The Adoption of Non-Heritage Names among Chinese Mainlanders

Abstract

When studying English or through the medium of English, some mainland Chinese students adopt non-heritage names. This phenomenon has arisen as a result of language contact in an increasingly interconnected world. Our paper investigates reasons for the adoption of non-heritage names among Chinese students and the kinds of functions that these names are seen to fulfill. We surveyed 156 English linguistics majors. Our findings indicate that most of those surveyed use non-heritage names. These appear to serve interrelated roles and can also be associated with Chinese nick-naming. In addition, the names in our sample seem to reflect aspects of students’ lives that are relevant in specific contexts, and these contexts both shape and are shaped by participants’ use of given and non-heritage names.

Keywords:

• adopted names
• mainland Chinese students
• language contact

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our appreciation to two anonymous reviewers of this paper for their detailed, rigorous and insightful comments. Any infelicities remain the responsibility of the authors.

Notes

1 Due to the high number of female respondents in the survey, we do not make gender comparisons. Wong notes that “men tend to receive more nicknames than women and that female nicknames tend to be more appearance-oriented, male names derived more from surnames” (2006: 18).

2 Quotes from students are given verbatim.

3 This quote is in italics, as in the original.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lin Lin

Lin Lin recently graduated from Newcastle with a PhD in Applied Linguistics, conducting research into the role of peer and teacher feedback in Chinese ELT contexts. Ming Dong is also a recent PhD graduate of Newcastle whose research examined learning styles in the acquisition of lexis among Chinese learners of English. Peter Sercombe lectures in Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University and has a particular academic interest in processes of linguistic and cultural change, and language endangerment. Tony Young also lectures at Newcastle and his research focuses on intercultural communication, as well as communication and disability, with special reference to dementia.