Here's something cool! I've made contact with a fellow named Mark Komar online who has worked with me to create a really neat little application for creating random Darduni names!! Mark's a great guy who's not only a programmer/coder, but also enjoys doing standup comedy! FUN! A simple bit of coding, really,..but MAN does it do the job! It's actually MUCH better than an earlier version made long, long ago... Not every name it generates is a winner (such is the way with random word assembly),..but I painstakingly assembled the word-bits it uses from all the NPC name references, the list created from the older program, and my handy "Learn to Speak Hindi" book... All in all,..it works pretty damn well,..and gives you the option of creating up to 100 names at a time,..which you can either print from the program, or copy/paste as you wish... It even adds accents when appropriate! Nice!

By the way,..the VERY first word it made for me...... Sarpah... Cool huh?

Just download the ZIP file, extract the files, run the setup, and install it where you wish! It'll run from Startup, or you can create a desktop shortcut. Enjoy the exotic name-y goodness!!

Scottie

Do you mean the name "Persis"?

If so,..it never will,..unless you alter the word-piece list it uses to include "per",..as well as "pér",...which you actually CAN do, if you wish, to your own personal copy...

Wherever the program gets installed on your system (usually under "programs" unless you told it to go elsewhere), there should be a file simply called 'names'. This file contains two lists, one with the heading of [BASE], the other with the heading of [ACCENT]. It is these two lists it draws from to assemble the words. If you were to add per to the BASE list, and pér to the ACCENT list (both in the same place within each list, i.e., alphabetical order), then save the file, the program would be able to eventually,..and randomly, create Persis (since "sis" is already in both lists). It's important to add both "per" variations, so that the code continues to function properly, since it will randomly choose to sometimes substitute one for the other.

Using this method,..I may create word lists later that people could substitute for other, specifically regional names that have a wholly different "feel" to them...

FUN!

Scottie

Persis,...are you referring to Persis Khambatta, the actress who was once "Miss India"? If so,..perhaps I SHOULD consider adding that word-piece to the program's list, considering that the name, apparently, fits right into the cultural roots of most of those word fragments....

Scottie

Heh,...this is a concept that as indeed been discussed before...

The best way to look at the Zoics of our world is to remember that, as amalgamations of both human and animal forms, their mouths are somewhat more malleable than the pure-animal form they are based on... After all, if they are able to have human-like vocal cords whatsoever, then they no doubt bear changes to their physiology that go beyond the more visually apparent changes of an upright stature, and functioning hands and feet...

As such, we assumed their would be concessions to the typical limitations of their root-animal forms to make them more human; secondary sexual characteristics (such as breasts), human-like feet and hands, a broader range of appetites, human vocal cords, more malleable mouth parts (for beings with scaled and beaked mouths, imagine softer, more articulate tissues near the back edges, and more-rigid material only closer to the "tip" of the mouth), a wider array of intricate facial muscles, etc....

Even without such concessions, the Paksin are also assumed to have kept many features of their natural vocal cords in addition to gaining human factors, such that those with the capacity as excellent mimics still have these abilities... This would indicate that they can make all kinds of crazy sounds with their throats even though their beaks might not move in relation to their sounds as human lips would normally need to...

Aside from all of these things, however, is the fact that only human development has created such a "need" to work one's "lip parts" in such intricate ways as we choose to use them for speech... I'd imagine that, if all creatures in the animal kingdom had human-like voice-boxes, and a human level of intelligence, they would have also begun to start using any mouth-muscles they had in ways that they would never normally think or care to do as standard animals.

All of this essentially means "Don't fret over it too much,...there's always fun excuses that can be made up for almost ANY paradigm you want to have in a fantasy RPG." I say, just go with it and have a blast!

Scottie