About cliff & fjord names
Vertigo is the common thread, whether in English results like "Degough Bluffs" and "Harborough Crevice" or French warnings like "l'Abysse Glacé". Names in this register mark the coastline hazards on a sailing campaign map or the drop your mountaineering scene builds toward. Plural French forms suit whole stretches of coast, single English names one fatal landmark.
How cliff & fjord names are built
Cliff and fjord names pair a French feature generic with a descriptor phrase, with an English fallback pattern. "Le Belvédère des Spectres" puts a generic against a descriptor; "Les Ressauts du Tonnerre Sourd" hangs a longer 'du' image off the generic. The English path fronts "The" with a descriptor and a feature word, as in The Northern Chasm and The Black Cavern Bluff.
Le Belvédère des Spectres
le Belvédère (generic) + des Spectres (descriptor)
French generic plus a descriptor
Les Ressauts du Tonnerre Sourd
les Ressauts (generic) + du Tonnerre (descriptor head) + Sourd (descriptor tail)
French generic plus a longer 'du' phrase
The Black Cavern Bluff
The (fixed article) + Black Cavern + Bluff
the English "The" plus descriptor plus feature shape
Naming notes
The structural register is set by the generic word bank (26 entries) against large descriptor banks (319 entries each). The descriptor phrases run from single adjectives to full 'du' images like du Tonnerre Sourd. Separate English banks feed the "The" plus descriptor plus feature shape. Keep one register across a coastline so the forms read as one mapped stretch.
Questions about cliff & fjord names
- How are cliff names built?
- A French generic is paired with a descriptor or a fuller 'du' phrase; an English pattern fronting "The" with a descriptor and a feature word is the alternative.
- Which bank carries the register?
- The 26-entry generic bank (le Belvédère, les Précipices, l'Éperon) sets the French register, while the 319-entry descriptor banks supply the variation.
- Are the descriptor phrases real places?
- No. The descriptor images (du Tonnerre Sourd, des Cormorans) are generic coastal phrases rather than entries drawn from an atlas.