An in depth look at Miqo'te Names

[Rainvierre]

I'm sure we all are now familiar with the Miqo'te naming convention located here:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/61150-Miqo-te-Naming-Conventions

 

However, I've been messing around with the Miqo'te random name generator and found out that for names for Seekers of the Sun, the first letter of their given name (the letter after the apostrophe, after their tribe name) must be a consonant.

 

e.g. A'vhell, B'thun, F'this (this name actually popped up while I was generating names),

and can't be something like Z'arr or A'enho.

 

Also, I can't seem to generate a name with 2 consecutive vowels, e.g. A'vhiell or V'zhaen.

 

What do you guys think of this?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

My guess is that because most of the tribal prefixes are pronounced as a full syllable, it'd be a vowel issue if they don't mix well.

 

Of course, U'odh Nunh messes this up because the U tribe prefix is "oo" so we get a double vowel, but they don't exactly form a diphthong like say K'ih would.

[Grott]

My guess is that because most of the tribal prefixes are pronounced as a full syllable, it'd be a vowel issue if they don't mix well.

 

Of course, U'odh Nunh messes this up because the U tribe prefix is "oo" so we get a double vowel, but they don't exactly form a diphthong like say K'ih would.

 

Basically, yeah. The reason you get a lot of consonant-apostrophe-vowel in the player base is because players either don't know how to pronounce the first letter in regards to the rest of the name, or just ignore it when reading it and think "Well, better stick with lore" and put it in there just to be lore appropriate. That's why you get names like J'ason or something, which would sound ridiculous pronounced correctly. (Juh-ason or something to that effect.)

 

The double vowel thing mid-name thing is actually pretty interesting though. I didn't know that and I'm sure a ton of players didn't either, but at the same time I doubt we'll see any name changes because of it, or even newer player names shying away from it. When it gets that specific, usually people just stop caring.

[V'aleera]

Of course, U'odh Nunh messes this up because the U tribe

 

Because the U tribe messes everything up.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Of course, U'odh Nunh messes this up because the U tribe

 

Because the U tribe messes everything up.

 

Not particularly, /uo/ isn't a diphthong found in most languages. ...browsing wikipedia, it seems like Finnish has them, but that sound isn't found in English, French, German or Japanese. So Square Enix likely wouldn't use it.

 

So while the U tribe messes a lot of stuff up, vowels are at least safe from them. Otherwise, the pronunciation would likely just have a break like for U'odh.

[Sounsyy]

I'm not entirely sure why the random name generator doesn't offer names starting with vowels or double vowels but there's plenty of Miqo'te NPCs that have these?

 

Miqo'te NPCs with Vowel Openers

-D'arimbeh

-F'abodji

-F'ongho

-H'amneko

-O'adebh Whitemane

-P'ebaloh

-P'obyano

-Q'ahnebb

-R'ashaht Rhiki

-U'odh Nunh

-Y'alabali

-Z'onggo

 

 

Miqo'te NPCs with Double Vowels

-A'mihgazoo

-F'zhumii

-G'wahaii

-H'loonh

-H'naanza

-I'llofii

-Q'yantaa

-R'kontai

-R'piqoi

-S'llooni

-S'nairoh

-S'raemha

-T'maritaa

-U'konelua

-U'ndomii

[Gegenji]

I don't see any particular reason why it couldn't start with a vowel, anyway - Sounsyy's bountiful examples notwithstanding. Mostly because of how the names are pronounced from my recollection. Even in the case of U'odh, you wouldn't pronounce it AS U'odh - the apostrophe is supposed to be inflected with a sort of hissing sound, I think? So it's more of an /u-hh-o/ rather than an /uo/. A sort of feline glottal stop (a term I only know because of learning a bit of Arabic, I will admit).

 

And even then - though I forget if it's just an RP thing or an actual thing in the lore - since the letter before the apostrophe is just representative of tribe, it isn't usually used anyway. U'odh would be referred to as Odh in common conversation, if I'm recalling all this correctly. So that makes whether or not their "actual" name (as composed to the "composite" name, which includes the tribe indicator) starts with a vowel even less of a "problem."

 

So, I think it's just more of a matter of the Random Name Generator's pool being found lacking than any hidden lore-rule about Miqo'te naming conventions.

[FreelanceWizard]

The apostrophe is typically ignored (from the Naming Conventions Post, emphasis mine): "Pronunciation-wise, other than the tribe pronunciations listed above, names follow common English phonics. Though followed by an apostrophe, the tribe sound is usually flows into the name."

 

Also, dropping the tribe letter isn't done in common conversation. It's only among those who are close that it's done; the implication is that this is a show of informality and familiarity. From the same source: "In colloquial speech amongst close friends and companions, sometimes the tribe letter will be dropped from the first name." We see this in the MSQ where F'lhammin is called Lhammin by Minfilia, but not by anyone else -- including, IIRC, Thancred. It seems to be common in RP to relax this rule, though personally, I have L'yhta correct people when they drop her tribe letter, particularly if the person doing so isn't a miqo'te themselves.

 

The only thing that's only a little iffy, in my mind, with miqo'te names is when the tribe letter can't flow into the rest of the name, as in "N'nhemo" or a construct like that. I say it's only a little iffy, though, because the post indicates it's possible, just uncommon. My supposition is that most miqo'te prefer to give names that have a natural flow with tribal letter.

[Sounsyy]

It's actually the aitches (h) in Miqo'te names that produce the Huntspeak hiss, not the apostrophe.

 

The extra aitches we see in names such as “Bhee' date='” “Kuzh,” and “Pahsh” represent a slight hissing/spitting sound that is made when the name is pronounced by the cat-like Miqo’te. Many of the other races in Eorzea cannot accurately reproduce this sound, so the aitches end up going silent when read (Bee, Kooz, Pash).[/quote']

The apostrophe pronunciation rule applies here, as well.

The first name Y’shtola would be pronounced “yash-TOE-lah” not “ya. shtoe-lah”

A: Antelope (pronunciation: short Ah)

B: Boar (short Bee)

C: Coeurl (short Ka)

D: Dodo (short Deh)

E: Eft (short Eh)

F: Bear (short F)

G: Gryphon (short, hard Goo)

H: Gigantoad (short Hah)

I: Bufflalo (short Ee)

J: Jackal (short Jah)

K: Hipparion (short Koo)

L: Viper (short Lee)

M: Marmot (short Meh)

N: Aldgoat (short N)

O: Mole (short Oh)

P: Basilisk (short Peh)

Q: Puk (short Key)

R: Raptor (short Ruh)

S: Zu (short Soo)

T: Condor (short Tuh)

U: Drake (Ooh)

V: Vulture (short Vah)

W: Wolf (whort Wah)

X: Lynx (short She)

Y: Jaguar (short Yah)

Z: Ziz (short Zoh)

 

And the tribal prefix is only dropped amongst close friends.

 

In colloquial speech amongst close friends and companions' date=' sometimes the tribe letter will be dropped from the first name.[/quote']

[Valence]

As far as I know the hissing sound is found in the 'h' in miqo'te names. Not sure about the apostrophe.

[Gegenji]

Ah, my mistake. I was mixing up various lore bit memories and combining them incorrectly, it seems. :lol:

[Hali]

Not that it's anything particularly constructive, but I still can't get over F'this and H'amneko. I can't stop laughing. Miqo names are so silly sometimes. X-D

[Gegenji]

Not that it's anything particularly constructive, but I still can't get over F'this and H'amneko. I can't stop laughing. Miqo names are so silly sometimes. X-D

 

U'sirius?