This has been driving me slightly mad on and off since I first made mention of this race of aliens in my latest story Battle for Earth and since I've been unable to find the right spelling myself I thought perhaps I would turn to the folks here for the solution. The name of the race is the 'Ferlesh'. The main issue I've having is with the spelling of the name itself. I actually like how it sounds, but I loath the way I've spelt it. I've tried every variation I can think of and this is sadly the most tolerable of the lot.
The word is pronounced 'fərleSH' or 'fur-lesh'. I want to avoid using a 'u' in the name as I don't want to people to think of the race as being furry. They never actually make an appearance in this tale, but they play an important role in the yarn's back story.
If it helps I'll tell folks a little about the 'ferlesh'. They were an advanced race of aliens who founded an empire which spanned numerous star systems. They are revered as Gods by many races across the cosmos and are believed to have created many species via genetic manipulation. They disappeared from the galaxy almost 10,000 years ago and their former peace keeping force, a race of beings known as the Qharr, have longs since stepped up to fill in the power vacuum left from their former masters absence.
Anyone who can help me up with the annoying albeit minor problem will receive a big heaping pile of nothing as thanks... Well, okay maybe they'll get a special mention in the acknowledgements. :P
Comments
FUHRLECH
FUHRLECH
FUHRLECH
FUHRLECH: fur-blech: hairball hacked up by the cat
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Odd spellings
If we're talking english-style spellings for the names, then there are so many ways letters can be pronounced you're looking at a lot of options.
Forlhesh
Farlesh
Ferlish
Pher L'hesh
Melanie E.
Faerlesch
Faerlesch?
I'm go with an abbreviation.
Fr'lesh...or maybe F'rlesh?
Bailey Summers
Similar to what I was
Similar to what I was thinking, but instead, go Eastern European.
Frltch.
or Frltsh
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I suggest
presenting the name as it is pronounced, but using a nickname the other races have for them. Perhaps even the name of their political polity whatever it is. For example, not Humans, but the Federation. Just a thought!
Grover
interesting idea
An interesting idea, but one that I don't feel would work with theses particular group. I may have to adapt that to another race...perhaps the Ghrev.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Pherlesh?
Pherlesh?
or maybe use alpha/numeric
4lesh
Bailey's Angel
The Godmother :p
Wow, great ideas!
Wow, I really digging a lot of these ideas. It never actually occurred to me to break name into multiple words and I think I may have found a spelling I really like. It may still get tweaked and if someone suggests something else I like it could change altogether, but at the moment I'm really liking Ph’rr Laesch. Which is a combination of several suggestions including one sent in by PM. All thanks to the suggests and to any future ones as well.
Have a delightfully devious day,
I like it!
Suitably alien sounding!
Melanie E.
Name
Teenager
Problem
The problem is that you are trying to base the alien planet on the use of the Earthin Language. This is problematic in that its a common use to have the audience see the spelling in familiar words. The best way to use it in my opinion is to have the person or persons who are talking about them is to say that is the closest pronunciation that can be given. Chinese and Japanese languages are not based on the 24 or whatever formations of letters. They represent symbols of what is being said.
This is...
Science fiction tales (at least the ones I've read) seldom make this distinction. Japanese and Chinese words can be and frequently have been romanized using the latin alphabet (the alphabet in which we're using right now). I don't think it's much of a stretch that humans many years in the future would do the same for alien languages and names.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Actually it's not Latin.......
It's Phoenician. The Romans simply co-opted what the Phoenicians had already created, much as they did with the Greek Pantheon. Everyone knows that the Romans weren't very creative, but they did know when they saw something good and they took it.
Anyway, that's why words to this day are spelled phonetically.
Those who don't learn their history are doomed to get it wrong.
Dallas
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Yes
Yes, I'm quite aware of that as I know my history quite well. I was merely using the commonly used terms.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Wonderful! A chance to have fun with linguistics....
F'rLesh, perhaps? With the apostrophe representing a glottal stop (so it would actually be something like "Fuh-erlesh", if you don't mind altering the pronunciation). Or perhaps it represents a hard-to-pronounce (for Earth people, anyway) sound in the same way that the "!" represents a "click" sound in some African languages.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
Hmmm... an interesting idea
Hmmm... an interesting idea thank you for the suggestion.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Perhaps you can use the spelling I suggested...
...and retain the original pronunciation?
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
ish
Firlish, rhymes with girlish.
Phrrlesh ?
Phrrlesh ?
Pronunciation
In the UK, some place names can be pronounced the same even though they are spelled differently. I came across this oddity while I was a courier: places like Perton, Purton and Pirton, for example.
So what's wrong with calling them the Firlesh?
Penny
What about a leading V?
It sounds similar to an "f", and given your target sound, "vur" seems closer than use of "e" "fer" to avoid furry connotations. So maybe "Vurlesh"?
That
That is an idea... I rather like the sound of "Ferlesh" so I'm not sure if I'm ready to change the sound even if it is a very small variation. Still it's something to think about.
Lots of interesting ideas here ladies and gents thank you all.
Have a delightfully devious day,
I have a suggestion that's
I have a suggestion that's similar to grover's. Why not name them for what they represent to most other alien races? Like they did in the Halo universe with the Forerunners. That name only tells you they preceded whatever is there now. And you had the Precursor before the Forerunners. Very cliche in a way, but I actually kind of like that approach. Whether you do it like that would also depend a lot on the backstory of this alien race. Why did they disappear? Where the Qharr there when they did? Things like that.