With just a quick peek inside Perfect Works, or any perusal of Xenogears reference guides, it soon becomes apparent that a lot of the -Proper Nouns- were lost in translation. Sometimes this is minor (the official spelling "Bartholomei" is a Slavic variation on the more familiar version we got, "Bartholomew"), sometimes awkward ("Kalen" vs. "Karen" and "Karn" vs. "Khan"), and sometimes a whole literary reference is destroyed ("Krelian" instead of "Karellan").
With so much variation to choose from, and any choice you make inevitably saying something about you as a fan, I was curious about the preferences of others. How do you go about Proper Nouning the Xenogears word? Is it based on what's in Honeywood's translation? This is a valid position, since it is the only official English translation available, and hence a common point of reference for everyone. Do you prefer to dig deeper, and substitute misspellings and orphaned references for the proper ones, perhaps as a way of enriching your own experience?
I am perhaps a bit of a "truth-seeker" and have no real loyalties to the localization. When it's clear that a name or term was mangled, I feel I am under no obligation to use it. So: Krelian to Karellan, Gebler to Geburah, Seraph to Aeon, Anonelbe to Ahnenerbe, Kadomony to Kadmoni, Kelvena to Cherubina, and so forth. References should be preserved, I feel.
Now, when it comes to some of the weird spellings in Perfect Works that don't seem immediately justified by anything, I'm a bit more lax. (The book can't even decide on a single spelling for Marguerite, so clearly a critical lens is needed.) In some cases, the spellings can be informative, but in others they just seem... weird and don't really add anything. For instance, I'm not sure what I gain from calling Fei's mom "Kalen", aside from seeing the name "Colin" in my head instead. But others are worth more consideration.
For example, the name "Carlin" seems considerably more at home in front of the surname "Becker" than a Singh name like "Kahran" does, so it is difficult to argue with the idea that "Carlin" was always the intended spelling. However, training my brain to substitute "Kahr" with "Carl" is a whole other matter, probably on account of "Carl" sounding so mundane while the character clearly isn't.
Another... interesting example is "Myyah". On the one hand, this is a nonsensical spelling. According to the katakana, her name is pronounced "Myan", hence the localization "Miang". (If you're going to write it as "Myyah", why in the world include an "n" sound? Wouldn't, I dunno, ミァー have made more sense?) So, yes, "Myyah" is a little difficult to accept, being as it kind of omits a whole consonant. On the other hand, the book goes to great lengths to make you notice that "Myyah" is part of "Elehayym" backwards. And the intentional omission of the "El-", or "God", component is a nice touch, probably referencing the fact that Elly is linked to Wave Entity, the true God, while poor Myyah is the will of the Demiurge.
(I think for that last one, I will just take some liberties with head canon, and personally imagine that "Myyah" -- pronounced "myah" -- is the name of the entity whose factor exists in all woman, whereas "Miang" is the actual personal name of the last body, prior to Elly, that Myyah inhabits.)
"Shitan" is one that I probably shouldn't be struggling with as much as I am. "Citan" looks and sounds awkward and doesn't "match" the surname Uzuki like Shitan does, so I have no real investment in it. But... it is very hard for me to say "Shitan" without thinking of Encyclopedia Dramatica's crude comment ("'Citan', pronounced 'shit on'") and feel self-conscious. Heck, I can't even type it without thinking of excrement. This is embarrassing.
So, that terribly messy post aside, what are everyone's feelings on the -Proper Noun- matter?
With so much variation to choose from, and any choice you make inevitably saying something about you as a fan, I was curious about the preferences of others. How do you go about Proper Nouning the Xenogears word? Is it based on what's in Honeywood's translation? This is a valid position, since it is the only official English translation available, and hence a common point of reference for everyone. Do you prefer to dig deeper, and substitute misspellings and orphaned references for the proper ones, perhaps as a way of enriching your own experience?
I am perhaps a bit of a "truth-seeker" and have no real loyalties to the localization. When it's clear that a name or term was mangled, I feel I am under no obligation to use it. So: Krelian to Karellan, Gebler to Geburah, Seraph to Aeon, Anonelbe to Ahnenerbe, Kadomony to Kadmoni, Kelvena to Cherubina, and so forth. References should be preserved, I feel.
Now, when it comes to some of the weird spellings in Perfect Works that don't seem immediately justified by anything, I'm a bit more lax. (The book can't even decide on a single spelling for Marguerite, so clearly a critical lens is needed.) In some cases, the spellings can be informative, but in others they just seem... weird and don't really add anything. For instance, I'm not sure what I gain from calling Fei's mom "Kalen", aside from seeing the name "Colin" in my head instead. But others are worth more consideration.
For example, the name "Carlin" seems considerably more at home in front of the surname "Becker" than a Singh name like "Kahran" does, so it is difficult to argue with the idea that "Carlin" was always the intended spelling. However, training my brain to substitute "Kahr" with "Carl" is a whole other matter, probably on account of "Carl" sounding so mundane while the character clearly isn't.
Another... interesting example is "Myyah". On the one hand, this is a nonsensical spelling. According to the katakana, her name is pronounced "Myan", hence the localization "Miang". (If you're going to write it as "Myyah", why in the world include an "n" sound? Wouldn't, I dunno, ミァー have made more sense?) So, yes, "Myyah" is a little difficult to accept, being as it kind of omits a whole consonant. On the other hand, the book goes to great lengths to make you notice that "Myyah" is part of "Elehayym" backwards. And the intentional omission of the "El-", or "God", component is a nice touch, probably referencing the fact that Elly is linked to Wave Entity, the true God, while poor Myyah is the will of the Demiurge.
(I think for that last one, I will just take some liberties with head canon, and personally imagine that "Myyah" -- pronounced "myah" -- is the name of the entity whose factor exists in all woman, whereas "Miang" is the actual personal name of the last body, prior to Elly, that Myyah inhabits.)
"Shitan" is one that I probably shouldn't be struggling with as much as I am. "Citan" looks and sounds awkward and doesn't "match" the surname Uzuki like Shitan does, so I have no real investment in it. But... it is very hard for me to say "Shitan" without thinking of Encyclopedia Dramatica's crude comment ("'Citan', pronounced 'shit on'") and feel self-conscious. Heck, I can't even type it without thinking of excrement. This is embarrassing.
So, that terribly messy post aside, what are everyone's feelings on the -Proper Noun- matter?