GSU CHINESE MAJOR

中国人的名字具有十分丰富的文化内涵。名字不但是一个人的代码，而且是父母亲对孩子的未来的期望。

在西方很多国家，人的名字是由名、中间名和姓组成的 (For example, the Taylor family got a baby girl and they named her Mary, and they gave her a middle name as Jane; therefore the girl's official name will be simply Mary J. Taylor)；在中国，人的名字是由乳名（或者叫小名）、姓和名组成的。(For example, the 李 family got a baby boy and the named him 虎子，which means "Tiger", because the family wants the boy to be brave like a tiger. The family and the fellow villagers all call him 虎子；but seven years later, when it was time for the boy to go to school, his parents or a teacher gave him an official name 李满仓, in which 满仓 means “full granary”- for common farmers wouldn't it be nice to have a full granary?) 

乳名是一个孩子出生后父母亲或爷爷奶奶给他 / 她起的，这个名字是家里的人用来称呼这个孩子的。

Please note the sentence pattern: 给 somebody 起的 (给 is a helping word; 起 is an action verb)

Look at this example of the pattern: 

                         这些饺子是妈妈给他做的。

Word-for-word translation is "These dumplings are Mom for him made." You can see that it means: These dumplings are what Mom made for him. It is another way of saying: Mom made these dumplings for him, but with different emphasize. 

Now you may want to work out the meaning of the following sentence:

                         这件衬衫是姐姐给他买的。

But please note that this sentence pattern can be ambiguous, which means it may be understood or explained in a different way if the contents are changed. For example：

                         这些药是医生给他吃的。

The sentence definitely does not mean that the doctor takes the medicine for him, but it means the doctor gives these medicine for him to take. The helping word 给 = 让.

但等这个孩子长大成人后，乳名的使用就有了城市和乡村的差别。

First, the two characters 等……后 are always used together to for a time concept which is similar to "when..." or "after..." "wait till" in English. For example, 

等他回家后，你再做饭。Wait till he comes home; then you can cook the meal.

她想等大学毕业后再结婚。She wants to wait till she gradates from college to get married. OR: She does not want to get married till she graduates from college.

长大成人 means "grow up and become an adult." It seems a little redundant, but it is a set phrase in Chinese language. 

So the above sentence means "but when the child becomes an adult." 

有……差别 means "have difference."

有了……差别 means "difference will occur (by then)."

So the latter half of the sentence means: The using of the nursery name will differentiate between cities and countrysides.

在城市里，很多人只是给乳名的前面加上姓，就成了一个人的官名；但在农村，尤其是中国西北的陕西、甘肃、宁夏等省（约七千万人）的农村，乳名是很少被用作官名的。在村子里或邻近的村子里，人们会一直用一个人的乳名称呼他或她，直到他或她结婚并有了自己的孩子。这时候，这个人的乳名就基本上成了一种禁忌。人们就开始用这个人的孩子的名字来称呼他或她。年轻的父母也会用他们孩子的名字互相称呼。而在本村的同辈人中间，有时候会用官名称呼他或她。正因为这样，农村有不少人不知道自己的父母或者爷爷奶奶的乳名是什么。在村子之外，特别是在学校里，人们一般都是用官名互相称呼，极少用乳名。因为多数情况下，人们不知道对方的乳名叫什么。 

 Words and expressions

十分  Shífēn = very

丰富  Fēngfù = rich

文化  Wénhuà = cultural

内涵  Nèihán = connotation

代码  Dàimǎ =  code

未来  Wèilái =  future

对…期望 Qīwàng = expectation

由…组成 Yóu…zǔchéng = composed by ...

乳名 Rǔmíng = nursery name

起（名）Qǐ (míng) = to give (name)

称呼 Chēnghu = to call, to address

长大 Zhǎngdà = to grow up

成人 Chéngrén = to become adult

使用 Shǐyòng = to use

城市 Chéngshì = city

乡村 Xiāngcūn = village

差别 Chābié = difference

前面 Qiánmiàn = in front of

加上 Jiā shàng = to add

就成了 Jiù chéngle = will become

官名 Guān míng = official name

尤其（是）Yóuqí (shì) = in particular

陕西 Shǎnxī  = Shanxi (Province)

甘肃 Gānsù = Gansu (Province)

宁夏 Níngxià = Ningxia

省 Shěng = province

约Yuē = approximately

被 Bèi = used to form passive voice

邻近 Línjìn = neighboring

一直 Yīzhí = has been

直到 Zhídào = until

结婚 Jiéhūn = to get married

基本上 Jīběn shàng = basically

成了 Chéngle = to became

禁忌 Jìnjì = contraindications; taboo

开始 Kāishǐ = to start; to begin

年轻 Niánqīng = young (light age)

互相 Hùxiāng = mutually; each other

本村 Běncūn = the same village

同辈 Tóngbèi = peer; those in same generation

正因为 Zhèng yīnwèi = exactly because

之外 Zhī wài = outside

特别 Tèbié = especially

一般 Yībān = generally

极少 Jí shǎo = seldom; rarely

多数 Duōshù = most of; the majority

情况 Qíngkuàng = situation

对方 Duìfāng = the other side