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Author Topic: Caldari/Napanii Flower names  (Read 658 times)

Ciarente

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Caldari/Napanii Flower names
« on: 04 Mar 2013, 03:21 »
I am fairly terribad at linguistic things, however, I am nonetheless foolishly attempting to write a story in which linguistic stuff features.

Therefore! I am appealing for help!

Basically the story involves a great number of flowers, and while I plan on using made-up 'common' names for some of them (such as redbell, or moonblossom, or somesuch) I would also like to toss in some Napanii names (the POV character is Caldari). However, if I try to make them up myself I am quietly confident I will accidentally chose a combination of syllables that is utterly ridiculous to players with a better knowledge of Napanii, or indeed Finish/Japanese, than me (remember, I accidentally named an alt 'Haddock').

So any suggestions that I can appropriate, gratefully received. You don't need to try and describe the flowers, or what they might stand for, if you don't want to, but if you do want to, go for it!
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Vieve

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Re: Caldari/Napanii Flower names
« Reply #1 on: 04 Mar 2013, 05:15 »

*digs a couple out of the sandbox*

kukia kurin (a.k.a. Miesian iris) - a brief-flowering annual native to Caldari Prime's equatorial regions which turned into an invasive self-sowing perennial on Lutesse (Mies III). It was subsequently successfully exported to the State. It's a mildly fragrant pink, purple, white or yellow flowered 'weeping bell' lily with either dark gray or black spotting. Edible varieties are small, with leaves and flowers that are used in salads, and large starchy roots that are ground up for flour.   Ornamental varieties are non-fragrant, can be quite large, and come in a wider variety of colors (magenta, orange, et cetera) and with or without spots.  The flower's based on the Japanese katakuri (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythronium_japonicum) and the American (http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERAM5) and European dogtooth violet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythronium_dens-canis).   


Your 'redbell' could be another name for faureaux.  The scarlet and gold faureaux (a.k.a. Intaki shurubnh-juqektak "devil's cup") was originally a hardy flowering weed indigenous to Eletta III, and came to be cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout the Federation.

« Last Edit: 04 Mar 2013, 05:21 by Vieve »
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