Two name formation systems in one country: Cantonese people's attachment to names in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, personal names are written with Chinese characters and pronounced in Cantonese. Each name also has a romanized equivalent that reflects Cantonese pronunciation. This paper reports on a small-scale research project to investigate the attachment of Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong to their names, their attitudes to using mainland Chinese simplified characters in names and the use of Pinyin instead of existing romanization conventions. Copyright © 1997 English Centre, University of Hong Kong.