese sports stars in the US use a Western name
order in English-language newspapers and that it is Japanese tradition
to write their names in the Western name order on English-language
business cards and in English-language newspapers.
So we have examples such as Ichiro Suzuki, whose name in Japanese is
written “Suzuki Ichiro,” but as “Ichiro Suzuki” in the US.
The same holds true with Japanese politicians in English-language
newspapers in Taiwan and overseas.
Former Japanese prime minister Koizumi Junichiro was always identified
in the English-language media as “Junichiro Koizumi.”
However, we never see President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) name written in
US newspapers as Ying-jeou Ma, do we?
So why does Wang Chien-ming get special treatment by US sports writers?
Notice that not all Taiwanese sports stars playing in North America
have their name order reversed in the US media.
Was it Wang’s wish and desire to be called Chien-ming Wang on US TV
and in English-language newspapers, was it his agent’s idea or that of
US sports editors, and TV and radio newscasters?
Is this to be a new trend, following the Japanese name order trend in
the West, or is this the wrong way to write or say Taiwanese names in
English-language media in Taiwan and overseas?
contact me :
bikolang@gmail.com
http://www.taipeitimes.com/
An American expat in Taiwan Boston asks in a
letter to the editor to the Taipei Times:
Dear Editor,
Why is Wang Chien-ming’s (王建民) name in US newspapers and on US TV
sports networks written and spoken out loud as “Chien-ming Wang” in
the wrong order?
According to usual Taiwanese style, he should be known as Wang
Chien-ming, even in the West and even in English-language newspapers.
When Wang first went to play baseball for the Yankees in New York many
moons ago, he was always called Wang Chien-ming in the
English-language newspapers in Taiwan and the US, but after a few
years, newspapers in the US gradually started writing his name as
Chien-ming Wang. TV newscasters followed suit.
The New York Times’ and the Washington Post’s sports pages and all US
TV sports channels now write and say his name “Chien-ming Wang.”
From some e-mails I exchanged with a Washington Post sports reporter
last year, I was told that this new order was the way Wang wanted his
name to be used in the US, so “the Washington Post and the Associated
Press wire service are just following his wishes,” to quote the
reporter.
Was this really Wang’s wish, or was it the idea of his agent or of the
US sports community to give him a Western-style name order in US
media?
It is true that Japanese sports stars in the US use a Western name
order in English-language newspapers and that it is Japanese tradition
to write their names in the Western name order on English-language
business cards and in English-language newspapers.
So we have examples such as Ichiro Suzuki, whose name in Japanese is
written “Suzuki Ichiro,” but as “Ichiro Suzuki” in the US.
The same holds true with Japanese politicians in English-language
newspapers in Taiwan and overseas.
Former Japanese prime minister Koizumi Junichiro was always identified
in the English-language media as “Junichiro Koizumi.”
However, we never see President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) name written in
US newspapers as Ying-jeou Ma, do we?
So why does Wang Chien-ming get special treatment by US sports writers?
Notice that not all Taiwanese sports stars playing in North America
have their name order reversed in the US media.
Was it Wang’s wish and desire to be called Chien-ming Wang on US TV
and in English-language newspapers, was it his agent’s idea or that of
US sports editors, and TV and radio newscasters?
Is this to be a new trend, following the Japanese name order trend in
the West, or is this the wrong way to write or say Taiwanese names in
English-language media in Taiwan and overseas?
contact me :
bikolang@gmail.com
http://www.taipeitimes.com/