(06-20-2015, 12:17 PM)allgivenover Wrote:(06-20-2015, 11:01 AM)Nero Wrote: Regarding your first point: if you were to be strictly following naming convention, then technically Yasuhana and Kanehana are a little too modern to adhere to Raen naming convention. However, I really wouldn't worry about that though unless you're looking for extreme lore adherence that only Japanese players will really understand anyway, so if you want to use those then feel free to. The main part of Raen names is the meaning: every part of the name means something. Modern or not, as long as your name has a meaning then really any Japanese-sounding word will do.
For "bird princess", Torihime is the more concise, "literal" translation of it.
As for your second, you have a few options. The Japanese word for spear is "Yari", so you can build some literal names off of that. "Yarijin" Â means "Spear person", more specifically "Spearmanship person". "Yarikihei" is a lancer. "Soujutsu-ka" means "Person of the art of the spear", while Soujotsu is "Art of the spear". Look around or play with a dictionary for a bit and you'll probably find something you like.
This is way off.
Yarijin would literally translate as "spear human", it's shoving the separate words "spear" and "human" together. It says to the reader that you're more a human spear than a spear using human.
In this context Soujutsu is "art of the spear", soujutsuka is best translated as "spear man/woman". The final character 家 (ka) in this case is sort of like putting "ist" at the end of a word in english that might describe a person's skill set (like illusionist). Thus the "literal" translation of soujutsuka is "spearist".
"Spearist" is really... wrong in English right? This is what you're doing in the other direction when you mash words together to create names like Yarijin, yes it has a meaning, but it's just off in ways that's going to make you stick out like a sore thumb among Raen NPCs.
Lancer is "soukihei", "yarikihei" is again shoving two words together that individually have meaning but is really awkward when forced together this way.
If you're fine with something that seems Japanese to a non-speaker, then it's fine to approach naming your Raen so haphazardly, but this topic is about assistance for following Au Ra Raen naming conventions, and that way is not the way to go about it.
You're absolutely correct, but allow me to justify myself nonetheless. I never claimed that this extreme oversimplification followed proper naming convention, and my intention was only to create something Japanese-sounding for non-Japanese speakers with blunt force trauma levels of literal meaning, correctness or awkwardness be damned. Creating a name that adheres to Raen naming conventions requires an very in-depth and accurate comprehension of the Japanese language, which I thoroughly established that I don't have, and is knowledge I suspect that the majority of forumgoers lack as well.
This slipshod attempt at oversimplifying the process down to a single constituent part--literal meaning--was because personally, I believe that the Raen naming conventions contain far too many nuances for English speakers to be able to accurately adhere to without simply reusing names from the past. Essentially, for English speakers there's no room for creativity or composition. Admittedly, my "method"--the word method being used generously in the same way that calling winning the jackpot lottery "a tad lucky" is generous--is hilariously incorrect, as using a period-accurate name generator or list and would be far more accurate, but as long as it sounds plausible to non-speakers and the meaning is relevant, I find it acceptable. In short, I don't particularly like it when people want to create meaning for their character but have to limit themselves to mashing name generators and hoping they get lucky. It's a silly and petty idea to propagate, I know, but still.
Anyway, to avoid derailing this, here is a resource is a resource I found that gives extensive detail to the construction of Mongolian names, with examples.
