Hongkongers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hongkongers may refer to individuals who normally reside in Hong Kong or have spent an extensive period of time in Hong Kong. The definition varies, depending on the user of the term. Locals, immigrants and expats alike may all be known as Hongkongers.
Contents |
[edit] Terminology
Han Chinese residents of Hong Kong generally refer to themselves as Hèung Góng Yàhn (traditional Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn), literally "Hong Kong people".
Non-Han Chinese individuals born in the area are technically classified as Hong Kong people, though they may choose to be identified by their original heritage instead. Most Hong Kong Chinese have ancestral roots from Guangdong Province and Yangtze River Delta; these two main Chinese groups have mingled with each other. Very few Hong Kong Chinese have partial European ancestry.
[edit] Variation
The terms Hongkonger (alternatively spelt Hong Konger), Hong Kong People, Hongkongese, are all translated into the Chinese term Hèung Góng Yàhn (traditional Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn). As a result, the above terms are different only as far as English language usage is concerned.
Hongkonger is used more often by native speakers of English,[citation needed] while Hong Kong People, a more direct translation of the term Hèung Góng Yàhn, is used to a greater extent by Chinese native speakers in Hong Kong when writing or speaking in English.[citation needed] Hongkongese is a relatively recent term coined by the North American press.[1]
The term Hong Kong Chinese (traditional Chinese: 香港華人) was used more often in the 19th to early 20th century in Hong Kong, where the British population residing in Hong Kong made up a higher percentage than what it comprises now. One used to refer to an individual as Hong Kong Chinese in order to differentiate the person from a Hong Kong Briton.
In Hong Kong, the term Hong Kong Chinese is less frequently used since 98% of the population in Hong Kong is now Chinese; there is no other ethnic group in Hong Kong large enough to support such a differentiation, thus rendering the term redundant. However, outside Hong Kong, people of Hong Kong origin may choose to use the term Hong Kong Chinese to indicate to people unfamiliar with the demographics of Hong Kong that the individual is “a Chinese from Hong Kong”.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hong KongHandover. University of Michigan University Library Journal of the International Institution (1997 fall). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
|
|||||||||||
 |
This Hong Kong-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
