Syaoran's name..?

Question

I'm just nitpicking, I know that this subject has been brought up over and over again, but I just can't help it. So what is Syaoran's name supposed to be? Syaoran? Xiaolang? Siew Lor?

If they were pronouncing it based on the kanji for "small" and "wolf", wouldn't they (Japanese) pronounce it as something like "Shoro" instead?

But if they were basing it on phonetics, then his name could also be Xiaolan or Xiaoran or Xiaorang, since hanzi characters for mandarin(or other...) "lan", "ran", and "rang" also exist. (Though I don't think I'm going to nitpick on that so much, since he already spells his name 李 小狼)

But while I'm on that, I've always thought that "Xiaolang" is suspiciously Mandarin. Isn't he supposed to be from Hong Kong? The Cantonese pronounciation for 李 小 狼 is "Lei Siew Lor", and Siew Lor would turn out differently when said by the Japanese tongue (not Syaoran). Unless it's not Cantonese, "Syaoran" would be derived from something like Siew Lang therefore not 小 狼.

Anyway, for the heck of it, I've always considered Syaoran's name (or Xiaolang like many people insist) rather unfortunate, since "Siao Lang" means "crazy person" in Hokkien.

Just sayin'.

Answer 1

The correct Chinese romanization is: Xiaolong Li

The Japanese romaization is: Li Syaoran

The English screwup is: Li Showron

The more correct English screwup is: Shaoran Li

Syaoran's name is Chinese in origin, commonly romanized from Chinese as Xiaolang. His given name, Syaoran (小狼, Syaoran), in both Chinese and Japanese, means "little wolf" derived from Xiaolong or Syaoran (小龍, Syaoran), meaning "little dragon" which was Bruce Lee's screen name. His last name, Li (李, Li), is a common Chinese surname that may also be spelled Lee. So, yes, in the end he is a secret tribute character for the great master Bruce Lee.

For the Li in Digimon is Henry Wong, known in Japan as Jianliang Lee (or Jenrya Lee , depending on translation) (李 健良 Japanese: Rii Jenrya, Chinese: Lǐ Jiànliáng), or Jian (ジェン Jen) for short.

Answer 2

XiaoLang supposedly Chinese, so they use the Japanese pronounciation for his name in Mandarin.

However... you're correct that Hong Kong people mostly speak Cantonese and XiaoLang supposedly be pronounced in Cantonese since he came from Hong Kong.

They use "ShaoRan" since that's what the Japanese know of the Japanese pronounciation for his name in Mandarin, and the manga is primary aimed for Japan and not Hong Kong.


Now, how anout discussing another anime character that is also named "Lee" and also came from Hong Kong, "Lee" from "Digimon Tamers"?

Answer 3

jap-li syao lang
chi- li xiao lang
eng-xiao lang