#with us using the R as an H sound

[piovascosimo]

i love language, though i'm not an expert on it at all, actually i'm very lazy about grammar stuff and much prefer to learn it by ear. but since i just reblogged two posts about it, i thought i'd share this video i saw earlier today which finally clarified something that i've always been curious about... why brazilians can understand spoken spanish so well, but spanish speakers have a hard time understanding us.

it's funny that he is not a native speaker of both, but maybe it is why he can understand the differences so well. before, i sometimes thought that maybe people were pretending not to understand me because i could understand them so easily, but now i can clearly see why they weren't. it is hard sometimes to see your specificity or uniqueness when it's all you've known, specially if the other sound feels natural to you.

[andy-clutterbuck]

Black T-Shirt + Sling | requested by Anonymous

[deus-ex-mona]

looking on at the ✨hype✨ about last stage like

[milkbreadtoast]

can finally put them together... the main 4 charas of this story(*that will prob never be made into a thing but its fun to think abt)!!

*whispers* tentative names: 💚강효준 (kang hyojun), 💙이설(yi/lee seol), 💜유성화 (yu seonghwa), ❤️송혜연 (song hyeyeon). Hyojun(m) and Seol(f) are the protags and Seonghwa(m) and Hyeyeon(f) are on the "opposing side" in the story

[hellogoodbyegirl]

Supertramp in Melody Maker

[magneticflower]

I'm rewatching the show Heroes and Sylar could've gotten away with so much more if he stopped talking the way he did i-

[immushymellow]

[Two men are standing in a parking lot]

Man 1: Yo dude there's a cool ass dog over there!

Man 2: Holy shit you're right dude! There is a cool ass dog over there!

[Camera pans to show a dog wearing sunglasses and a backwards cap sitting on a skateboard]

Man 1: Hell yeah!

[Both men both go and pet the Cool Ass Dog Over There and shower them with praise and affection]

Cool Ass Dog Over There: Ruff!

[Cool Ass Dog Over There skates away. The two men look at each other confused and shrug in unison]

[The two men are about to leave when one hears rumbling in the distance]

Man 1: Yo dude, you hear that?

Man 2: Yeah dude.

[Both men turn to see Cool Ass Dog Over There riding in from the sunset they both graffitied on the Wallmart with a wagon attached to their skateboard]

Both men: Yo it's the Cool Ass Dog Over There!

[Cool Ass Dog Over There stops their skateboard in front of the two men]

Man 2: What's up dude!

Cool Ass Dog Over There: I wish to thank you two for granting me a name. I find it to be unfair that your gift to me has not been given to you two yet, so I shall grant you your own names as payment. Man 1, you will now be known as Liam R Manwell; and for man 2, I name thee Thomas H Parker. I hope you both find those names fitting. And as payment for all the head pats and belly rubs you gave me, I have something for both of you that I hope you appreciate.

[Cool Ass Dog Over There pulls a sheet off of the wagon, revealing two pairs of sunglasses, caps, skateboards and a pack of pacific cooler caprisuns]

Liam R Manwell: Thanks a lot dude! I love them!

Thomas H Parker: Yeah! This is awesome!

Cool Ass Dog Over There: One might even say radical, Thomas H Parker.

[Cool Ass Dog Over There rides off into the sunset Liam R Manwell and Thomas H Parker graffitied on Wallmart]

Both Liam R Manwell and Thomas H Parker: Thank you Cool Ass Dog Over There!

Cool Ass Dog Over There: Thank you and farewell, Liam R Manwell and Thomas H Parker!

[Camera pans to a person of unknown gender holding an infant behind Liam R Manwell and Thomas H Parker]

Person: What in the actual frick just happened!?

Narrator: And the Cool Ass Dog Over There, grateful for Liam R Manwell and Thomas H Parker's kindness and gratitude, continued to visit them once every month, giving them more pacific cooler caprisuns and even-

Person: What the h e double hockey sticks who's saying that!?

Narrator: Excuse me, I was talking. Now as I was saying, Cool Ass Dog Over There continued to visit Liam R Manwell and Thomas H Parker once every month, giving them pacific cooler caprisuns and even cookies sometimes. The end.

[whisp3roftheheart]

I really am the most embarrassing person when I like someone lmao

[lokh]

im rotating that douyin in my head by the way

[caninecowboy]

crying screaming throwing up etc etc etc

[reginaofdoctorwho]

ugh hate my brain. guy told me he had a crush on me a couple months ago while he had a girlfriend, they break up over break and he's still got a crush on me (as of thursday), he asks if i like him that way at all and i honestly say "no"

and right after that then he lets me ramble and says it's interesting and it's fun seeing me so excited about stuff. guess what fuckin happened

[andy-clutterbuck]

6x12 | Not Tomorrow Yet

[deus-ex-mona]

noping out li k e

[koushirouizumi]

{Yu-Gi-Oh!} Duel Monsters ~ A.M.V. (Anime Music Video) Song: "Bring Me To Life" Featuring Characters/Duo/Ship/O.T.P: Katsuya Jounouchi x Yuugi Mutou {Wishshipping}/{Yu[u]Jou} + Yami Yuugi [Atem]; acting as background Support (to both) Music (C) Evanescence {Amy Lee} feat. (Featuring) Linkin Park YU-GI-OH! (Original Manga) (C) Kazuki Takahashi "Original" (1st) {Anime} series (C) Toei Animation Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters {Anime} (C) Studio Gallop This is a Fanwork. No $$$ is being made off this work.

{A.M.V. by (Young) Me} {Do Not Repost} {Do Not Copy} {Do Not Reproduce My Works (Including Feeding to A.I./Reusing my Video Edits) Under Any Circumstances Without My Permission}

(Note: This is an Old work {10+ yrs old}. and one of my 1st/oldest YGO D.M. AMVs of the timeframe. The footage used will reflect this, as it was made before widespread transition into H.D. Footages. Please be understanding.) [There may be intent for me to remake it someday!]

Spoilers: Mainly for DOMA Arc (Anime-only arc); as well as some early "Season 0" (1st series) material, which was based off the first 7 volumes of the manga. (However, the focus here is Duel Monsters anime.) There are only limited/quick spoilers up until near the end of Yuugi dueling Yami.

{I am NOT taking new AMV Requests (+for this series) Nor changing This one at this time.} (Please do Not ask)

[einaudis]

I wonder if Oppenheimer will be back in theaters here as well. Because I have this supreme need to go again just for the "Can You Hear the Music?" sequence.

[writingwithcolor]

Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.

This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.

~ ~ ~

@writingraccoon said:

My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]

Hold on a sec.

Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. 

OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?

Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP? 

What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is? 

~ ~ ~

To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:

Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other. 

If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website. 

Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability. 

Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with. 

Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions. 

Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time. 

Suggestions for web sources:

Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."  

Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place. 

Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure. 

~ ~ ~

Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!

Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices

Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.

Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.

Intercultural Marriages and Naming

This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.

Typically intercultural parents try to

come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,

go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or

compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.

Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s). 

But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.

~ ~ ~

Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.

~ Mod Rina