Name This Pet!
A new poll is up! After collecting together our (27 pages of) user suggested names and picking the 10 we liked the most, we now ask our users again to please vote on which of these names is your favorite.
We've included the pronunciations to help you make up your minds, it was hard enough narrowing our choices down to 10 so good luck! We'll be closing the poll on Sunday June 12th at 11:59PM so make sure to get your votes in on time!
Posted by 
SubetaTeam
Mortician
I'm amazed to see such a disaster occurring in the comments section here (lol). I chose Ulonaari ("ooh-loh-NAH-ree") because that one, out of all of them, called to me the most. That and Yuuta, but Ulonaari won out :). I would prefer not to have another "Z" pet though!
0
Sunfire103
I was glad to see lots of X, Q, and U options since that's what we still need to finish alphabet. Even though we don't need another Z - I'm not too sad to see Zentu winning ^-^
Randomness... I just learned that Tanooki (from mario kart) means racoon dog. So cute *hugs*
Randomness... I just learned that Tanooki (from mario kart) means racoon dog. So cute *hugs*
0
Slowerthanzero
@Speiro Thank you so much for what you said. I have been getting quite irritated with how quickly people are getting offended by this just because their favorite isn't winning, or any of their other reasons. I think you summed up my own thoughts quite well that I myself was unsure how to put into words coherent enough to make a statement here.
I myself feel there are only about 2-3 names on the poll that most users will be able to easily remember how to spell. And like you said, it would be a nightmare to price check or search for any items relating to this pet with the more complicated spellings. Sure some people here will attack on this saying "well you arent trying or willing to try" but while some would have no problems with the other spellings, a lot here would. For one thing, there are a ton of kids who play this site as well as an older audience and I think it is best to have a spelling that all ages of players can have a reasonably easy time to spell and remember.
I myself picked "Zentu" for that reason as well as I honestly loved the rhythm and sound of it the best. It felt to me like it had a feeling that matched the sort of pet we are getting. Sadly I didn't get to now the meaning behind the name before voting, and still don't, but I'm sure it was nicely researched all the same.
@Tribunal
Though I will agree with you, that I too feel rather disappointed in the contradiction between those two statements from the staff.. It's like they wanted to not have the direct meanings, but then kinda, well for lack of a better phrasing "sold out" and went against that. But at the same time, people are entitled to change their minds on things, but I completely understand the disappointment too. I kind of sit on both sides on this really. I typically try to stay fairly neutral if I can.
Overall though, I agree that I think we all need to chill out and respect each others differences in opinions, likes, and dislikes. If we all had the same opinions and whatnot, we'd live in a really boring world after all. Our differences are what makes the world interesting. ^^
I myself feel there are only about 2-3 names on the poll that most users will be able to easily remember how to spell. And like you said, it would be a nightmare to price check or search for any items relating to this pet with the more complicated spellings. Sure some people here will attack on this saying "well you arent trying or willing to try" but while some would have no problems with the other spellings, a lot here would. For one thing, there are a ton of kids who play this site as well as an older audience and I think it is best to have a spelling that all ages of players can have a reasonably easy time to spell and remember.
I myself picked "Zentu" for that reason as well as I honestly loved the rhythm and sound of it the best. It felt to me like it had a feeling that matched the sort of pet we are getting. Sadly I didn't get to now the meaning behind the name before voting, and still don't, but I'm sure it was nicely researched all the same.
@Tribunal
Though I will agree with you, that I too feel rather disappointed in the contradiction between those two statements from the staff.. It's like they wanted to not have the direct meanings, but then kinda, well for lack of a better phrasing "sold out" and went against that. But at the same time, people are entitled to change their minds on things, but I completely understand the disappointment too. I kind of sit on both sides on this really. I typically try to stay fairly neutral if I can.
Overall though, I agree that I think we all need to chill out and respect each others differences in opinions, likes, and dislikes. If we all had the same opinions and whatnot, we'd live in a really boring world after all. Our differences are what makes the world interesting. ^^
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Tribunal
Quote:
ThatWe picked these 10 names because their meanings AND the sounds of the names together worked for us. (And by 'worked for us' I mean that they inspired us, they are names which help create the pet's personality, and they felt at home in Shengui Guo)
vs
This
Quote:
is really kind of sad and irritating. Many people took things like syllables and sounds that have a less-direct word for word meaning (especially since as Really, we are going to try to avoid using whole words that already mean something in another language when naming this pet
Rah rightfully points out they're often shared with variable meanings) and were more symbolic, to try to match the spirit of the 2nd quote.Then you come and pick some of the most word-for-word names and give the first quote....
P.s. 'a non-Asian choice' doesn't have to be Dreamphant or w/e. Many people created names that would fit in with the East Asian theme on looks and even pronunciation, without actually being Asiatic-language inspired.
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Speiro
Can you really blame people for wanting a memorable name? You've got a primarily western audience, many of whom probably aren't familiar with Chinese/Japanese linguistics. I still see people misspelling Shengui Guo. This pet name is going to appear on hundreds of items, and you're going to need to remember it any time you want to check plushie prices or look up what colors this pet comes in. If you can't remember how to spell it, you're going to have problems.
And that's not to mention the handful of other legitimate reasons people may be favoring one name over another, that have nothing to do with it just being "the easiest to pronounce".
Let's try not to attack or shame people for their choices here, ok?
And that's not to mention the handful of other legitimate reasons people may be favoring one name over another, that have nothing to do with it just being "the easiest to pronounce".
Let's try not to attack or shame people for their choices here, ok?
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Cara
Idk if anyone noticed the etymology in my post on the original thread (and by others in the comments here) but Zentu certainly was /researched/.
I'm starting to rage a little that people assume it's being voted for because it's the easiest pronunciation.
I'm starting to rage a little that people assume it's being voted for because it's the easiest pronunciation.
0
Wolfism
And so everyone picks the one thats easiest to pronounce without even trying! XD *sarcasm*
0
Kaya
@Dryad hehee no im not offended by your comment, no worries! Menghua means a lot of things depending on how you write it - but yes i intended it to mean 'dreams of flowers', and can also be translated as 'dream language' (sleep talk). the original 'hua' which i took it for has no actual English translation, though it can be loosely interpreted as flower or China c:
0
Aline
I'll admit I picked Yuuta because I'm Starmyu trash. But now I see it matches this pet fairly well.
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Song_745
O jeez, I'm so sorry, User not found: ursa, you said please don't bring it up anymore, and I totally glazed over that part. I'm sorryyyy. I'm still curious, but I understand if you don't want to answer!
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Song_745
@Ursa May I ask what Menghua means? I voted for that one because I thought it sounded absolutely beautiful.
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VOLTAGE
I don't see a problem in the mixing and matching of different asian languages in the name... Shengui Guo is a world loosely based and inspired by different asian countries, so why not the names as well? And while the names bear a resemblance to real life asian languages, they are not actually intended to mean anything. I mean certainly there are some names that might have a different meaning in another language if you pronounce it a certain way, but that goes for almost every single name out there, language is such a varied and diverse thing.
I also lurked the thread where the names were suggested and many users gave brilliant and thoughtful reasons for their suggestions, some even did lots of research :D I highly doubt any of these were picked simply because they sounded 'exotic'. It's just unfortunate that there was no space to add in all the meanings beside the suggested names.
(I'm chinese and I am so happy to see east asian inspired pet/names, really bummed with the complaints about having too many 'oriental' sounding choices :( You do you, subeta)
I also lurked the thread where the names were suggested and many users gave brilliant and thoughtful reasons for their suggestions, some even did lots of research :D I highly doubt any of these were picked simply because they sounded 'exotic'. It's just unfortunate that there was no space to add in all the meanings beside the suggested names.
(I'm chinese and I am so happy to see east asian inspired pet/names, really bummed with the complaints about having too many 'oriental' sounding choices :( You do you, subeta)
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Opundo
@Rah
Thank you for responding and explaining the process that you guys went through to choose these names, and I believe you have the best intentions. Again, this isn't a great offense, and I understand that the staff took care when choosing the top 10 names. I've already done my best to try to explain why picking names based just on how they sound feels wrong to some of us, so I'll leave the discussion here.
@poppet
I'm afraid I don't know how else to explain it any better if my post doesn't help explain it.
@Cara
That's actually hilarious. Maybe not for a pet, but I'd love a minion named Brittany. xD
Thank you for responding and explaining the process that you guys went through to choose these names, and I believe you have the best intentions. Again, this isn't a great offense, and I understand that the staff took care when choosing the top 10 names. I've already done my best to try to explain why picking names based just on how they sound feels wrong to some of us, so I'll leave the discussion here.
@poppet
I'm afraid I don't know how else to explain it any better if my post doesn't help explain it.
@Cara
That's actually hilarious. Maybe not for a pet, but I'd love a minion named Brittany. xD
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Neverfell
(I can only speak as to the Chinese names, which are, yes, over-represented, and I know my concerns are somewhat orthogonal to parts of this debate, but I would prefer staff to not mandate a set of meanings bc I'm not sure there was a cultural context that some of the names could be removed from? I agree in general, and obvs. wrt to the unintended meanings, but specifically, no one would put cloud and beautiful together like that. I would cringe more knowing that there was a pet that was just 'air' 'elephant', w/o dealing with the whole ~chi concept. That'd feel more like the mix and match tattoo, and I already have to pretend otherwise with the incredibly direct Shengui guo.)
And yes, 'chi' is a completely different syllable from 'qi' in pinyin, but the first sound of cheese is closer than what they wrote in the poll -- consider the Chi of Chicago, which is less like the mandarin chi or qi than 'Xi'.
And yes, 'chi' is a completely different syllable from 'qi' in pinyin, but the first sound of cheese is closer than what they wrote in the poll -- consider the Chi of Chicago, which is less like the mandarin chi or qi than 'Xi'.
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poppet
I'm of East Asian descent and also not understanding what's problematic about this.
I really appreciate the inclusion of the userbase in naming this pet, and I think Shengui Guo is great in general.
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Cara
Well said, Rah.
Can we have a red, white, and blue pet named Brittany to even out the offended people (Sounds like it might be "BRIT"ish (YASSS!), did I offended the whole English speaking population of Subeta? yet? -backpat-
Can we have a red, white, and blue pet named Brittany to even out the offended people (Sounds like it might be "BRIT"ish (YASSS!), did I offended the whole English speaking population of Subeta? yet? -backpat-
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Rah
Quote by Opundo:
I'm incredibly apologetic that it came off that way! The meanings were not included in the poll mainly because they didn't fit. (Unless you meant in the news post?) They were available in the thread, (although I admit that's a tedious thing to search though, having done it myself) and a user has posted them in these comments too. I simply left them out to keep things concise! We went through each suggestion in the poll, checked with someone who spoke the languages used (obviously they don't speak all world languages, so if they mean something else in another language or if our speaker missed a translation based on phonetics we apologise for that!) - we also did a fair bit of research to check that these were names inspired by the cultures that inspired Shengui Guo, and didn't mean anything obviously offensive (like...slurs and such, although again that's hard to check in EVERY language) This poll is saying "we don't care what they mean or which culture they're from, we just want to use them because how pretty the sounds are". Hence my discomfort. It's not simply that the names were from different cultures that's the issue. It's also how the names were stripped of their cultural contexts.
We wanted for this pet that the name be inspired by and connected to East Asian cultures instead of being another American English word mixed up. We didn't want to call this pet the Eledream or Teleifant or something similar, it was a good opportunity to have the petname work with Shengui Guo's established inspirations. We absolutely care about how these suggestions were put together and the cultures that they came from. But we ALSO want to feel they're right for the pet. We picked these 10 names because their meanings AND the sounds of the names together worked for us. (And by 'worked for us' I mean that they inspired us, they are names which help create the pet's personality, and they felt at home in Shengui Guo)
We want to be representative and not offend other cultures, but we also don't want to erase them out of fear of doing something wrong. I'd rather we made some little mistakes and learned from them instead of not trying at all.
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Kellijuana
@Dice You're awesome, my first thought was to do the same thing. ^_^ Thank you for posting that!
This was difficult! :/ None of them were fantastically perfect but not many were terrible... I can't unsee Utah... so yeah. LOL I ended up over thinking it- looking at the meanings from the board/internet, looking at the words with inevitable item names, narrowing it down, ugh *clicks randomly* lol :/
This was difficult! :/ None of them were fantastically perfect but not many were terrible... I can't unsee Utah... so yeah. LOL I ended up over thinking it- looking at the meanings from the board/internet, looking at the words with inevitable item names, narrowing it down, ugh *clicks randomly* lol :/
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Kaya
for people who mentioned that Menghua is sleep-talking rather than dreams of flowers, i'm just here to say that the actual chinese writing of the name which i took it from is neither of those. ?? but thanks for the assumptions. i used to be teased as a kid because my name written in different strokes is "vegetable farm" so please dont yall bring it up anymore.
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Opundo
@Artist
I'm overall happy with Shengui Guo's design. Drawing inspiration from multiple cultures is fine in itself; it's what this poll suggests that's problematic.
A little more explanation now that I'm gathered my thoughts better:
I'd be a lot more comfortable if the meanings behind the names were included in the poll. It seems like a minor difference, but if they were included, we would then not be making decision solely based on how the names sound, but also on how much we like the meanings that inspired them. Through understanding, we show respect to the cultures when utilizing elements from them. Without these explanations, the average user can't tell what the names mean or which culture(s) inspired them, thus enforcing the idea that all Asian languages are just one homogeneous exotic-sounding mega-language. This poll is saying "we don't care what they mean or which culture they're from, we just want to use them because how pretty the sounds are". Hence my discomfort. It's not simply that the names were from different cultures that's the issue. It's also how the names were stripped of their cultural contexts.
I know this is a fairly nuanced point. But many of these small mistakes can add up and eventually make an environment unfriendly to groups of people. So I simply want the staff to be aware, and be more considerate moving forward.
tl:dr: When you use something from culture(s), it's more respectful if you understand and explain what/how you used it. Thanks for reading and responding politely and thoughtfully!
I'm overall happy with Shengui Guo's design. Drawing inspiration from multiple cultures is fine in itself; it's what this poll suggests that's problematic.
A little more explanation now that I'm gathered my thoughts better:
I'd be a lot more comfortable if the meanings behind the names were included in the poll. It seems like a minor difference, but if they were included, we would then not be making decision solely based on how the names sound, but also on how much we like the meanings that inspired them. Through understanding, we show respect to the cultures when utilizing elements from them. Without these explanations, the average user can't tell what the names mean or which culture(s) inspired them, thus enforcing the idea that all Asian languages are just one homogeneous exotic-sounding mega-language. This poll is saying "we don't care what they mean or which culture they're from, we just want to use them because how pretty the sounds are". Hence my discomfort. It's not simply that the names were from different cultures that's the issue. It's also how the names were stripped of their cultural contexts.
I know this is a fairly nuanced point. But many of these small mistakes can add up and eventually make an environment unfriendly to groups of people. So I simply want the staff to be aware, and be more considerate moving forward.
tl:dr: When you use something from culture(s), it's more respectful if you understand and explain what/how you used it. Thanks for reading and responding politely and thoughtfully!
0
Gunnarr
I went with Zentu because it seemed the simplest and most "subeta", I guess? Many of the suggestions didn't seem to fit well next to existing pets or even the other Shengui Guo names. Dara, Jogoh, Som, and Ujin are all pretty simple. Zasaba follows basic English sounds.
And as someone who's bilingual and has dabbled in several languages, I'm pretty dubious about the accuracy of both the name meanings and pronunciations. Google Translate doesn't give you intonation, or alternate meanings, or slang meanings, or anything else. (For all any of us know, Qiseng is some sort of horrible slur in Lao or something.) It just seems to me sort of like a white person getting a kanji tattoo because it's "pretty".
And as someone who's bilingual and has dabbled in several languages, I'm pretty dubious about the accuracy of both the name meanings and pronunciations. Google Translate doesn't give you intonation, or alternate meanings, or slang meanings, or anything else. (For all any of us know, Qiseng is some sort of horrible slur in Lao or something.) It just seems to me sort of like a white person getting a kanji tattoo because it's "pretty".
0
Artist_169
@Opundo
I do not agree or oppose with the idea of mixing different eastern asian cultural elements in the poll, but I just wanted to state that the Staff has previously mentioned that they took/take inspiration from many of these cultures to make the land of Shengui Guo (and I believe the same would apply for other lands as well). There have been references to the Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultures as far as I can remember. So they do not consider asian culture "all the same", they get inspired by all of them.
And while they do take inspiration from real life, they try not to make "this land is supposed to be x country" but create something unique for Subeta instead.
(but I guess one could argue the entire concept of Shengui Guo is inappropriate? idk if that's what you mean, I'm not in place of having a say in that. It's just that the names are not supposed to sound "asian and exotic", more like something original do Subeta)
I do not agree or oppose with the idea of mixing different eastern asian cultural elements in the poll, but I just wanted to state that the Staff has previously mentioned that they took/take inspiration from many of these cultures to make the land of Shengui Guo (and I believe the same would apply for other lands as well). There have been references to the Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultures as far as I can remember. So they do not consider asian culture "all the same", they get inspired by all of them.
And while they do take inspiration from real life, they try not to make "this land is supposed to be x country" but create something unique for Subeta instead.
(but I guess one could argue the entire concept of Shengui Guo is inappropriate? idk if that's what you mean, I'm not in place of having a say in that. It's just that the names are not supposed to sound "asian and exotic", more like something original do Subeta)
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Toby
I (a white person despite my beginner Mandarin knowledge) am also uncomfortable with the generic ~Asian inspired~ names that seem to have come from people just smashing different Asian language sounds together :-/
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Toby
Qi is actually pronounced differently from the ch in cheese, at least the way I learned it and the way I say cheese. The tongue position is different. Mandarin doesn't actually have an English ch sound. Both qi and chi are pronounced differently from English ch.
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omnibless
do they mean Xiangtou?
Linguistic Gentrification alarm activated!
*slaps the Zen out of tu~*
Linguistic Gentrification alarm activated!
*slaps the Zen out of tu~*
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Opundo
@Rah
I'm uncomfortable with how some of the names are obviously Chinese, while others are obviously Japanese (and a few maybe from Asian countries I'm not familiar with). This poll is basically saying "It doesn't matter if it's one Asian culture or another because they're all the same. Just pick one that sounds pretty." This is enforced by your comment to just pick the name "that feels right".
It's problematic to mix and match different Asian cultures just because they all sound similarly exotic and foreign. Insensitively doing so is to strip each culture of their individuality. It's like treating all Native Americans as one homogeneous group instead of acknowledging them as individual different tribes. Also see the Interchangeable Asian Cultures trope.
I'm uncomfortable with how some of the names are obviously Chinese, while others are obviously Japanese (and a few maybe from Asian countries I'm not familiar with). This poll is basically saying "It doesn't matter if it's one Asian culture or another because they're all the same. Just pick one that sounds pretty." This is enforced by your comment to just pick the name "that feels right".
It's problematic to mix and match different Asian cultures just because they all sound similarly exotic and foreign. Insensitively doing so is to strip each culture of their individuality. It's like treating all Native Americans as one homogeneous group instead of acknowledging them as individual different tribes. Also see the Interchangeable Asian Cultures trope.
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PaladinDragoon
Excellent, I was waiting for this! :D *opens poll*
*10 mins. later -- still no vote*
...I'm going to be here for a while, aren't I?
*10 mins. later -- still no vote*
...I'm going to be here for a while, aren't I?
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Neverfell
I liked Ulonaari because I thought it might be based off something Mongolian, but I'm dubious of -- just picking a bunch of stereotypical sounds from a language and like, remixing it? There's a point where some of these approach a kind of cultural uncanny valley (mostly Qengshin Ye (?), but Qiseng and Zentu too)
I can try to imagine headcanons about the characters for Qixiang and Yunmei, but not those. Qixiang can be strange/auspicious rather than weather forecast, and Yunmei can be cloud/plum blossom -- if the beastie turns out dappled it can be named for the spots.
I hope I'm not being overly critical or raining on any parades here. I appreciate these in the enthusiastic spirit they were made in, and I very much appreciate how subeta is including different cultures, like I love the fact I can buy
on here bc I would live off that if I had a can opener. I just hope --- that I won't have to like, unknow my language in order to enjoy the final choice, because I know full well that the quests are going to smoosh it against my eyes.
ANYWAY "Qi" can be said by shortening the sound in "cheese." There's no english analogue for xiang, don't worry. (....Menghua can stay as dream babble. can't read Yuuta as anything but Utah.)
I can try to imagine headcanons about the characters for Qixiang and Yunmei, but not those. Qixiang can be strange/auspicious rather than weather forecast, and Yunmei can be cloud/plum blossom -- if the beastie turns out dappled it can be named for the spots.
I hope I'm not being overly critical or raining on any parades here. I appreciate these in the enthusiastic spirit they were made in, and I very much appreciate how subeta is including different cultures, like I love the fact I can buy
ANYWAY "Qi" can be said by shortening the sound in "cheese." There's no english analogue for xiang, don't worry. (....Menghua can stay as dream babble. can't read Yuuta as anything but Utah.)
0
Tali
The suspense. I'm just so curious to see what this pet is going to look like lol.
On a related note, I really like the sound of Yurumi, but it was a tough choice!
On a related note, I really like the sound of Yurumi, but it was a tough choice!
0
HISTORY_377
Not enjoying the frontrunner much, either. As I stated previously, I will still be happy about Asian-inspired anything, but I feel it is the least Asian-sounding of the bunch in terms of complex meaning, and it isn't even really an Asian word. That and obviously it is supposed to invoke "zen" which is obviously one of the most common terms to come to mind (and honestly at this point a cliched stereotype for an entire region, to be honest). Qiharu is probably the one with the most Asian cultures rolled into one, but I will admit it also is not an Asian word. I guess for me it is just disappointing that the least cohesive one, in my opinion, of the bunch is winning. As others said, it should not be about picking the easiest name to pronounce (not that I am saying that everyone who voted for it chose it for this reason - at least not solely). As a person with a keen interest in Asia, I find myself thinking that if you're going to do Asia-anything, do it all the way. Be the most authentic. Asia is my passion, so I know I am biased and probably too close to it to view it clearly, but again, just my opinion that I thought I would state after reading through the comments and seeing what others were saying.
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Bemmoth
Hm. Is it just me, or do these seem more like names you'd give a pet rather than a species name?
Maybe I just don't understand the asian roots for the words. Oh well.
Maybe I just don't understand the asian roots for the words. Oh well.
0
Holden
I voted for Menghua but noticed what Toby said about the pronunciation too. "Mayng" doesn't really have an equivalent in Mandarin if that's what you're going for.
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Speiro
Quote:
I like this one, but with this pronunciation it sounds like a sneeze. I'm just going to pronounce it ZEN-too. :)
Zentu ("zen-TOO")
0
nier
which one wouldnt need subtitles ??????/////// (p.s this is a joke)
the one i personally liked didnt come up but oh well :c
the one i personally liked didnt come up but oh well :c
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twocents
I went with Qengshin Ye, because it is the most fun to pronounce. Where is the board with all the user suggestions? Not seeing it in S&I, Pet Suggestions, Brainstorming, or Site Feedback, which seem the obvious places to solicit ideas. But also not seeing it in General Discussion or Subeta Pets either.
But it also seems that I'm legit the only person here who didn't even know there was a request out for new pet ideas until this news post was made. :'D
But it also seems that I'm legit the only person here who didn't even know there was a request out for new pet ideas until this news post was made. :'D
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Lexx
Honestly, the difficulty in spelling some of these names is more of a "turn off" than any difficulty in /saying/ them. Honestly, I KNOW I mispronounce some subeta pet names... and I kinda don't care since I never say them out loud anyway? But I have to spell them a lot, between writing stories or even just searching for things. I get that these are to be asian inspired, but some of these seem unnecessarily complicated.
And, like others, they do all kind of blur together... wider variety might have been nice. But their similarities show what the staff kind of would prefer the name to be anyway, which I can understand.
That said, I am not a fan of the front-runner right now. Personally chose Yunmei, since it had a good ring to it while still being simple and easy to spell. Plus the meanings were nice too.
And, like others, they do all kind of blur together... wider variety might have been nice. But their similarities show what the staff kind of would prefer the name to be anyway, which I can understand.
That said, I am not a fan of the front-runner right now. Personally chose Yunmei, since it had a good ring to it while still being simple and easy to spell. Plus the meanings were nice too.
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Kilala
I do not like sounding rude or anything, but I personally didn't like any of the choices available :c
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Plague
I highly enjoy the flow of Ulonaari. My second choice was Zentu, but it really is too short for my liking and does not feel like a Subetan species name in my heart.
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Commander5AM
I picked the one I could say without looking at its pronunciation first and that wasn't the first name of the kid from Brave Police J-Decker.
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METROID
Aww, would have loved to see the suggested name Qapira in the list. It sounds more like a species name compared to the selected ten to choose from.
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HISTORY_377
Well, I will say, though, that if this is mainly based on East Asian languages that Korean is sorely missing - both from the suggestions and this narrowed poll. Oh well. I just wish Korean had gotten the footing it deserves. It is such a beautiful language that would have represented the melding of East Asian nations beautifully in part to its written ties to China and its linguistic similarities with Japan. It would have made a perfect middle ground in my opinion. :)
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Nuke
Why are people assuming Zentu is winning because it's the "easiest to pronounce"? I looked through all the names and I liked it the best, I thought it was a unique name that made me think of what the pet would be like. I don't speak any kind of Chinese but I do speak Japanese, and the Japanese word for elephant is "zou", so that might've subconsciously influence me :)
tldr I like the sound of it not just that it's "easy to pronounce" chill out
tldr I like the sound of it not just that it's "easy to pronounce" chill out
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Selene
I like Qiseng and Yunmei the most. I think some of them (like Qengshin Ye and Qixiang) are a bit too complicated to spell out, though.
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CARACAL
picked ulonaari because not only is it enjoyable to pronounce, but unlike the others it has no direct translation - User not found: someone_here basically wrote my exact thoughts tbh.
nonetheless, i do look forward to seeing the new pet!
nonetheless, i do look forward to seeing the new pet!
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HISTORY_377
I am excited to see how this turns out. Despite a lack of linguistic variety, I will be happy either way. I find all Asian languages to be exquisitely beautiful in their own ways. :)
0
Sun_938
This was honestly such a hard decision. Finally went with Qiseng in the end, though, after looking through the meanings.
I'm a little disappointed with the one that's winning, I just find it boring compared to the others. But to each their own.
Qixiang and Yunmei were my other picks so at least they're up there cx
I'm a little disappointed with the one that's winning, I just find it boring compared to the others. But to each their own.
Qixiang and Yunmei were my other picks so at least they're up there cx
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StarShadow
I realize that the items/pets from this region are orient inspired, no problem with that. But was just hoping for a wider variety of name choices. They all sound pretty much the same.
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Jeno
This is an honor, staff.
This is my original post for Ulonaari, in case anyone's curious (and doesn't want to dive into all the pages):
"Wanted the word to sort of look and sound like it was inherited from a dialect born in a far-removed, mystical place. I somehow ended up with this. I began by restructuring the word oolong for a starting point. Beyond that the word is based on nothing, and therefore relies on no lore separate from whatever Subeta has in store for it."
This is my original post for Ulonaari, in case anyone's curious (and doesn't want to dive into all the pages):
"Wanted the word to sort of look and sound like it was inherited from a dialect born in a far-removed, mystical place. I somehow ended up with this. I began by restructuring the word oolong for a starting point. Beyond that the word is based on nothing, and therefore relies on no lore separate from whatever Subeta has in store for it."
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Tribunal
Little sad that these are more 'directly Asian' than a lot of the names in the thread. Several people took phones, phonemes or even morphemes and combined and tweaked them to avoid that, especially since staff seemed to support/encourage that...
Also a little sad that there isn't really a non-Asian choice. Again, many people were careful to include both.
I mostly just feel if staff was this decided on what they wanted it should have been more upfront, but I suppose they might've just come to that conclusion while judging/been overwhelmed by the volume of suggestions that were that way.
Still though, especially posts like "Really, we are going to try to avoid using whole words that already mean something in another language when naming this pet."
Especially since as many pointed out, romanizations of a character-based or phonologically variable languages are slightly nebulous territory. /shrug.
Also a little sad that there isn't really a non-Asian choice. Again, many people were careful to include both.
I mostly just feel if staff was this decided on what they wanted it should have been more upfront, but I suppose they might've just come to that conclusion while judging/been overwhelmed by the volume of suggestions that were that way.
Still though, especially posts like "Really, we are going to try to avoid using whole words that already mean something in another language when naming this pet."
Especially since as many pointed out, romanizations of a character-based or phonologically variable languages are slightly nebulous territory. /shrug.
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rum
you have to be careful when combining chinese characters though, meng and hua separately mean dream and flower/painting but the word menghua means sleep talking lol. qixiang is weather forecast and yunmei can also be cloud + beautiful ^^ also, the pronunciation is a bit off, and going by the pinyin transcription system 'qeng' and 'shin' aren't valid letter combinations. plus words like 'qi' and 'chi' or 'xi' and 'shi' are all pronounced differently with different tongue placements ^^ although i guess it all doesn't really matter for a pet name hahaha, sorry i had my chinese exam last week and i got a little bit too into it lol
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Ispahan
It almost bothers me that so many of these names -do- have a direct meaning. To me, Shengui Guo should be Asian-INSPIRED but does its own thing, so to me, it doesn't make that much sense that they would speak Chinese or Japanese instead of just having their own language. Although I recognize that it could potentially be more awkward to just throw together random sounds.
Anyway, I just picked Ulonaari, which sounded cool. And then I found that it's a twist on oolong and liked the creativity behind that even more than relying on a direct translation (my personal opinion).
Anyway, I just picked Ulonaari, which sounded cool. And then I found that it's a twist on oolong and liked the creativity behind that even more than relying on a direct translation (my personal opinion).
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Diprosopus
so basically zentu is winning because everyone is picking the easiest to pronounce name? lmao that really sucks.... qiseng is my favourite. it looks pretty and like a good subeta pet name.
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Irisrain
Wooow, it's more evenly split than I would have thought. I wish some of the non-Chinese names had made it through...trying to name something in a language you don't speak sometimes ends up embarrassing :x These are pretty though! I'm excited to see the final product, name and all~
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terrerio35
@osterizer: well, I forgot to check name meanings... that would have greatly helped the decision I made. I did also see a lot of spelling variations and split spellings as well, I remember that Chinese CAN tend to change in form and spelling depending on the region you go to (it's NOT a small world).
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terrerio35
*searches names for any relative significance* Well, I am greatly disappointed. None of these names have any real significance to the characteristics of this pet other than their language(s). Only two of them were anything corporations or reguregular'random people, and only one actually seemed to match something about the creature itself. Those two that I think would actually be possible were Yuuta and Yurumi. Yurumi seems to be a... giant ant-eater, and Yuuta is a character from an anime. I chose Yuuta, based off the character's description.
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osterizer
@Dice: Thanks for your efforts -- one complication with some of these attempts at names is that Chinese is tonal, and sometimes two syllables paired together don't mean the same thing as the words. For example, "meng" and "hua" do, separately mean "dream" and "flower", but together "menghua" means "talking in one's sleep" (source: http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=menghua ). One of the other names also has an unfortunate meaning that I'm sure the proposer never intended.
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Asumi
I remember the users who picked these names showed their meaning.
I'm going to pick the name that I find most fun to pronounce, hehe
I'm going to pick the name that I find most fun to pronounce, hehe
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Elwyn
I voted for Yunmei,I think it looks and sounds pretty plus we don't have a pet that starts with a Y.
Could we get a list of the meanings for the names?
Could we get a list of the meanings for the names?
0
Crobat
All these names are lovely yet I had to go with Menghua since the pet I believe is based on a Baku. Also it was hinted that this pet would have an association to tea.
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beinagrind
really liked Qixiang, Ulonaari, and Menghua, voted Qixiang in the end - it just sounds super pretty!
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Sopheroo
Considering it's currently dead last, I'm glad that people are feeling that Qengshin Ye is out of place compared to the other nine suggestions, and compared to every other pet name.
That shouldn't have made the cut.
That shouldn't have made the cut.
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CelticRaiN
@Dice ... ahh MUCH better interpretation I must say. Thanks for that! In the case of the meanings behind the names I definitely prefer Qixiang. Very nice.
So excited to see the actual reveal of this pet! <3
So excited to see the actual reveal of this pet! <3
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Mackenzi
I mean, in the case of the pet possibly being dream-eater-y, why are people upset the name is also of a similar origin? The pet is from Shengui Guo, if they're going to be using all that asian culture stuff the least they could do is use names that are also from the culture. Learning how to pronounce one name currently isn't going to hurt you.
Also, does googling "Ulonaari" give anyone else a googlewhack? Impressive!
Also, does googling "Ulonaari" give anyone else a googlewhack? Impressive!
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CMYK
@CelticRaiN
Lol worst thing to use is google translate, because lemme tell ya a story about a client that wanted Chinese characters that he thought said "Young and Wild" but actually meant "Old and strange" because he used Google translate.
Also, Xiang means elephant in Chinese. (It can also mean sweet scent if pronounced differently)
Lol worst thing to use is google translate, because lemme tell ya a story about a client that wanted Chinese characters that he thought said "Young and Wild" but actually meant "Old and strange" because he used Google translate.
Also, Xiang means elephant in Chinese. (It can also mean sweet scent if pronounced differently)
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Dice
With some creative googling and some actual ctrl+f-ing through the whole thread, I've turned up the meanings for most of the names! All information is taken directly from the posts on the name suggestion thread (although I've rephrased some of them where necessary). Despite my best efforts, there was one I couldn't find the post for, but I've taken a stab at the meaning.
Behind a spoiler for those who don't want the meanings to influence their choices:
Behind a spoiler for those who don't want the meanings to influence their choices:
Spoiler (click here to toggle)
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CelticRaiN
According to Google Translate, Qiseng means, 'helicopter' x) And, Qixiang is not pronounced ANYTHING like the pronunciation suggests here...
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CelticRaiN
I chose, Ulonaari ("ooh-loh-NAH-ree"), Love it! Seemed to fit to me. Doesn't look like it'll happen though. Seems as though most people opted for the easiest to pronounce name.. Boorrrring XP
0
Cara
Guess I should work on a new pet slot! :D -cheers- Two of these are mine. (Idk if they got re-suggested but yay!)
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Neverfell
from someone who doesn't know the specific meanings of these--how do I say. Zentu sounds like zen rabbit, which...will be a shame unless the final pet is particularly rabbity, and qixiang is just weather forecas :/
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StarShadow
It was hard deciding because they all sound Chinese. Was hoping for a little more variety in the available options.
1
Helly
i agree with foxette, i don't think the names all had to be from one specific place in the world- there are plenty of lovely nelly names outside of asian influence! it's a shame the selection is so incredibly marginalised.
1
foxette
These names are a bit precious. I picked the shortest, easiest to pronounce. What's wrong with good ol' Jumbo?
0
Kisrah
@ViretyEnten I believe it was mentioned in the first news post for this pet that it comes from Shengui Guo. C:
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ViretyEnten
Why are they all Oriental? Unless this is an oriental pet, which I thought we just got one of those...
1
Mad
Honestly, all these names are pretty great. I'd be happy with whichever winner! I just really can't wait for the BIG REVEAL!
0
Ninja
Subeta language/pronunciation does what it wannnnttts 8D!
It's hard to pick a name from these lovely short listed ones, dunno how staff manage to narrow it down from 27 pages!
It's hard to pick a name from these lovely short listed ones, dunno how staff manage to narrow it down from 27 pages!
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Toby
Going by Mandarin pinyin pronunciation, I'm pretty sure that qiseng is chi-sung and menghua is mung-hua (mung rhyming with sung). Ye is also like "yeh." More or less, anyway. Qi is pronounced with the tongue in a different position than for chi. Same for xiang vs shang. But that's really nitpicking :P
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Slowerthanzero
@Tserel Yeah I found that unfortunate too so I just went with the one I liked the sound of most, and had an appearance I could immediately read and remember how to pronounce without all the weird letter pronunciation differences between English and the inspirational languages.
0
Dice
Yes! And one of my suggestions made it in! (Although it might have been suggested by five other people for all I know.) Even so, I'm going to have to give this a fair bit of thought...
0
RunningWild
Yes, finally! But pretty tough choices. :0
Also, do you mean June 12th rather than July 12th? (July seems such a long time! xD)
Also, do you mean June 12th rather than July 12th? (July seems such a long time! xD)
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Tserel
It's too hard to choose without the posts explaining the rationale and origin of the names :/
But I can't be arsed to look through 27 pages in search of them.
But I can't be arsed to look through 27 pages in search of them.
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