Naming - Where do you draw the line?

[Laurence]

In my world, so far, I have only created names for people and places. I would like to go further and create names for some things that exist in the real world but where does it end?

It doesn't make sense to me to have a made up name for say, coral, but not tables and chairs. Once you start naming commonplace items, however, you're screwwww'd.

The human naming is an issue for me too. My made up names are based loosely on real world names, otherwise they'd be too jarring. Sure, I can avoid using names based on biblical characters, but pretty much all English names/words originate from either Roman words or famous characters which don't exist in my universe.

So how have you guys dealt with this in your experience? Should I just avoid renaming anything that exists in reality and ignore the word's origins? My mind's a sad sad poopy.

 

[X Equestris]

I would say that it's good to keep them similar to real world names. Even just alternate spellings can really do wonders. You could also use name generators, and then add or remove letters to make new, sort of original names.

 

[X Equestris]

For general objects, you should keep them relatively recognizable. I wouldn't do much more than something like GRRM's "dragon glass" for obsidian or "milk of the poppy" for opium. Just keep the descriptions similar enough that someone could figure out what it is supposed to be, exactly.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

The key is figuring out when to engage your reader's mind, and how to do that for the best effect.

Familiarity is a useful tool for a writer, as much as originality. If something in your story exists, doesn't differ much from our reality, or doesn't exhibit features relevant & important to the story, why give your reader extra mental work? It can only pull them from immersion. Does it matter if you call and "inch" an "inch"? What purpose does it serve to call an "inch" a "kectare"?

Familiarity can also be used as a contrast to things not so mundane. Embrace it and focus your creativity on aspects of your world that are unique or fantastical.

Of course, you can alter things minimally for flavor, if you choose. A little texture never hurts. Just don't stray too far from from familiarity unless it serves a story purpose. Your readers want to enjoy the story, not go to school.

 

[Incanus]

Here is the way I look at this problem: my stories take place in a different world than ours, with different languages--so I see my stories as having been 'translated' into modern english, which means rendering the original names and words as close, suitable equivalents, in spite of the fact that they had been based on 'real world' history and etymology. Also, this way, no new names are needed for things that already have an english word available, especially words like 'mesmerize' and 'galvanize', which come from the individual's name who invented/discovered these things. Not sure how well I explained this, but I hope it makes sense.

 

[Mythopoet]

There are no real standards for this sort of thing. Sometimes giving things unique names works, sometimes it doesn't. And there's no real way to figure out ahead of time what will work and what won't. You'll want to get a group of beta readers to test it out on. The names will either work within the context of the story or not. The more feedback you have from unbiased readers the better. If most of them feel good about the names, like it adds something to the world, then that's good. If most of them are put off, then they probably don't work. It really depends entirely on how you implement them in the story.

 

[Shreddies]

I remember reading a parody of Tolkien's work where the Elves had a tradition of naming everything. In three different languages to boot.

I tend to view it like how Incanus said. It's all translated into English anyways, an inch is an inch, and so on. With the exceptions of a few things for the sake of humour, where a word or item is named after someone in-universe.

If you have coral in your world, then why not call it coral? I mean, if it's something new that you invented, then making up a new name or term makes perfect sense, but if it's a direct transplant from real life, then you're getting awfully close to Smeerp territory.

Edit: The Smeerp entry on TvTropes has a wonderful quote from Terry Pratchett on the matter:
"But the fact is that any fantasy world is, sooner or later, our own world. ... However towering the local mountains, however dwarf-haunted the local woods, any character wanting to eat a piece of zorkle meat between two slices of bread probably has no other word for it than 'sandwich'. ... The builder of fresh worlds may start out carefully avoiding Alsatian dogs and Toledo steel, but if he or she has any sense will one day look up from the keyboard and utter the words "What the hell?"
— Terry Pratchett, "Introduction", The Unseen University Challenge

 

[Ireth]

What about working around things your characters have no names for in their native language? I have a post-apocalyptic WIP centered around merfolk who make use of fire coral as weaponry. Being aquatic people who do not go on land for any reason, they would have no word for fire in their language. I thus have them say coral-that-bites instead. Fire itself is light-that-devours. Would that confuse anyone?

 

[Tom]

I had this problem a while ago with a story set in a very alien culture. After naming all the obvious things that don't exist in our world, like cloth imbued with spells or the glowing crystal used instead of lamps, I got a little carried away.

There's a fine line between the fantastical and the ridiculous, but where that line exists is unique to your story. But, yeah, I see someone's already brought up the classic Smeerp argument. I'd recommend staying away from renaming common objects.

 

[Hainted]

I ran into this problem trying to come up with an equivalent for Humanity/Mankind to refer to all inhabitants of a world on a world where Humans are only one race of several.

But honestly save new words for new things. Don't call a rabbit a smeerp.

 

[Nimue]

My (personal) rules for when to make up a word instead of using an English one:

1. It's a concept that doesn't have a direct real-world equivalent. This is why you can get away with a lot of made-up words for magic and magic-related things, but probably not for blacksmiths or farmers.

2. To show that the connotation of the word is very culturally distinct from ours -- like with Ireth's biting coral, or if you have a tribe stumbling across the remains of an ancient civilization, they're probably not going to call a gold coin a coin.

3. It's a word that sounds too technical for the setting, like a medical or scientific term -- poppy milk for opiates, as X Equestris mentioned, or dragonhawks for pterodactyls.

4. For fantasy flavor, as mentioned, but then the corollaries are that it either needs to be used infrequently so it doesn't get wearisome, or it needs to be easily interpreted and switched out for the English word, like saying "lizard dog" for "alligator". Except not that example. Something less dumb.

If it's not one of those, I'd take a long, hard look at why I'm making up a word for it.

 

[Laurence]

Thank you!

Here're some related questions: What were the first few names created for the British Isles as a whole? The island itself, not necessarily the group of nations. Also, which of these names was the first to be almost fully agreed on by nearly all the British tribes?

If you know the same information for another modern day country that'd still be really useful!

 

[X Equestris]

Thank you!

Here're some related questions: What were the first few names created for the British Isles as a whole? The island itself, not necessarily the group of nations. Also, which of these names was the first to be almost fully agreed on by nearly all the British tribes?

If you know the same information for another modern day country that'd still be really useful!

Albion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Russ]

Thank you!


If you know the same information for another modern day country that'd still be really useful!

Name of Austria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia