this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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chapotraphouse

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[โ€“] KuroXppi@hexbear.net 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Her name Cheng Xin is literally a homophone for 'sincerity' and has the character ๅฟƒ meaning heart. Contrasted to Luo Ji whose name ็ฝ—่พ‘ is a homophone for 'logic'. It's ๐Ÿคฎ Rowling level nominative determisism

[โ€“] Wheaties@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

oh damn the linguistic divide may have done that novel some favors. I probably wouldn't have been so enamored with the high-concept scifi if I knew it was being presented by Mr. Rational and his doe-eyed assistant.

[โ€“] KuroXppi@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I thought the translator's notes included the explanation of some of the names? Also Sophon is ๆ™บๅญ zhizi meaning 'knowledgeable child' (knowledge particle) can also be read as Tomoko or Satoko, a standard Japanese name.

The names do sound okay because the common surnames ็ฝ— luo and ็จ‹ cheng replace ้€ป luo and ่ฏš cheng from the nouns

[โ€“] Wheaties@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

i may not have been the most attentive when it came to the notes

[โ€“] KuroXppi@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago

Neither am I so I'm not confident if I picked this up from t/n or from elsewhere, all g!