Names of the Characters and Foreign Words and How to Pronounce Them
YAN (YANG YAN): a peasant, peasant, female, 55 years old in 1995
Pronunciation: [young yen]
OUYANG: linguistics professor, female, 55 years old in 1995
Pronunciation: [oh-young]
LING LING: Yn’s granddaughter, 10 years old in 1995, should be played by an adult actor
Pronunciation: [ling ling]
HAN: Yan’s husband, 59 years old
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Pronunciation: [han]
MEIYE: peasant in a neighboring village, the oldest sister of her family and raised her siblings, the step-mother of Ling Ling’s best friend, 30 years old in 1995
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Pronunciation: [may-yay]
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Other Foreign Names and Words (in the order of their appearance in the play):
LUI PU - grandmother.
Pronunciation: [lui-phoo]
HU MEI - LING LING's best friend, MEIYE's stepdaughter, mentioned by LING LING in the Act I, Scene 4; Act I, Scene 8; Act II, Scene 6; Act II, Scene 7; mentioned by MEIYE in the Act I, Scene 7; and mentioned by HAN in the Act I, Scene 7
Pronunciation: [who-may]
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YANG SHU - a villager who published a dictionary of the secret language. Mentioned by ​YAN in the Act II, Scene 3.​
Pronunciation: [young-shoo]
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GUANGDONG - China's most populous province and its 15th-largest by area, as well as the third-most populous country subdivision in the world. Mentioned by LING LING in the Act II, Scene 6.
Pronunciation: [gwang-daang]
PUNG! - In the game mahjong, a player may play out of turn if a discarded tile completes a set; or, to WIN the hand. To signal they want to play out of turn, the player must say 'PUNG! ' (for a set of 3), grab the tile, and display the set immediately in front of them (please see the Glossary of Terms section to learn more about mahjong game). The word is mentioned by ​VILLAGER C (the actor who plays HAN) in the Act III, Scene 1.
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Pronunciation: [phang]
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