A new student turned up one day to join the evening classes. As he was not a beginner, I had to assess him so that he could be placed in the appropriate grade, so I went through the usual list of questions, starting with personal information.
I asked him: nǐ xìng shénme / “you surnamed what” / What is your surname?
(“shénme" is often pronounced “shěme” as a shortcut.)
I heard him say: wǒ xìng shěme / “I surnamed what” / What is my surname?
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of his answer: was he trying to check that he’d heard me correctly? There was no other explanation for his reply.
So, I decided to confirm my question: nǐ xìng shénme.
Back came the same answer from him.
This went on for a few more times, and I was starting to think he’d gone mad, not knowing his own surname.
It then emerged that his surname was Shama’a.
(London, 1990s)
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