There are so many aspects to #worldbuilding.

Physicality, culture (theological or otherwise), magic, myth, economics, topography … the list goes on.

But the key one for me is always language …

(Thread)

1/17

#LegacyofAsh #amwritingfantasy

And I’m not just talking in a #Tolkien-esque ‘invent languages from the ground up’ sort of way, either.

(Although I’ve done a little of that – this knackered 20-year-old notebook forms the basis of the formal Tressian language).

2/17

Bits of formal Tressian (low Tressian essentially being English as far as the reader knows) plus a smattering of Hadari & Thrakkian put in an appearance in #LegacyofAsh & #LegacyofSteel, but never too much.

Just enough to give a flavour.

3/17

So what language am I talking about?

People. Places. Concepts. Ideas.

Less the nuts and bolts of language, and more about how it’s used.

And names, most of all. Folk remember names.

4/17

Designed with purpose, names tell you a character’s place in the world.

If you’ve read #LegacyofAsh, I bet I could put a list of names before you and you’d have a pretty good hit rate on which were Tressian, Hadari or Thrakkian.

5/17

Tressian names tend towards Slavic (Viktor, Kasamor/Kasimir, Vladama) unless they’re Hebrew (Revekah, Malachi, Izack).

There’s no particular reason for those two sources, other than I liked some of the names.

(In writing, whimsy is more important than folk think.)

6/17

(There’s more about Tressian names – and my plundering of Slavic culture in general – in this Twitter thread, for those who haven’t seen it.

https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/1255547229030490115?s=20 )

7/17

Hadari borrow from Old English & Welsh (Kai, Aedrun) except for when they’re from far further east (Ashana).

They’re joined in turn by nice big, warm sounds (Haldrane, Melanna, Kos). Less lyrical than Tressian, with a lower syllable count.

8/17

(There’s probably a separate discussion to be had on Hadari names and what they mean to me, and why, but for now let’s stay on target. Let’s just say it’s probably Bernard Cornwell’s fault.)

9/17

Thrakkians are different, being a riotous mix of Scandinavian (Armund > Asmund, Inkari > Ingara) & continental European (Anliss > Annalise), but are bound back together by the ‘af’ patronymic for their surnames (modelled on the Welsh ‘ap’).

10/17

And then, of course, you have those characters whose names (much like the characters themselves) don’t exactly ‘fit’.

Josiri. Calenne. Apara. Sevaka. When mixed with other Tressians, they don’t sound wholly alien, but they don’t blend in. They're not joiners.

11/17

(These names also have meaning in the Tressian formal tongue, because I can't help myself sometimes … )

11a/17

When we hit #LegacyofSteel, another factor comes into play, characters whose names are neither wholly Tressian or Hadari – legacies (hah!) of territory changing hands, and culture with it.

12/17

So why do this? Well, part of it’s surely #Tolkien’s fault. The man was big on naming conventions and a lot of that bleeds through into impressionable minds.

(No, I don’t speak quenya, sindarin, or #klingon).

But there are practicalities, too.

13/17

If the shape of a name tells you where a character’s from, the author has to do less work pointing it out.

Laziness aside, this keeps a bit of exposition at bay, and the reader learns something about the character before they even speak.

#writetip

14/17

It doesn’t even really matter whether the reader consciously notices or not …

Or perhaps I just tell myself that to justify hours spent trawling websites like http://www.behindthename.com  searching for syllables I like the look of.

15/17

Either way, it gives the names of the Legacy Trilogy their own distinctiveness.

Not quite of the everyday ‘real’ world (what’s even real any longer?), but not wholly different either. Interesting, but (hopefully) not confusing.

16/17

I’m always on the look out for interesting names & naming conventions, so if you have some particular favourites, let me know! In the meantime, #LegacyofSteel arrives in November.

Pre-order your copy here:

https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/matthew-ward/legacy-of-steel/9780356513393/

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/matthew-ward/legacy-of-steel/9780316457934/

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#newrelease