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Scientific Names for My Homebrew Setting
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<blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 8872585" data-attributes="member: 18"><p>Are the names an in-setting thing? It sounds like they are, because your species-groupings are unconventional by modern D&D standards.</p><p></p><p>One thing people don't always think about is that scientific names for intelligent species are absolutely going to be a political and ideological statement on the part of the namer. You have a superb example with Homo Sapiens Odio. All the other names are relatively positive, even the giants - though they are dehumanized by being classed as "paranthropus", they're given immanis, which means "huge-monstrous" rather than "scary-monstrous" ("immense" is the word we use in English). But goblinoids are given a purely negative and extremely dehumanizing classification, which is a clear ideological statement from the person naming them (presumably a specific person in-setting) that the namer thought goblinoids were evil and dangerous beings.</p><p></p><p>If you wanted a more neutral name which suits adapted to the dark, why not Homo Sapiens Noctis? It's still a bit sinister, but it's not "your entire species is about hate", which is a hell of a statement to make, but it's the statement Homo Sapiens Odio makes.</p><p></p><p>There's also the question of why would humans be the "starting point"? The easy answer is that a human is who came up with this. Presumably that's the case here.</p><p></p><p>I must admit I am surprised to see humans and Elves grouped together. Elves in most settings would be outraged at being grouped with humans, and would probably given them some kind of insulting name involving their short lifespans.</p><p></p><p>(Also with multiple intelligent species I guarantee there'd be multiple competing sets of scientific nomenclature and ways of dividing things up, but that's perhaps beyond the scope of this.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ruin Explorer, post: 8872585, member: 18"] Are the names an in-setting thing? It sounds like they are, because your species-groupings are unconventional by modern D&D standards. One thing people don't always think about is that scientific names for intelligent species are absolutely going to be a political and ideological statement on the part of the namer. You have a superb example with Homo Sapiens Odio. All the other names are relatively positive, even the giants - though they are dehumanized by being classed as "paranthropus", they're given immanis, which means "huge-monstrous" rather than "scary-monstrous" ("immense" is the word we use in English). But goblinoids are given a purely negative and extremely dehumanizing classification, which is a clear ideological statement from the person naming them (presumably a specific person in-setting) that the namer thought goblinoids were evil and dangerous beings. If you wanted a more neutral name which suits adapted to the dark, why not Homo Sapiens Noctis? It's still a bit sinister, but it's not "your entire species is about hate", which is a hell of a statement to make, but it's the statement Homo Sapiens Odio makes. There's also the question of why would humans be the "starting point"? The easy answer is that a human is who came up with this. Presumably that's the case here. I must admit I am surprised to see humans and Elves grouped together. Elves in most settings would be outraged at being grouped with humans, and would probably given them some kind of insulting name involving their short lifespans. (Also with multiple intelligent species I guarantee there'd be multiple competing sets of scientific nomenclature and ways of dividing things up, but that's perhaps beyond the scope of this.) [/QUOTE]
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