Chlouvānem/Names

The Chlouvānem people have a naming tradition which strongly reflects the traditional matrilinear society and the fact that names come from a variety of sources, due to the Chlouvānem people having absorbed many other different cultures and their names being kept, sometimes regionally in the territories of the Inquisition, some other times nationwide.

All names are adapted into their language, and follow its phonological rules and nominal declensions.

Chlouvānem names are made by three different parts: the matronymic (in Chl. nāḍimāvi), the surname (leliėmihaloe), and one or more personal (or given) names (lilahaloe, pl. lilahalenī— commonly just haloe/halenī). This is the standard for people everywhere in the Inquisition, but note that ethnic Bazá people from Tūnambasā diocese may also be called with the standard names for the Bazá people; anyway in the last two decades the Chlouvānem standard has grown from being used by 25% to 93% of all Bazá people living in Tūnambasā diocese; titular ethnicities in other ethnic dioceses follow the Chlouvānem standard.
All people, everywhere in the Inquisition, also have an unofficial but commonly used informal name (çulihaloe).

The standard format is matronymic - surname - personal name(s) ; the latter are usually romanized in italic in order to better distinguish them.

Matronymics (nāḍimāvīye)

The matronymic or nāḍimāvi (from nāḍima, honorific word for "mother") are always the first part of the name and are also the simplest to form, by adding -āvi to the mother's (first) given name. For example, the children of a woman named Līṭhaljāyim will all have the matronymic Līṭhaljāyimāvi.

A few names have particular matronymics:

Martayinām (and other rarer names compounds of -yinām) has Martayināvi
Nouns in -ė make their matronymic in -yāvi, e.g. Lairė → Lairyāvi
Nouns in -ca or -cha make their matronymic in -šāvi, e.g. Lañekaica → Lañekaišāvi

Surnames (leliėmihalenī)

The surname or leliėmihaloe (from leliėmita "family", and haloe "name") is of newer formation when compared to the matronymic, especially in rural areas. Chlouvānem people have a huge number of surnames, and there are different possible origins:

Some have been derived by ancient matronymics (keeping the one of the grandmother of the first generation which had this surname), and are distinguished by ending in -æha or -æša instead of -āvi. As this has a popular origin, the original name may not be recognizable, especially because of heavy shortenings and/or vernacular influence. Some examples include Lænkæša, Nākāyæha, Ñæhūvæša, Lūmāvæha, or Jėliāvyæša.
Some names have been derived by "extended" genitives in -iai/-ьai (sometimes also seen in placenames), often with otherwise -mi- root extension and ablaut. The original roots are often common places or professions; examples are Yālcai, Lanæmiai, Ṣveimiai, Mahāmiai (from amaha “abode”), Hāliai, Lūlulkaicai (from lūlulkita, a cocoa tree plantation), or Šītmiai. A common subpattern includes the many different, vernacular-influenced, variations on vīhatam "farm", like Vīhešai, Vaihātiai, Bahāmiai, Vīšmi, or Bīhašai.
A few surnames are derived by prefixing or suffixing the older genitive particle ga: these are mostly originary of those areas where the local vernacular has a genitive with that origin, like the central-western Lāmiejāya plain; examples are Galeli, Nānega, or Pomega.
Surnames derived from toponyms (of small places), especially through genitives or -ųu. Many of these toponyms, like in all of the Inquisition anyway, are of non-Chlouvānem origin due to them having displaced earlier cultures. Examples are: Paramaiti, Yuitani, Jāṇųu, Murtųu, Halьcaici, or Nuiñjuyai.
A few surnames derive from occupations or tools, either in genitive case (e.g. Ṣāṭi, Kolьcañī) or in direct case (e.g. Kumis, Drāṇīn).
Many Eastern surnames have their origins in Kans-Tsan clan names, like Yatakoma, Laranamon, Hantokan, Futahira, or Līkāntām.
Many surnames have unknown origin, most probably from non-Chlouvānem now displaced languages, especially in the jungle area. Examples are Nāʔahilūma, Jāmatthāla, Naiñoʔamė, Lamichlīkyah or Nājihaufram.

Personal names (lilahalenī)

Chlouvānem personal names (lilahaloe, from lila "person" and haloe "name") have a large variety of origins.

Names inherited by the Proto-Lahob culture, or the earliest Chlouvānem names, are usually made by two elements compounded together (a kind of bahuvrihi compound), like for example the male names Gāṇakvyāta "steel hero" or Hånisrajñās "friend of toucans", or the female ones Martayinām "city protector" or Ñaiṭasamin "star child". There are also names made by a single Chlouvānem word, like Lairė "sky", Yānāh “innocence” (both female) or Hånia "toucan" (unisex but mostly female).

Anyway, possibly the majority of nationwide Chlouvānem names are not inherited from Proto-Lahob, but originally from cultures of the central Lāmiejāya plain in prehistoric times, many without a known meaning. Such names include for example the female Hæniląuya and Namihūlśa or the male Lælithiam and Nuikthalin. Other names with a known origin are for example the female Kūldendėla or Nariekaiṣa and the male Kāltarvān or Kāljivaṃṣān, all of Ancient Yodhvāyi origin (once spoken in the current-day dioceses of Galiākñijātia and Yodhvāya). A few nationwide given names also have Ancient Kūṣṛmāthi or other origins, but they're much rarer.

-likā and -mitā are usually used to form female names from common words; male counterparts to female names are formed by changing the final vowel, usually -a, with -mun. This is part of a pattern that sees most male nouns being grammatically of lotus gender and most female ones of the parrot one. Only a few nouns are unisex, for example Kailnenia (though female in the vast majority of cases), Terintān, or those ones formed with unisex names, like all of those with -samin (child).

Many areas of the Inquisition also have their own "local" names, taken from pre-Chlouvānem local languages; this is particularly common in the East with Kans-Tsan names, which often spread outside that area. Special mention also for the Dabuke female names Amabu and Nīmulšāmi, which have spread outside the local area and are commonly given nationwide.

Most common given names at the 4E 131 census

The 4E 131 Inquisitorial census found these names as the most common among the population of the Chlouvānem Inquisition.

Female names:

Martayinām
Lairė
Huliāchlærim
Yārachilgėn
Amabu
Mæmihūmia
Nimahuilė
Læhimausa
Namihūlša
Kælidañca

Male names:

Kāltarvān
Jardām
Bhārmatah
Khālbayān
Kāljivaṃṣān
Darkhām
Nuikthalin
Jalgudām
Gāṇakvyāta
Mūñcangām

Informal names (çulihalenī)

The Chlouvānem informal name (çulihaloe, from çuliė (friend) and haloe (name)) is the form of the given name used in many particularly informal settings. As with all things informal in the Chlouvānem-speaking world, there is no uniform rule because they are deeply influenced by the local vernacular and, more often than not, they are never even used when speaking Chlouvānem as such kind of conversations may often be exclusively in the vernacular.
However, there is a simple pattern that can be used in order to derive pan-Inquisitiorial informal names from given names: either the first or the stressed syllable of the name is taken, with optional vowel changes (usually a to æ, æ and ai to e, e to i, and often o to either a or u), and -ī for female informal names or -em for male ones. Female names often shift post-tonic velars, h, or s, to palatals.
As different syllables may be taken, there are even for this pattern different possibilities. Some examples (usually, the more common a name is and the more informal forms it has):

Martayinām [ˌmaˤ.ta.(j)iˈnaːm] → Mærī, Mætī, Matī, Næmī, Nāmī

Mæmihūmia [ˌmɛ.mʲiˈɦuː.mʲa] → Memī, Hūmī, Mæmī

Kælidañca [ˌkɛ.ɴ̆ʲiˈdaɲ.c͡ɕa] → Kelī, Kælī, Dæñī, Dañī

Kāltarvān [ˌkaːɴ̆.taɐ̯ˈʋãː] → Kālem, Kælem, Vānem, Vænem, Kāltem

Khālbayān [ˌkʰaːɴ̆.baˈjãː] → Khælem, Khālem, Yænem, Yānem

Læhimausa [ˌɴ̆ɛ.ɦiˈmaʊ̯.sa] → Læšī, Læhī, Lešī, Maušī, Mūšī, Mūsī

Using names

Chlouvānem names are rarely used alone: they are most often coupled with some kind of honorific. There is a so-called "politeness scale" for their use:

1. When speaking to someone:

All three parts of the name are used alone in roll calls exclusively;
The most polite form is to use the appropriate honorific title or formula plus the honorifics yamei and lāma, all applied to matronymic and given name; e.g. Martayināmāvi yamei murkadhāna Læhimausa lāma (something like Respectable Inquisitor, Ms. Læhimausa, daughter of Martayinām). This form is usually used at the beginning of a conversation, as subsequently the norm is to use a shorter form - in this case either yamei murkadhāna or yamei Læhimausa lāma;
The usual polite form is simply given name plus lāma (or any other appropriate title, like e.g. kauchlærīn (professor), or suntam, tanta, lallāmaha...); e.g. Læhimausa lāma (Ms. Læhimausa), Læhimausa kauchlærī (Professor Læhimausa);
Using any of the three parts alone (usually the name) is a moderately colloquial form, usually used between colleagues or friends with a moderate degree of acquaintance. Even between colleagues of the same age this is somewhat rude if they do not each other much, and in that case tanta or lāma should be used;
The informal name is the form used by close friends, by siblings, partners, and towards all family members of a younger generation. It is however generally rude to use any kind of personal name towards an older family member, or a non-sibling of the same generation (brothers/sisters-in-law, unless they are close friends).

2. When speaking of someone:

If the listener is likely to not know who the person spoken of is, the full three parts of the name are used, usually with yamei, a title (lāma, tanta, suntam), and usually the profession too (e.g. Martayināmāvi yamei murkadhāna Læhimausa lāma), but no titles are used (only optionally yamei) if they're of a lower rank — for example a teacher speaking about one of his/her students to another teacher;
If the person spoken of is respected (of higher rank), then the appropriate formula is used the first time they're mentioned, then the norm is to use a shorter form - in this case, a form like yamei Læhimausa murkadhāna is accepted, while it is not when speaking directly to that person. The higher rank that person is, usually the longer it takes to completely shift to a shorter form — e.g. while the Great Inquisitor will not be referred to every time as nanū aveṣyotāra lallāmaha Hæliyoušāvi yamei Dhīvajhūyai Lairė camimurkadhāna lāma, it will not probably get shorter than nanū aveṣyotāra yamei lallāmaha ([Her] Respectable Most Excellent Highness) or nanū aveṣyotāra lallāmaha camimurkadhāna ([Her] Most Excellent Highness, the Great Inquisitor);
If the person spoken of is of equal rank, in a polite context they'll be referred to with tanta (the usual title for equal grades), or lāma;
The use of the bare given name (or matronymic or surname) and of the informal name follow the same guidelines as when talking to that person. Note that, though, in a family context it will be more common to use the names of older family members in order to disambiguate about them (e.g. Amabu paṣmeinā ukulaça Læhimausa paṣmeinā prišçokula no (Grandma Amabu has spoken and Grandma Læhimausa has answered [her]).

The second- and third-person pronouns used with the various honorific styles also vary. See the respective section of the Grammar for more details.