How did each suffix come to be? Have there ever been any other suffixes that were tested out but became lost for some reason or another?
Barleycloud: This was one of my favourite parts of Clan traditions to teach the Kits under my care! And now I love teaching the Spirit Kits.
As you know, before there were Clans, there were groups. They eventually became formed as Group Among Pines, Group of the River, Family of the Moors, and Group Among the Thicket.
Naming Kits for their fur colour was a tradition that came from before we can remember. So, to illustrate, we shall create such a Kit: Snow, named for his snowy white pelt. The suffix -kit was actually the last suffix formed. It was deemed by Minnowstar of RiverClan that if Kits were to be raised in Clan ways, then it only made sense to have them be raised with suffixes of their own. -kit was the natural option.
When a Kit was deemed old enough to begin training (in those times, a dam would be tasked with training all of their Kits) they were given a secondary name. This was a nickname that related to the basic personality of that Kit. By far, the most commonly chosen nickname was Quickpaw. This was because most of the Kits were so eager to begin training, and so the Queens had a very hard time keeping track of them all! So Snow would become Snow the Quickpaw. Of course, you can see that Quickpaw was eventually shortened to -paw, which came to signify the path that their paws are on and also became joined to the prefix instead of existing as a modifier.
When a young cat was deemed to have learned enough to be able to survive on their own in the dreadful and hoped against situation of everyone else dying out, their youthful nickname was dropped. Instead, a new kind of nickname was adopted.
From the main adult nicknames, we obtained our suffixes.
To begin with, the original two nicknames – if they can be called that – were Furred and Pelted. Furred was for long-furred cats and became our -fur, whereas Pelted for for the short-haired ones and became our -pelt. This is why -pelt and -fur are considered the Original Two Suffixes. So if our Snow the Quickpaw had short fur, he would become Snow Pelted. If he has long fur, he would become Snow Furred.
Over time, the cats noticed that certain cats stood out from the others in various ways.
The next nickname to be developed was Striped. The Group Among The Thicket noted that cats with more profound tabby markings blended in extremely well among the brambles and such that inhabited their territories. So Striped came about to honour such cats’ abilities to blend in more easily. Snow could never be Snow Striped because pure white cats cannot be striped. However, perhaps his sister Mud eventually became Mud Striped.
After Striped came Faced. This was given to cats who overall were deemed to have unusual hardiness and health. It was considered at the time that the face was the vessel spirits used to see the outside world, and based on what they saw they would either benefit their host or harm them as they saw fit. So a Faced cat was one who was hardy and healthy because the spirits liked looking at them, and thus blessed them with such traits. So perhaps Snow and/or Mud, if hardy enough, might become Snow Faced or Mud Faced. This eventually became our -face. Of course, the meaning slightly altered to embody what each Clan considered the epitome of beauty. Curiously enough, that definition usually connects somehow to either what kind of pelt might make it easiest for a cat to hunt in that territory. Dark tabbies in ThunderClan, dark cats in ShadowClan, cats with the build of runners in WindClan (even if their abilities don’t match up)… The only exception to this rule is RiverClan, because pelt doesn’t matter when the prey in the water doesn’t see you until it’s too late.
Next were the First Skill Suffixes, derived from the first nicknames relating to skill.
The first skill nickname was Flowery, which eventually became -flower, swiftly followed by Clawer, which became our -claw. A cat who was named Flowery was a cat who raised many Kits. This was never a suffix a young adult was given; only the most esteemed Queens earned it. So Mud Striped might eventually become Mud Flowery if she reared enough Kits successfully to adulthood. I believe flowers were chosen because flowers always return after the hard frost, and so likewise the Clan always continues because of the new generations created by the old generations.
Clawer was for those who fought exceedingly well to defend those in need. Originally this nickname was only given to large, scarred cats who had proved their worth in many fights and scraps. So perhaps Mud Striped might one day become Mud Clawer as a result of surviving many battles fought to defend the territory from foreign cats who wanted to encroach on the land.
Next were Whiskered and Tailed. This is where things get interested. Both suffixes denote a cat who is agile. However, Whiskered cats were those who used their agility to serve their group actively, be it by hunting or patrolling or fighting extremely proficiently. Tailed cats were those who used their agility passively, for matters such as tracking and gathering herbs. -whisker was chosen to represent hunting because most Whiskered cats chose hunting as their way of serving. -tail came to represent climbing and jumping prowess because Tailed cats often spent free time in the trees, and it was noted in times past that cats who lost their tails became poorer climbers. -nose was created to embody tracking abilities because such skills, it was found, could no longer be neatly summed up by either -whisker or -tail. It is clear, I think, why -nose of all body parts was chosen.
Streamed followed. Streamed denoted a prolific swimmer; it was said that these cats streamed through the stream. It can be seen where our -stream came from.
-fang is a newer suffix that only came about during the time of Shadestar of ShadowClan. It had been noted that some cats were more skilled than average at hunting and fighting, but not skilled enough for either -claw nor -whisker. -fang was chosen because it’s between the whiskers and the claws, and because Shadestar favoured it over -tooth or -throat or -leg.
Footed was given to those Quickpaws who remained swift and energetic even as they aged. It eventually became our -foot, denoting speed and running prowess.
-leaf was never one of the nicknames. It was created for Minkleaf of ShadowClan. It was created by Shadowstar, who noted Minkleaf’s profound gift in the craft and refused to allow Minkleaf to be given anything other than a suffix denoting that gift. Since then, there have been select few -leaf cats, such as Ratleaf and Waxleaf, but it is a very rare suffix.
The personality suffixes developed during the times of the groups.
Clouded, which became -cloud, was first given to Pear Clouded of the Family of the Moors, whose level-headedness helped mediate a tense situation between Family of the Moors and Group of the River that otherwise could have ended in a nasty battle during leaf-bare, the harshest season. Had Pear Clouded instead been part of the Group of the River, I imagine the suffix would relate to the water instead of the skies WindClan still looks to. Perhaps instead of Clouded to -cloud, we’d have Wavepath (you know, the ripples waves leave behind?) to -wave?
Hearted, which became -heart, was first given to Nightingale Hearted of the Group Among The Thicket, whose steadfastness helped the group recover from a traumatic leadership crisis that almost tore the group into two warring factions. The -heart references the heart, or more simply the centre, of a soul. The term comes from the old tale of the Sky Heart. At least, I think it does. That story isn’t told very much in ShadowClan anymore, and each time I swear it changes. Perhaps Dawnfoot or Redclaw might know more? I think the story came from the Family of the Moors.
Stormy, which became -storm, was first given to Rook Stormy of the Group Among Pines, whose adaptability helped ensure that the group did not die out as a result of having less territory and thus less prey than the other groups. It was Rook Stormy who perfected the stalking technique that ShadowClan still uses today!
Hmm, let’s see, am I missing any suffixes…
-step was originally Stepped. In the old times, a cat who shared personality with their animal prefix was considered specially blessed by the spirits. So, they were named Stepped.
In fact, there used to be variants for birds, fish, and creatures like slugs!
For birds there was Winged. For fish, Finned. For creatures like slugs and such, Spirited.
Winged fell out of use because most birds step anyway, so it was considered better to only have Stepped become -step and let Winged die out. The last Winged cat was, I believe, Robin Winged of the Group Among The Thicket.
Finned fell out of use because only the Group of the River really cared enough to associate traits with the fish (Group Among Pines only cared that fish were good prey) and so it simply fell out as a result of disuse. The last one, I believe, was Bleak Finned of the Group of the River.
Spirited fell out of use because creatures like slugs were deemed to not have enough associations, so it wasn’t really noteworthy that they were shared. It was also so rarely used, I can’t even recall who the last Spirited was!
I do believe that answers that. Does this answer satisfy you?
