Cho's name (WAS) OOP: Cho's Patronus

[Petra Pan]

No: HPFGUIDX 67473

Yours truly, in parts:
> As no one has yet been able to back 
> up the persistent insistence on 
> attaching "butterfly" to Cho with
> any good reasons for doing so,
> perhaps you would be so good as to
> point me.

and
 
> So, does anyone know of any
> substance whatsoever to this "Cho's
> name means butterfly" assertion?
> Can anyone point me?  Why is this so
> prevalent?
 
Michelle:
> According to this site:
> http://www.babycenter.com/babyname/
> 
> Cho is a name of Japanese origins
> and it simply means butterfly.
> 
> I also remember reading it in a baby
> name book ages ago but I'm at 
> work now and the book is at home!

Well now, the references you speak of 
are inaccurate if they state that 
"Cho" is a name of Japanese origin and 
could not be anything else; they are 
being too general if they've 
said/implied that.

Though it is true that Cho COULD be 
the Japanese name meaning butterfly, 
it is far from conclusive that it IS.  
There's no reason to eliminate the 
possibility that Cho's got a Japanese 
first name...but...isn't it just as 
likely if not more so that it matches 
the last name in being of Chinese 
origin?

Now keep in mind that the original 
word is not written using the roman 
alphabet.  Because transliteration 
depends solely on the sound of the 
words in their original languages, 
c-h-o is used to represent ANY word 
that sounds like the sound of the soft 
"ch" followed by a long "o" sound.

There are numerous Chinese words that 
are pronounced as soft "ch" followed 
by a long "o" sound.  Such words are 
further differentiated by tones though 
not necessarily uniquely so; even when 
you've pin down the correct order of 
consonants + vowels and the correct 
tone, you often can't narrow the 
choices down to just one.

All this is to say that there are many 
possibilities, all with equal claim to 
be the right definition of "Cho."  
Until one sees the word in its native 
script (or used in context), meaning 
is not definite.  Unfortunately, most 
reference sites/books fail to explain 
this properly.

Melissa:
> I myself do not believe that her
> name means "butterfly" because I
> don't think her name is Japanese.
> However, the word "cho" (or more
> properly "chou" with a long O) is
> the Japanese word for butterfly.
> For what it's worth, "chouchou"
> (two long Os) is occasionally used
> for "butterfly" as well.

<nods>  I standby my assertion that 
translating Chinese using Japanese 
dictionaries is insupportable.  As 
I've said, it is entirely possible 
that Cho has a Japanese first name and 
a Chinese last name...

...however, "possible" is a world 
apart from "definitely true" in terms 
of what should inform our expectations 
and interpretations.

Look, I get why people don't realize 
that this definition isn't definite 
enough to be held as THE one and THE 
only right definition: our educational 
system is Eurocentric.

But now, y'all know the rest of the 
story...so to speak.  <wink>

Melissa:
> Now, in addition to Sorting and
> assigning a wand (wood, length,
> and insert) to everyone I know,
> I'm going to have to assign them a
> Patronus shape as well.

Ooh...don't forget to assign an 
Animagus form too!

Petra: "Once a TA, always a TA."
a
n  :)

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