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The Naming System of the Spire

When speaking to any citizen of the Spire, one will immediately notice our fluid and context-dependent chain suffixes. These can be written in a multitude of ways but the most acceptable is with a hyphen, separating it from our consistent prefix. The infographic below will provide an introduction, while at the bottom of this page I will provide a table with commonly used suffix families and some examples of descriptive suffix chaining.

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The names of East North Spire

East North Spire is the most densely populated settlement on Siren. in the Spire, what you do is as important as who you are. There is no concept of a nuclear family here, with all newborns being transferred to communal nurseries as soon as they are able (often days after birth). Children are given a common education before being moved on to meet what would be considered, in Earth terms, their "true " families - their craftclans, or their classes if they choose a scholarly path. Because the most important relationships in any Spire citizen's life are formed in these clans, it is highly culturally important for them to identify their profession as a part of their given name.

Names take the form of a prefix which does not change, and suffixes which can be chained together to describe what that person is doing at that moment. Usually this describes a profession or area of expertise, but can also describe the health of the individual, whether or not they have ever committed a crime, or whether they have died. Usually names are given a single suffix, but in positions that command respect and authority, or when additional specificity is required, it is expected that multiple suffixes will be used. The order in which the suffixes are chained is significant, and the most 'important' one is usually last in the chain. Because of this system, a very common form of intentional insult or condescension is to re-order the chain while speak[ing] to someone, or to add extra, superfluous suffixes to the chain.

Some common suffix families and their meanings:

 

Suffix root family	Specifics	Meaning	Chained example
-va [scholarly]	-var	Active researcher	Ami-o-var [historian]
	-vas	Published researcher	Ami-el-vas [botanist]
	-vay	Master of their discipline	Ami-an-vay [war theorist]
-pe [crafting]	-pem	Makes clothing	Ikki-yef-pem [maintains visors]
-wa [apprentice]	-war	Low level apprentice	Ebb-pem-war [training to make clothing]
-qa [health status]	-qan	Incapacitated	Terw-qan-anz [injured warrior, will heal]
			Terw-anz-qan [note chain order change - this warrior will not heal]
	-qai	Mental illness	Kemi-or-qai [lawmaker who is out of their fucking mind, derogatory]
-or [governance, laws]	-or	Lawmaker, leader	Iuinti-vay-or [University headmaster, master scholar]
-ba [dead]	-ba	Individual has died	Qedi-var-ba [dead researcher, disrespectful]
			Qedi-ba-var [dead researcher, respectful]

By adding specific like -ba (dead) or -qan (incapacitated) at the end of the chain, the speaker is indicating that these are the most important qualities of the person, which in this context is derogatory. Usually the profession [or scholarly field] goes last as this should be the most important, with the exception of -or, which always goes last.

 

 Examples with characters:

Qedi-var = "Qedi who researches" - a scholar testing a hypothesis

Qedi-am-o-var = "Qedi who researches people [past tense]" - a scholar testing an archaeological hypothesis

Terw-yef = "Terw who navigates [on the wing]"

Terw-pem-yef "Terw who navigates [on the wing] with a visor". 

Adding more than one suffix increases specificity.

Postmaster Mia-kef = "Mia who delivers goods [on the wing]"

Suffixes ending in -ef imply flight, or literally [wing/on the wing]

Mia-tef-amv = "Mia who is a [wing] doctor"

 

"Huar!a" is a name from the Ii!wal culture, a pelagic region south of the Western continent. But it can be absorbed into East Spire naming tradition by the addition of suffixes, which are not used in Ii!wal tongue (and which Huar!a has trouble pronouncing). They use the 'above water'[air language] version of their name, Huarvaa.

Huarvaa-aal = "Huarvaa who travels [by sea]"

Suffixes ending in -aal imply seafaring, literally [sea]

Huarvaa-bw = "Huarvaa who is a foreigner [disrespectful]"

Tongue clicks (transliterated as '!') are not pronounced in East Spire language, alternatives are used.