Texas lawmaker says Asians should adopt surnames that are 'easier for Americans to deal with'

[Niels Bohr 72]

I'm just glad you go by 'Neils' here

but is he really a bore?

[tallcoolone 102]

Those Texans are always saying what is on their mind,........

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Those Texans are always saying what is on their mind,........

We should have let Mexico have 'em.

[Dau_Que 0]

Urgh, no thanks. My birth name given by my parents has a special meaning. Why would I wanna adopt a new name like Lisa, which means nothing in my native language? Asking me to throw away my heritage? No thanks.

And I'll make sure I'll vote this politician outta the office in the next election.

Thanks the OP for bringing this issue up.

[pedroh 21]

that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life... and very insulting too.. #######

[Peikko 1,575]

Those naughty Texans, how they love standardization

[one...two...tree 2,762]

[caybee 21]

In listening to what she actually said, I don't think she meant that Asian-Americans should actually change their names, but was asking if there was a way the transliteration of the names into English could be a little more consistent, and I can sort of see this, even though the way she phrased it came across as offensive and what she proposed was impractical.

There is a similar situation with transliterating Arabic words and names into English. When searching for an Arabic celebrity using English search engines, my husband frequently has to spell the name several different ways until he hits on the transliteration that's been most consistently used for that particular person's name, whereas if he spelled it using Arabic characters, he'd likely get a hit immediately. There is a fairly new search engine called Yamli that attempts to solve this problem by incorporating several possible transliterations of Arabic words or names into a search. Think Mohammed/Mohammad/Muhammad... Well, for that matter, think John/Jon, Catherine/Katherine, Zack/Zach/Zac/Zak... Plenty of the same problem with the creative spelling of so-called "American" names, but legislators aren't out calling for a unified spelling of those names. My own first name has ended up misspelled on official documents through no fault of mine, and it's about as "American" as a name can get, though the spelling is unusual. I won't even get started on the creative, subjective choices government officials have made to classify my husband's "race."

This has always been something of a problem in this country, due to differences in transliteration or pronunciation. For example, a linguistics professor once told me that the names Lloyd and Floyd have the same origins and took different spellings here as people immigrated to this country. The "LL" spelling in Welsh (I think) was pronounced with an aspiration, so if the immigrant presented a written document, the name usually stayed "Lloyd," whereas if the immigrant didn't write but instead spoke the name and an American filled out a document based on what they though they heard, the spelling often became "Floyd" because "FL" was the closest American equivalent pronunciation to the aspirated sound they were hearing. Don't know how accurate this story is, but it makes sense, and the altered spelling could actually help future generations learn more about their ancestry (whether their immigrant ancestors were literate or not, for example) based on the spelling. Another Welsh name, Davies: Just to hear it, I would probably spell it "Davis" because it wouldn't occur to me that there could be an alternate spelling of that pronunciation. If I saw it written, I would probably pronounce it with a long E sound if I didn't know better. And frankly, I didn't really know better until just recently when I was transcribing an audio that included that name pronounced by a Welsh speaker. There's a similar spelling (not transliteration) issue with many Spanish surnames, but we've had Spanish surnames in this country for so long that those differences don't jump out at us as much. So it's easy to see how several members of the same family who speak almost any language other than English could end up with their surname spelled several different ways, or how the same person could have his or her own surname spelled several different ways on different documents.

I can see this legislator's point in a way, but it was unfair to direct her words at a handful of nationalities or to blame the immigrants themselves when it is a much broader issue that depends on many factors, many of which are beyond the control of the immigrants and may land squarely in the hands of government workers who either don't enter data accurately or do it subjectively, based on what "sounds" right to them. Maybe technology will come along that will compensate for the differences in transliteration, and then this will become less of an issue.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I would like to challenge them with German names, Russian names...LOL. I'm sure this legislation will not pass.

[Scott & Lai 12]

In listening to what she actually said, I don't think she meant that Asian-Americans should actually change their names, but was asking if there was a way the transliteration of the names into English could be a little more consistent, and I can sort of see this, even though the way she phrased it came across as offensive and what she proposed was impractical.

"do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Is a request to take a name that is easier for people here, not simply standardizing the transliteration of an Asian name. If the latter was really what was meant, then Mrs. Brown has a serious communication problem.

[ailyn 0]

In listening to what she actually said, I don't think she meant that Asian-Americans should actually change their names, but was asking if there was a way the transliteration of the names into English could be a little more consistent, and I can sort of see this, even though the way she phrased it came across as offensive and what she proposed was impractical.

"do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Is a request to take a name that is easier for people here, not simply standardizing the transliteration of an Asian name. If the latter was really what was meant, then Mrs. Brown has a serious communication problem.

I heard it last night on the news. I dont think she said it in a mean way although of course some (esp most Asians)found how she say it offensive. But people have different views and opinions about things they heard and see which should be respected. In my own opinion, she was just expressing her views of making that topic (about names) easy and simple here in america. Maybe she's got problems or rather difficulty about reading and spelling "non-english" word or phrase??

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

... people have different views and opinions about things they heard and see which should be respected.

People can certainly expect their right to opine to be respected, but no reasonable expectation exists that the actual opinion be respected.

[pedroh 21]

In listening to what she actually said, I don't think she meant that Asian-Americans should actually change their names, but was asking if there was a way the transliteration of the names into English could be a little more consistent, and I can sort of see this, even though the way she phrased it came across as offensive and what she proposed was impractical.

"do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Is a request to take a name that is easier for people here, not simply standardizing the transliteration of an Asian name. If the latter was really what was meant, then Mrs. Brown has a serious communication problem.

I heard it last night on the news. I dont think she said it in a mean way although of course some (esp most Asians)found how she say it offensive. But people have different views and opinions about things they heard and see which should be respected. In my own opinion, she was just expressing her views of making that topic (about names) easy and simple here in america. Maybe she's got problems or rather difficulty about reading and spelling "non-english" word or phrase??

well the thing is, most people don't make the extra effort to read or spell a non-english word.. the same with accentisms, people are lazy to listen..

and omg, spelling a name.. such an effort of 'learning a foreign language'

[Ms. Squirrel 11]

Those Texans are always saying what is on their mind,........

We should have let Mexico have 'em.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

How do these jerks get jobs that give them a platform for such idiocy?