Asian Names
|
|
Asian Names |
|
China | Chinese names have the surname first. President and party leader Jiang Zemin, Foreign Minister Li Peng. Second reference Jiang, Li. We now write Mao Zedong, not Mao Tse-tung. |
Taiwan |
Preferred usage is Taiwan, not Taiwanese for the adjective, since the "-ese" adjective refers to the people who were
on the island when the Kuomintang fled there in the late 1940s and their descendants. It is best to say Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui. Also note that referring to Taiwan as a country implies an independent Taiwan and
acceptance of that view. The capital city is Taipei, not Taipeh. The body of water separating Taiwan and China is the Taiwan Strait (singular).
|
Korea | Along with most of the media, dpa uses the McCune-Reischauer system of romanization for Korean names minus the diacritics. It has not so far adopted the "official" National Academy for the Korean Language (NAKL 1999) system that is used in South Korean government publications.
The principal South Korean cities are as follows: dpa writes Korean personal names without any hyphen: e.g. President Kim Young Sam, second reference Kim. See also: Spelling Page.
|
Southeast Asia | Surnames in Southeast Asia do not have the hallowed nature they hold elsewhere. In some countries, such as Burma and Cambodia, there are no surnames. In others, the given name is the one people go by and is used for second reference. Some examples: |
Cambodia | Most Cambodians have no surnames but use two given names. Ousted Second Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh, 2nd reference Ranariddh. Second reference should be both names when monosyllabic. First Prime Minister Hun Sen, 2nd reference, Hun Sen. |
Indonesia | Many Indonesians have only one name. Former president Suharto, 2nd reference, Suharto. Suharto's second son, Bambang Trihatmodjo, 2nd reference Bambang. |
Laos | President Nouhak Phoumsavanh, 2nd reference, Nouhak. The Lao people call themselves Lao, not Laotian. Stick to Lao for the people and as an adjective. |
Malaysia | Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 2nd reference, Mahathir. |
Myanmar | Burmese have no surnames but use two given names. An exception is Aung San Suu Kyi, 2nd reference, Suu Kyi. First Secretary Khin Nyunt, 2nd reference, Khin Nyunt. |
Singapore | Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, 2nd reference, Goh, in keeping with Chinese practice. |
Thailand | Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, 2nd reference, Chavalit. |
Vietnam
| Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, 2nd reference Khai |
| Style Guide Home | Index of Key Words | Country Names |
 |
 |
