Borrowed identity: Signaling involvement with a Western name

Abstract

Western-style English names are very commonly used by Chinese Hongkongers to communicate with Westerners and among themselves. The inventory of traditional Chinese address forms does not favor the quick development of friendship and intimacy, which is somehow crucial in multicultural business transactions. The adoption of a Western name is largely motivated by a preference to switch to a reciprocal first-name address pattern typical of egalitarian interpersonal communication in the West, in order to speed up the process of getting acquainted, both in inter- and intra-cultural encounters. This pragmatic transference may be regarded as a result of bilingualism and biculturalism. Similar patterns and background of innovations in address forms have been noted in many Yoruba-speaking communities in West Africa.