Now it’s time for us to bring our little naming language together, ironing out some details, making some revisions, and writing up a little mini-grammar on the language. We’ll also be putting it to practice to see how well it functions.
First of all will be the changes to the phonology. The original list of phonemes I had chosen was as follows:
Consonants: /p b t d k g m n ɲ f s ʃ x h ɾ w j/
Vowels: /i y e a o ɯ u/
We also had a syllable structure of (C)V(C) We’re going to change this up a bit by adding some sounds and removing others, as well as writing them up in a more organized way. The following is a little mini-grammar on this naming language.
Language Name: Fteki
PHONOLOGY (IPA values in slashes, Orthography/Romanization in angled brackets)
Consonants
Stops: /p t c k q/ <p t c k q>
Nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n ñ ng>
Fricatives: /f v s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ/ <f v s z š ž kh gh>
Tap: /ɾ/ <r>
Approximant: /w j/ <w y>
Vowels: /i y e ø a o u/ <i ü e ö a o u>
Syllable Structure
((F)C1)V(C2)
C1 is any consonant
F is a voiceless fricative (f, s, ʃ, x) if C1 is an obstruent (p t c k q f v s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ)
V is any vowel
C2 is any consonant except /w/ or /j/
SYNTAX
Word order is VSO
Determiners and numbers come before their nouns
Adjectives come after their nouns.
MORPHOLOGY
Synthetic typology
Inflectional
Plural: -(a)n
Gen.sg: -akh
Gen.pl: -iž
Infinitive: -tir
3pl.pres: -em
Derivational
Actor: c(e)-
Location: hr(o)-
Nominalizer: -vek
Adjectivizer: -ri
Diminutive: -(a)f
Augmentative: -oz
LEXICON
Nouns
Human Terms
Qasi – City
Net – Town
Netaf – Village
Skola – Gate
Mikhtü – Crossroad
Tönvek – Ship
Geography
Kura – Hill
Stiri – Pass
Pušra – Forest
Süfna – Sea
Mösin – Beach
Celüs – Peninsula
Qero – Spring,Well
Isti – Tree
Štam – Rock, boulder
Ñasa – River
Adjectives
Khte – all
Skimri – Blessed
Wirü – New
Ñöfqi – Great
Colours
Khdir – White
Aste – Red
Manga – Silver
Rin – Blue
Rinoz – Bright blue, Azure
Verbs
Fužtir – to be able
Žetir – To see
Skimtir – To bless
Töntir – To Sail
Other
O/E – The
Qoña – God
You don’t really need verbs if you’re only naming places/people/things. And this tiny lexicon is just to give you an idea of how you could structure your mini grammar. You might find that you need less, or even more than the words that are in the sections above. It’s all dependent on the world that you’re building. But, now that we have our mini-grammar all laid out, let’s put this language to practice and see how well it functions. Here’s a little map of the nation in which this language is spoken, with various settlements and features named.
As for people’s names, I like the idea of verbal nominaliztions being common, such that you get people like Cetön – Sailor, and Ceže – Seer/Guide, and Ceskim – Priest (literally Blesser).
PART 4 SUPPLEMENT: EXTRA MINI-GRAMMARS
Here are two more mini-grammars for some naming languages with different characteristics than the one above, just to show some of the variety you can get.
Tal Kan Wuç
Tal Kan Wuç is spoken in the archipelago nation of Tal Kan Sig. There are two dialects. The southern dialect is considered the standard version of the language, spoken in the capital and by the queen. However, the northern dialect is seen as a bastardization by traders and fishermen living on those islands.
I’ve decided to incorporate a little mini-lesson into this one – making dialects. You don’t have to include them, but like all other things, it’s just another layer of depth to the world. You also don’t have to get too crazy with them either. Just changing a few sounds here and there is often enough for the purposes of a naming language. Here are some of the places dialects can arise:
- Across natural boundaries such as large rivers, mountain ranges, or on different islands
- Rural vs. Urban areas
- In different social classes such as rich vs. poor.
- Basically anywhere people are separated from each other for whatever reasons.
So what’s the best way to make some dialects? The simplest and most effective way for the purposes of a naming language is to just change the first sound (specifically consonants) in systematic ways. These will have the most pronounced effect. Here are some things to consider changing between the dialects:
- Where one has voiceless stops, the other can have the voiced ones – Para, Tina, Kole vs. Bara, Dina, Gole.
- Stops vs. Fricatives – Pilir, Daska, Kom vs. Filir, Zaska (Dhaska/ðaska/ and /ʒaska/ also being a possibility), Xom
- Voiced stops vs. Nasals – Bosur, Dimet, Gariz vs. Mosur, Nimet, Ngariz (/ŋariz/)
- Stops vs. Affricates – Pasa, Taiko, Kyyler vs. Pfasa, Tsaiko/Chaiko(/tʃaiko/), Kxyyler
- Fricatives vs. Affticates – Fomo, Sana, Xemi vs. Pfomo, Tsana, Kxemi
- Affricates vs. other Affricates – this really words best with the coronal (made with the front of the tongue) sounds – Tsara vs. Chara
- /w/ vs. /v/ – Wakari vs. Vakari
- R’s vs. l’s – Rözun vs. Lözun
- /l/ vs. w/j – Lana vs. Wana vs. Yana (as a note, for phonological reasons this can work a lot better at the ends of words – Kaasal vs. Kaasaw vs. Kaasay))
- R’s vs. R’s – /rezu/ /ɾezu/ /ʀezu/ /ʁezu/ /ɹezu/ /ɻezu/ etc.
- Interdentals (θ ð) vs. t/d, s/z, f/v – Theeso vs. Teeso vs. Seeso vs. Feeso
- Aspirates vs. Plain – Phaka, Thekto, Khama vs. Fako, Sekto, Xama
- Ejectives vs. Plain – P’iros, T’awis, K’ulam vs. Piros, Tawis, Kulam
Also note that most of these differences could occur at the ends of words or medially (between vowels) instead. So that’s something to keep in mind when making your dialects as well.
Changing up the vowels between dialects can be a bit messier, and to avoid going beyond the scope of this guide, I’m going to stick with one very common difference – vowel mergers. That is, what may be two (or more) separate vowels in one dialect have merged into just one in another. Here are some ideas:
- In a five vowel system /i e a o u/, the middle vowels (e o) merge with the high ones to give a three vowel system /i a u/ – Kena, sorim, Areto vs. kina, surim, aritu
- In a seven vowel system /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/, the low middle vowels (ɛ ɔ) merge with the two above to give a five vowel system /i e a o u/
- Similarly, the high middles (e o) can merge with the high vowels giving /i ɛ a ɔ u/
- Where one dialect has /ɛ/ and /æ/, the other has only one of them.
- Where one dialect has long vowels, the other does not.
Essentially what you want to do is take vowels which are relatively close together in the vowel space and merge them together. So, merging /æ/ and /u/ doesn’t make much sense since they’re so different. But merging /y/ and /u/ does, since they’re both high round vowels.
So now let’s get into Tal Kan Wuç!
PHONOLOGY (values are given in IPA)
Consonants
Stops: /p b t d k g/ <p b t d k g>
Nasals: /m n/ <m n>
Fricatives: /f s h/ <f s h>
Affricates: /ts dz tʃ dʒ/ <c z ç j>
Trill: /r/ <r>
Approximant: /w l j/ <w l y>
Vowels (South Dialect): /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/ <i ei e a o ou u>
Vowels (North Dialect): /i ɛ a ɔ u/ <i/ei e a o ou/u>
Syllable Structure
(C1)V(W/C2)
C1 is any consonant
V is any vowel
W is /w/ after /a e/ and /j/ after /a o/
C2 is any consonant except glides (w j)
SYNTAX
Word order is SVO
Adjectives before nouns
Numbers before nouns
Determiners not marked
MORPHOLOGY
Isolating morphology
LEXICON
Nouns
Geography
Island – Lay
Archipelago – Kan
Ocean – Wal
Reef – Jan
Cliff – Ray
Bay – Ko
Mountain – Rez
Point/Peninsula – Im
Beach – Sin
River – Wos
Harbor – Ju
Flora & Fauna
Fish – Mi
Crab – Cei
Turtle – Tal
Egg – Tei
Ray – Kar
Seagull – Gaw
Oyster – Hay
Tree – Nos
Nut – Pek
Prey – Zer
Human Terms
Temple – Han
Capital – Nak
Town – Tei
Port – Mec
Nation – Sig
Other
Language – Wuç
North – Gou
South – Pay
Knife – Bay
Sun – Maw
Pearl – Sein
Adjectives
Big – War
Small – Çed
Many – Çou
Long – Eij
Beautiful – Nay
Safe – Fi
Other
The – Ci
Who/Which – May
Sleep – Ik
One – Sa
Two – Mei
Three – Ga
Four – Ço
Five – Fer
From – an
Of, belonging to – Ke
Names
Tal Kan names are structured as follows:
Personal name – clan name – an/ke island
Personal names are usually a positive adjective, whereas clan names are based on animals. The use of “an” before the island name is restricted to the southern islands (War Lay, Eij Lay, and Mei Ray), while the northern islands (Çou Hay Lay, Tei ke Tal, Pek Nos Lay, War Cei, and Çed Cei) prefer to use “ke + island name”. Some common names being Nay Kar an War Lay or Sein Cei ke Çed Cei (Yes, Pearl is also a common name for both men and women).
Xihopa
Xihopa is the native language spoken on the desert moon Rewa, which serves as a communications outpost and trading hub for the Joakan Federation of Planets.
PHONOLOGY (values are given in IPA)
Consonants
Stops: /p t k ʔ/ <p t k ‘>
Nasals: /m n ŋ/ <m n g>
Fricatives: /ɸ s ʃ ɬ h/ <f s x l h>
Trill: /r/ <r>
Approximant: /w/ <w>
Vowels: /i e a o/ <i e a o>
Syllable Structure
(C)V
SYNTAX
Word order is SOV
Adjectives before nouns
Numbers before nouns
Determiners as suffix on noun
MORPHOLOGY
Agglutinative morphology
Inflectional
Plural: -mi
Definite: -a
Accusative: -xo
Genitive: -iho
Locative: -lo
3s: – pe
Derivational
Place of: -siki
Place with lots of: -xamo
Adj > Noun: -sa
Noun > Adj: -lana
Diminutive – gi
Augmentative – tu
LEXICON
Nouns
Planet – Xiana
Mountain – Sagiga
Cliff – Pala
Canyon – Palaxamo
Plain – Ka’o
Saltflat – Lekisiki
River – Fiwe
Forest – Koaxamo
Ocean, Sea – Po’a
Village/town/city – Rasi
Salt – Leki
Snow – Wotowa
Tree – Koa
Tower – Tohi
Captain – Kapitana
Adjectives
Long – Kele
Southern – Wawaxi
Red – Koli
Blue/Green – Laxe
Black – Kigo
Verbs
To run – ana
To climb – Ixima
To fight – ese
To watch – Oro
Xihopa names can vary from town to town, but the most common type of name is one which is essentially a small sentence:
Lekilo Anape – Runs on Salt
Sagigaxo Iximape – Climbs Mountains
Kapitanaxo Esepe – Fights the Captain
Tohimi Orope – Watches Towers
And so we can see that with a little bit of effort, you can create a great deal of depth and flavour for your world. I hope that this guide has been useful to everyone and will inspire you all to get creative with naming in your worlds.
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