The game of Go - how Westerners would name it

[brodie]

As a linguist(tics major), this is the type of question i could spend way too much time thinking about. It occurs to me that what sets go apart from other games is there a bit of gentlemanliness about it (sorry to be male-centric) in that a refined player is not aiming for total domination, merely one more point than the other. Therefore I would lean towards names with that general idea, such as

half plus one
simple majority
one more

Of course,those all sound terribly boring, because in English, given the language's history, we have a passion for loan word appropriation to the extent that English words as names often sound mundane, so you would have to translate that into, say, swahili, where you come up with the following:

moja
wengi

In any event, anything would've been better than "go," which not only sounds pedestrian, but, as anyone looking through the android market place can attest, causes needless confusion.

In all serious tho, I think I like stone field or hegemon.

[tj86430]

Live and let die.

Or, in my case, die and let live.

[scsfello]

I would favor "go, the game of stone swords", shortening over time to "stone swords", and then "stones".

[entropi]

entropy

[Bonobo]

Since somebody wrote something involving strategy and tactics …

- Stractics
- Tactegy

[Mivo]

Why would you think the situation would be different than for chess? We call the game "chess" and not "kings" (and here we are still within the same language family).

It's only "chess" in English. In many European languages, the name is much closer to the original. In German, for example, it is called "Schach", which is almost identical with the Persian name ("schah", king), and somewhat similar to the Arab version ("schatrandsch").

[kex]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

[aokun]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

Well, in Navajo, it'd be called "checkerboard," the white player would called "Bia" and komi would be the white player's "Dawes allotment." More seriously, the concept of hozro or hozho, not sure the spelling, would cover the balance aspects of the game very nicely, just not the part where one player wins by crunching the other.

[jts]

It occurs to me that what sets go apart from other games is there a bit of gentlemanliness about it (sorry to be male-centric) in that a refined player is not aiming for total domination, merely one more point than the other.

The word you're looking for is "gentility".

[jts]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

Well, in Navajo, it'd be called "checkerboard," the white player would called "Bia" and komi would be the white player's "Dawes allotment." More seriously, the concept of hozro or hozho, not sure the spelling, would cover the balance aspects of the game very nicely, just not the part where one player wins by crunching the other.

Intriguingly, some ludologists believe that the people who crossed the Bering Straits brought proto-parcheesi with them. If they had brought 弈 with them as well, it would probably have a derivative name.

[cyclops]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

I never understood. Is America to the west of Eurasia or to the east?

[hailthorn011]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

I never understood. Is America to the west of Eurasia or to the east?

Typically when you have a map on paper, the Americas are placed to the west of Eurasia. However, on a globe, and in reality, it's sort of both.

[Akura]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

I never understood. Is America to the west of Eurasia or to the east?

Typically when you have a map on paper, the Americas are placed to the west of Eurasia. However, on a globe, and in reality, it's sort of both.

I'm not sure, but haven't most American maps America/the Pacific in the center?

How about naming it "WeTo - Weird Topology" or "CRC - Calculate, Read and Count"?

[tezza]

Because of its simplicity to learn, profoundness in playing:
"Child's Chess"

[aokun]

The original poster asked about western names, but so far the answers have been about European languages, such as English, German, Dutch. None of the western languages have really been considered.

So what would it be in Navajo, Penutian or Nahuatl?

I never understood. Is America to the west of Eurasia or to the east?

Yes.