(Not) Sparkling Names

As a linguist, I have to pay attention to different phenomena concerning languages so that I can understand them based on their language properties and what they imply beyond that. Pokémon is included in some of these phenomena, as evidenced by several posts I've made about them. One kind of language phenomena related to Pokémon is their names, which I've written to a certain extent regarding their existence across languages. Predictably, there are multiple facets to any phenomena, and I'd like to take this post to write about another one of those facets.

In the previous post, I also mentioned that every language has different senses and sensibilities. They dictate what can and can't be done, especially regarding meanings. Names of people and things are also included, which is why many Pokémon names are different across a few languages. But even within one language, those senses and sensibilities may govern other things related to names. In the case of the Japanese language, there is a certain phenomenon that becomes a testament to this.

That phenomenon is called "kirakira" names, as in people names. According to a certain YouTube video, the term means "sparkling", but the group of names that are as such are really anything but. Of those names, at least the ones explained in the video, they include two very well-known Pokémon: Pikachu and Mewtwo. Japanese names for Japanese people are necessarily rendered in kanji (Chinese-derived characters), but forcing the names of both Pokémon to be rendered in those characters results in strange combinations meaning-wise. In the example, though, the "Mewtwo" name does include the character for "two", yet it would be considered a nonstandard reading in a way.

It makes sense. Typically, Pokémon names in Japanese are rendered in katakana script, which is often used to phonetically indicate expressions that are foreign (like English words) or otherwise may not fit in standard Japanese. While it is interesting to make them out with kanji for the purpose of naming people, it is as equally dubious, especially when standard names are already the norm. As well, pop culture-related expressions like names of Pokémon are not immune to criticism, often in verbal - and unfortunately sometimes physical - form; it is fairly easy to imagine what would happen if they are used for actual people names. It's no wonder that these "kirakira" names can be considered "bad", in a sense.

Evidently, names for people or otherwise - Pokémon - are as much part of language as anything else. They can be explained through it, and they are governed by its workings. The case of these "kirakira" names involving Pokémon particularly highlights deeper connections with language, here being Japanese, and why it just doesn't sensibly work out based on meaning and communication. It remains a "sparkly" phenomena for both language and Pokémon, even if underneath it all the sparkle just doesn't light up - if you get my drift.

One year ago: My Town, Pokémon Town
Two years ago: What's in a Name?