Elvish Names, and Name Construction
Every language and culture has its names. They can be names that have little modern day translation, but come from ancient names (such as Robert coming from the Old English Hreodbeorht), or they can be full of meaning, and translated specifically for the child (such as some native american tribes).
While Elvish is a cipher, the Elvish names are not ciphers of English names (at least not that I can see). Elvish names in Dragon Age seem to take the majority of their inspiration from either Tolkien's Sindarin or Welsh. Possibly both. The reason I say either, is because Sindarin is heavily based upon Welsh, and therefore the phonetics sound very similar.
However, Welsh and Sindarin, unlike Elvhen Elvish, are not bereft of the majority of their hard consonants. This creates the problem where the phonetics of the language technically do not allow some of the Names to occur. Luckily, there is a solution for this.
The majority of Elvish names that have hard consonents, belong to Dalish Elves. Given this information, it becomes quite possible that the introduction of these hard consonents are a result of the changes in phonetics and pronunciation within the Dalish dialects.
The Elves that would eventually become the Dalish were enslaved by the Tevinters for over a thousand years. It is logical to assume that after speaking Tevinter for so long, that this language would bleed into Elvish once they rediscovered that language and become Fluent in it once more.
Therefore, it becomes logical to assume that while true Elvish would be bereft of the majority of hard consonents, that the Dalish would use many of the hard consonents found in Tevinter. Phonetics such as w, k, z, hw, x, and t͡ʃ (ch) don’t exist in the main phonetical alphabet of Elvish. Given, however, that they do exist within Latin (and therefore Tevinter) it is possible that they would have been introduced within Elvish when Dalish created names, or new words (or when they spelled or pronounced words).
And so you get names like Chandan, Hawen, Junar (which is spelled correctly, but pronounced “Junar,” when it should be pronounced, “Yunar,”), Panowen, Josmael (same ‘problem,’ as Junar), Zathrian, and Rajmael.
The reason why J would be pronounced as j (y), and not d͡ʒ (j), is because d͡ʒ is far too close to t͡ʃ (ch). It is the same reason why it makes no sense for the Elvish language to have a phonetic for b, but not p. Given that Elvish has no phonetic, natively, for t͡ʃ, they would also very likely not have a phonetic for d͡ʒ. Once introduced to the k, t͡ʃ, and d͡ʒ sounds of the Tevinter language, however, it is logical to assume that some of these sounds would bleed into modern Elvish.
The Following is a comparison of Dalish spelling and pronunciation, and how they would be spelled/pronounced in Elvhenan Elvish.
Junar –> Junar (same spelling, but pronounced “yoo-nar,” not Joo-nar)
Josmael –> Josmaël (same spelling, but as with Junar, it is pronounced 'Yos-myel,’ not 'Jos-myel’)
Zathrian –> Sathrian (it is possible, that this is a 'correct’ name, just from a topolect where the Elvish S took on a z sound).
Rajmael –> Rajmaël (Possibly a mispelling of Radmaël or Radhmaël. Either that, or it should be pronounced “Ra-yah-myel,” not “Raj-myel.” This is, however, possibly a name created by the Dalish, and not an old Elvish name)
I have started to use the ë, instead of e whenever the phonetic is ɛ instead of eɪ. I think this will make pronunciation rules easier. Basically I’m taking the easy route of, “it’s technically a different letter,” instead of, “well it’s supposed to be pronounced ɛ instead of eɪ when blah blah blah.”
Given the changed within the Dalish dialect, however, in Dalish Elvish, Panowen would be considered more correct, whereas Panoën would be considered archaic, although still a correct spelling. I suspect that w was added to the language as it was easier for the Elves than au after they had spoken Tevinter as their 'native language,’ for so long.
Given the amount of knowledge they would have had to recover in order to reconstruct the Elvish language, it is highly likely that the Dalish (or at least the keepers) know about the differences between Dalish Elvish and Elvhenan Elvish. But is has been so long, that Dalish Elvish, along with its spelling, pronunciation, and added phonetics, has become a true dialect family of Elvish.
As a side note: Dalish clans take their “surnames,” from the first names of the progenitor of their clan. For example. Sabrae was started by an elf named Sabrae, Lavellan was started by an elf named Lavellan, etc. It is unlikely that these names are used as first names any longer, and are instead treated as surnames for the clan itself. Additionally, it would probably be considered disrespectful to use them as first names, as it would diminish the memory of these historic elves.
With all of these out of the way:
Onwards to Elvish Names (and how you can create your own Elvish name)
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