Aladdin Central Messageboard

[Marisa]

Many characters' names can have multiple spellings, and I'm thinking that the "accepted" spelling for many names are actually wrong >,> not to sound conceited or anything. I have two that I specifically want to talk about...

SADIRA vs SEDIRA

While in the community, "Sadira" is the generally accepted spelling, I tend to lean towards "Sedira" with an E. I think her name comes from the French word "sedir", which means "to seduce". Fits her well, n'est pas? There's also the fact that while you do hear the A pronounced, it's also common to hear some characters (specifically Jasmine) pronounce it "Seh-dira" instead of "Suh-dira".


SALEEN vs SALINE

My argument is much weaker on this one, but hear me out. I don't know where "Saleen" first came from, but there is a word in French called "salin", which means salt, but specifically "sea salt". Often, things are made more feminine in French by adding an E (much like how we add "a" to make things feminine) thus giving us "Saline".
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[Hourglass]

Umm... with many names there are many different spellings. My name's Megan... and there's WAY to many ways to spell it.

Megan
Meghan
Meagan
Meaghan
Meygan
Meaygan
Meayghan

And the list goes on.

The thing is that they are all derived from one name: Margaret... so they all mean the same thing, there are just different ethnic distortions to it.

I believe that the way the character's name is spelled is the way it's supposed to be. There doesn't have to be a direct way, that's their name, and that's the way they should be... there shouldn't have to be any meaning behind it.
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MysticMeg's Stories on THE LIBRARY OF AGRABAH!!!

MEESH AND MYSTICMEG'S COMBINED STORY!!!

Just another weird lil' fanfiction obsession of mine...

[AladdinsGenie]

Well, in this fandom, a lot of their names have meanings behind it because they were named that on purpose for ironic reasons, or a silly pun you can't figure out until 20 years later.

[Hourglass]

[Marisa at friend's house]

That's a good point, but it's somewhat irrelevant here. See, like you said, Meghan and all its variations are derived from Margaret. However, Sadira and Sedira are two completely different words.

Sadira is a name of Arabian origin, meaning (according to my search) "Ostrich returning from the water". However, as I said before, Sedira comes from the word "sedir", meaning "to seduce".

"Saleen" is a sports car company, while "Saline" comes from the word "Salin", as I said before, meaning "sea salt".

So while your "megan/meghan/etc" argument was valid, it doesn't apply here.

[Hourglass]

Either way, I believe that Disney knew what they were doing here. They may have put forth a little time and effort to know why they used specific names.

My point may have not fit in EXACTLY, but it still does hold some standing. A name that has altercations can mean something different, or can mean the same as the name you derived it from.

Take my name *again* for example. As I said before, it's derived from Margaret. Margaret means "pearl"... now, my name means "soft and gentle" *how ironic*.

Now, I know that's proving your point, but then, if you look up Meghan... it also means "pearl". And, if you look Megan up again... it means "pearl" also.

Every name *if it is derived from something else* has two different meanings. One is the meaning of the name it was derived from, another is completely different one that someone makes up when they make an altercation. It's up to you to decide which name meaning you wish to take. And in other countries, baby names are picked especially for their meaning... so it wouldn't suprise me if they took the meaning from the name they derived it from for the ALADDIN SERIES.

www.babynames.com

**this site has a limited aray of Arabic names, but there are some**
_________________
MysticMeg's Stories on THE LIBRARY OF AGRABAH!!!

MEESH AND MYSTICMEG'S COMBINED STORY!!!

Just another weird lil' fanfiction obsession of mine...

[Calluna]

I think the name "Sadira" also means "star". But it's probably a pun on "sand", since I've seen her name misspelled as "Sandira" sometimes on the series VHS tapes.

I'm sure Saleen/Celine/however you spell it's name is a pun on "saline", but it's pronounced slightly differently ("suh-LEEN" instead of "SAY-leen"). Also if you change the spelling it makes the pun a little harder to figure out. I think that's what they did with Frijeed as well, which is a pun on "frigid". ("fri-JEED" and "FRI-jid")

[Meesh]

[Meesh]

Isn't Saline a medicine?? ... Or is that Salene?
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[Ariellen]

If you watch the videos or DVDs with Aladdin episodes on them (princess tapes/DVDs, Aladdin's Arabian Adventures, etc.), some spellings show up as follows:

Sadira (and even though the 'True Hearts' Princess collection video says 'Sandira' on the back of the box, the captions do read 'Sadira'...I've never given any consideration to 'Sandira,' personally)
Saleen
Arbutus
Fasir

Those are the only ones I've seen debated much...

[AladdinsGenie]

Rasoul/Razoul, Farouk/Farooq...

[Ariellen]

Rasoul and...I believe Farouk were the ones the tapes use. And now that you go there...even though the correct spellings ARE pretty darned official!!!...Rajah/Raja? Iago/Lago? Aladdin/Aladin/Alladin? Jasmine/Jazmine/Jasmin/Jazmin? Abu/Aboo? Jafar/Jaffar? Heck, I've seen Genie as Jenie, Jeanie...etc.

I have a pin from WDW that on the back names the character as "Lago" from "Alladin." This is official Disney merchandise here, people. Cracks me up, then makes me sad.

[AladdinsGenie]

I've seen Genie as the technical PC term "Jinni"

[Marisa]

[Meesh]