Thanks for taking part in the discussion of whether “Marbles” should be the forever name of our latest feline rescue, as well as our suggestion of “Kinikini,” or just “Kini”, both Hawaiian words for marbles as objects or as a game.
There have been comments both ways.
Kini is cute. Good job!
On the other hand:
Wow. You think ‘kinikini’ rolls off the tongue more smoothly than ‘marbles’? The differences in humans amaze me.
Great cat. I’m still going to call him Marbles from over here though…
We asked two friends, both linguists, about our feeling that “Marbles” just doesn’t roll off the tongue. It turns out there’s a basis for our vague feeling.
The word “marbles” includes an example of a “consonant cluster,” something that apparently doesn’t exist in many languages, like Hawaiian.
From the ever-helpful Wikipedia:
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups /spl/ and /ts/ are consonant clusters in the word splits.
Some linguists argue that the term can be properly applied only to those consonant clusters that occur within one syllable. Others claim that the concept is more useful when it includes consonant sequences across syllable boundaries. According to the former definition, the longest consonant clusters in the word extra would be /ks/ and /tr/, whereas the latter allows /kstr/….
“Marbles” (with the consonant cluster
Search online for items about “consonant clusters” and you’ll quickly find discussions with headlines like “The challenge of consonant clusters,” or “Why are English consonant clusters so hard to pronounce….”
I like the name “Marbles,” but it just doesn’t feel right in the mouth as a cat name. That’s the reason we’re leaning toward Kini, or Kinikini.
And his long form name could still be “Kinikini, the cat formerly known as Marbles.” And if you still want to call him Marbles, I’m sure it will be fine with him.
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Another viewpoint from a multi-cat household. I approach cat names from the standpoint of their usefulness when calling the animal, or trying to get it’s attention. So my basic set of rules includes two syllables, easily stretched out, with crispy or sibilant consonants like K or S or T. It should be simple to understand, distinguishable from others, and easy to say. For these reasons, I am with Kini.
Either way, you win Ian! 😉
i’ve heard that animals hear the hard sounds and the vowel sounds, so i try not to use names that might sound too similar. i wonder if kini and kali might be confusing to them?
Kini(kini), Kali… and a distant Kili.
Enough to distinguish everyone?
how about pua keni keni or Keni for short ? , those have orange “balls” ha ha
aloha kakou,
Hei
Hey! Like that sound AND the cat must have orange gonads 🙂
“And his long form name could still be “Kinikini, the cat formerly known as Marbles.” And if you still want to call him Marbles, I’m sure it will be fine with him.”
Nah! I’m simply going to smile and celebrate Kini having a fine new home and you a Marvel of a new-kine cat. Aloha to your whole household.
Kinikini, sounds playful and I like saying that name. Almost sounds like kitty kitty which I use and favor. Guessing you will go with both long and short versions! A meow hello to your kitty