How to address people in Chinese 中文称呼

How to address people in Chinese 中文称呼
Aug 6, 2009 19:23
LILY521SMILE Points: 29 Join Date: Aug 3, 2009 Status: offline	When introducing people in Chinese, the order is surname first, title second The Chinese seldom call each other by their whole name unless they are close friends or members of the immediate family. When addressing people, it is common practice to use titles like Mr, xiānshēng 先生 Mrs, fūren 夫人 Miss , xiǎojiě 小姐. The title is placed after the name, thus Miss Zhuo is Zhuó xiǎojiě in Chinese. ChineseHour teacher has the details. The word xiānshēng, “mister”, literally means “first born”, which implies respect. Anyone born before me is older than me, and thus earns my respect due to his age. On some occasions xiānshēng is also used with the meaning of “teacher”. Women do not change their family name when they get married and that is why Miss Liu, after after changing her marital status, will be Mrs Liu. Especially in Hongkong or Taiwan you can also hear the expression tàitai for Mrs. The word xiǎojiě, Miss, is also used when addressing a waitress in a restaurant or a shop assistant. Xiǎo means “little” and jiě stands for “sister”. Nowadays waitresses are often also called xiǎomèi, which translates into “small little sister”. The word shīfu 师傅 originally referred to a master of any specific skill, such as a carpenter, calligraphist, martial arts master etc. It contained the meaning of being a teacher, and thus the apprentice or student would call his master shīfu. Nowadays shīfu is commonly used to address, for example, a cab driver.

Aug 6, 2009 19:23

LILY521SMILE
Points: 29
Join Date: Aug 3, 2009
Status: offline

When introducing people in Chinese, the order is surname first, title second

The Chinese seldom call each other by their whole name unless they are close friends or members of the immediate family. When addressing people, it is common practice to use titles like

Mr, xiānshēng 先生

Mrs, fūren 夫人

Miss , xiǎojiě 小姐.

The title is placed after the name, thus Miss Zhuo is Zhuó xiǎojiě in Chinese. ChineseHour teacher has the details.
The word xiānshēng, “mister”, literally means “first born”, which implies respect. Anyone born before me is older than me, and thus earns my respect due to his age. On some occasions xiānshēng is also used with the meaning of “teacher”.
Women do not change their family name when they get married and that is why Miss Liu, after after changing her marital status, will be Mrs Liu. Especially in Hongkong or Taiwan you can also hear the expression tàitai for Mrs. The word xiǎojiě, Miss, is also used when addressing a waitress in a restaurant or a shop assistant. Xiǎo means “little” and jiě stands for “sister”. Nowadays waitresses are often also called xiǎomèi, which translates into “small little sister”.
The word shīfu 师傅 originally referred to a master of any specific skill, such as a carpenter, calligraphist, martial arts master etc. It contained the meaning of being a teacher, and thus the apprentice or student would call his master shīfu. Nowadays shīfu is commonly used to address, for example, a cab driver.

Aug 13, 2009 19:58	#1
SIMPLESKY Points: 17 Join Date: Aug 13, 2009 Status: Offline	Thank you! This is very useful to me ! i wan to know where you can get these materials?

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