A minor tangent to the culmination this week of the separatism case against Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti is uncertainty over how to deal with his name and avoid faux pas akin to calling President Xi “Mr. Jinping” (or, worse still, Eleven Jinping). Chinese scholar Wang Lixiong addressed the issue at the start of a recent interview with Ian Johnson for The New York Review of Books (previously covered on CDT here):
First, I’d like to clarify his name. His real name is just Ilham. For Uighurs, the second name isn’t their family name; it’s their father’s name. So if you call him Tohti or Mr. Tohti, you’re addressing his father! The meaning of the name Ilham Tohti is “Tohti’s son, Ilham.” But if Ilham had a son say named Mehmet, his name would be Mehmet Ilham, not Mehmet Tohti. [Source]
Similarly, his U.S.-based daughter is named Jewher Ilham.
Sydney University history lecturer David Brophy answered an appeal for confirmation on Twitter:
is there a definitive guide on how to treat uighurs' last names on second reference?
— Sui-Lee Wee 黄瑞黎 (@suilee) September 25, 2014
@goldkorn @suilee No, use of surnames varies. For IT Uyghurs write Ilham Tohti each mention. If have to abbrev. I'd say Ilham/Mr Tohti.
— David Brophy (@Dave_Brophy) September 25, 2014
@goldkorn @suilee Main thing I'd say is to avoid "Tohti." Then you're just talking about his dad.
— David Brophy (@Dave_Brophy) September 25, 2014
@samuel_wade @goldkorn @suilee He's right. In Uyghur you'd greet him Mr Ilham. Depends if u want translation or acceptable westernisation.
— David Brophy (@Dave_Brophy) September 25, 2014
