(AFS) RE: First Names
Steven Boozer
> I think the first names of Romulans are supposed to be some kind of
> secret. Look at the behavior of the Romulan commander when she told
> Spock her first name. But then again, we've definitely heard some
> Romulan first names on screen before, like... Caithlin Dar, or
> Alidair Jarok. (sp?)
Many cultures have a tradition of public vs. private names. Diane Duane im=
agines Romulans having this custom and defines *rehei* "nickname, private n=
ame, secret name, fourth name" in _The Romulan Way_ (p. 172):
... the name a Rihannsu finds within oneself and then shares
only with those closest to him/her
In fact, Duane makes much of this name business. In _My Enemy, My Ally_, A=
el i-Mhiessan t'Rllaillieu -- the aunt of the unnamed Romulan commander cap=
tured by Kirk in TOS "The Enterprise Incident" played by actress Joanne Lin=
ville -- badly wanted to avenge her niece's disgrace (her name was taken fr=
om her and she was sent into exile, her whereabouts and fate unknown).
In the 1999 pro-novel _Vulcan's Heart_, Josepha Sherman gives her the Latin=
-sounding name of Liviana: Liviana Sharvanek. Note that this bears no res=
emblance whatsoever to Duane's Rihanssu language and names, but does contin=
ue the TNG-era practice of Romulan male names ending in "-ek" (N'vek, Parde=
k, Tomek). BTW many Vulcan male names also end in "-ek" (Sarek, Sek, Selek=
, Sopek, Sotek, Torek, Varek).
> I don't remember hearing any Vulcan first names,
> or is it the surname that we never hear? I think that it was
> mentioned we never heard Spock's name because it is unpronouncable.
In TOS "This Side Of Paradise" when Leila Kalomi says, "I don't even know y=
our name," Spock replies, "You wouldn't be able to pronounce it."
IIRC either Kirk or McCoy asked Spock's mother a similar question about Sar=
ek's name in TOS "Journey to Babel". Amanda replied that after years of pr=
actice she was able to pronounce it "after a fashion".
It makes sense that the Romulans may have inherited this custom of public v=
s. private names from the Vulcans.
> I think I heard somewhere that the woman who plays Amanda was joking
> once and decided that Spock's first name should be Harold or something
> like that. I think that's funny. I would have liked to have been
> there when she said that.
Nimoy, in his autobiography _I Am Spock_, writes that when actress Jane Wya=
tt (Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson) was asked at a fan convention to reveal=
Spock's first name, smilingly answered "Harold."
> I think the novels give a couple of
> different versions of Spock's other names. Some of these versions are
> more popular than others, naturally.
In _Ishmael_, Barbara Hambly suggested that Spock's first name was S'chan t=
'gai and his family name was Hrgtcha (?).
According to novelist Jean Lorrah, Trek writer D.C. Fontana, who was tired =
of being asked what Spock's last name was, came up with Xtmprsqzntwlfd by j=
ust hitting random keys on the typewriter.
I'm sure there have been others.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the Vulcan-L list, send an email message
of "unsubscribe vulcan-l" to Vulcan-L-Request at shikahrsoho.com
The posting scripts, upon recognizing text that is in the format of an email
address have modified that text with a spamblock of bf4WEc9w.invalid