old? chinese...What is modern way to write?

[setsuna__]

I have a picture that I took in China a while back.

Apparently [according to my dad] it is my last name's character.

But it's in some weird hieroglyphic form from ages ago I guess.

Does anyone know what the current modern character would be?

It's the one on the right.

[tanhql]

the one on the right looks to be 万(萬) with the grass radical clearly seen. 万(萬) means ten thousand.

[skylee]

I think it is 董 (dong3).

[889]

Source:汉印分韵合编

[Yuchi]

The left looks like 吳 to me.

[sfr@rcn.com]

If it's your surname, what is it (in pinyin or another romanization)? And how come your father can't help you with this? And you might try http://www.chineseetymology.org/. That has helped me a few times.

Sandra

[setsuna__]

My father is old and can't remember ):

Apparently, my surname is Tang2 but 董(which he just finally wrote clearly today instead of a swirly character you can't read) goes to Dong3? I don't get how it works.

And my dad is certain that it's like that....

[babychinagirl]

the left one is wu(吴），I'm sure~because my surname is also WU, I know it!~

[skylee]

Apparently' date=' my surname is Tang2 but 董(which he just finally wrote clearly today instead of a swirly character you can't read) goes to Dong3? I don't get how it works.

And my dad is certain that it's like that....[/quote']

I can think of three factors that may have led to this confusion.

1) People in different parts of China speak different dialects and the same characters are pronounced differently in these dialects. So if your ancestors spoke a dialect different from Mandarin, it is likely that the romanised form, "Tang2" as you said, reflects how they pronounced the word in their dialect.

2) There are different romanisation standards for Chinese. "Dong3" is the standard used in Mainland China (i.e. Hanyu Pinyin). In Hong Kong, the same surname is translated to "Tung" according to Cantonese and the Hong Kong romanisation convention. Also, many people with the surname "Tan" are in fact "陳" and their surname would be "Chen" if it were romanised according to Hanyu Pinyin. So perhaps your "Tang2" is a romanisation under a standard different from Hanyu Pinyin.

3) Your father remembers it wrong (sorry ).

PS - You may wish to check out these sound files for Hanyu Pinyin "Tang2" and "Dong3" for reference -> Tang2 / Dong3