Alfa Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 (edited) Acoording to Vorinism "Vathah" is perfectly symmetrical, making the name heretical. And, most insulting, Vathah is a Darkeye, a deserter. More about names: I find it strange, that no one of the Kholin family has even slightly symmetrical names. Any thoughts on this? Edited July 30, 2015 by Alfa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 There are two main Alethi forms of names Brandon works with. One is the religious names, but there's also the classical aesthetic which gives you names like Kaladin and Dalinar. He discusses is on an episode of writing excuses, but I'm not sure which one. Ialai is like Vathah too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted July 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Vathah seems to be named symmetrically by accident or atheistic parents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 There must a few WoBs around on the topic. Here's one I found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted August 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 On some research, I found other people with heretically symmetric names in the books: Laral (Kaladin's childhood friend), Rillir (Roshone's son), Tarah (Kaladin's former lover).Even more interesting, that in the first two cases the parents were brighteyes, presumably also Vorinists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhavaer Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 More about names: I find it strange, that no one of the Kholin family has even slightly symmetrical names. Jasnah is nearly symmetrical. So is Navani, although she's a Kholin by marriage. Possibly the Kholins have their own family tradition and Jasnah was named according to her mother's tradition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 No. "Nearly symmetrical" has a very specific meaning in the Vorin cultures - it means a name is only one letter off from perfect symmetry. Shallan talks about it. Jasnah and Navani, much like Dalinar, Renarin, and Adolin, simply follow the other naming convention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamEternal Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) Jannaj-simetrical Jannah-"simetrical"(Pattern disagrees, but...) Jasnah-almost simetrical, perfect vorin name Navan-simetrical, and probably derived from Nalan Navani-almost simetrical, perfect vorin name Both are one letter away from simetry. Edited August 3, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Fair enough, I didn't think it through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 More heretical names, this times two highprinces (seems, that heresy is not so uncommon): Hatham and Vamah. I think, that I figured out, where the "H-rule" can come from: in this case HONOR is perfectly symmetrical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamEternal Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) First, it is not heretical, just a somewhat blasphemous. Is some religions there is no difference, but that is not always the case, especialy in less extremistic ones. Second, that explanation wouldn't work in universe, since they don't speak english on Roshar. Edited August 3, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 First, it is not heretical, just a somewhat blasphemous. Is some religions there us no different, but that is not always the case, especialy in less extremistic ones. Second, that explanation wouldn't work in universe, since they don't speak english on Roshar. I agree. Was only a thought, not really a full-grown theory. And yes, i confound blasphemous and heretical. (English is not my native language. I'm german/russian. By the way, the german word for Honor, "Ehre" is also Alethi-Symmetrical) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamEternal Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 I suppose I can accept that by coincidence the Alethi word also becomes simetrical if you accept "h" as a "joker letter", since it fits so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Isn't there also a real H, though? We know that it's not that the letter "H" is used to replace a letter. Shallan notes that the word is written symmetrically (Nohadon is actually written Nodadon) but the diacritical mark is added to let the reader know to pronounce it like an h. So Jasnah is more like Jasna!j. So it's possible Vathah isn't "vatha!v" with the marked V being pronounced as an H, it's possible his name actually is written "vathah" and is thus off-symmetrical. Also, we know from Ialai that perfectly symmetrical names might be a touch scandalous, but not beyond the pale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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