Dharamveer Singh as transcribed by a British plantation manager?

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From: "Richard Bond" Sent: Monday, June 09, 2003 7:03 AM > Dharamveer Singh as transcribed by a British plantation manager? Reply: I did not want to deal with this question until we had done some more on the anglicisation of names, and also on the transliteration of names. The name above is a transliteration, with the attempt being made to sound the accents of the native language (Hindi or Punjabi or Urdu) in this case using English. The emphases would look something like this D**h**ramveer, an almost gutteral beginning to the name. The "v" can also have a "w" sound depending on the original language. So lets say a Plantation manager sees the name, how is it going to be anglicised? (I am always tempted to use Britisation when dealing with Overseers/Planation Mangers for obvious reasons) How is the hypothetical Plantation Manager/Overseer going to pronounce the name to begin with? This all depends on where in the UK he was from, level of education, familiarity with Indian names, the time period that we are dealing with terms of Anglicisation etc.. But the matter can be simplified by the fact that any UK person is unlikely to give a gutteral emphasis to the DH beginning. The most that they will make of it will be D-Haram-veer or -weer if he is acqainted with Indian names or languages. If not, and this is the most likely, it will be pronounced Dah-ram-veer by an educated Englishman, and maybe Day -hay -raim - weir by a Yorkshireman or Scotsman When it came to writing the name back down however, it would not be spelt the way that it was pronounced above. It is most likely to be written as Daramvear or Daramvir, (pronounced Dah-ram-vear - Irish); Day-a-ram-vear (Day-ay-raim-vear -Scottish) or even Deoramvear (English). It can also be anglicised to Deoram given what has already been said about the fracture of names, and creolised to Deo or Ram as nick or call names. And the next thing you know people will think that his name is Deo Ramsingh. But in practice, unless wants to be familiar, the first name is never used, it is too long to begin with. So the shorter name would be preferred. Singh would be used for a labourer; Mr. Singh for some-one deserving of more respect, and in Guyana that would come later rather than sooner in the period of Indentureship. Practical examples that I have met with. Sarwar, the name of some-one that I met from India. Pronounced Sahr-war. In Guyana the same name is Searwar pronounced Seer-war. The Dharam also spelt Deyaram, has become Deoram in Guyana. A name like Rahman, which in Urdu with its Turkish/Persian/Arab influences would be pronounced R**ak**man, another gutteral emphasis there on R and the K but spelt with an "h". In India and Guyana this name has become Ra**man, Rah as in Hur-rah. In India and Guyana it can be spelt Ra-ha-man, Rayman, Raymand, or even anglicised to Raymond. However even a Guyanese with the name Rahman, if he goes to Mecca, would attempt to use the gutteral pronounciation of the "R" and "k" sound, just to insist upon the fact that he is a devout muslim and an al-haji or even place the Sheik in front of his name.. At the other end of the scale, and in an earlier time, we find Peter Ruhomon, who we have come across as a writer in the Bibliographies with his "Centenary history of the East Indians in British Guiana, 1838-1938". This is the very same name as Rahaman. Practical example. Some-one from India named Raj. To Canadians (Ontarians) he became "Ruj" or "Roj," short for Roger. Is this the same thing that happened to the name Rahaman when the Canadian Presbyterians in Peter Ruhoman's case, got hold of his name? I think he was also a Presbyterian Minister, a product of the Canadian Presbyterian Missionaries. Well I think I have given an impression, rather than an exhaustive consideration, that is enough to demonstrate the complexity of the situation in regard to the transliteration and anglicisation of East Indian names.