What's In
a Name: Featuring Foreignness
By Spring Brookring
Hello, hello, hello, readers of Yn Nor! You know how usually
I have some snappy or sarcastic welcome for you? Well, this month I don't. So sue
me. Insert your own here. Anyway, many of us are now one month into school, the
work load is settling out, and I still procrastinated just as much. Go figure.
This month, the plan is to discuss foreign names. This is
simply a plan, however, and I will probably end up sidetracked and talking
about cauliflower. If you notice me rambling more than is necessary, please
throw small blunt objects until I stop.
Anyway, foreign words are used for names quite often. If
anyone out there is named
If you are low on inspiration (gasp!), try a foreign
language. Many free translators are available on the web, and while not
perfectly accurate, they will at least give you the rudimentary meaning of a
word. Foreign language to English dictionaries are
also not difficult to come by, unless you are broke. If this is the case, beg
from your parents and pretend it's for "educational purposes."
Disclaimer: there's a ten percent chance this will actually work. Try not to
look shocked if it does.
Well, now that you've got your method of translation, how do
you go about converting foreign words into names? You would be very
disappointed if you learned that this process takes years of specialized
training in a remote mountain range, and involves cold baths, raw fish, and
meditating on the usefulness of alpacas. Fortunately, you will not learn this.
That's not what it takes. Scared ya, didn't I? No? Darn. Making names out of
these words is really pretty easy. If your IQ is above eight, this should be no
problem.
One way to start is to think about the character you need a
name for. What is he or she like? Are they bright and cheerful? How about
Soleil, the French word for sun? Are they gloomy and depressed? How about the
Portuguese word for shadow, Sombra? Pick a characteristic and run it through as
many languages as you want until you find something you like.
Another thing to think about is where the character lives.
Do they live somewhere akin to
There is also my favorite method: typing in random words,
the first things you think of, and seeing what the translator spits out. For
example, I'll type in "My llama's brother ate a fish," then translate
it into Dutch: "De broer van mijn lama at een vis." Some of that
isn't exactly helpful. I do not recommend naming a character Een. But I rather
like the sound of Mijn. I don't even know how to pronounce it, but I like it.
And it came out of purely random gibberish about carnivorous llamas.
But the fun doesn't end here, my friends, oh no! Because
there is so much more you can do with foreign words for names! Take the Italian
word for rainbow, 'arcobaleno.' In my opinion, not a terrific
name. It is now time for (dah dah dah dah)…adjustments! I'll drop the
'ar' from the beginning and the 'o' from the end, and I get Cobalen. Not bad.
Or I could get rid of the whole first half and go with Aleno. Play around until
you find something that fits. Or, if you wish to extend the fun, do more. The
French word for rainbow is arc-en-ciel. If I add 'ciel' to 'bal,' the result is
Balciel. I like that one, too. Combine, reorder, shorten, lengthen, distort,
reverse, and spray paint to your hearts' content. And be sure to point the can
away from your face. I witnessed a nasty incident with that last month in which
an obnoxious neighbor kid will spent a week with
purple enamel in his hair. Incidentally, what's the Spanish word for spray
paint?
Now, you have a lot of things to do, but what about the
things not to do? Well, use some common sense, for one thing. I have noticed that
several people are sadly lacking in this precious commodity. If this is your
case, you can order some cheap on E-bay. No names like Bonjour or Taco,
sil-vous-plait. And I wouldn't choose Spaghetti or Pizza, either. Granted,
those are foreign words (ha, bet I just confused some of you who thought pizza
was American). They're just not very good foriegn words for names. Okay? Okay.
So, now you know the basics of turning the lovely foreign
words into suitable names. Or at least, I talked about the basics. You may or
may not have been listening. I'm sure the little blue spot on the wall is far more
interesting. Anyway, I'll see you next month with more wonderful random-nicity
and ramble-ocity (along with more made up words). Ciao, adios, au revoir, scat!
* If anyone can tell me the Spanish
word for spray paint, I'll send you some.
* What is that blue spot on the
wall, anyway? It looks like blue fly guts.
*Interestingly, I didn't say a word
about cauliflower. Odd.