Personal Names

[kadani]

Good idea. But how would they deal with children dieing before having offspring?

[Matthew Turnbull]

Yeah, I'm not sure about that, I was thinking perhaps they would transfer it to someone via some more complex system, like what they use to determine royalty in Great Brittan. Or they might put the name in the fetish early?

[kadani]

Maybe they will only get their 'real' name at a certain age and before have a 'child name' and that defines the fate of the name of the person at death.

[Matthew Turnbull]

[kadani]

*Must not make a Star Trek Voyager reference*

Maybe Kan will on his 13th birthday be officially initiated into the group and get a new name, say, Muenax.

[Matthew Turnbull]

OK, I like it, but how would that determine the fate of their name upon their death?

[kadani]

Well, I think if children make it through the first, say, 13 years, they have gotten through the worst traps in terms of premature child death. So these later names are those which are passed on after death to someone else. If a child dies before that age and still has a child name, it is... put in the fetish... Does that make sense?

[Matthew Turnbull]

Yeah, I think so, I'll agree that seems like it'll work.

What about last names? Paternal, Maternal, Clans/Houses/Lines?

[Zwangzug]

So everyone in the society does get a name, correct? We were discussing before the possibility that only some people in the minority knew the language, but I feel like it would make more sense to teach it to children (they'd pick it up natively), not wait.

[Matthew Turnbull]

perhaps children learn it natively, but after 13 are only aloud to speak it under certain circumstances or are required to do so. Also they might only be allowed to continue speaking it after accomplishing a certain goal in life.