Where Things Come From... According to Me

There are a lot of things out there that I have to somehow explain in terms of my world. Luckily for me, I am very creative and have so far been able to explain many things with some pretty convincing reasoning. Here are just a few examples:

The heart symbol-
To us it means love, but my origin is very different and means compassion. It represents an overhead view of arms in embrace. However, in my world, it looks a little bit different.

This symbol, known in Catin as Terakor and Keòen as Teracor, refers to the caring soul of a person. It takes its name from the Catin words Tera (derived from Terabi, the god of Aura), and kor, the word for heart, referring to the area of the chest where emotions are felt. Born in the days of Terabi, it stands for compassion. It quickly became the Keòen word for soul and represents the area of the chest where emotions are felt. It is also the name of the glowing blue soul visible in Terabikai when they enter and traverse the Realm and where their blades of Lovelight are stored and drawn from. Because of this, the Teracor became one of the two symbols of Terabi. It later evolved in Catin as a synonym for center (as in the center of something). The symbol also appears on the Sorela crest, which is known for compassion, and many with the last name Sorela still add this symbol to the end of their signature. Today it represents soul, compassion, care, and love.

The name Jeffrey-
To us it's an old English name, but my origin lies in a very specific time and place. The name means 'warrior' and was coined in 1155 by the infamous Mera Visi. He and his wife were expecting their first child, a boy, and since Mera did not carry the last name of his father, he and his wife decided to give their son a brand new crest of just Loch, a component of both Mera's father's surname (Trevin Loreloch) and his wife's surname (Naidel Lochgren). They wanted to name him Frey, the Keòen word for warrior, but Freloch (the language omits the Y) was a crest, so to avoid people mistaking his entire name for just his crest, Mera decided to add 'Je' to the front of it, which gives a word emphasis without changing the meaning. In order to have the emphasis be on Frey, he doubled the F, therefore coining the name Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Loch indeed went on to become a warrior and traveled to Tevernid to serve in the Kiillaanian military, as Jadali is protected and therefore has little need for war, and sends its best swordsmen to Tevernid. He was a very compassionate man and people were drawn to him. Many civilians and soldiers went on to name their children after him and the name became hugely popular. He also traveled to Catarika a couple times, bringing his name with him. Even today, Jeffrey is still one of the most popular names in Kiillaana, Catarika, and Jadali.

The name Magellan-
Also Keòen in origin, the name Magellan comes from the components Magel (Catin), the word for 'bestowed of mage power' and Lan, the Keòen word for 'fellow.' It was first coined in the 1200's when the name was given to a Terabikai (Men of Terabi have some of Terabi's power that he obtained as a mage) as a nickname and the name quickly caught on. It is pronounced "ma-GHE-hlan" in Keòen and "ma-JEL-lan" in Catin.

The names Declan, Kaelan, Aslan, Ashlan, Freylan, etc.-
Lan is the Keòen word for 'fellow,' first used in the name Riedlan which means 'river fellow.' Several more names followed suit and there are now countless names that end with -Lan. Each represents a trait of a man, such as good fellow, battle fellow, etc.

The Clarinet-
This single reed instrument has its origins in Catarika and was made from the tropical wood. Over time, keys were added to the holes, enabling it to become very agile and beautiful.

The Oboe-
This double reed instrument comes straight from Jadali. It was one of the earliest instruments that they constructed from whatever they could find. Over time, it evolved into the dark instrument we have today. The Keòen word for oboe is ddachàr (Catin: daharo).

The Crest-
This one is pretty obvious. Family lines have huge significance in Catarika and Jadali and therefore crests were designed and assembled to denote the family line and show what it represents. This practice was not adopted in Kiillaana until around the 1100's.

The 7/8 Time Signature-
I'll explain this in a much larger post.

There are many more and I may explain some more later. :)