New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesRe: "Dee" more than an English name:
in reply to a message by Tbird
Historically there is a difference between a name and a mere "word". Even if there is a Chinese word meaning "brother" that is pronounced "Dee", that doesn't necessarily mean that there has ever been anyone in China who has been given Dee as a name with that being the intended meaning.
Every reasonably short word will probably have several different meanings in various languages around the world. But most of these will be accidental correspondences. Etymology is just not finding accidental similarities in sound, but is the study of where the name comes from historically. So it doesn't matter what "Dee" means or meant in Hebrew or Chinese if there is no evidence that the origin of Dee as a given name in English-speaking countries historically goes back to the Hebrew or Chinese words.
As a surname in Britain, Dee is taken from Welsh dhu, "black". That's a more likely derivation for your grandfather's middle name (if you have British ancestry) than a Chinese word.
Every reasonably short word will probably have several different meanings in various languages around the world. But most of these will be accidental correspondences. Etymology is just not finding accidental similarities in sound, but is the study of where the name comes from historically. So it doesn't matter what "Dee" means or meant in Hebrew or Chinese if there is no evidence that the origin of Dee as a given name in English-speaking countries historically goes back to the Hebrew or Chinese words.
As a surname in Britain, Dee is taken from Welsh dhu, "black". That's a more likely derivation for your grandfather's middle name (if you have British ancestry) than a Chinese word.
2
Replies
I want to thank you for that interesting piece of Etymology:)
I've always heard I have what you would call "Black Dutch" ((not to be racial, but it's not like a black person Dutch. There was a time when someone set the Dutch villages on fire, and they had to travel to find another place to live, and they were smothered with ashes so they were called Black Dutch, or Blue-Belly Dutch)).
And Gilbert is also a Dutch usage. :)
I've always heard I have what you would call "Black Dutch" ((not to be racial, but it's not like a black person Dutch. There was a time when someone set the Dutch villages on fire, and they had to travel to find another place to live, and they were smothered with ashes so they were called Black Dutch, or Blue-Belly Dutch)).
And Gilbert is also a Dutch usage. :)
1
Didi means "big brother" in Chinese
Often instead of the name, siblings say "big brother" or "big sister", even when they are grown up. You can even use this to other people as a polite term. And Didi is pronounced as Dee-Dee.
Of course "Di" could be used as part in Chinese names, but then it does probably not mean "brother". There are many Chinese words which look similar in pinyin but have totally different meanings, which is seen when you write them in Chinese characters.
"You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul. You are disappointed."
"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)
Often instead of the name, siblings say "big brother" or "big sister", even when they are grown up. You can even use this to other people as a polite term. And Didi is pronounced as Dee-Dee.
Of course "Di" could be used as part in Chinese names, but then it does probably not mean "brother". There are many Chinese words which look similar in pinyin but have totally different meanings, which is seen when you write them in Chinese characters.
"You sought a flower and found a fruit. You sought a spring and found a sea. You sought a woman and found a soul. You are disappointed."
"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)
1