Chop translation

[asterroc]

I have a Chinese chop, in traditional characters. It is possible that it contains my name in Chinese (Szu Sung-Eh), or it could be something else entirely ("licensed prostitute"). I can no longer write my Chinese name, but I think I would recognize it if hand written, and certainly the last symbol doesn't look like anything I recognize (that and my name is three parts, not four).

Below the cut are images of the stamp/print, and the chop itself. Click for bigger.


Print


Chop (since it is a stamp, it is backwards of how it prints)



If you know what it says, please enlighten me.

Edit: A mirror image of the chop and further discussion can be found here.

Comments

[sirroxton.livejournal.com]

A long time ago, I had one of those made at a tourist shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. I asked what it said. The kid at the counter conferred with the stamp maker, returned and said "Adam Agoosahdah." My companion, who had been raised by Chinese immigrants, later told me that the stamp maker had simply told the kid to "say his name, you idiot." I suppose I should have asked what it meant, not what it said. =)

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

I have asked two coworkers who are native chinese readers. One has already told me that he can't tell what it says, if anything.

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

Hi! I've been on a cruise for a week, out of touch completely.

The chop characters are typical -- they use an ancient font that practically nobody reads today (there are 6 traditional fonts that have been passed down, some thousands of years old, and only about 2.5 are still in circulation). Even though I'm highly literate in Chinese, I have no hope of figuring out your name from the chop.

Your transliteration -- "Su Sung-Eh" and "Tsu Zong-Ah" -- don't use either the pinyin or the Wade-Giles system, AND they refer to Shanghainese pronunciations, so I can't help.

Sorry -- the mystery persists!

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

Yes, if you take Mandarin, you will certainly learn pinyin. I think your guesses are good, but again, without the written characters (in a modern font), it's still guesswork...

Shanghai-nese sounds pretty different from Mandarin to my ears -- then again, I tend to exaggerate the differences between languages I understand and languages I don't understand.