Appendix: Names and Naming
Patic naming-customs are peculiar and somewhat complex. They were adapted from the Anglic system originally devised by the Neuters, and requires some explanation of their history and reproductive techniques.
The first Neuters created by the Asexual Mutationist faction were given forenames only, which were all either Anglic names of common gender (Evelyn, Audrey, etc.) or the names of angels (the only stock of sexless named beings available); "Angel" was the most common name in all ages prior to the adoption of Dha-Patu. (On Freehold, these early name-stocks were largely replaced by Neutered forms of Latin and Greek names, so one can usually estimate a Neuter's age by its forename.) When the Protoplasts reproduced themselves by cloning, they gave names to their clones, who were also known by their parents' names: e.g., Azrael [clone of ] Metatron.
By establishing a direct neural link between the parent and the growing clone before its decantation, connecting the two nervous systems into one, a Neuter becomes one personality inhabiting two bodies. Once the personality is firmly imprinted in the new brain, the connection is severed. This process is called "psychotomy" (disonáig) and is usually done when one person has an internal conflict -- is of two minds, so to speak -- about alternative courses of action; in two bodies, each sharing the same basic memories and thought-patterns, the conflict is resolved as each goes its separate way. In such cases, the part of the mind that splits off into the new clone (the disidáo) chooses its own name, usually a symbolic one alluding to its future course of action. During the Anglic period, they often invented entirely new names; one popular among linguists and esthetes was Jayrar, derived from the initials (J. R. R.) of the classical author Tolkien.
The Resexualists used the same procedure, but altered the embryonic clone so that it would develop into a male or female body. Usually they would destroy the brain of the old body instead of simply severing the neural link, thus effecting a kind of artificial metempsychosis. Often, too, the same Neuter might grow two clones at once, one male and one female, and form a trinity before destroying the Neuter brain and severing the link between the male and female bodies. Those who did not sever the link, and continued to exist simultaneously in male and female bodies, were called "disomatics" (p'torsdív). Deemed to be perverts, they were shunned by polite society, forming a little enclave within the enclave of Thomavmic subculture.
As the number of Neuters grew, further distinction became necessary; so, after the given name and the name of its parent, each Neuter began using a chosen, descriptive name. Thus, for example, Jayrar Evelyn, the creator of Dha-Patu, became Jàràr Evlin Sapetni (adapting its forename and parent-name to its own language). As use of the new language became more widespread and habitual, new given names were coined, and most Neuters began to use the parent's chosen name rather than its given name as the parent-name.
The Resexualists commonly adopted Elvish names of legend or literature for their forenames (Oberon, Titania, Celeborn, Galadriel, etc.), or the original Latin and Greek names that had been Neutered by their forebears (thus, a Carol might psychotomize into Carolus and Carola). When, as Thomevme, they began reproducing in the natural way, their sons took patronyms and their daughters metronyms: e.g. Marcus Antonius (Mark, son of Anthony) and Dafne Khloë (Daphne, daughter of Chloe). Cognomens were usually either Latin or Greek, to distinguish male and female names from each other; but during the Patic period, they began coining new names in the Thomavmic dialect.
The final part of the full Patic name is that of one's adbo. This term has no direct translation in any Anglic dialect; the Neuters themselves, before adapting Dha-Patu, used many different terms for basically the same thing. This is a social institution that arose on Freehold during the cultural renaissance beginning after the first planetary century, when the area of settled civilization had grown large and prosperous enough to allow leisurely cultivation of esthetic tastes and intellectual interests. Associations emerged among those who pursued common tastes and interests; these associations gradually became more formal; offices, rituals, disciplines evolved -- their forms varying widely from group to group, according to their specific tastes and interests. Sapetni's Academy is one such adbo; so, finally, its full name became Jërër Evlin Sapetni Akademi.