My wife and I are avid fans of the Obsidian-verse (so much so that we both recommended the first trilogy to each other by summary when we first started dating and only realized it when we brought the first books to exchange).
My questions are all super geeky about linguistics: Do you use any system for proper names? I am fascinated with naming conventions and I am (perhaps unhealthily) obsessed with the meanings behind names and even the meaning behind the "sound" of a name.
Some of the names in the Obsidian Mountain universe are so complex (and all praise to Kate Rudd for doing such an amazing job pronouncing them! Sometimes I find myself reciting names and places like a song or poem that gets stuck in my head). From elven, to Aramethalian human and wild land human, to Otherfolk, and even to Endarkened. They all seem to have their own tone and character. You've hinted at ancient meanings behind elven names, do you have languages sketched out for different races or is it more based on specific words that relate to the names of specific people and places?
I adore supergeeky linguistics questions and (as you have probably figured out by now) conlangs.
I use a couple of systems for proper names: primarily it's a word or phrase (in Elven) that I attach one of several "stock" endings to: -iel, -othon, and so on. That works for the Highborn. With lower ranks (Craftworker, Landbond, Crofter, etc.) I try to go for a shorter name spun out from Indo-Aryan sources and extensively massaged by yours truly to be easily distinguishable to the reader. For standard names, like Janglanipaikharain (star-bright forest); Janubaghir (Southern forest) (note the two different words for "forest" -baghir and -harain); (southern plain) Ifjalasairaet (wind and dust), I retreat to Classical Persian.
Fortunately, the language does not seem to have evolved much since Amrethieon's time, so the Elves don't need a translator run on their visions:
"...it had not been Ifjalasairaet to Lady Indinathiel. It had been Ch'rahwyr-thrawnzah, Border of the World."
When people complain about the length of elven names, I remind them that humans are short-lived and have few syllables. Quick tempered, quick lived, quick tongued. Elves have centuries or millennia to live, time for a slow roll of syllables representing meanings and time.
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The names of things
(Anonymous) 2019-12-23 01:16 am (UTC)(link)My questions are all super geeky about linguistics:
Do you use any system for proper names? I am fascinated with naming conventions and I am (perhaps unhealthily) obsessed with the meanings behind names and even the meaning behind the "sound" of a name.
Some of the names in the Obsidian Mountain universe are so complex (and all praise to Kate Rudd for doing such an amazing job pronouncing them! Sometimes I find myself reciting names and places like a song or poem that gets stuck in my head). From elven, to Aramethalian human and wild land human, to Otherfolk, and even to Endarkened. They all seem to have their own tone and character. You've hinted at ancient meanings behind elven names, do you have languages sketched out for different races or is it more based on specific words that relate to the names of specific people and places?
Re: The names of things
I use a couple of systems for proper names: primarily it's a word or phrase (in Elven) that I attach one of several "stock" endings to: -iel, -othon, and so on. That works for the Highborn. With lower ranks (Craftworker, Landbond, Crofter, etc.) I try to go for a shorter name spun out from Indo-Aryan sources and extensively massaged by yours truly to be easily distinguishable to the reader. For standard names, like Janglanipaikharain (star-bright forest); Janubaghir (Southern forest) (note the two different words for "forest" -baghir and -harain); (southern plain) Ifjalasairaet (wind and dust), I retreat to Classical Persian.
Fortunately, the language does not seem to have evolved much since Amrethieon's time, so the Elves don't need a translator run on their visions:
"...it had not been Ifjalasairaet to Lady Indinathiel. It had been Ch'rahwyr-thrawnzah, Border of the World."
Thank you for asking such awesome questions!
Re: The names of things
(Anonymous) 2020-02-05 07:47 am (UTC)(link)have centuries or millennia to live, time for a slow roll of syllables representing meanings and time.