User:Ourai/Ourai

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Welcome to /Ourai.
Since the actual word "Ourai" is unknown and obscure to pretty much everyone, my solution is to create an article for it in Wikipedia style. This is also partly for my use, since I can now simply direct people to this page instead of having to explain the origin every time someone asks. Feel free to edit this article as any other.

Ourai (IPA: [əʊ/ɹaɪ]) is an obscure given name, usually male. Today, it is used almost exclusively as a username by the Wikipedian Ourai.

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[edit] Origin

The word "ourai" was first coined in the late 1990s by John A. Dutka, Jr. Though the actual inspiration remains unclear, the term was created as part of a text-based roleplay set in the Star Trek universe. In the Rihanha language, it was a noun meaning "fire." The fictional Institute of Ra'tleihfi, a site dedicated to the Romulan language and culture, expanded the definition to "fire, starfire, or plasma."

Presumably, the term was coined as purely functional in nature. According to Star Trek canon, the signature weapon mounted on Romulan starships is a plasma torpedo (also plasma mortar), which functions as a counterpart to the photon torpedo: a long-range guided projectile with great damaging capability. With plasma being both the foundation for Romulan weapon systems (not to mention that it plays an integral role in starships' antimatter-powered warp drives), any text-based roleplay set on a Romulan installation or ship would probably need to use the term at least once.

[edit] Adoption

User:Ourai, when first being truly exposed to the Internet, noted that, oftentimes, a username would be required to log in and access certain goods or services, play games, contribute to Wikipedia, etc. He also noted that, due to the rather large number of users of any particular service, most names were already taken, leading to the practice of appending numbers to the end of one's username to render it unique (e.g. John --> John117).

Now, Ourai was a relatively individualistic fellow, and did not particularly want to append numbers to his usernames, simply because it felt too conformist and was just not unique. He also wanted a single unified username to use for all srevices he wished to access that required registration, and so a nique name was needing to be found. Thus, he began searching for a distinct username.

First looked at was Susan, a reference to Ourai's similarities in personality to the character of the same name from El Goonish Shive, a webcomic read by him. Realizing the monumental nonunique nature of the name, plus the fact that the name was female, while the person male, he moved on. Foresight, and its diminuitive Fore, were investigated, first originating from Halo: Combat Evolved. Ourai used them for some time, then thought something lacking in them (though he occasionally still makes use of them). Following a reccomendation from a friend, Sarai was used for a time. When Ourai realized that references, unintentional ones, to be sure, to the Biblical Sarai were sure to come, he quickly abandoned it.

Resolved to find a username, Ourai set out clear standards. It needed to be short, between five and ten characters, with no numbers or special characters. It needed to be easily pronouncable, in case he ever adopted voice chat. It needed to be unique and easily recognizable. Lastly, it would be better if it actually meant something. With criteria in mind, Ourai set out.

The first place he looked was in various dictionaries for canon Star Trek languages, starting with Klingon. All entries he found there did not fit; the Klingon language's unique use of capitalization, apostrophes, and other quirks in writing meant that very few words were actually suitable. He moved on to Romulan, and almost immediately found "Ourai." It was short, at five letters, pronouncable, certainly unique, and had a utilitarian meaning. Shifting the emphasis of the word on the more romantic notion of "starfire," Ourai had a name.

[edit] Pronunciation

To the author's knowledge, there has never been any set pronunciation of the word. (Originating as it did in a text-based roleplay, pronunciation would be redundant.) Thus, Ourai has had to create pronunciation both faithful to spirit of the Romulan language and pleasing to the ear.

The Romulan language, derived from Vulcan, is both described and spoken as extremely melodic and fluid. An authorized non-canon publication once described it sounding almost like song to human ears, pleasing to listen to.

Standard IPA pronunciation would approximate [əʊ/ɹaɪ]. Since Ourai himself cannot read IPA, and knows that the majority of English speakers cannot, an English approximation was developed. This pronunciation has split the word into two syllables: Ou•rai. The first syllable, "Ou," is spoken almost identically to the interjection "Oh," with a "w" tacked to the end: Ohw. The second syllable is said in the same manner as rye, preferably with a rolled R. Emplasis is placed on the second syllable.

[edit] External links