So I'm working on a fantasy series inspired by american cultures, and while I have all these ideas for a region that's essentially a chunk of the fantasy midwest that's run by a native american(Lakota-inspired) confederacy. My biggest problem is names. Particularly the name of this country, the names for towns, landmarks, etc. Should i just use lakota words? or should I use what it would sound like translated? Is there some other solution I should look into?
Lakota Fantasy Names
First off, always run these sorts of things by somebody of the group in question. Since I’m not Lakota, I can’t give a solid answer.
What I can say is you’ll want to learn how the Lakota named their places. Pulling random words that are literal translations sounds like it works, but it can often lack nuance that a real place name would have.
The Lakota probably have their own system of naming places based on their values. Looking at the names of their bands, there’s a huge variety in what the names translate to, which points to a learning curve in learning the why behind the names.
If you wanted to not go that route and not have everything be so literal, learn how to create names that sound like they could belong in the Lakota language but aren’t.
Giant disclaimer for this method: not all groups like it, so you should run it by them regardless.
What this basically means is learning the phonemes and mouth sounds that are involved in the Lakota language, and using those phonemes to create something new. We have a linguistics tag that can give you some ideas, and wikipedia outlines the basic components of Lakota as a language. Note: this method is best accomplished by learning the International Phonetic Alphabet, which can take a bit of work, but once you know it you can learn how to pronounce anything.
Either way, you’re going to be digging your hands in linguistic anthropology. It’s a very fun field, and will provide you with the most accurate/respectful result.
~Mod Lesya
