How the Named got named
I was having a conversation with a friend a few days ago on Facebook about Named cat names, and I thought I'd share how I answered her. She asked how I developed names for the clan cats, and here's my reply.
Some clan cat names are taken from words in Bengali (an East Indian language), such as "Thakur" (Ta-KOOR), which means "teacher" and is also used as a Bengali first and last name. "Ratha" began as a made-up word, but I later found that it meant "chariot" and is pronounced in Hindi as "RA-ta". “Fessran” was made up from hissy cat sounds as was “Srass”. Meoran, Cherfan, Shoman, and others were made up from other cat sounds (plaintive meows, chirrups, and various cat noises). I don't now where Bira came from. Events in the story (and Ratha's teasing) gave Bonechewer his moniker.He then gave Thistle-chaser her name, (because she does). Mishanti and Khushi are made up based on African Bantu words. There is no "official" way the cats are named, although Ratha formally bestowed the name "Shongshar" on the UnNamed One, Orange-Eyes.
Why Bengali? I had a sweet little friend who spent a year studying in that region of India, and she suggested Bengali as as a source of words. Also, I had a neat program that, when fed words or real names in a given language, would spit out pseudo-words based on the structure of the input words. I used India's city names, and got back various interesting possibilities. One may have been Shoman, and maybe Cherfan. The Named names really don't have that much formal construction, as the Warrior cat names do. (The Ratha series, by the way, started in 1983. Warriors followed in the late 1980s-1990's)
We will be using the same names for the clan kitties in the Ratha Graphic Novel (of course!).
If you enjoyed this little piece of Ratha series history, please visit the Ratha Graphic Novel Kickstarter. We are at mid-project and pledges have slowed down a little. A few kicks to the Kickstarter would really help.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sheilaruth/rekindling-the-fire-rathas-creature-graphic-novel
You can also enjoy the "Ratha's Challenge" daily fan-art gallery begun by *seasaidh on Deviant Art that she created to support the Kickstarter page, and showcase the extraordinary ability of Ratha artists. Many are professionals or do professional-level work.
http://sheilaruth.deviantart.com/favourites/53643563
Here's a gallery of art from the graphic novel and the artists working on it.
http://www.imaginatorpress.com/kickstarter_project_gallery
I've got to go and do more storyboarding! Enjoy!
Some clan cat names are taken from words in Bengali (an East Indian language), such as "Thakur" (Ta-KOOR), which means "teacher" and is also used as a Bengali first and last name. "Ratha" began as a made-up word, but I later found that it meant "chariot" and is pronounced in Hindi as "RA-ta". “Fessran” was made up from hissy cat sounds as was “Srass”. Meoran, Cherfan, Shoman, and others were made up from other cat sounds (plaintive meows, chirrups, and various cat noises). I don't now where Bira came from. Events in the story (and Ratha's teasing) gave Bonechewer his moniker.He then gave Thistle-chaser her name, (because she does). Mishanti and Khushi are made up based on African Bantu words. There is no "official" way the cats are named, although Ratha formally bestowed the name "Shongshar" on the UnNamed One, Orange-Eyes.
Why Bengali? I had a sweet little friend who spent a year studying in that region of India, and she suggested Bengali as as a source of words. Also, I had a neat program that, when fed words or real names in a given language, would spit out pseudo-words based on the structure of the input words. I used India's city names, and got back various interesting possibilities. One may have been Shoman, and maybe Cherfan. The Named names really don't have that much formal construction, as the Warrior cat names do. (The Ratha series, by the way, started in 1983. Warriors followed in the late 1980s-1990's)
We will be using the same names for the clan kitties in the Ratha Graphic Novel (of course!).
If you enjoyed this little piece of Ratha series history, please visit the Ratha Graphic Novel Kickstarter. We are at mid-project and pledges have slowed down a little. A few kicks to the Kickstarter would really help.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sheilaruth/rekindling-the-fire-rathas-creature-graphic-novel
You can also enjoy the "Ratha's Challenge" daily fan-art gallery begun by *seasaidh on Deviant Art that she created to support the Kickstarter page, and showcase the extraordinary ability of Ratha artists. Many are professionals or do professional-level work.
http://sheilaruth.deviantart.com/favourites/53643563
Here's a gallery of art from the graphic novel and the artists working on it.
http://www.imaginatorpress.com/kickstarter_project_gallery
I've got to go and do more storyboarding! Enjoy!