Related Characters

Jack

Image: Jack Barleycorn, The Guardian - Click to enlarge

The have contemporary names from around the globe. These include Pakistani, Indian, and Chinese names.
 

Jien Noi

Image: Empress and Gatekeeper Jien Noi - Click to enlarge

Calls the Empress of the Second Jinnie, telling her she is his 'genie'.
 

Owain

Image: Owain a'y Brenin, King of the Ddwyrth - Click to enlarge

Owain and the Seventh have Welsh names.
 

Ælthrelntheine

Image: Ælthrelntheine - Click to enlarge

The Eleventh have long and complicated names, set to a specific speech pattern.
 

The Great Ogre

Image: The Great Ogre - Click to enlarge

Is ostensibly the only Ogre ever names, his name is also his title.
 

Volkar

Image: Volkar, President of the Troll Nation - Click to enlarge

The New Tenth have a strict naming convention.
 

Rambling Longshanks

Image: Rambling Longshanks - Click to enlarge

The Twelfth have whimsical names based on physical ability, or lack thereof, and climactic elements.
 

Supporting Information

Interesting Snippets: Naming Convention
 

 

Naming Convention

 

Character names generally relate to a specific naming criteria, or spelling convention. Often, more information concerning a character's name is given on their dedicated page, and where needed, with a full description.

The Last
These names are accepted names of the various cultures of contemporary times, but chosen to imply a specific quality or lack thereof. The main character, Jack, may imply a Jack-of-all-trades, for instance. Others may sense a bit of ‘Jack the lad’ about his nature, or perhaps something deeper? He was named after the folk tradition John Barleycorn, referring to the production of ale. The author’s father was christened John, but was always known as Jack, if only because his grandfather entered the wrong name when registering the birth.

Other names of mention include the first villain, Theodosius, meaning giver of God. However, Theodosius believed he was God. Another is Behrouz, which means Lucky man. Some characters are based upon real life people known personally to the author, and are used with their explicit permission; and are either a somewhat true reflection of that person. Others like Penelope and Phoebe, are complete inventions as caricatures, the only link being tenuous.

The Second
The names of the Second are mainly Cantonese names, or words. Notable exceptions are n’Gnung and n’Gue, who have African pronunciation. Otherwise, virtually all of the Second’s names relate to Chinese meanings, and especially Mainland Cantonese, which has never been a written language. Please do not confuse with the Hong Kong Cantonese dialect, these are Mainland spellings, although HK is the only written version of Cantonese.

Gung Loi
Means ‘working girl’, but not in a Western sense. Gung An for instance, means Police, or workers of the people-for the people. Therefore, Gung Loi means a highly respected professional lady, one who would be prominent in her field of work at regional or national level.

Loi and Moi both mean girl; the official written version being Noi, which nobody ever says. Cantonese cannot tell the difference between nasal L and N, so they say Loi and write it Noi. Both versions are used, if only for fun and distinction. Moi was changed to Mooyi, which is how it is actually spoken, and it means ‘personal daughter’; used as such.

Lo is a word often used as a reference to respected elders, not necessarily that old. Dai Lo = big brother, Yee Lo = number two brother, et cetera. The seldom-used Dai Loi means big sister, although she should also correctly, be the first-born. Lo also refers to rank; a husband is called Lo Gong, a wife Lo Pau, a boss – Lo Ban, Xi (sigh) Lo – brother (or a male sexual reference, down below; the female being Siu Moi or little girl). Many other titles use this word, implying respected elder, master, or higher person.

The naming convention used is quite profound, but it must be remembered, this is Mainland China Cantonese, written phonetically as invented by the author, and called Yueping (China Expats website relates to learning Mainland Cantonese). The names can also imply all nine Cantonese variations of tone, which can be difficult for the western ear to even hear.

The Third
The names used are all Aborigine names, and they all have meanings.
Burnam - Leader of the Third - means Great Warrior in their own language.
Myuna (Clearwater)
Gelar (Brother)

The Fourth
These are Gaelic names. The Fourth speak with an Irish accent and speech pattern.
Ruaidhrí Ó Riáin - Red King of the Fourth
Cayden - meaning: spirit of battle.
Cayleigh – meaning party, and his sister.
Naming convention: Gaelic (Irish): http://www.namenerds.com/irish/meaning4.html).

The Fifth – Little is known, except their names are hereditary, often those of honoured forebearers.

The Sixth– use a diverse variety of names, both from their own heritage, and that of other Tribes, most notably the Last.

The Seventh
The names of the Ddwyrth are all spelt in Welsh, but they speak with a Scottish speech pattern. Pronunciation used in the book is English, hence Ddwyrth is spoken ‘Dwerth’, and Llwydd is spoken ‘Lud. In their own language, Llwydd is pronounced as ‘Clooth’. It will be interesting to discover how American English, eBook text to speech handles that one.

The Eighth have Russian speech patterns and most names are old Germanic in origin. They share a common language with the Ninth known as Neighth.

The Ninth have Germanic speech patterns and names. These are often difficult to pronounce correctly, due to uncommonly accented vowels.

The Tenth
The Great Ogre is a title, and the only Ogre name of importance. Others are named to aid the flow of dialogue, and those names have a malevolent sound, such as Gruelthorne and Malbert.

The New Tenth
All male Troll names end in ar. Female names end in eur. They have two syllables.

The Eleventh
Elven names have three, or usually four syllables. Female names begin with two vowels, often combined as in Latin. Male names also begin with a vowel, but this is normally followed by a guttural consonant, and never by a second vowel. Naming is one of the very few areas where they differentiate between the sexes, because, otherwise, they remain a uniarchal society—one where neither female, nor male, takes precedence simply because of their sex.

The Eleventh love to employ long-winded titles: “Dawn, First Light of the New Day,” for example; or the Shaman, “Princess of the Third and Windy Way, Renegade of the Rune.”

“For.” The Eleventh use this word in its antiquated form; where other races have moved on to use: because, as, or/and, whatever, the Eleventh use ‘for’, almost as if it were a question.

The Twelfth
Naming the Twelfth was fun, the largest and possibly most laid-back Tribe. Their names (Except for Junior), are all paired, and of two syllables. I tried to engender implied comedy: Rambling Longshanks, Temerity Shortfalls, Constance Merryweather, et al. These all relate to physical attributes, or do they? Remember, Rambling is so named because of his gift for telling captivating stories; a mage in times passed.

The Shaman
The rules of writing, and especially fiction are thus (They would have you believe); “Do not use Yoda speak, ever!” So much for those who wish to marketeer my work—for their own profit (not mine), and you can guess I am not impressed.

Writing the Shaman’s spoken words, developing her speech pattern, became a totally outlandish peninsula. Riddles within Rhyme = nightmare! I succeeded for the most part, her versed words carrying several levels of meaning, interpretation of what could be, or come to pass.

The Ancestors
The Ancestor's names are short, single syllable references, often to longer full names that are not given. The names are also unique, futuristic, and stand out as being unusual: Oma, Taris, Vela, to mention three.

That greater names exist, is revealed by reference to Obus, who crash-landed the third spacecraft. Oma reveals that the name Obus is short for Obsidian, and his nickname was Captain Black.

Working Grammar
In this first trilogy, I have often used older forms of grammar; those that were the accepted norm fifty, one hundred, or several hundred years ago. I am not seeking to bring these back, but some ancient words still retain value, as does Latin, and Ancient Greek.


References to written Cantonese can be obtained from my good friend Adam Sheik on his website Cantonese Sheik. Meanings of words can be checked in his CantoDict, but remember, these are Jyutping (Hong Kong) dialect, and not Yueping or Mainland Cantonese.
 

Snippets

Dialogue

Jack, Kay, and n'Gnung often hold three-way conversations ('trialogue'?), and as their speech patterns emerge, so the use of 'he said, she said', diminishes.

Kay always calls Jack, Jackie. n'Gnung, except for three special occasions, always calls him, Guardian, and Jack names the person he is talking to.

Peni is another, who always says, "Dearest Jackie," or the opposite.

This evolves over time, the reader becoming used to the grammatical device.
 

King Burnam

Image: King Burnam - Click to enlarge

The Third have Maori names.
 

The Fourth

Image: King Ruaidhrí Ó Riáin - Click to enlarge

The Fourth are given Gaelic names and speech patterns.
 

The Fifth

Image: King Xeros of the Fifth - Click to enlarge

Led by King Xeros, he is the only Fifth named.
 

Hogar

Image: Hogar, King of the Sixth - Click to enlarge

King of the Yeti, Bigfoot, and Sésquac. They have tribal names of respect, some originating with the Last.
 

The Eighth

Image: King Keos of the Eighth - Click to enlarge

This Tribe have Germanic names.
 

The Ninth

Image: King Groël of the Ninth - Click to enlarge

King Groël and his people, have old Germanic names and speech patterns.
 

Image: The Ancestors came from the stars ... Alpha Centauri - click for larger image

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