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    Orc in the Playground
     
    Scarlet Tropix's Avatar

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    Default Ancient Languages and Naming

    So I'm trying to name a few Cosmic Doomsday characters (LeShay with a metric truckload of class levels.)

    They mainly all go by titles, but I want to have their actual names available, and ideally these would all be very long and hard to pronounce with lots of apostrophes and such. I've knitted a few together by pushing letters around, but that's taking a while. Can any one give me examples of languages which are amazingly ancient and difficult to pronounce which might inspire me? Or even better, name ideas?

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    PairO'Dice Lost's Avatar

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    Default Re: Ancient Languages and Naming

    Well, as I've probably mentioned several times on these boards, my favorite language to take weird names from is Gaelic when it comes to the elf/dwarf/gnome/etc. fey-ish races, and since leShay are essentially super-elves....

    Plus, it already has a weird pronunciation. Running a descriptive title like "most terrible bringer of doom and night" through a translator (and choosing the longest results) gives you roughly "an mhórchuid uafásach tabhair leat gen míchinniúint agus tráthnóna" (hard enough for you?), which is roughly pronounced "an workhij uafasakh tawar lat gen mikhinint agus trathnona," where kh is the guttural ch in loch. Smoosh those all together and throw in some apostrophes, and you're set; this dictionary and this pronunciation guide are fairly comprehensive.
    Last edited by PairO'Dice Lost; 2009-09-12 at 04:30 PM.
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    Default Re: Ancient Languages and Naming

    Quote Originally Posted by Nascent Corona View Post
    So I'm trying to name a few Cosmic Doomsday characters (LeShay with a metric truckload of class levels.)

    They mainly all go by titles, but I want to have their actual names available, and ideally these would all be very long and hard to pronounce with lots of apostrophes and such. I've knitted a few together by pushing letters around, but that's taking a while. Can any one give me examples of languages which are amazingly ancient and difficult to pronounce which might inspire me? Or even better, name ideas?
    Two initials and one last name: H.P. Lovecraft

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    Elfin's Avatar

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    Default Re: Ancient Languages and Naming

    Gaelic, Norse and Welsh are all good ones. Otherwise, you can never go wrong with Sindarin and Quenya.
    Last edited by Elfin; 2009-09-12 at 04:41 PM.

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    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Ancient Languages and Naming

    I was thinking something Gaelic/Celtic. The dictionary is very helpful, thank you for that. Those other languages seem like safe bets as well, considering there's nothing that says they all have to use the same language for their names.

    And I love Lovecraft, by the by.
    Last edited by Scarlet Tropix; 2009-09-12 at 04:44 PM.

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