Nicknames

Most of the nicknames that aboriginals obtained were given by their parents, other family members, or friends. According to the data, nicknames can be divided into three types—nicknames of the aboriginal people, Chinese nicknames, and others. In terms of nicknames of the aboriginal people, they are given based on physical appearance and

behavior. For example, a Seediq traditional teacher was addressed as Kaleybang (“lizard”) by her families because she was short with a huge belly and a boy is addressed as Babuy (“pig”) because he was fat when he was a child. A girl was addressed as Labi, after a woman’s name in her tribe, because she changed lots of clothes within a day like Labi. A Bunun woman was addressed as Lak (“hole”) because she liked to dig holes when she was a child. Nicknames can also be phonetically- derived from their names. For instance, a Bunun traditional teacher, Valis, was addressed as Pakis (“iron wire”) and an Amis informant, Kacaw, is addressed as Kacaws (“watermelon”). In these cases, the meaningful nicknames are nearly identical in form with the original names. The Amis informant of Falanagw dialect further indicated that

male and female can also be addressed as Kabanga (“penis”) and Kababi (“vagina”), respectively. These scatological nicknames are used as jokes.

With regard to Chinese nicknames, in addition to the description of children’s physical appearances, they may also denote child’s birth order. For instance, in Bunun group, a boy is addressed as 小黑 (xiao-hei ‘lit. little black’) because of his dark skin. In the Seediq group, a man is addressed as 禿頭 (“baldness”) because of his bald hair. A Bunun informant said he is addressed as 小三 (xiao-san ‘lit. little third’) by his families because he is the third child of the family, and as 山豬 shan-zhu (“wild boars”) since he was considered to be good at riding wild pigs.

Moreover, some nicknames are given based on the sound that children make. For example, in the Bunun group, a girl is addressed as Augumi, a sound that she used to make when she was a child. On the other hand, a boy may be addressed as Bishi, the sound of the spray of the insecticide that he imitated. In addition to being addressed with nicknames, some children are addressed with the abbreviation of traditional names and Chinese names. For example, an Amis informant, Lakaw, is addressed as Akaw while others are addressed as 翎翎 Ling- Ling, 阿翔 A- Xiang and 阿玲 A- Ling, etc. In conclusion, different types of nicknames have different denotative meanings and children’s nicknames may be used for humorous purposes.

Table 9 presents nicknames of the aboriginal people and they are categorized into four types. The first type is nicknames associated with name bearer’s physical appearance, and behaviors, the second type is nicknames denoting child’s birth order, and the third type is nicknames that are homophones of names and fourth type is nicknames which are the abbreviated forms of names or the sounds that children made.

Table 9 Nicknames of the Aboriginal People The first type:

Nicknames are associated with name bearer’s physical appearance and behavior 小黑 xiao-hei (‘lit. little black’): denoting a boy’s dark skin

禿頭 (“baldness”)

山豬 shan-zhu (“wild boar”): denoting a boy’s skill of riding pigs Kaleybang (“lizard”): denoting a girl’s short body and huge belly Babuy (“pig”): denoting a boy’s fat body

Labi: denoting a girl’s behavior of changing lots of clothes Lak (“hole”): denoting a girl’s behavior of digging holes

The second type: Nicknames denoting events of family

小三 xiao-san (‘lit. little third’): denoting a boy’s birth order as the third child of the family

The third type: Phonetically-derived nicknames Kacaws (“watermelon”): derived from a boy’s name, Kacaw.

Pakis (“iron wire”): derived from a women’s name, Valis.

The fourth type: Other types (including abbreviated forms) Akaw: the abbreviation of a girl’s name Lakaw.

Augumi: the sounds that child made.

Bishi: ‘the sound of insecticide’

翎翎 Ling-Ling: the abbreviation of a girl’s name, 媛翎 Yuan-Ling 阿翔 A-Xiang: the abbreviation of a boy’s name, 文翔 Wen-Xiang 阿玲 A-Ling: the abbreviation of a girl’s name, 芷玲 Zhi-Ling

According to Table 9, nicknames which associated with bearer’s physical appearance and distinctive behavior is the most dominant type. The result is consistent with Crozier (2004)’s statement that nicknames which are composed of external formations (Morgan et al, 1979) including references to bearer’s physical appearance, specific incidents and personality traits are the most common. To be more specific, a nickname that describe bearer’s physical appearance is the predominant category. The function of using nicknames of this category is ridiculing name bearers by seizing upon their distinctive features and exaggerating them for humorous effect (Crozier, 2004). Also, he indicated that most nicknames are made up of in negative tone by treating people as an object or referring them with a distinctive feature (Crozier, 2004). Thus, nicknames can serve as address forms which show people’s dislike or lack of respect to the addressee (Crozier, 2004). For instance, students used nicknames to address teachers who were strict or horrible. For aboriginals, they used nicknames to address the siblings when they had a quarrel.

In fact, since most of nicknames were given with humorous effect by their parents or grandparents, aboriginals don’t feel offensive and hurtful when they are addressed with nicknames. The use of nicknames helps create solidarity between their families and friends.

The similar function of nicknames was also found among prisoners and coalminers in Zaitzow et al (1997) and Skipper (1986)’s studies. In addition, nicknames reflect asymmetry of power relationship and the less powerful one is called with the name by people of more power (Crozier, 2004). For young aboriginals, it’s impolite to address their parents or grandparents with their nicknames. To sum up, nicknames are meaningful and they reflect different social relationships in different situations.

4.2.5 Additional remarks

Similar naming practice can also be seen in other culture. Seeman (1993) indicated that in many cultures, people choose names that have connotations associated with either male or female. Names that are associated with the theme of war is often applied to male and those associated with the theme of ‘nature’ to female (Seeman, 1993). Kenneth (2007) further indicated that women’s names associated with nature such as flowers, sun, moon, and fruit imply women’s physical beauty. For instance, in the case of Azerbaijan names, two

Azerbaijani women’s names Gülnar [gülnar] and Gülnara [gülnara] are derived from gül [gül]

‘rose or flower’ and nar ‘pomegranate’. In Azerbaijan society, women’s names focus on describing their physical attractiveness. The phenomenon is also observed in aboriginal women’s names. For example, the name of a Bunun woman is Mulas, which means wild strawberry while her sister’s name is Halusing, which means a swallow. These cases, in which aboriginal women’s names are usually related to nature and describe women’s physical beauty, are consistent with Seeman (1993)’s and Kenneth (2007)’s descriptions.

Moreover, the two types of names (e.g., names encoding parents’ aspiration and

family’s religion) is also consistent with Kenneth (2007)’s observation on Azerbaijani names.

In terms of names expressing parent’s aspiration for their children, a man was named Vügar (“pride”) because his parents wish him to be someone who would make the family proud. A woman is named as Günel “sun of nation” which is made up two words, Gün (“day or sun”) and el “people or nation” (Kenneth, 2007). Regarding names with religious implications, since most of Azerbaijanis is Shia Muslims, man is usually named after the 4^th Muslim caliph,

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assignment of names to men and women reflects Azerbaijan’s culture. Male dominates these two types of names because they are the more powerful ones in the public domains and have authority to attend the public religious gatherings while women are involved in the religious practices at home (Kenneth, 2007). Thus, the tendency of having more religious names for men reflects a cultural disposition to the male public leadership in Azerbaijan and parents would like to express aspirations in boy’s names than in girl’s names (Kenneth, 2007).

Nevertheless, there seems to be no significant relationship between gender and aboriginal’s Chinese names and religious names.