Hou-Zi Naming & Speech Guide

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

Hou-Zi Names

Hou-Zi naming structure is the reverse of most other cultures. By order it goes [Family Name, Personal Name]. Their names also usually translate into certain meanings, although this is not mandatory. These can be literally anything, from a name which means ‘No Regrets’ (Wu Han) to ‘King Mountain’ (Wang Shan).

 

Family Names

The following is a list of common family names you can draw from, these come from the designated ‘Hundred Surnames’ (Lao Bai Xing), mandated by the god king during the glory days of the empire.

 

Wu

Chen

Hsieh (pronounced ‘Shay’)

Yuan

Zhang

Zhao

Li

Wang

Liu

Luan

Chan

Tan

Han

 

Individual Names

A Hou-Zi’s ‘first name’ is as limitless as the ancient language itself. Usually it is simply something memorable or meaningful. It is common for Hou-Zi to name their child after common heroes of old, most notably the god-king and his three sons. As such, Shen, Wang, Da, and Xiao are the most common of first names. Some additional names with meaning attached as listed below.

 

Jing - Gold

Lung - Wolf

Shen - Holy/Blessed

Shan - Mountain/High

 

OOCly, Literally any word in the chinese language works. The naming system (even IRL) is completely random. Seriously, I grew up among the Taiwanese and I know people named ‘Octopus’. The country’s president is named ‘Speaks-Shitty-English’, i.e Tsai-Ing Wen. (She speaks perfect english).

 

The screenshot above shows how you can incorporate a mandarin word into your name. Just go into google translate (it’s actually fairly accurate if you’re just translating single words), type in the word you want to be named in English, then use the phonetic/romanized pinyin below the direct translation (marked in red).

 

Combining

The family name always goes first. So if you pick ‘Wu’ for your family name and ‘Jing’ for your individual name, your Hou-Zi’s name will be Wu-Jing. If you pick your family name to be Hsieh and your individual name Shen, your name will be Hsieh-Shen. And so on.

 

You can get creative with this. Like Li-Lese. (Li being the family name, Lèsè being the individual name… meaning garbage.)

 

Hou-Zi Speech

Of course, the main language of the Hou-Zi in the modern era is common (I.e, English, because I can’t expect all of you to become fluent in Chinese). However, there are a few particular expressions.

 

• Use simpler, broken english. Imagine how a second language english speaker would talk in real life.

 

• No articles. (Never say the ‘a’, ‘an’, or ‘the’ in a sentence)

 

• No past or future tense. Everything should be spoken in present tense.

 

• The passing of days is referred to as a sunrise. “Many sunrises ago..” “Many sunrises from now..”

 

• The passing of weeks is referred to as a moon. “Three moons ago…” “In coming moon..”

 

• The passing of years is referred to as a lunar cycle. “Thousand lunar cycles ago, Hou-zi people were great empire!”

 

• No ‘S’ at the end of certain words. ‘Thinks’ becomes ‘think’. ‘Gives’ becomes ‘give’.

 

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When roleplaying a Hou-Zi, you should keep these common words of the Hou-Zi language (oocly: mandarin) in mind and are recommended to use them in common speech. (The accents on top of the words just indicate the tone, and since minecraft roleplay is typed, not spoken, they’re optional).

 

Xiōngdì - Brother. (Hou-Zi should always address other Hou-Zi as this.)

 

Nǐ hǎo  - Hello.

 

Nǐ hǎo ma - Are you well?

 

Hóu - Monkey, cultural connotation: The Chosen Race

 

Rén - People, person

 

Huángdì - King

 

Nǚwáng - Queen

 

Shén - God

 

Yù - Jade

 

Zhǔ - Tribe, people group

 

Yuan - Moon.

 

Bai chi - Stupid. Foolish.

 

Lou Suo - Bullshit

 

Cáifù - Wealth (Tā hěn cáifù: He’s wealthy, high in society)

 

Bian Lian Ren - Humans. (Literally: Flatfaces)

 

Jian Tou Ren - Elves. (Literally: Pointy heads)

 

Ai Shan Ren - Dwarves. (Literally: Short mountain people)

 

Gongzhu Ren - Orcs. (Literally: Boarfolk. Likely because of the orcish tusks)

 

Ying-Er Ren - Halflings. (Literally: Baby people)

 

Mao Ren - Kharajyr. (Literally: Cat-People)

 

Note: Ren just means ‘people’. So instead of saying ‘Bian Lian Ren’ you can just say ‘Bian Lian’.