• KuroXppi [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    Her name Cheng Xin is literally a homophone for ‘sincerity’ and has the character 心 meaning heart. Contrasted to Luo Ji whose name 罗辑 is a homophone for ‘logic’. It’s 🤮 Rowling level nominative determisism

    • Wheaties [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      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.

      • KuroXppi [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        I thought the translator’s notes included the explanation of some of the names? Also Sophon is 智子 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 罗 luo and 程 cheng replace 逻 luo and 诚 cheng from the nouns