The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-02-25

n NSi 'eliii pioleSSoT OF pHllOlOBy, Wnt
is a member of an uptown club. sat
down in one corner of it's library the
other evening and announced:
Il believe that all foreigners on
reaching these shores should be COM
PEELED by law to translate their names
| into English. Weare supposed to speak
the English language, andyet we are mix
ing into 1t proper nouns of every ma
| tionality under the sun I took an
out Of town friend around the city this
| morning, and we saw German, Russian.
Hebrew and Gaelic names galore, but
only a half-dozen Anglo-Saxon cogno-
MEMS"
The professor was always proposing
such revolutionary plans to reform
| society that usually his sallies were
greeted with smiles and good natured
| mods. On this occasion, however, his
| aIlusion to Gaelic names so reused the
| Ire of an Irish member of the club
| that the latter exclaimed:
That's all foolishness. What's the
difference whether a mans name is
Schonberger or Petropavlovsk? I've
got two neighbors with such cogno-
mems, as you call them, yet for that
reason I don't respect them any the
less"
THAT is not the point said the pro-
fessor calmly. IT am not speaking of
mems characters but their appellations.
Now, consider how much more pictur-
esque our language would become if
just such names as these were render
ed in English. Mr.. Schonberger would
be Mr.. Fairhills, and your Russian
friend would be Mr.. Peter-and-Paul
But the American race is a mix
ture," contended the Irishman. why,
then. should not its language be a mix
ture of languages. Variety, professor,
is the spice of life"
You would have still more variety"
responded the professor, IF you would
render these foreign names under
standable. Just suppose, for example,
some of the most prominent men
abroad should come to America and
take Anglicized names. In such case
Marquis Ito would become Mr.. Salmon
or Mr.. Thread. for the word ito means
both in Japanese. Likewise, Baron
Komura would be Mr. Small Village.
AS 'yama' means mountain in Japa-
nese. so Field Marshal Oyama would
be Mr. Big Mountain, and General va
magata would be Mr.. Mountain prov
ince. Admiral Togo would settle
down here as Mr. East Town, Count
Kuroda as Mr.. Black Rice Field, and
Mr.. Kamigo as Mr.. Lobster Stream.
Lobster in japanese, by the way, is!
a term of honor and not derision. as
with us. After Admiral Togo's great
victory over Rojestvensky, for ex-
ample, his countrymen here eulogiZed
him by calling him this kind of she'll
fish,
The other cluhnan was going to say
something. but he didn't.
Taxa is a prefix you see in many
Japanese names" continued the pro-
fessor. well, that means high. Mr..
Takahira, accordingly, would be Mr..
High Plain, and Mr. Takahashi would
be Mr.. High Bridge"
You can turn Jap names into Eng
lish easy enough" interrupted the |
Gaelic member, because the Japanese !
and British are allies. but I defy you |
to treat the Russians that way"
1T can be done just as easily and /
with much the same pictorial results" |
said the professor. Let us take Cen |
eraI EUROPA tkin and Admiral Rojest- I
vensxy as examples. AS you know,
the general was constantly on the re-
treat and the admiral was made the |
recipient of more presents in the shape
Of cannon balls than he knew what TO
do with. Well. sir, Kuropatkin is the
Russian for field chicken. and Rojest-
for Christmas child. General
Linevitch. too. could not have name
y I innyftah
oorderman,e As you know, he has
never been more than on the edge Of
l battle. Potemkine. the Black Sea
oattleship. the mutiny on which dark
ened the Russian horizon so ominously
1t one time, has an equally appropri-
re name. Potemkine means twilight.
he kind which verges on utter dark
less. Bouligin, Minister of the Interior
md head Of the police, is also aptv
lamed Bouligin is a Tartar word
meaning cobblestone. Gorky, the name
+ the Russian revolutionary writer,
means bitter; but. as YOU know. it is
lis pseudOuym. one he adopted to ex-i
,ress his feeling toward monarchy.
His real name is Pyeshkof, which
means a pawn. and which shows the
tumble origin Of the family. In Russia,
{ YOU regard a person as too far be-
.eath You to associate with you call
i'm 'pyeshk' or pawn.
y suppose you have read UP on the
russians and the japanese" said the
,ther cIubmau still more irritably,
but. look here. you must own UP your
chere wouldn't work with the Chi 7
ese"
I'VE don't intend to let the Chinaman
ettle here" said the philologist, good
n+,.rnLal,r. .ttn,nt evar, II we lid a trans !