In this culture people the age of Emmy refer to men my age as grandpa out of respect. Also in this culture, young people, even some older ones, who are English speakers, have adopted an English name like Emmy has. Sometimes they find a name they like better or learn something negative about their current name and change it, as a result it is not a name that carries much value.
One day I was talking with a friend of Emmy about Emmy and a puzzled look came across her face. She quizzed me about Emmy to try to determine if she knew who I was talking about. She soon realized the person I called Emmy was the person she called Amy. This troubled me because I was concerned about why Emmy never corrected me, so I asked her one day.
At first she didn’t care whether she was called Amy or Emmy because her real name was Li Jiajing, with Li being the family name, which is always written first. When I gave her a Bible I wrote a note in it to her and used Emmy as her name. As a result Emmy became special between us. But now that I realize she respects me by calling me Grandpa, it was time for me to respect her by calling her Jiajing. This will take a while because she has always been Emmy to me. As I make this adjustment I will gradually change her name in the material I write about her.
Some of you are asking how to pronounce her name. She will probably smile at my explanation, but I will try. Remember, Chinese is a four tone language. Jia is spoken with a first tone. In English, Jia sounds like jaw. Jing, on the other hand, is fourth tone, which means when you say the “ing”, your voice goes down. Saying “ing” as we do in English would be first tone, but with fourth tone your voice lowers a little when you say it. For many words that little change in voice provides a different meaning. For example “ma” spoken with a first, second, third, and fourth tone means mother, numb, horse, and quarrel, respectively. So if you say ma1 ma2 ma4 ma3 you would essentially be saying your mother is a numb quarreling horse.
For the benefit of those who don’t get to read this blog entry, I will use both names for awhile and then switch to Jiajing. If the visa fails and our paths cross I may not have many opportunities to speak of her again by name. I feel very sad just thinking about that possibility because through this visa process she and her family have become a special part of my life.
One day I was talking with a friend of Emmy about Emmy and a puzzled look came across her face. She quizzed me about Emmy to try to determine if she knew who I was talking about. She soon realized the person I called Emmy was the person she called Amy. This troubled me because I was concerned about why Emmy never corrected me, so I asked her one day.
At first she didn’t care whether she was called Amy or Emmy because her real name was Li Jiajing, with Li being the family name, which is always written first. When I gave her a Bible I wrote a note in it to her and used Emmy as her name. As a result Emmy became special between us. But now that I realize she respects me by calling me Grandpa, it was time for me to respect her by calling her Jiajing. This will take a while because she has always been Emmy to me. As I make this adjustment I will gradually change her name in the material I write about her.
Some of you are asking how to pronounce her name. She will probably smile at my explanation, but I will try. Remember, Chinese is a four tone language. Jia is spoken with a first tone. In English, Jia sounds like jaw. Jing, on the other hand, is fourth tone, which means when you say the “ing”, your voice goes down. Saying “ing” as we do in English would be first tone, but with fourth tone your voice lowers a little when you say it. For many words that little change in voice provides a different meaning. For example “ma” spoken with a first, second, third, and fourth tone means mother, numb, horse, and quarrel, respectively. So if you say ma1 ma2 ma4 ma3 you would essentially be saying your mother is a numb quarreling horse.
For the benefit of those who don’t get to read this blog entry, I will use both names for awhile and then switch to Jiajing. If the visa fails and our paths cross I may not have many opportunities to speak of her again by name. I feel very sad just thinking about that possibility because through this visa process she and her family have become a special part of my life.
