Re: Butchered Foreign Names

From: "Yoon Ha Lee"

> > > ObConLang: Do y'all deal with butchered foreigners' names in your
> > > conlangs?  :-)  By some strange coincidence, my name is entirely
> > > pronounceable in Chevraqis.  My boyfriend's name is a nightmare (but
> > > then, his last name is Betzwieser, which is a nightmare in Korean,
> > > too).
Géarthnuns has a fairly large repertoire, so this isn't a big problem. Your
boyfriend's name, by first guess, would be, "Betsvizör", but depending on
how he actually pronounced it, it could be: Betsvizer, Betsfizör, Betsfizer,
Betsvisör....

> Makes sense.  Chevraqis-speakers would probably truncate or abbreviate
> the name if it got much past 4 syllables, though
Truncating or abbreviating is seldom the Géarthnuns way. Bring on the
syllables. The more sesquipedalian, the better.
"Ammykootchykatchykammykosinarykosonokosammycammywacky [sp] Brown" (or that
Japanese name there in the story, "....haribaribushkiishmeriendo..." )
would've been a big hit in Géarthtörs. :)

Kou