Korean bon-gwan likely serve a function similar to cognomina of ancient Roman society, though the former is not part of a Korean official name. both societies have the problem of certain family names having become extremely common (in a Roman name, the nomen was the family name) and needing a way to subdivide them. (did Roman society actually have this problem?)
surnames naturally become fewer over time, so every society that uses family names will eventually face this problem. many societies may (eventually) adopt the same solution as the Romans.
No comments :
Post a Comment