This is probably a stupid question, but here goes.
I’m a bit of a 70’s/80’s HK movie buff and I remember lots of actors names in Cantonese and can understand the Canto/ Mandarin differences in most.
Easy example is Andy Lau would be Andy Liu over here, and most other names are simple to change over (Wang=Huang etc).
So why the flip flop is the family name “Ng” in Cantonese “Wu” in Mandarin? They don’t sound similar at all.
[quote=“Funk500”]This is probably a stupid question, but here goes.
I’m a bit of a 70’s/80’s HK movie buff and I remember lots of actors names in Cantonese and can understand the Canto/ Mandarin differences in most.
Easy example is Andy Lau would be Andy Liu over here, and most other names are simple to change over (Wang=Huang etc).
So why the flip flop is the family name “Ng” in Cantonese “Wu” in Mandarin? They don’t sound similar at all.[/quote]
This gets my vote for most boring question ever asked on forumosa. 
I don’t know the answer, but felt compelled to comment, nonetheless.
I suggest that Our Lady Of Iron shall swiftly solve this situation with a swift sweep of her spikes.
the similarities become more apparent when you actually know how to pronounce “ng”. Not like “ING”, but a nasal something. and cantonese tends to keep the last part of the word, whereas Mandarin began to lop off the hard end part -k -t, etc. *very generalized (and a pattern that is common to all languages, ie a human pattern to shorten words… which makes me wonder, why were the words so long and complicated in the first place). and I think it also depends on which Ng/Wu u are referring to.
Most boring response EVER to the Most boring question ever asked on forumosa! 
Most boring response EVER to the Most boring question ever asked on forumosa! [/quote]
I’m only trying to better myself 
and thanks Jack Burton… I’m still a bit lost though
In response to the most boring question posted on this forum, I’ll provide the most boring answer:
They both developed from a syllable that sounded like “ngo”. Mandarin lost all initial “ng-” sounds, usually replacing them with a “w-” before low vowels (o, u) or a “y-” before high vowels (i, e). [strike]Speculation: “ngo” may have developed into “ngu” before these two languages split from each other, and then further phonological changes happened independently.[/strike] (Edit: the Vietnamese equivalent, plus the fact that the name is O in Korean, point to an independent shift in Mandarin of “o” to “u”.)
By the way, that Hokkien equivalent is “Go”, the initial “g-” also having evolved from an initial “ng-”.
And in Vietnamese, the name is Ngô.
[quote=“Funk500”]This is probably a stupid question, but here goes.
I’m a bit of a 70’s/80’s HK movie buff and I remember lots of actors names in Cantonese and can understand the Canto/ Mandarin differences in most.
Easy example is Andy Lau would be Andy Liu over here, and most other names are simple to change over (Wang=Huang etc).
So why the flip flop is the family name “Ng” in Cantonese “Wu” in Mandarin? They don’t sound similar at all.[/quote]
Wang would be Wong …
[quote=“Belgian Pie”][quote=“Funk500”]This is probably a stupid question, but here goes.
I’m a bit of a 70’s/80’s HK movie buff and I remember lots of actors names in Cantonese and can understand the Canto/ Mandarin differences in most.
Easy example is Andy Lau would be Andy Liu over here, and most other names are simple to change over (Wang=Huang etc).
So why the flip flop is the family name “Ng” in Cantonese “Wu” in Mandarin? They don’t sound similar at all.[/quote]
Wang would be Wong …[/quote]
…but two Wongs don’t make a Wright… :roflmao:
… and Leung would be … Long?
Perfectly good question (and me always ready to leap to your aid, Jimi! Shame on you!!) and great answers (you know which ones I mean; the others are shite, of course.) 
Aw, c’mon, there’s no shame in admitting that you too have become fascinated with this topic. Your request for a “best freakin’ topic ever and I really, really mean it this time” button would be implemented within 10 minutes were I the owner of the site. 
the Ng folk I know (Singaporeans) call themselves ‘Huang’ in Chinese, am I missing something?
Different Ngs:
Mando > Canto >Hokkien
Wu > Ng > Go͘
Huang > Wong > Ng
The predominant ancestral language among the Singapore Chinese is Hokkien (like Taiwanese), so the Ngs there are Huangs, unlike Hong Kong Ngs, who are Wus. Perfectly clear, eh?
Liang.
Clearly, it should not be surprising that some are confused or misunderstand the question, because interestingly, the sounds apply also to the word misunderstanding (wuhui) 误会。 haha pun intended.
cheers for clearing that one up!
Take the name Jacob,
I’ve only found the history back to biblical times but it was Yaʻaqov then Lákōbos then Lacobus then Lacomus then Jacob. (Probably skipping more than a few variations)
The first and last name sound somewhat similar still when you say the whole word, but “Ya” and “Jay” are totally different sounding.
Languages change a lot. It’s all from the same kind of butchering (or evolution) we’re still doing – e.g. Cantonese people saying just “o” instead of “ngo”
Liang I think
Liang I think[/quote]
Yes, as in Zhu Ge Liang (Cantonese Yale: Jyu-Got Leung). I prefer Cantonese Yale as my transcription method.
Likewise:
“Yang” in Cantonese is “Yeung” (check Yangtze River aka Changjiang; becomes Yeung-Ji Gong aka Cheung-gong)
“Jiang” in Cantonese is either “Gong” (gong1/jiang1 = river, check Jiangsu and Jiangxi and Jiang Zemin; gong2/jiang3 = to talk, check “jiang ye su” (‘talk Jesus’)), “Geung” (geung1/jiang1 = boundary, territory, frontier, ginger; check Xinjiang/San-geung or David Chiang aka Geung Daai-wai) or “Jeung” (check Chiang Kai-Shek or Jeung Gaai-sek)
“Qiang” = “Cheung” or “Heung” in Cantonese
“Xiang” =“Heung” (heung1/xiang1 = fragrant; check Hong Kong, Shangri-La), “Seung” or even “Yeung” in Cantonese
~Ben (CJ750)