tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924177687424620844.post6805308294140192739..comments2023-10-12T12:39:14.159+01:00Comments on Nyki Blatchley, Fantasy Author: Sisters & Cousins & Aunts: Language Families for Fantasy WritersNyki Blatchleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07707481035530963855noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924177687424620844.post-68133889624338555922013-09-19T12:50:01.044+01:002013-09-19T12:50:01.044+01:00Thanks. Actually, that's not so far out as it...Thanks. Actually, that's not so far out as it might seem. Finnish is a Uralic language, like Hungarian, and there is a theory (though not considered proven) that Uralic is related to the Altaic languages (Turkic, Mongolian et al) and that's one of the two families Japanese is sometimes considered to belong to. At minimum, both Japanese and Uralic seem to have been influenced by Altaic, so maybe words have migrated between them.Nyki Blatchleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07707481035530963855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924177687424620844.post-8244498804419629572013-09-19T10:38:59.123+01:002013-09-19T10:38:59.123+01:00Great post, Nyki, thank you!
Re Japanese, I taugh...Great post, Nyki, thank you! <br />Re Japanese, I taught myself a little while my son was learning it for a couple of years. His teacher was Finnish, and there are some identical words in Finnish and Japanese, with not identical but similar meanings. <br />Now that would have been some language route!Joanna Fayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12115011400004015918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924177687424620844.post-15965916942678355872013-09-15T19:06:40.022+01:002013-09-15T19:06:40.022+01:00Of course, there's nothing wrong with some nam...Of course, there's nothing wrong with some names (male or female) ending in a - just not all of them. I have some, but I try to vary it.<br /><br />The idea seems to be based on the first declension endings in Greek and Latin, but that's only the most common feminine form, and a lot of Roman male names follow the same pattern (Nerva, Cinna, Agrippa etc). Elsewhere, an a ending is just as likely to be male as female.Nyki Blatchleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07707481035530963855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924177687424620844.post-87010814697610692252013-09-15T01:16:28.596+01:002013-09-15T01:16:28.596+01:00Cool article. Still fine tuning the feel for langu...Cool article. Still fine tuning the feel for language in my own world, so the lesson is helpful.<br /><br />"the Burroughs Universal Constant (that, wherever you go in the universe, female names always end in a)" Hadn't heard this term for it before, but it's always been something that makes me roll my eyes when I encounter fantasy or SF worlds where this is true. It's not like all female names end with a, even in English. Molly, Elizabeth, Allison/Alice, Constance/Connie, etc. It's easy to fall into, though. I have to do a search and destroy of feminine names with an "a" at the end in my own, even. At least my protagonist has a different sounding name.<br />E.L. Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05631080231126783838noreply@blogger.com