Plainsfolk Lalafell Female Name

[Iscah]

Additionally, orthography do not always follow that of Japanese. In fact, with Alka Zolka, I'm not sure whether to analyze his name as Al-ka or A-l(u)-ka. Perhaps it's best to think that the Japanese syllables are used to approximate the sounds used for Lalafell names, instead of defining them?

And Lalafells who do not follow naming conventions are not unheard of (Krile Baldesion comes to mind, although that was also a shout-out to another Final Fantasy game).[/HB]

The basic rule for Plainsfolk male names is "different starts, same end" so it seems that the "lka" (ruka) part is the consistent fragment.

Krile is specified to be using a Hyuran spelling of her name and has taken her adopted grandfather's surname. The Japanese version doesn't have to make excuses for her forename, as the original character's name is Kururu, which is a perfect fit for female Plainsfolk naming and is presumably why they made her a Lalafell here.

[Kakurady]

The basic rule for Plainsfolk male names is "different starts, same end" so it seems that the "lka" (ruka) part is the consistent fragment.

Lalafell names run in syllables roughly similar to Japanese syllables, but it doesn't seem to be a 1:1 match, since you have sounds like "-fo-", so I wonder if Lalafell names have to follow the "syllables must end with vowels" rule that Japanese language has, or can syllables end in consonants like in English (allowing "al-" to be a syllable).

Krile is specified to be using a Hyuran spelling of her name and has taken her adopted grandfather's surname. The Japanese version doesn't have to make excuses for her forename, as the original character's name is Kururu, which is a perfect fit for female Plainsfolk naming and is presumably why they made her a Lalafell here.

I think she is always intended to be "Krile"; -ru is used in Japanese to transcribe the -l sound, and you always need a vowel between consonants, so that explains going from kr-le to kur-ru.

In the Chinese release of XIV, her name is Kelu'er. Which is not Krile (that would be "Kelai'er") but also definitely not Kururu ("Kululu", "ru" is not used to transcribe foreign names in Standard Chinese).

[Iscah]

Lalafell names run in syllables roughly similar to Japanese syllables, but it doesn't seem to be a 1:1 match, since you have sounds like "-fo-", so I wonder if Lalafell names have to follow the "syllables must end with vowels" rule that Japanese language has, or can syllables end in consonants like in English (allowing "al-" to be a syllable).

Technically yes, they can have name fragments ending in consonants (eg. Melkoko from the CUL quests) but there's also the overall pattern to consider.

Firstly I think it makes more sense to look for how much of the forename and surname match, and consider the matching bits "the second half". That would be [A][lka] [Zo][lka].

There's also this document, which lists all the possible outcomes from the name generator, and has arranged the Lalafell names showing [lka] as a second half. I'm not sure if that's directly how it comes from the data or if they've done lots of testing random names and seen that they come out in that pattern, but it's likely to be accurate.

I think she is always intended to be "Krile"; -ru is used in Japanese to transcribe the -l sound, and you always need a vowel between consonants, so that explains going from kr-le to kur-ru.

In the Chinese release of XIV, her name is Kelu'er. Which is not Krile (that would be "Kelai'er") but also definitely not Kururu ("Kululu", "ru" is not used to transcribe foreign names in Standard Chinese).

My understanding is that "Krile" was an invention of the translators of the original game, and in any case, if they were aiming to use the English name in Japanese with the way the English voice actors pronounce it, it would be "Kurairu". Also if it was meant to be Krile then there is no reason to make the character a Lalafell, because Krile is not a Lalafell name. Kururu is.

I assume what has happened is that the Japanese version of the FFXIV character is Kururu, same as the FFV character - which has put the English translators in a bind because they need to use the English alteration of the character's name to keep the reference, but that name doesn't fit a Lalafell like the Japanese name does.

Also, the Chinese translators' choice of name really has not much to do with the original intent of the Japanese game designers. The Chinese version of the game is a secondary thing, cut off from the international version, and they might have their own reasons for altering the name (either now or back when they were translating FFV) just like the English translators did.

[Cleretic]

My understanding is that "Krile" was an invention of the translators of the original game, and in any case, if they were aiming to use the English name in Japanese with the way the English voice actors pronounce it, it would be "Kurairu". Also if it was meant to be Krile then there is no reason to make the character a Lalafell, because Krile is not a Lalafell name. Kururu is.

I assume what has happened is that the Japanese version of the FFXIV character is Kururu, same as the FFV character - which has put the English translators in a bind because they need to use the English alteration of the character's name to keep the reference, but that name doesn't fit a Lalafell like the Japanese name does.

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what happened. Krile's Japanese name in FFV is 'Kururu', which works perfectly as a Plainsfolk name--but the English translation's 'Krile' doesn't, and chances are the names picked in other languages around the world for FFV probably didn't either; my personal favorite way to compare names is to try to pull up translations of FF TCG cards (since it's really easy to find where on the card the name is, which isn't so easy with screencaps of games), and apparently Germany just calls her 'Krile' too. If you wanted a 'makes sense as normal name' reading of 'Kururu' I know the original fan-translation used 'Cara', which is... also not an accurate translation, but it'd function.

But the XIV writing and localization teams are also pretty cognizant of that, which is probably why she's adopted by a Hyur family anyway. In Japanese her first name is plausible lalafel and her last name isn't, so the adoption explains that, and for every other language they get the easy out of 'if the FFV character's name fits the lalafel scheme in your language that's great, if not then it was a name given through adoption'.