Astarion Name Meaning

Ancient Greek

ἀστήρ (astḗr)‎ -- meaning "star"*.

There are a few different possible configurations regarding "-ion" in Ancient Greek, but only two that work in this context:

-ίον (-íon) -- A noun-forming diminutive suffix, indicating smallness. In this case it would mean "Little/Small Star" giving us ἀστήρίον

-ῑ́ων (-ī́ōn) -- patronymic suffix meaning "son of". In this case it would mean "son of [the] Star". As -ῑ́ων is primarily an Epic suffix, the meaning could be extended as poetic to mean "Son of [the] Stars". Which gives us ἀστήρῑ́ων

*(Likely from Proto-Indo-European *h₂e(h₁)s- meaning to burn/to glow, ultimately from the root *h₂eh₁- which was found on Palaic tablets)

May I please have some constellation-related neopronouns?

of course, of course! these might drift slightly into general space-themed, but only slightly, hopefully! (: also i WOULD have made a list entirely out of the names of constellations, but those get long. so if anyone wants specifically constellation names pronouns,, shoot an ask!

they are under the cut ! ↓ change them as you wish o7

constellation/constellation/constellations/constellations/constellationself

con/conste/constelle/constellations/constellationself

stella/stella/stellas/stellas/stellaself

ste/stella/stellas/stellas/stellaself

star/star/stars/stars/starself

sta/star/stars/stars/starself

zodiac/zodiac/zodiacs/zodiacs/zodiacself

zo/zodi/zodiac/zodiacs/zodiacself

zodi/zodia/zodiac/zodiacs/zodiacself

astro/astro/astros/astros/astroself

as/astro/astros/astros/astroself

astral/astral/astrals/astrals/astralself

as/astra/astral/astrals/astralself

cassiopeia/cassiopeia/cassiopeias/cassiopeias/cassiopeiaself

ca/cassio/cassiopeia/cassiopeias/cassiopeiaself

cassio/peia/cassiopeia/cassiopeias/cassiopeiaself

dipper/dipper/dippers/dippers/dipperself

di/dipper/dippers/dippers/dipperself

cosmic/cosmic/cosmics/cosmics/cosmicself

co/cosmi/cosmic/cosmics/cosmicself

cos/cosmic/cosmics/cosmics/cosmicself

space/space/spaces/spaces/spaceself

celestial/celestial/celestials/celestials/celestialself

ce/celes/celestial/celestials/celestialself

cele/celestia/celestial/celestials/celestialself

talking to @adoredbyalatus totally doesn't have me thinking about making a cryo yaksha named Denomia who looks like an ice queen on the outside but is actually a big soft romantic who cries if you're too nice to him and has to be forced to not run away when he sees Menogias

baby name site editors wake up every morning and choose to lie and i love that for them

*stands up* świat czernieje *immediately drops dead*

RS 8474-1353-8-1184342353

Dawson

Ludus discipulos et disipulas habet.

in zoology, animal species are given standard "latin" names consisting of two words, the genus name and the species name. typically, the genus name is a noun, and the species name is an adjective. following the rules of latin grammar, adjectives need to agree with nouns with grammatical gender, so if the genus name is a feminine latin noun then all species of that genus are given (in principle) adjectives marked with feminine latin suffixes.

in practice of course, new genus names don't always use actual latin words, so these latin grammatical gender rules need to be grafted onto words that aren't really latin. and this is where one of the weirdest conventions of zoological binomial nomenclature comes in!

how exactly do you determine what the latin grammatical gender of a word is if it isn't a latin word? according to the ICZN, it's simple:

if the word is from greek, use its gender in greek

otherwise, if the word is from a modern european language with grammatical gender that uses the latin alphabet, use the gender in the source language (yes it is that specific)

otherwise, if the name ends with -a it's feminine

otherwise, if the name ends with -um, -u, or -o it's neuter

otherwise, it's masculine

unless of course if the zoologist with naming dibs says explicitly that they think this genus should have an irregular gender.

anyway these rules are fascinating to me. why are they this specific? grammatical gender systems compatible with latin's adjective suffixes are found throughout the entire indo-european language family, so why restrict it to modern european latin-script languages (and greek)? I don't know!

Do you still have that Jellicle name generator saved anywhere? Some friends and I used it for our OCs and it was an absolute blast!

The name I got was Callio the convivial cat, which is short for Calliope, who I played in Xanadu. She has a whole costume and everything now!

Even if you don't have it anymore, tysm for making it ;-;

Xanadu mention! Also I do still have it saved! This one is revised a little and I might make more changes later, but here it is in text form:

Jellicle Name Generator

This will give you a name that is relatively in-line with the naming conventions seen in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and later adapted into the musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber - and unlike those shitty "last name and your birth month" name generators, this one won't doxx you in the process.

Before we begin, a bit of terminology we'll be using: - Portmanteau: Turning multiple words into one word linked by a sound or letter. Compelling Television = Compellevision. Punk Squid = Squnk - Smoosh: Combine words by simply removing the space and (optionally) changing the word positions. Country Jester = countryjester - Prefix: Goes before the name, like Mr. or Captain - Suffix: Goes after the name, like Jr. or The Great - Cat-like term: Something associated with cats. Meow, Whisker, Bell, Claw, Scratch, etc.

FIRST: Roll a D20 to determine your base name

An uncommon person’s first name

First syllable of a common last name + a unit of measurement. Portmanteau 'em.

Short, dangerous noun + a non-dangerous profession. Smoosh 'em.

Two Latin words. Portmanteau 'em.

A simple present-tense verb + sophisticated person's first name. Smoosh 'em.

Cat-like term + sophisticated person's first name. Smoosh 'em.

Combine two short nouns, then add "-er" "-ie" or "-est" to the end.

Think of an actor you like. Shorten their first name to its shortest nickname.

A medical term spelled incorrectly.

A food you liked as a kid + a pretentious word. Smoosh 'em.

A figure of legend/myth. Remove one syllable and any spaces.

An older person's first name that isn't common today.

Last name of a historical figure + a silly word. Portmanteau 'em.

A kids' name with 2 or more syllables + that name again without the first syllable + an onomatopoeia. Portmanteau 'em if you can.

A silly word + the first name of a former coworker. Portmanteau 'em.

A kind of public event + a cat-like term. Smoosh 'em.

Something from ancient history. Shorten what you came up with into a single word.

Something you do when you're nervous. Take that verb and add "-er" to the end to make it a noun.

Silly word + hostile-sounding verb. Portmanteau 'em.

Two silly words with 2+ syllables each. Smoosh 'em.

SECOND: Roll another D20 for flavor

Before you roll, consider how your name sounds without any additional flavor. If it's fine on its own, feel free to leave it as-is. Otherwise, roll on!

Suffix - An upsettingly average last name

Suffix - Think of a hobby. Your suffix is "The _____ Cat"

Prefix - A short adjective

Suffix - Think of an adjective. Your suffix is "The _____ Cat"

Prefix - Choose Mr. Mrs. Ms. Mx. or something similar

Suffix - Think of a color. Your suffix is "The _____ Cat"

Prefix - Any one-syllable word. Repeat the word a second time, adding or replacing the first consonant with that of your base name.

Suffix - Think of any non-proper noun. Your suffix is "The _____ Cat"

Suffix - it's the word Cat

Suffix - it's the word Kitty

Suffix - it's the word Kitten

Prefix - Choose "Sir" "Madam" "Captain" or something similar

Prefix - Choose "Lord" "Lady" "Noble" or something similar

Prefix - His/Her/Their Majesty (or any pronoun you prefer)

Prefix - His/Her/Their Grace (or any pronoun you prefer)

Prefix - Mc

Prefix - Van

Prefix - Von

Prefix - De

Suffix - Any cat-like term

And you're done!*

*This is as much a creative exercise as it is a "generator" so feel free to mess with the formula and/or let your result inspire something more original. Add multiple layers of flavor if you want. The rules are not rigid. I recommend generating a few names and picking your favorite!

Etymology. Named after Karl Schedl—a senior Austrian taxonomist—in gratitude for all the mess he made in bark beetle taxonomy which made younger apprentices busy for years in revising dodgy classifications. The Latin suffix -senius is a neuter nominal adjective, meaning senior.

Jordal, 2021

Naming Fantasy Races, Step-by-Step

1. Understand their characteristics

What's special or different about them? Define their attributes—consider the physical, magical, and cultural traits of the race.

Determine their societal structure, beliefs, and history.

2. Choose a base word

Use elements from mythological roots or existing folklore and literature.

Draw from nature, such as "aqua" for water-based creatures or "sylvan" for forest dwellers.

Look at words from Latin, Greek, or other ancient languages for inspiration, such as "lupus" (Latin for wolf).

3. Find appropriate prefixes and suffixes

Examples of common prefixes:

Drac– (dragon)

Lycan– (wolf)

Syl– (forest/nature)

Aqua– (water)

Examples of common suffixes:

–kin (family, race)

–folk (people)

–ari (noble or magical)

–shade (mystical or ethereal)

–borne (born of or origin)

4. Combine & modify

Merge the base word with your chosen prefix or suffix and, if need be, adjust it to make for better pronunciation. For example, you might combine "sylvan" with "-ari" to create "Sylvari".

Mix parts of words to invent new, unique terms.

5. Ensure uniqueness

Once you've come up with a name, I suggest checking its uniqueness with a quick search to ensure the term isn't already widely used in popular media.

6. Contextual integration

Integrate the term into the lore and history of your world. How did this race come to be known by this name?

Consider the cultural significance. Think about how other races view them versus how they view themselves.

Here are a couple examples to get a better idea of how you might choose to go about it for different creatures:

Forest dwellers: Base word: Sylvan (related to forests) Suffixes: –ari, –folk, –kin New terms: Sylvari, Sylvafolk, Sylvakin

Water-based beings: Base word: Aqua (water) Suffixes: –nix, –morph, –ari New terms: Aquanix, Aquamorph, Aquari

Don’t be afraid to combine unexpected elements for a fresh take, and keep the cultural nuances within your world in mind when coming up with a suitable term. A race’s name might change based on who is using it or the context.

Hope you find this helpful! Happy writing ❤

25 Cheap and Easy Tricks for Naming Your Characters

Because I hate coming up with new names. I hate it. I write fantasy. Why do I do this to myself?

The credits of your favorite movies, video games, and TV shows

Scroll through your old yearbook

Pick a theme and go with it a la Sirius, Regulus, Arcturus or Pearl, Opal, Amethyst

Any baby names list, pick a year

Obscure mythological figures, full name or nickname derivative

Obscure or famous historical figures, like philosophers, politicians, artists, and reformers

Unabashedly Latin-based

Unabashedly literal a la every character in My Hero Academia

Biblical figures

Scrabble/Bananagram word salad until you get to something legible (my personal favorite, highly recommend)

Pick a regional dialect, go ham, a la “Mc-” or “Mac-” prefixes, “-sky” or “ski” suffixes (just make sure you aren’t being racist)

Rare colors, especially if they’re themed after said colors or color associations

The She-Ra/Thundercats method

The Transformers method

Pick two names. Create a ship name. Voila

Pick a letter and go with it, especially if they’re siblings or all related, like Jane, Jill, Julie, Jackie, Janet

Old magazines, newspapers, and local news, both author and subject

Go to library/bookstore, pick a random book off the shelves and scavenge their names

Wander Google Maps, steal the names of roads and towns

Dusty phone book/encyclopedia for address and authors

Your own ancestors

Name them after their hometown/region a la “da Vinci”

Name them after their most infamous act or notable trait a la “Frederick Hamhands”

Pick a real name. Make up a nickname and have them go by that

Let them pick their own name so it’s weird/quirky/unique/boring/cringey, but with reason 

out of curiosity, i know in some versions mobei jun is called mo beijun, which one is canon? are both canon?

Ah, for this one it is a transliteration issue-- Mobei-jun is the better way to write it, but the original is 漠北君.

Written Chinese does not have spaces between words, like in latin alphabet writing, so when a translator is transliterating from hanzi to latin alphabet, spacing will have to be added in. This is why you will see different methods of spacing and capitalization in translations.

Typically, a Chinese name will have one character as the family name, one or two characters as the given name. So, usually it is transliterated that way (Shen Qingqiu for 沈清秋, where the first character is the surname Shen, second character Qing, third Qiu, but since the second two characters both make up his given name, it is written this way in the latin alphabet to divide the family name from given name, Shen Qingqiu).

So usually with a three-character, three-syllable name, it goes this way.

Mobei-jun, following that typical method, would then be Mo Beijun, which would be read as surname Mo (desert), given name Beijun (northern lord). Of course, because we know that Mobei-jun is actually a title that is passed down instead of a name itself, then it becomes Mobei-jun (northern desert lord).

Of course, neither way is present in the original text, so the spacing choices are stylistic devices in the transliteration, which allow a reader unfamiliar with the language and -jun as a suffix to be able to differentiate between 姓名 (surname-given name) and two-character names with suffix.

Therefore, instead of Mo Beijun, Lin Guangjun, Tian Langjun, Zhu Zhilang, we have Mobei-jun, Linguang-jun, Tianlang-jun, Zhuzhi-lang, which makes the parts of the names more clear (two characters + suffix instead of one surname character + two given name characters).

It also keeps readers from assigning surnames to the characters without them, as demons notably do not have family names.

I do think most of these names could also be surname + two-character given name, for example i've seen Beijun as a given name before (same characters too). Perhaps this could be useful for those writing modern AUs.

I hope this makes sense and clears things up! Since it was more of a stylistic/transliteration explanation, I thought it was alright just to respond to this ask directly instead of making it its own post.

Some new conclusions regarding the Hand of Irulegi

The stippled text can be read as follows:

sorioneku ⋅ kunekebeekiŕateŕe/ /n oTiŕtan ⋅ eseakaŕi eŕaukon ⋅

The script used for the text on the Irulegi hand clearly belongs to the family of the Palaeohispanic semi-syllabaries. 18 different signs can be discerned. The presence of the T sign in a non-numismatic text is highly significant, because it demonstrates that this sign was used in multiple epigraphic contexts and because it confirms the existence of a graphic subsystem that, considering its geographical distribution and the increasingly solid linguistic evidence associated with it, must be described as a ‘Vasconic script’. Where and how such an adaptation occurred are aspects about which we currently know very little.

None of the words identified can be directly related to Vasconic or Iberian anthroponyms. The remarkable similarity between the first word in the text, sorioneku, and the Basque word zorioneko—‘of good fortune’, a flection-derivation of the sequence zori ‘fortune’ + (h)on ‘good’—could be taken to be a coincidence, were it not for the evident symbolism of the artefact and its findspot at the heart of Vasconic territory. Both words are of early date within the Basque vocabulary; even the union of both elements is recorded in the oldest Basque documents (e.g. zorionean ‘fortunately’ used by both Joan Perez Lazarraga and Bernat Dechepare in the 16th century).

The sgraffito version, however, offers sorioneke. The reason for this difference is obscure; the final -(e)ke may be the ending of some Basque-Aquitaine divinities recorded in Latin inscriptions on altars, such as the theonyms Larrahe and Herauscorritsehe. This word could mention the divinity, be it Good Fortune or another deity, to which the inscription would have been dedicated.

In line 3 it is possible to isolate oTiŕtan. This could be interpreted as a toponym given the possible presence of a formative suffix ta [da] in its lexical structure, (which is identical to that of the well-known toponym iltiŕta = Ilerda) as well as the Vasconic locative -n desinence. Depending on the value given, it would be the toponym Osserda or Ol(l)erda in its Latin transcription.

Among the rest of the words identified, eŕaukon is the most likely to be a verbal form, both because of its form and its final position. Its form recalls the Basque form of the past tense of the auxiliary verb zeraukon, used in eastern dialects; it is a form of *eradun—causative of *edun—‘to make have’ > ‘to give’, marginally used as an autonomous verb still in the sixteenth century, prior to its use as an auxiliary. The meaning of this verb would make sense in the case of a votive dedication, although several aspects are debatable.

The rest of the inscription on the Irulegi hand remains quite obscure. While here are problems in relation to the Basque words adduced as parallels, the inscription can be interpreted as a dedication to a divinity named at the beginning (sorioneke /-ku), with a dedication verb at the end (eŕaukon) whose object would go immediately before (ese-agaŕi). A place (oTiŕtan) may likewise be indicated, leaving the expression of the individual making the dedication and some other specification in the obscure line 2.

The inscription provides support for a growing awareness that the ancient Vascones knew and made use of writing, at least to a degree.

The use of sorioneku or sorioneke at the beginning of the text, isolated from what follows as an introduction admits comparison with Basque zori (h)on (‘good fortune’), and other elements, such as the verbal form eŕaukon or the locative in -n of a place-name, suggest that the inscription is in the Vasconic language, the longest and earliest known to date.

The implications of the discovery of the Irulegi hand for the epigraphic and historical understanding of the Vasconic territory, as well as the possible linguistic connections between the Vasconic, Iberian and modern Basque languages, require further in-depth analysis. Given the scarcity of other firm evidence, the Irulegi hand and its inscription will henceforth constitute an indispensable starting point for the establishment of a linguistic map of the region and any debate on the origin and development of the Vasconic language and script.

Full article

Eskerrik asko @glendathegoodone for sharing this!

Nesuferitul

So, we’ve gotten to the part in Dracula Daily where Bram Stoker starts throwing around the word nosferatu. Stoker got the word from Emily Gerard, who mentions it in her works on Transylvanian superstitions which Stoker used for research, where she makes it out to be the Romanian word for vampire. In this she is backed up by German writer Wilhelm Schmidt, who also treated it as the Romanian word for vampire. The word “vampire”, by the way, came to English from French, to French from German, and to German via Hungarian from the Slavic languages. Romanian is not a Slavic language, but a Romance language, as you might guess from the name. Thing is, there is no such word as “nosferatu” in Romanian. However, other German writers like Heinrich von Wlislocki treat “nosferatu” or “der Nosferat” as a Romanian word, so researchers who have gone down rabbit holes trying to derive it from the Greek for “diseased” or the Latin for “not breathing” or some Slavic basis are, quite frankly, barking up the wrong tree. Instead, it’s way more likely that “nosferatu” is a Germanicization of a Romanian word before Romanian spelling was standardized, which it wasn’t even in the late nineteenth century. The Romanian word “nesuferit” literally means “insufferable”. The prefix “ne” indicates the negative, the root “suferi” means “suffer.” However in practice nesuferit doesn’t mean “insufferable” as in “oh, that annoying man is insufferable”. Instead the meaning is much more in the sense of unbearable, offensive, horrible, diseased. It’s a word used to mean “unclean” in a taboo way. To talk about an “unclean spirit” means to talk about an incubus or succubus, something that draws your strength or poisons your soul through sex. Now, the nominative masculine definite form of a Romanian noun adds the suffix -ul. We see this with Vlad II Dracul. Dracul means “The Dragon” with the “the” also communicating male. The addition of “-ea” to “Dracul” as in Vlad III Draculea gets us “Son of the Dragon.” So, something is “nesuferit” if it is horrid or unclean or unbearable, thus “nesuferitul” is “The Horrid One”, etc. It’s male and it’s a thing and it’s awful. Nesuferitul is an incubus, a male demon that impregnates its victim. The child of a nesuferitul and its victim is born a moroi, a kind of living vampire born (un)dead. Meanwhile, a person who committed some great sin or buried in unhallowed ground or without rites would come back from the dead a strigoi, to feed on the living. Nesuferitul was transliterated into German as Nosferatu, where it was assumed to be the Romanian word for vampire, but is in fact an incubus. From there it found its way to Bram Stoker, who took it to mean undead. “The Undead” in Romanian would literally be “nemortul”, by the way. Moroi means something like “the nightmarish one”, while strigoi means something like “the screaming one”, and is cognate with terms derived from Latin “strix” or “striga”, which became the root for “witch” in many Romance languages. Interestingly, the Slavic root origin of vampire is also thought to come from a word originally indicating a witch. Anyways, there you are. “Nosferatu” is not a “real” word, at least, not a real Romanian word, and certainly not the Romanian word for a vampire. But don’t go too hard on Bram Stoker, he was only as good as his sources. This was a hundred years before online search engines, after all.

you know what's really interesting is that by the rules of ancient Greek onomastics and their anglicizations via Latin, Mesperyian should be a masculine name (Mesperyianos/Μεσπερυιανός), formed by adding the adjectival suffix -νός, -νή, -νόν to indicate that the bearer had something to do with a 'Mesperyia' (Μεσπέρυια), since -yia (-υια) is a common feminine ending found on perfect active participles as well as the proper names of several minor goddesses and nymphs (e.g. Eileithyia, Idyia). I might further conjecture that this name is a corruption of 'Hesperyia' (´Εσπέρυια), perhaps connected to a dialectical variant, and that this name referred to a goddess of the evening star, which is otherwise usually imagined in Greek myth as male. 'Mesperyian' thus probably reflects the attempt of the people who considered the evening star female and referred to her as 'Mesperyia' to accommodate other Greek-speaking peoples' perception of the evening star as male: they gave the male evening star a masculinized version of their feminine name for it, 'Mesperyianos.' however the shift in the grammatical gendering of the name seems not to have been accompanied by a shift in the perception of the gender of the evening star itself; thus the evening star comes to be referred to, as a woman, with a male version of her earlier name. in this essay i will

Ways English borrowed words from Latin

Latin has been influencing English since before English existed!

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of ways that English got vocabulary from Latin:

early Latin influence on the Germanic tribes: The Germanic tribes borrowed words from the Romans while still in continental Europe, before coming to England.

camp, wall, pit, street, mile, cheap, mint, wine, cheese, pillow, cup, linen, line, pepper, butter, onion, chalk, copper, dragon, peacock, pipe, bishop

Roman occupation of England: The Celts borrowed words from the Romans when the Romans invaded England, and the Anglo-Saxons later borrowed those Latin words from the Celts.

port, tower, -chester / -caster / -cester (place name suffix), mount

Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons: Roman missionaries to England converted the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and brought Latin with them.

altar, angel, anthem, candle, disciple, litany, martyr, mass, noon, nun, offer, organ, palm, relic, rule, shrine, temple, tunic, cap, sock, purple, chest, mat, sack, school, master, fever, circle, talent

Norman Conquest: The Norman French invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror, making Norman French the language of the state. Many words were borrowed from French, which had evolved out of Latin.

noble, servant, messenger, feast, story, government, state, empire, royal, authority, tyrant, court, council, parliament, assembly, record, tax, subject, public, liberty, office, warden, peer, sir, madam, mistress, slave, religion, confession, prayer, lesson, novice, creator, saint, miracle, faith, temptation, charity, pity, obedience, justice, equity, judgment, plea, bill, panel, evidence, proof, sentence, award, fine, prison, punishment, plead, blame, arrest, judge, banish, property, arson, heir, defense, army, navy, peace, enemy, battle, combat, banner, havoc, fashion, robe, button, boots, luxury, blue, brown, jewel, crystal, taste, toast, cream, sugar, salad, lettuce, herb, mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg, roast, boil, stew, fry, curtain, couch, screen, lamp, blanket, dance, music, labor, fool, sculpture, beauty, color, image, tone, poet, romance, title, story, pen, chapter, medicine, pain, stomach, plague, poison

The Renaissance: The intense focus on writings from classical antiquity during the Renaissance led to the borrowing of numerous words directly from Latin.

atmosphere, disability, halo, agile, appropriate, expensive, external, habitual, impersonal, adapt, alienate, benefit, consolidate, disregard, erupt, exist, extinguish, harass, meditate

The Scientific Revolution: The need for new technical and scientific terms led to many neoclassical compounds formed from Classical Greek and Latin elements, or new uses of Latin prefixes.

automobile, transcontinental, transformer, prehistoric, preview, prequel, subtitle, deflate, component, data, experiment, formula, nucleus, ratio, structure

Not to mention most borrowings from other Romance languages, such as Spanish or Italian, which also evolved from Latin.

Further Reading: A history of the English language (Baugh & Cable)