Fantasy setting names and languages

Just use words like dog and horse for animals. You can create new names for locations and characters, but to avoid confusion keep animals the same. When I read fantasy I just assume that animals have a different name, but those names have been translated for me.

Beware of calling rabbits smeerps, as the popular saying goes... See also: xkcd's Fiction Rule of Thumb (Randall Munroe)

If it's essentially a rabbit, call it a rabbit. If rabbits happen to be blue, causally mention that fact, and move on. If there's a significant reason it shouldn't be called a rabbit beyond it being blue - say, it breathes fire or explodes when exposed to water - then it likely deserves a special name. Otherwise, don't overthink it. You're already "translating" the book into an Earth language anyway for the reader's convenience. Consider it part of the translation...

Think of it like this - what you write is a translation for your readers. It's likely these characters don't speak English, either, so everything you put down is for the reader's benefit, so they can understand the story.

folclor said:

huh, that's a very interesting take on it. Thanks for the advice! This is my first attempt at sort of a high/dark fantasy setting so I'm a bit unsure on what would be best for readers in instances like this. So thank you for being helpful ^^

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Sounds like you're venturing into territory you aren't overly familiar with - which is good, though it helps to get the lay of the land a bit if you're getting lost on how to name things and what readers expect and such. The best thing to do, in this case, would be to read some works similar in depth and tone to what you're going for. See what works for you and what doesn't, insofar as naming conventions go.

There is no hard-and-fast rule - the Fantasy Police won't show up and curse you into frog form for using too many made-up names or failing to use any - but read enough high fantasy and you'll get a feel for the state of the genre. You'll want to figure out where you, as a reader and author, want to draw the line for yourself.

Brightdreamer said:

If there's a significant reason it shouldn't be called a rabbit beyond it being blue - say, it breathes fire or explodes when exposed to water - then it likely deserves a special name.

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Calling a smeerp a rabbit is a much more fun trope though: you've got a firebreathing blue beastie that your characters call rabbits, even though they are nothing like our rabbits.

folclor said:

I've begun working on a fantasy setting that isn't the most Earth-like. I'm researching to come up with species that could exist on the planet, but I'm running into a problem. Do I just call animals their closest equivalent in English or do I make up another word for it/another language for my main race? It might be an interesting situation to then send the main character to another land and have her describe things only for other characters to say, "Oh, you mean a dog?" or something like. Or would that just be annoying? I'm torn on this point.

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My two cents worth: if the animal is, essentially, a horse or a dog, then I'd just go with using those words. I can't think of a reason to call them something else if they don't look, act, or function differently than horses or dogs. If they're significantly different in a biological, utilitarian, or aesthetic sense, then I'd call them something else and work references to those differences into the narrative, even if it's seen through the eyes of a character who takes the creatures for granted.

For example:

The Grelk nuzzled her chest, leaving a smear of purplish mucus on her tunic, then dotted its forked tongue to her cheek.

I enjoyed the Dragonriders of Pern books when I was younger, but I remember how annoyed I was when I learned (several books into the series) that "runnerbeasts" were simply horses. I don't think she ever described them, and some reason, I imagined them as vaguely llamalike animals with horns on their noses.

One of Glenda Larke's fantasy books had creatures called "alpiners," which from their fairly elaborate description were simply horses also. I think she might have used the term because the pov character had never seen a horse before, so the animals were very exotic to her. Still, I think she did a good way of conveying how strange they looked to the protagonist without "calling a rabbit a smeerp."

I also suspect that if we ever go to another planet and in the extremely unlikely (as per our current understanding of how evolution works) there is a very similar ecosystem with organisms that are analogous (and similar looking) to organisms in our world, we will probably start calling them "rabbits" or "dogs" or "carp" or whatever (in whatever language the astronauts speak), especially if we don't bring any of those Earth animals with us.

Roxxsmom said:

I also suspect that if we ever go to another planet and in the extremely unlikely (as per our current understanding of how evolution works) there is a very similar ecosystem with organisms that are analogous (and similar looking) to organisms in our world, we will probably start calling them "rabbits" or "dogs" or "carp" or whatever (in whatever language the astronauts speak), especially if we don't bring any of those Earth animals with us.

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Looking at how humans named new-to-them species here on Earth, even animals/plants with only tenuous-at-best connection to the original, that's almost a given.

https://www.vulgarlang.com/

maybe try that site? Its a language generator site made by several conlang people. Seems to be a major hit with the Con-Lang community. Haven't tried it myself so might not be that helpful but hopefully.

Brightdreamer said:

Looking at how humans named new-to-them species here on Earth, even animals/plants with only tenuous-at-best connection to the original, that's almost a given.

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One example is that the European and North American birds knows as "robins' aren't even in the same family, and they certainly don't look at all similar (except for some reddish coloration in front).

And even further apart from their namesakes are beasties like the "Tasmanian tiger" or the so-called "marsupial cat."