A rose by any other name…

…would still be a rose. Which is why I am having naming difficulties. See, I gotta book project where the time frame, in our terms, is oh, 1700s or so. The names of the people are mostly normal, with some odd spellings here and there. They have a Goddess that I have named Divitia. The priests and priestesses got another name because I hate the word priestess. So, using the Eastern philosophy term ch’i, and using a British word for maid – char, I came up with their titles.

A Nun or Monk (also the unisex name is Ch’an) is someone who works for the Abbeys or Monasteries directly. They act as groundskeepers and secretaries and clerks. They have said no vows to Divitia although they may attend any of the training.

A Sister or Brother (with the unisexual name Ch’anma) is someone who has taken at least the first set of vows to the Goddess. They are considered servants to her and act as teachers, counselors, and whatever else field they are interested in.

The Ch’anmata are the actual priests and priestesses. They are the ones that provide the sermon (Speakers) and the ones that do the higher level of management and supervision. They can also be an Archimandrite (head Ch’anmata of an Abbey) or an Abbot (head Ch’anmata of a Monastery).

Universally, the Ch’anma and Ch’anmata are called Ch’a. This helps when it is not known what level of vows a Ch’a has taken.

See how much fun writing a book can be? Especially a science fiction or fantasy?

My current problem is that I need to somehow reveal the why of such an odd spelling. So, after browsing Wikipedia, WordWeb, and making copious notes, I came up with Ch’andra as the new name of their Goddess. Chandra is a Hindu god so I thought it kinda fit. I started this whole name thing because in Simple Sarah and Long Lea, my use of the titles for the religious folks changed from chapter to chapter. After I decided that for the fortieth millionth time, I started writing again. I currently am writing about children. But I can’t use the term ‘kid’. So, I came up with ch’en as the name for ‘kid’ and it will be both the casual name and the formal name, like when one someone says “Child, you are the cutest thing!”, in this they’ll say “Ch’en, you are the cutest thing!”

Totally confused now? Me too. Hopefully I will have it all figured out by the time I say ‘The End’…again.