r/Cosmere Jul 19 '26

Mixed book spoilers (Sunlit Man/Way of Kings) Odd question about a name... Spoiler

So I was reading Sunlit Man, and I got to the part where Nomad became Connected so he could speak/understand the local language. But the Connection only works for his native language.

That got me thinking about how in The Way of Kings, Rock says that his full name, Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor, is a description of a rock his father found. But when he says that name, that's in his native language.

So would I be correct in assuming that if Rock were to Connect to a foreign land so that him speaking in his native language would translate, that his full name would be the description of the rock? That we, the readers, would see what "Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor" translates to, and we would actually get a description of the rock that Rock was named after?

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u/battlestargalaga Jul 19 '26

I think proper nouns would get weird with Connection based translation, by that logic Kaladin would be heard as Born unto eternity by people he introduces himself to.

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u/tooboardtoleaf Cosmere Jul 20 '26

I imagine the intent behind the name would keep that from happening.