Original Prefixes

[Toa Turing]

I don't know how many people have noticed this, but most of the later element prefixes were based on a logical reason, for example, Fe- for Iron because that is it's symbol on the periodic table. However, I can't see any connection between the prefixes for Fire, Ice, air, earth, stone, and water. Any thoughts?

[a goose]

I don't know how many people have noticed this, but most of the later element prefixes were based on a logical reason, for example, Fe- for Iron because that is it's symbol on the periodic table. However, I can't see any connection between the prefixes for Fire, Ice, air, earth, stone, and water. Any thoughts?

Ta = TahuGa = GaliKo = KopakaLe = LewaPo = PohatuOnu = OnuaThe above is the connection. It brings up some storyline problems, sure, but that is the original reason for naming them what they're named.

[Taipu1]

I think the storyline solution was said to be that the Toa were named for their elements, being important Toa as they were. The reality is it was the otherway round, but it makes little difference.

Edited July 6, 2012 by Taipu1

[Makuta Matata]

I don't know how many people have noticed this, but most of the later element prefixes were based on a logical reason, for example, Fe- for Iron because that is it's symbol on the periodic table. However, I can't see any connection between the prefixes for Fire, Ice, air, earth, stone, and water. Any thoughts?

Ta = TahuGa = GaliKo = KopakaLe = LewaPo = PohatuOnu = OnuaThe above is the connection. It brings up some storyline problems, sure, but that is the original reason for naming them what they're named.

Maybe the Toa Mata were named after the prefixes.

[a goose]

I don't know how many people have noticed this, but most of the later element prefixes were based on a logical reason, for example, Fe- for Iron because that is it's symbol on the periodic table. However, I can't see any connection between the prefixes for Fire, Ice, air, earth, stone, and water. Any thoughts?

Ta = TahuGa = GaliKo = KopakaLe = LewaPo = PohatuOnu = OnuaThe above is the connection. It brings up some storyline problems, sure, but that is the original reason for naming them what they're named.

Maybe the Toa Mata were named after the prefixes.

That was the solution that was eventually decided, even though it was originally the other way around.

[Athmos]

That is another example of the hiccups in Bionicle.

[Toa Turing]

I don't know how many people have noticed this, but most of the later element prefixes were based on a logical reason, for example, Fe- for Iron because that is it's symbol on the periodic table. However, I can't see any connection between the prefixes for Fire, Ice, air, earth, stone, and water. Any thoughts?

Ta = TahuGa = GaliKo = KopakaLe = LewaPo = PohatuOnu = OnuaThe above is the connection. It brings up some storyline problems, sure, but that is the original reason for naming them what they're named.

Maybe the Toa Mata were named after the prefixes.

That was the solution that was eventually decided, even though it was originally the other way around.

That's not what I meant. I'm not asking about the connection between the prefix and the toa, but the connection between the prefixes ant their real life elements. For example, what real-life connection does Ta- havewith with Fire?

[a goose]

No, I mean, that is the connection. 'Ta' comes from 'Tahu' — it has nothing to do with fire.

[Toa Turing]

Oh, I see what You're saying. They gave the toa random names, and then decided to name the prefixes after them. That makes sense.

[bonesiii]

The prefixes were based on something elemental, because several (or maybe all I forget) of the Toa's names were taken from words in the Maori language that related to elements... if memory serves. :PThe later prefixes continued that tradition of basing it on something in a language, but avoided Maori due to the whole lawsuit debacle. They focused on Latin or just English and the like.Edit:From an online Maori dictionary I just checked right now, Tahuna is one word for fire, Pohatu means rock, and Kopaka means ice. The others were more indirect if I recall right; Onua yields no results but Onewa means basalt for example.

Edited July 6, 2012 by bonesiii

[Dralcax]

Wait...Fire = Tahuna = Ta+Huna = Vakama

[Rahkshi Guurahk]

Wait...Fire = Tahuna = Ta+Huna = Vakama

True...

[Aanchir]

The prefixes were based on something elemental, because several (or maybe all I forget) of the Toa's names were taken from words in the Maori language that related to elements... if memory serves. :PThe later prefixes continued that tradition of basing it on something in a language, but avoided Maori due to the whole lawsuit debacle. They focused on Latin or just English and the like.Edit:From an online Maori dictionary I just checked right now, Tahuna is one word for fire, Pohatu means rock, and Kopaka means ice. The others were more indirect if I recall right; Onua yields no results but Onewa means basalt for example.

Yep, you are correct. The Toa Mata names were taken fro Polynesian (not just Maori) words for the elements they represented, and the element names were shortened versions of the Toa Mata's names. Back then, real-world meanings for BIONICLE terms weren't just occasional-- they were everywhere. Matoran, Toa, and Turaga names were related to their elements, Rahi names were related to the animals they resembled, plant names mostly seem to be related to their function, and place names were either based on what the location was (for example, Koro is Fijian for village) or where it was located relative to the face of Mata Nui's robot body (Naho is Hawaiian for eye sockets, Motara is Rotuman for forehead, and Ihu is Maori for nose).Even in 2003, I've been able to find elementally-affiliated meanings for 61 out of the 72 Matoran names included in the game, coming from languages as diverse as English, Hebrew, Japanese, and Slavic.If anyone is interested, I have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on my Brickshelf which includes all the meanings I have been able to uncover for 2001-2003 BIONICLE terms, from a mix of online and hard-copy resources. Of the various pages, the Matoran, Toa/Turaga, and Kanohi pages are mostly complete, while the Locations & Miscellaneous page is also fairly substantial but the Rahi & Plantlife page is severely lacking.For those not wishing to download the file, Tahu is Maori for "to burn, set on fire", Gali is Gamilaraay for water or rain, Lewa is Hawaiian for sky, air, or atmosphere, Kopaka is Maori for ice, and Pohatu is Maori for stone. Since many of these languages are obscure, not all dictionaries for them are comprehensive-- I was able to find the meanings of Tahu and Pohatu online, but they are not in my hard-copy Maori dictionary, and I still haven't been able to find any relevant meanings for the name Onua.

Wait...Fire = Tahuna = Ta+Huna = Vakama

That's a coincidence. "Huna" is from the Maori verb meaning "to conceal/hide".

[bonesiii]

That's a coincidence.

Not necessarily; they might have liked the sound of "huna" but not for Tahu's name, and then picked invisibility due to looking up just the huna part.

[Toa Turing]

Thanks for clearing that up. I forgot that many 2001 characters were from the Maori language.

[Nuparu1995]

Yeah. Original six elements coincide with the respective Toa Mata and Wahi or Metru, originally taken from Polynesian languages. Others have actual basis in a root word, which can be found on the element's page on BS01.

[Toatapio Nuva]

Even in 2003, I've been able to find elementally-affiliated meanings for 61 out of the 72 Matoran names included in the game, coming from languages as diverse as English, Hebrew, Japanese, and Slavic.If anyone is interested, I have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on my Brickshelf which includes all the meanings I have been able to uncover for 2001-2003 BIONICLE terms, from a mix of online and hard-copy resources. Of the various pages, the Matoran, Toa/Turaga, and Kanohi pages are mostly complete, while the Locations & Miscellaneous page is also fairly substantial but the Rahi & Plantlife page is severely lacking.

Don't forget Finnish. Many names were taken from Finnish, even after 2003 (Olisi means "would be" and Vastus means "opponent", for example).I can make no sense of the file you uploaded. All the files just produce some kind of code. o_OEDIT: While we're sharing spreadsheets, here's one I made long ago about the names as well. Some Bionicle names have meanings in many languages. Some are just coincidence, though (like Puku meaning a suit in Finnish ). Check it out, and if you have something to add, I'd be interested in adding to the spreadsheet. Edited July 7, 2012 by Toatapio Nuva

[CeeCee]

I dont think any "Element" in Bionicle are actually Elements in real life besides IronWater=CompoundAir=MixtureFire=Reaction state(?)Earth=Just...NoStone=Seriously?Ice=State of water(Compound)

[bonesiii]

I dont think any "Element" in Bionicle are actually Elements in real life besides IronWater=CompoundAir=MixtureFire=Reaction state(?)Earth=Just...NoStone=Seriously?Ice=State of water(Compound)

"Iron" is just a poetic name for metal. The one thing it almost never includes is literal atomic iron, since the materials Toa control in the MU are protodermic versions of everything (other than Air), although they could make normal iron if they wanted."Element" in Bionicle means a basic aspect of nature or environments as seen by the people who established those powers, the Great Beings. We used to define it in terms of what is important to the Matoran in terms of their environment; hence Ice or Gravity or Psionics, etc. although now the same concept needs to be expanded to the Agori and suchnot on Spherus Magna too. Basically it's what the GBs thought the beings in question would need to focus on.It's not meant to be as specific as our modern definition of atomic elements. But it's a modern misconception that atomic elements are what the term "really" refers to. Originally it meant things like fire and earth and water; it was only recently when scientists began identifying different types of atoms that they needed a term to apply to it, so they repurposed or "borrowed" an old one. Modern language does that a lot. Think of words like tablet, nook, or web for example, that just in the past few decades or years have come to mean new things. That doesn't make the original meaning stop existing; it just adds to the list of words that are spelled the same but have different meanings in a dictionary, basically. Edited July 10, 2012 by bonesiii

[CeeCee]

I dont think any "Element" in Bionicle are actually Elements in real life besides IronWater=CompoundAir=MixtureFire=Reaction state(?)Earth=Just...NoStone=Seriously?Ice=State of water(Compound)

"Iron" is just a poetic name for metal. The one thing it almost never includes is literal atomic iron, since the materials Toa control in the MU are protodermic versions of everything (other than Air), although they could make normal iron if they wanted."Element" in Bionicle means a basic aspect of nature or environments as seen by the people who established those powers, the Great Beings. We used to define it in terms of what is important to the Matoran in terms of their environment; hence Ice or Gravity or Psionics, etc. although now the same concept needs to be expanded to the Agori and suchnot on Spherus Magna too. Basically it's what the GBs thought the beings in question would need to focus on.It's not meant to be as specific as our modern definition of atomic elements. But it's a modern misconception that atomic elements are what the term "really" refers to. Originally it meant things like fire and earth and water; it was only recently when scientists began identifying different types of atoms that they needed a term to apply to it, so they repurposed or "borrowed" an old one. Modern language does that a lot. Think of words like tablet, nook, or web for example, that just in the past few decades or years have come to mean new things. That doesn't make the original meaning stop existing; it just adds to the list of words that are spelled the same but have different meanings in a dictionary, basically.

Ah, Thanks for clearing that up. I always thought they based it on the Greek elements(Earth, Fire, Air and Water)