Post by Hollow, Sky, Laurel, Jay, Rye on Nov 27, 2014 16:24:26 GMT
I have noticed two main ways of rating Warriors names; two-part names where the prefix describes the appearance and the suffix describes the skills, or a cooperative name where the suffix is elaborated by the prefix.
For example:
Two-part: Foxheart - a ginger cat who is courageous and outspoken in his or her beliefs.
Cooperative: Foxheart - a ginger cat who is cunning and aggressive. Thus, this name suggests this cat has the heart of a fox.
In most traditional names, the two-part system is preferred and used, simply because it produces more consistent, accurate results. There are instances when cooperative names are used in Warriors, mainly for name-changes. This sudden switch from two-part to cooperative is called ‘Irregular Use’, and that is what this post will be explaining.
Some suffixes have two meanings depending on the situation. The common examples of this are -foot, -tail and -face. Ordinarily, they would represent a skill/trait of the cat, such as exceptionally good balance. However, when in irregular use, they mean the literal paw or paws, tail or face of the character. This is what is alluded to in Prefix: i.
For the suffix to be irregular, the kitten must be named for one body part only, rather than its general appearance - review Redtail, Blackfoot and Brokentail. As soon as such a particular prefix is given, the suffix is already decided in order to keep the prefix accurate. If a white kitten is born with a grey face and is named Greykit, his name will automatically be Greyface when he becomes a warrior. Please note that, generally speaking, this is not an advised usage of prefix and suffix - this kind of thing is really for name-changes. It’s rare that a cat’s appearance suits a correlating name, and by giving a correlating name, you are effectively destroying the cat’s chances of being credited with skills or personality traits.
Name-changes always function by irregular use. The uncommon examples of irregular suffixes are -eye, -ear and -jaw. These are almost invariably for name-changes only, with the singular exception of Smallear of ThunderClan, arc one. He is described as a grey tom with “very small ears”, and presumably he was born this way. (This is the same as Brokentail, also known as Brokenstar, as his tail was disfigured at birth.) Other than the case of Smallear, there is no reason why a kit should be named for their ears, eyes or jaw.
Notable name-changes include: Crookedjaw (Crookedstar), Tornear, Halftail, One-eye, Lostface, Deadfoot and Brokentail (Brokenstar).
Presumably, Clawface is a name-change; he is described as a “battle-scarred brown tom”, and -claw- is naturally a suffix, not a prefix. In this context, claw- probably refers to the fact he is severely scarred - by other cats’ claws - and particularly on his face, though this is not explicitly mentioned.
The two names that are questionable are Yellowfang and Runningnose.
Runningnose is a small grey-and-white tom, and as previously explained, running- is not a reasonable prefix. However, he is frequently referenced due to his ironic inability to cure his own cold, despite being a medicine cat. I can only put this name down to Erin being a massive troll, because a) I know it says he always has a cold, but seriously, no one always has a cold. To have a cold constantly is probably a really, really bad thing, especially in a feral cat, where life is hard enough already, so therefore, this is an ephemeral trait and b) it’s not a distinctly apparent trait. Yes, his nose is a little crusted all the time, but who can see that from a distance? This name breaks all the rules of traditionalism - all of them - so I suggest not using it as a base for any of your characters.
As for Yellowfang, she is dark grey. It is never mentioned if she was every given a name-change*, but logic states she must have; she is not golden or ginger in colour, and never has been. Regardless of this, her name still follows the laws of irregular use - it suggests she has very bad dentistry. She is described as having awful breath at some point, so I don’t know if that’s some kind of subtle name-shadowing? My point is, how often do you see a cat’s teeth? Seriously? Like never. I have a couple of cats of my own, and unless they’re yawning or biting me, no teeth. This name doesn’t describe the most obvious trait of the cat, and so should be avoided.
Tl;dr -
For irregular suffixes, there are three common options (-foot, -tail, -face) and three uncommon options (-eye, -ear, -jaw). These must be used in conjunction with body-related prefix for a name-change (it is not advised to use this style for ‘unusual’ pelts - although, if you did so, the prefix would have to be colour) .
There is one other suffix that requires irregular use, and that is -step. It will be explained when I construct a list of suffixes.
For example:
Two-part: Foxheart - a ginger cat who is courageous and outspoken in his or her beliefs.
Cooperative: Foxheart - a ginger cat who is cunning and aggressive. Thus, this name suggests this cat has the heart of a fox.
In most traditional names, the two-part system is preferred and used, simply because it produces more consistent, accurate results. There are instances when cooperative names are used in Warriors, mainly for name-changes. This sudden switch from two-part to cooperative is called ‘Irregular Use’, and that is what this post will be explaining.
Some suffixes have two meanings depending on the situation. The common examples of this are -foot, -tail and -face. Ordinarily, they would represent a skill/trait of the cat, such as exceptionally good balance. However, when in irregular use, they mean the literal paw or paws, tail or face of the character. This is what is alluded to in Prefix: i.
For the suffix to be irregular, the kitten must be named for one body part only, rather than its general appearance - review Redtail, Blackfoot and Brokentail. As soon as such a particular prefix is given, the suffix is already decided in order to keep the prefix accurate. If a white kitten is born with a grey face and is named Greykit, his name will automatically be Greyface when he becomes a warrior. Please note that, generally speaking, this is not an advised usage of prefix and suffix - this kind of thing is really for name-changes. It’s rare that a cat’s appearance suits a correlating name, and by giving a correlating name, you are effectively destroying the cat’s chances of being credited with skills or personality traits.
Name-changes always function by irregular use. The uncommon examples of irregular suffixes are -eye, -ear and -jaw. These are almost invariably for name-changes only, with the singular exception of Smallear of ThunderClan, arc one. He is described as a grey tom with “very small ears”, and presumably he was born this way. (This is the same as Brokentail, also known as Brokenstar, as his tail was disfigured at birth.) Other than the case of Smallear, there is no reason why a kit should be named for their ears, eyes or jaw.
Notable name-changes include: Crookedjaw (Crookedstar), Tornear, Halftail, One-eye, Lostface, Deadfoot and Brokentail (Brokenstar).
Presumably, Clawface is a name-change; he is described as a “battle-scarred brown tom”, and -claw- is naturally a suffix, not a prefix. In this context, claw- probably refers to the fact he is severely scarred - by other cats’ claws - and particularly on his face, though this is not explicitly mentioned.
The two names that are questionable are Yellowfang and Runningnose.
Runningnose is a small grey-and-white tom, and as previously explained, running- is not a reasonable prefix. However, he is frequently referenced due to his ironic inability to cure his own cold, despite being a medicine cat. I can only put this name down to Erin being a massive troll, because a) I know it says he always has a cold, but seriously, no one always has a cold. To have a cold constantly is probably a really, really bad thing, especially in a feral cat, where life is hard enough already, so therefore, this is an ephemeral trait and b) it’s not a distinctly apparent trait. Yes, his nose is a little crusted all the time, but who can see that from a distance? This name breaks all the rules of traditionalism - all of them - so I suggest not using it as a base for any of your characters.
As for Yellowfang, she is dark grey. It is never mentioned if she was every given a name-change*, but logic states she must have; she is not golden or ginger in colour, and never has been. Regardless of this, her name still follows the laws of irregular use - it suggests she has very bad dentistry. She is described as having awful breath at some point, so I don’t know if that’s some kind of subtle name-shadowing? My point is, how often do you see a cat’s teeth? Seriously? Like never. I have a couple of cats of my own, and unless they’re yawning or biting me, no teeth. This name doesn’t describe the most obvious trait of the cat, and so should be avoided.
Tl;dr -
For irregular suffixes, there are three common options (-foot, -tail, -face) and three uncommon options (-eye, -ear, -jaw). These must be used in conjunction with body-related prefix for a name-change (it is not advised to use this style for ‘unusual’ pelts - although, if you did so, the prefix would have to be colour) .
There is one other suffix that requires irregular use, and that is -step. It will be explained when I construct a list of suffixes.