help please!

[ArenRax]

Hi im new so i haven't figured out how to do a lot of stuff on this site yet.

But I would like to ask how do you name a race? especially a new race, something that isn't an orc, goblin, or elf or dwarf.
I have played and looked up elder scrolls stuff so i know that they not only have 1 name but two.
like the High elves who lived where the imperials lived were call Ayeleids. what would that sort of naming be called?
is it like how there;s an English name and then a Latin name for it?

One last thing, I like to sketch and such and 1 thing i do is sketch out spell circles but it becomes frustrating because i don't know where to start in drawing it and then drawing the symbols that go in and/or around the circle, so how should i address that problem?

 

[ScipioSmith]

Names, especially names for a race that you have created, are entirely in your gift. You can name them whatever you want and nobody can tell you different. The only suggestion I would have is that you make it easy to read and somewhat easy to pronounce.

 

[Devor]

There's no rules. But most fantasy races have a real-world or mythological tie in, and it would be normal to hint at that in the way you name it.

For instance, a race of amazonian pig women might be called Bovaidens, coming from the word "Bovines." A race based on the Kitsune fox-myths of Japan just be called Kitsune, or something derived from it, like Foxsune or Kitsoan.

But again, there really are no rules. This is just kind of a common technique for finding a name that gives a connotation of what the race is supposed to be.

 

[ArenRax]

hey Devour what is a moderator?

 

[Devor]

hey Devour what is a moderator?

We are people who deal with trolls and spammers. Most of the others wield banhammers, but I like to gobble up villains whole and use their life energies to feed my magicks. That's why they call me Devor the Devourer.

Also we moves posts when they're in the wrong forums. It can't all be glorious!

 

[ArenRax]

cool, and it probably helps that you can move posts. i didnt know if mine was worldbuilding or not.
i have seen the ire of a spammer or troller on games, they are very annoying to the point that you cant even chat.

am I allowed to post another question in this thread or do i make a new one in the forum?

 

[Devor]

am I allowed to post another question in this thread or do i make a new one in the forum?

You can post a question here by all means, but ideally you should create a thread with a name that kind of sets the topic and then try to follow the name so people with similar questions can follow along.

 

[ArenRax]

ok. thank you Devour

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

That's why they call me Devor the Devourer.

That truly made me LOL.

 

[Shreddies]

The method Devor mentioned is sound, and I ended up using something similar with two of my races.

EXAMPLE TIME!!
The first is a race of rodent-like people. But I wanted them to be more cute than verminous, so their name came about by mashing the names of two cute critters together, the Chipmunk and the Chinchilla. It ending up being 'Chipachin', which I was not happy with . So I chopped it up with a (') resulting in Chi'Pachin. Then I decided that the nomenclature for their naming (in-universe) is that their clan is used as a preffix, which is attached to Pachin, which would be their race's name (so Chi'Pachin, Mi'Pachin, and Ri'Pachin would be the tribes of Chi, Mi, and Ri). And Voila! The Pachin are christened.

For the second race, I intended them to be considered non-people, but I had no idea aside from that. Eventually one of the titles of Sheogorath (of Elder Scrolls fame) got stuck in my head: 'Lord of the Neverthere'. So I named them 'Children of the Neverthere'. But it was too long, so I chopped it down and rearranged some of the letters and ended up with Ne'ereve ('Never Even' with a poetic ' for good measure ). Right now I'm using Nevs as shorthand and I may stick with it.

So my advice is pick one of their outstanding characteristics, or what you want them to resembled, then find words that carry those connotations and mash them together, chop them fine, throw them in a blender, etc.

And most importantly: Sleep On It!
Settle on a name, use it for a while, see if it works for that race. See if it grows on you. It might just surprise you.

 

[Hainted]

My example is a group of frog/salamander people for a short story. Because of their vocal construction they can't speak any language but their own so while most outsiders call them Newts or Frogs their name for themselves is Deneep. I settled on it because it sounds like the noise a frog makes.