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ArchivesLal's meaning
On the Opinion Board there's been some discussion about Star Trek names, as a branch-off of another discussion about the merits--or lack thereof--of made up names. Anyway, ST names being brought up, I was reminded of something I wanted to ask for some time.
Data once created an android daughter, and named her Lal. At first she's asexual, but then she chooses to be female. After her introduction and her choosing her sex, Picard says in one of his logs that Lal, he has learned, is Hindi for "beloved". Now, considering that Lal died after two weeks of life, the meaning is supposedly especially poignant.
But I looked Lal up here, and it says it means "to play, to caress" in Sanskrit, and that it's a male name.
Is Lal an actual Hindi name (male, female, or unisex/asexual), and if so, does it actually mean "beloved"? Or did the ST writers screw up (because Data would never screw up naming his own child, I'm sure)?
Miranda
Data once created an android daughter, and named her Lal. At first she's asexual, but then she chooses to be female. After her introduction and her choosing her sex, Picard says in one of his logs that Lal, he has learned, is Hindi for "beloved". Now, considering that Lal died after two weeks of life, the meaning is supposedly especially poignant.
But I looked Lal up here, and it says it means "to play, to caress" in Sanskrit, and that it's a male name.
Is Lal an actual Hindi name (male, female, or unisex/asexual), and if so, does it actually mean "beloved"? Or did the ST writers screw up (because Data would never screw up naming his own child, I'm sure)?
Miranda
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Replies
I think it's shocking to see how many name-sites now give this meaning for 'Lal'. It is simply not correct. This is actually the meaning of 'Lalaa' (short vowel, long vowel) and 'Laalaa'. The first has in fact 3 meanings in Hindi: 1.boy; dear, son (term of address). 2.dear, beloved (term of address to lover or husband). 3. fool, blockhead. The second is probably the origin of the female name, because it means, among other things, 'a term of affectionate address to a child'. In that case the name would be unisex.
The only Hindi word that sounds like 'Lal' is 'Laal', and this means 'red' (strictly speaking it does have a short vowel at the end but this is ignored in Hindi, except in metric verse).
I also don't believe there is a Sanskrit name 'Lal'. There must be a vowel after the final 'L'. In Sanskrit it can not be ignored in case it is short.
The only Hindi word that sounds like 'Lal' is 'Laal', and this means 'red' (strictly speaking it does have a short vowel at the end but this is ignored in Hindi, except in metric verse).
I also don't believe there is a Sanskrit name 'Lal'. There must be a vowel after the final 'L'. In Sanskrit it can not be ignored in case it is short.
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"Lal" is both a Persian surname and a first name. In Hindi is translated as precious, beloved, and another similar word for something of great emotional value, which Ive forgotten.. Which fits, I guess; not a Hindi scholar here, with maybe a one off from "Laal" like Kira is to Akira in Japanese? But for some reason this is one of those that I remember from somewhere. And before you feel too good ..... you'll get older one day with a crapload ..... yes it's a word cause I said so lololololo... ahem of things crowding your brain for attention.
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