Table of Contents
Main Phonology Historical Notes Tone Noun Classifiers Names in Sheli Online Poetry Babel Text Other Texts

Names in Sheli

A recent MIT study showed that 70% of people have names. The speakers of Sheli are no different. This page will introduce you to the naming practices of Sheli. It may resemble something akin to fun. If so, consult your physician.

What's in a Name?

What indeed? As it turns out, three separate words. Sheli given names are composed of three words, themselves each taken from a limited set of words. Thus, every name has a particular form. To follow will be a list of each group of words. The groups will be given in linear order. Thus, in a given name, the group 1 word comes first, followed by the group 2 word, followed by the group 3 word. These three are combined to form the name, and are pronounced as a single word. Here come the groups!

Group 1

Group 1 words are primarily descriptive adjectives. Many are colors; some describe shapes; some describe other things. The total number of words is 20. Here's the list:

#	Name	Original Form	Meaning
1	dow⁶	*/dou/	first
2	án⁶	*/axan/	red, rusty
3	iš³	*/išan/	light blue, blue
4	pul³	*/pulan/	white, bright
5	ğòm²	*/ğomp/	black, dark brown, dark
6	lí⁶	*/lii/	blue-green, green, dark blue
7	žis²	*/žis/	yellow, gold, golden
8	čhin²	*/čhin/	silver, gray, shiny, metallic, lustrous
9	bot¹	*/botu/	good
10	žun²	*/žun/	large
11	nis²	*/nis/	small, little
12	led¹	*/ledo/	loud
13	zán⁶	*/zakhan/	quiet
14	žey⁶	*/žei/	happy, joyful
15	ön⁶	*/eğon/	endless, ceaseless, unceasing, infinite
16	ef³	*/ephis/	long
17	kip¹	*/kipi/	short
18	šán⁶	*/šakhan/	secret
19	čhoy⁶	*/čhoi/	soft
20	xas¹	*/xasa/	quick, fast

Group 2

Group 2 words have to do with the time of day or year, or are a cardinal direction. The total number of words is 11. Here's the list:

#	Name	Original Form	Meaning
1	phel¹	*/phele/	morning
2	kû⁵	*/kiğu/	day, daytime
3	van²	*/van/	night, nighttime
4	med³	*/medes/	spring
5	vay⁶	*/vai/	summer
6	thaš¹	*/thačha/	fall, autumn
7	tul³	*/tulun/	winter
8	fiž¹	*/fiže/	north, northern
9	xem³	*/xeman/	east, eastern
10	ğaz¹	*/ğaze/	south, southern
11	gul³	*/gules/	west, western

Group 3

Group 3 words are nouns which are described by the group 1 and group 2 words. The total number of words is 37. Here's the list (presented in logical order):

#	Name	Original Form	Meaning
1	tow⁶	*/tou/	horizon
2	váy⁵	*/vakhi/	sky
3	ží⁶	*/žii/	sun
4	lom³	*/lomon/	moon
5	jed¹	*/jedi/	star
6	wen⁶	*/ukhen/	grass
7	jub³	*/jubun/	dust
8	fay⁶	*/fai/	water
9	phof³	*/phofen/	fog
10	ší⁵	*/šixi/	mist
11	čhas²	*/čhas/	rain
12	čhèn¹	*/čhendo/	land
13	thik¹	*/thiki/	wind
14	khoy⁵	*/khoği/	music
15	ved¹	*/vedi/	fire
16	dew⁵	*/dekhu/	lightning
17	zìn¹	*/zindo/	thunder
18	phun¹	*/phuna/	snow
19	dàm³	*/dambon/	tree
20	yá⁵	*/ekha/	bird
21	tus³	*/tusas/	feather
22	vud¹	*/vudu/	deer
23	phil³	*/philen/	flower
24	dûs⁶	*/dikhus/	mountain
25	gwas⁶	*/gokhas/	forest
26	čhàng³	*/čhangos/	cloud
27	xis³	*/xithan/	lake
28	ğeš¹	*/ğečho/	rock, stone
29	gen²	*/gen/	plain
30	mag¹	*/mago/	river
31	bû⁵	*/bixu/	moth
32	gya⁶	*/gea/	song
33	fus²	*/fus/	panda
34	žàñ¹	*/žañči/	pearl
35	bam¹	*/bami/	tower
36	tê⁵	*/toğe/	seed
37	čib¹	*/čiba/	tiger

So...Now What?

As previously mentioned, a name is comprised of one group 1 word followed by one group 2 word followed by one group 3 word. As you can imagine, this allows for a far larger number of names than if each word individually were used as a name. The total number of possible names is (20 × 11 × 37) = 8,140. That's not too bad. So here's an example name:

Group 1: pul³, "white, bright"
Group 2: phel¹, "morning"
Group 3: phil³, "flower"

Pul³ Phel¹ Phil³, White Morning Flower

I chose this name on purpose because it's pretty lame (or neat, depending on how much you like labials and liquids). Anyway, that's basically how the naming system works.

Or is it...?!

Three Problems with the Naming System

As mentioned, there are 8,140 possible names. Some of them, though, are incredibly lame, or just nonsensical. Here are some examples:

Led¹ Kû⁵ Lom³, "Loud Daytime Moon"
Ön⁶ Fiž¹ Bû⁵, "Endless Northern Moth"
Šán⁶ Taš¹ Jub³, "Secret Autumn Dust"
Xas¹ Van² Čhèn¹, "Quick Nighttime Land"
Án⁶ Vay⁶ Phun¹, "Red Summer Snow"

Now, true, we can take a look at these names in the safety and comfort of our homes and/or offices and have a hearty chuckle, but, folks, I'm not kidding when I say, in all honesty, beware the Endless Northern Moth.

Another problem is the possibility of duplicate names. True, with 8,140 possibilities it's unlikely that you'll run into your doppelgänger, but, come on, what parent is going to name their child First Western Dust when they could name them Silver Morning Mist? There's just no contest. As a result, there may be quite a few Silver Morning Mists out there. Probably a lot of White Winter Snows, as well. And Loud Summer Pandas? Don't even get me started!

Finally, these three word names are single names. That is, you don't call someone by one of them: You call them by all three. For their given name (family names are different). Saying Kip¹ Xem³ Ğeš¹ (Short Eastern Stone) over and over again (note the codas and the tones, which don't change) can get quite tiresome.

So those are three problems with the naming system. Note that when I say "problems", I mean "made-up problems", in that I'm making up the fact that these are problems. They don't need to be problems, of course. I simply desire them to be so. Thus, I have willed these problems into existence—much like everything else on this site. Read on to see what I did with them.

Nicknames

As one might guess, nicknames abound in the land of Sheli names. Unlike English, though, where "Jack" can be a nickname for "John", Sheli nicknames are somewhat principled. That is, there are several nickname strategies which are employed in a principled way to form a nickname from a full Sheli name. In order to get you up to speed, though, a couple things must be noted. First, in order to make the nicknames possible, a full Sheli name must (in many cases) be freed from the bonds of its nucleus and coda. So, if you take a name like Pul³ Phel¹ Phil³, the result is p-ph-ph—a kind of triconsonantal root, if you're familiar with Arabic or Megdevi. Second, the tone sandhi rules now apply. (When pronounced properly, the proper tone of each word in a full name should be pronounced.)

Now, then, here's the list of nickname strategies used in Sheli. Some are more common than others; some have specific meanings attached to them. All of them can be used for any name, though, unless otherwise specified.

Basic Nickname Strategy I: For this strategy, you take the first (C)V sequence of the first two words and the entire last word and combine them into a single word. So, Án⁶ Vay⁶ Lom³, "Red Summer Moon", would become Á⁶va²lom³. This is just a basic nickname and has no special meaning associated with it.

Basic Nickname Strategy II: This is the same as the above strategy, only the final consonant is deleted. So, Án⁶ Vay⁶ Lom³, "Red Summer Moon", would instead become Á⁶va²lo³.

Basic Nickname Strategy III: The initial consonant is taken from each word and followed with the vowel a. The tones are changed to 1-2-3. So, Dow⁶ Med³ Čhas², "First Spring Rain", would become Da¹ma²čha³ (or Da¹ma²ša³). This strategy cannot be used when one of the following conditions holds: (a) One name begins with a vowel; (b) all consonants share the same place of articulation (so no *Pa¹pha²pha³); or (c) one of the names begins with a complex onset (i.e., Cw or Cy).

Diminutive I: For this strategy, you take the first (C)V sequence of the first word, and then the onsets of the next to. To the onsets of the next two, you add the vowel i. The tones are changed to 2-1-2. So, Dow⁶ Phel¹ Jed¹, "First Morning Star", would become Do²phi¹ji² (or Do²fi¹ji²). This name is a kind of diminutive, along the lines of "Davey" for "Dave". It can't be used with words that have a complex onset, or words that have a glide for an onset.

Diminutive II: This is another type of diminutive. For this type, you keep the (C)V of the first word, and then add e after the onsets of the other two words, and the tones are 2-1-2. So, Ef³ Gul³ Mag¹, "Long Western River", would become E²ge¹me².

Diminutive III: This is another type of diminutive. For this type, the vowels are o-e-o, and the tones are 2-1-2. So, Žis² Thaš¹ Dàm³, "Gold Autumn Tree", would become Žo²the¹do² (or Žo²se¹do²). This diminutive can't be used when the first word begins with a vowel.

Masculine I: Sheli names are unisex, so this type of nickname is used to make a name masculine. For this type, you keep the (C)V of the first word, and then add a after the onset of the second word, and ó after the onset of the third word. The tones are 3-4-6. So, Ön⁶ Xem³ Váy⁵, "Endless Eastern Sky", would become Ö³xa⁴vó⁶.

Masculine II: This is another type of specifically masculine nickname. For this type, you add u after the initial C of the first word, then add o after the onset of the second word, and á after the onset of the third word. The tones are 3-4-6. So, Čhin² Tul³ Lom³, "Silver Winter Moon", would become Čhu³to⁴lá⁶. This type of nickname can't be used when the first word begins with a vowel.

Feminine I: Sheli names are unisex, so this type of nickname is used to make a name feminine. For this type, you keep the (C)V of the first word, but the vowel is lengthened. Then you add i after the onset of the second word, and a after the onset of the third word. The tones are 5-3-2. So, Bot¹ Med³ Phil³, "Good Spring Flower", would become Bó⁵mi³pha² (or Bó⁵mi³fa²).

Feminine II: This is another type of specifically feminine nickname. For this type, you add ú after the initial C of the first word, then add i after the onset of the second word, and a after the onset of the third word. The tones are 5-3-2. So, Žun² Fiž¹ Bam¹, "Large Northern Tower", would become Žú⁵fi³ba². This type of nickname can't be used when the first word begins with a vowel.

Augmentative: This nickname is used just when one is calling out to someone, or while playing sports, on the mighty field of bloody battle, etc. For this type, you keep the (C)V of the first word as well as the CV of the second word, but you shorten the vowels if they're long (or lengthen both for extra emphasis). For the third word, you keep the onset, and change the vowel to û (or to ó if the onset contains a glide). The tones are 4-4-1. So, Zán⁶ Tul³ Phun¹, "Quiet Winter Snow", would become Za⁴tu⁴phû¹ (or Za⁴tu⁴fû¹). Conversely, Ef³ Kû⁵ Gya⁶, "Long Daytime Song", would become E⁴kü⁴gyó¹. [Note: This name breaks the sandhi rules. It, however, is a name that one only uses in special circumstances, so the judges will allow it.]

These, then, are the officially licensed and sanctioned nicknames of Sheli. They're quite common, and extremely contagious. Handle with care.

Random Sheli Name Generation

In the market for a new name? Use the button below to generate a random name for yourself! For easy reference, you can jump back to the group 1, group 2 and group 3 name lists to see what the name means. Or, if you're lazy like me, who doesn't want to change something he's written previously, you can simply look directly below the Sheli version of the name for an English translation. [Note: This apparently doesn't work with Firefox, which troubles me greatly... Any ideas, tech people...?]

Yay for random name generators! Now, if I were a smart businessman, this clicky little button would be followed by a whole slew of products featuring your new name: mugs, mouse pads, t-shirts, tire irons, personalized checks, stationary, those new trendy wrist band thingies (yes, I have one), eyeglasses repair kits, etc. But, irregretably, I am not a smart businessman (if you're treating "business" as an adjective, either scope works). Instead, I'll entreat you to go ahead and go back and come up with some nicknames. It's free and life-affirming.

Back to Sheli Main