How do Cosmere "residents" know the names of their worlds (esp. Scadrial)?

[+robardin]

An e-book search confirmed my suspicion that never in any of the Mistborn novels (Era 1 or Era 2) do the native characters refer to their planet, created ex nihilo by Leras (Preservation) and Ati (Ruin) working in concert, as "Scadrial". The name is never used at all in the original trilogy, and in the first two Era 2 books, only the Ars Arcanum notes use that name for the planet.

Interestingly, Mistborn: Secret History contains the first in-world use of the name we see (in character dialogue no less) when Hoid tells the shadow of Kelsier at the Well of Ascension that his destroying the atium geodes at the Pits of Hathsin "basically ended traffic through Scadrial". The second time (and the only other one, so far) is in Bands of Mourning when Khriss dances with Wax and questions him about being a Crasher, commenting that the "infant mortality rates on Scadrial" are shockingly high. Both times it's used by a worldhopper and it seem to confuse the local, though neither comments on the name, either ("Sca-wha?").

Meanwhile, at various points in the Stormlight Archive books, the in-world characters themselves use "Roshar" for the world they live in/on. In addition, "Damnation" is mentioned in one of Kaladin's POVs as being "known as Braize in the old songs" in Words of Radiance. (This may in part be due to the fact that humans came to Roshar from somewhere else, and the fact that Roshar is mentioned in various WoBs as existing before the Shattering of Adonalsium.)

But the names "Nalthis" and "Sel" never come up in the stories themselves that are set there (Warbreaker, Elantris, The Emperor's Soul) - only in the Arcanum section of Elantris, where it's clear "Sel" must be the name of the world in a few of the entries, and the ability of the reader to infer that The Emperor's Soul takes place on the same world due to some hints in the story text. 

So, where are all these names for the worlds coming from? If Scadrial is unusual in that all the other inhabited worlds in the Cosmere pre-dated the Shattering and thus, have some kind of history to them (even if no longer really remembered by the people on them), OK, but "Scadrial" for the World Created By Preservation And Ruin? Shouldn't it have been "Lerattia" (a double T to change the pronunciation) or "Atilerasia" or something?

[Fatikis]

Scadrial was likely named by Ati and Leras. It may mean something to them. They might have liked how it sounds. It might mean something in another language. Scadrial is odd as there are no other nearby planets they likely did not consider the possibility of life offworld. So it could have been given to Scadrial by silverlight.

Other planets were likely named by either cosmere aware individuals or the original people to settle there.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Fatikis

[Journey Before Pancakes]

Bit of a deviation from this topic; but I love how Roshar is the continent on the planet called Roshar in the Greater Roshar system.

Khriss makes a funny point about it in Arcanum Unbounded; but I forgot how it was worded. 

[teknopathetic]

30 minutes ago, Journey Before Pancakes said:

Bit of a deviation from this topic; but I love how Roshar is the continent on the planet called Roshar in the Greater Roshar system.

Khriss makes a funny point about it in Arcanum Unbounded; but I forgot how it was worded. 

I wonder if Roshar is a Parshendi or a Human name for the planet? Also, if the Star has 3 inhabited worlds, then it should not be the Roshar system but the star's name as a system. 

[RShara]

This should help

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Chaos2651

In Mistborn, you say its planet is called Scadrial. In-universe, where (or when) did the name Scadrial come to be used to be describe the Mistborn planet? Did the Lord Ruler and his obligators use that as the name of the planet, or did it come later, post-Mistborn 3? Or is "Scadrial" just what you as an author use to refer to it?

Brandon Sanderson

It is "In Universe" so to speak, though the name itself isn't known to the people on-planet. The Lord Ruler was the only one who understood the exact nature of a planet, really, though some of the obligators and noble scholars had a general idea. Astronomy was one of the scientific areas where the Lord Ruler didn't mind people doing research, so long as it kept their interest away from chemistry or a science that could lead to advances in weaponry.

Scadrial would then have been the name that Ruin and Preservation understood for the planet, as well as certain other groups and individuals of a less directly divine nature.

source

 

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EHyde

Since we generally don't see inhabitants of your worlds refer to their planets by name, where do the names come from?

Brandon Sanderson

From world-hoppers, Shards, and those who know about the cosmere.

source

 

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callumke (paraphrased)

You have said before that all the planets had their names before the arrival of the Shards. Is Roshar the planet's name before the Shards arrived?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes. 

source

 

Edited July 5, 2018 by RShara

[+robardin]

Thanks @RShara that was the perfect collection of WoBs on the topic