RE: Draft for review: Personal names around the world

Hi; I have a few comments, first on content, then two proofreading/style nits.Different Order of Parts(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#partorder)"In the name 毛泽东 (mao ze dong) the family name is Mao, ie. the first name when reading (left to right). The given name is Dong. The middle character, Ze, is a generational name, and is common to all his siblings (such as his brothers and sister, 毛泽民 (mao ze min), 毛泽覃 (mao ze tan), and 毛澤紅 (mao ze hong))."Gunnar wrote:"section Different order of parts <http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#partorder>It might not be the best idea to italicize Chinese ideographs '毛泽东'.I don’t fully get the intention why the Latin transcriptions like 'mao ze dong' are spelled in lower case."{ COMMENT: I second what Gunnar says here. }* * *Multiple Family Names(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#multiplefamily){ COMMENT:  the multiple family names issue is, as you note, discussed in more depth at ikipedia;You mention the prefix de later, under "Inheritance of Names" (http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#inheritance).  Should you mention it here too?  Not sure. }* * *Mixing It Up(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#mixing)"the Arabic Abu Karim Muhammad al-Jamil ibn Nidal ibn Abdulaziz al-Filistini translates as "Father-of-Karim, Muhammad (given name), The beautiful, Son of Nidal, Son of Abdulaziz, the Palestinian". Karim is Muhammad's first-born son. (For more details about this rich naming tradition, see Wikipedia.)"{ COMMENT:  al-Jamil and al-Filistini are both clan names as far as I know; this might be mentionedin Kuwait there is to my understanding an order for the various types of last names which puts the father's name in front of the family/clan name:  given name abu/ibn/bin ibn/bin is followed by the father's name then the clan name preceded by al-see:  http://mypage.iu.edu/~shetter/miniatures/arabnames.htm}{ Also, A QUESTION:  Do you mention hypenated names anywhere? I believe you can have the two last names hyphenated too; see:http://www.kidspregnancy.info/can-suggest-indian-baby-names"I’m  north american indian more or less, adopted by a german descended family, and the father of my children is an iranian immigrant. So their names are thus: Talise Joy Sabeti-Seidel Jolon Sohrab Sabeti-Seidel Rozene Shabnam Sabeti-Seidel" }* * *Strategies for splitting . . .(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#splitting)"If you do still feel you need to ask for constituent parts of a name separately, try to avoid using the labels ‘first name’ and ‘last name’ in non-localized forms, since these can be confusing for people who normally write their family name followed by given names."YOUR PROFILE"Family name Other/given names"=> ?  {  I like the following solution; you may not; but for me this helps in the case where in some countries children take their father's name by preference, in others the clan name }"YOUR PROFILE"Family name/Parnt's name "Other/given names" * * *Other thingshttp://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#otherthings()"Don't forget to allow people to use punctuation such as hyphens, apostrophes, etc. in names. Don't require names to be entered all in upper case - this can be difficult on a mobile device. Allow the user to enter a name with spaces, eg. to support prefixes and suffixes such as de in French, von in German, and Jnr/Jr in American names."{ COMMENT:  perhaps say something like, 'allow people to enter names in either upper or lower case as convenient and don't assume that the cases used have a meaing.'  (In college several of my friends purposely used lower case for "I" and for their names; but I often use case insignificantly }* * *Minor proofreading nit:  Strategies for Splitting Up Names, par 5, 4th sentence(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#splitting)"Note that you may not only have problems due to name syntax here, but you also have to account for varying expectaions around the world with regards to formality."{ COMMENT  the "not only  . . . but also" clauses have to be syntactically identical; you all in IT mess this up so often;you may not only have problems due to . . . , but you may also have . . . "if this does not work because you don't want to introduce the second set of ideas with the word, "may," I would try moving the first "not only" back: }=>"Not only may you have problems due to name syntax [here], but you will also have to account for varying expectations around the world with regards to formality"{ In college Latin class in the U.S. circa 1980 I was always "Miss Whitehead;" formality varies even within a country. }* * *Proofreading Nit:  Strategies for Splitting Up Names, 2nd to last par, last sentenceHi.(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#splitting)"You should be as clear as possible about telling people how to specify their name so that you capture the data you think you need."{ COMMENT: "data you think you need" sounds toovague here; I'd try, "data you expect to use" or something)=>"You should be as clear as possible about telling people how to specify their name so that you capture the data you plan to use."* * *Just a note/for those who are interested:  Given Name and Patronymic(http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names#patronymic)"In the Malay name Isa bin Osman the word 'bin' means 'son of' ('binti' is used for women). If you refer to this person you might say Mr. Isa, or if you know him personally, Encik Isa (Encik is an Indonesian word rather like Mr.)."{ COMMENT  "Encik" sounds like its function is similar to that of "en" in Medieval Occitan . . . I think "en" was also used in a case where you knew someone personally; it's used a lot in the razos for the trobadors/troubadours}* * *Best,--C. E. Whiteheadcewcathar@hotmail.com  > Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:42:21 +0100
> From: ishida@w3.org
> To: www-international@w3.org
> Subject: Draft for review: Personal names around the world
> 
> Comments are being sought on the article Personal names around the world 
> prior to final release.
> 
> http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names
> 
> This article addresses the question "How do people's names differ around 
> the world, and what are the implications of those differences on the 
> design of forms, ontologies, etc. for the Web?".
> 
> Please send any comments to www-international@w3.org (subscribe) by 7th 
> August.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Richard Ishida
> Internationalization Activity Lead
> W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
> 
> http://www.w3.org/International/
> http://rishida.net/
> 
> 
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