Doug Whiddon wrote:

As always, all replies to me, not the list.

I'm posting this to the list because it touches on an issue that I think
would benefit others -- at least those of us who haven't taken courses
in Japanese. I put this disclaimer in: I am NOT an expert but this is
what I've put together myself trying to compose some names and words in
the last few months. 

Some words are adjectives in japan. For instance, "aoi" which is blue.
So you could say "aoi [noun]" and it would mean "blue [object]."

If you want to use a proper noun as an adjective you use "no" to show
the relationship: "Suzaku no Miko" which means roughly "Suzaku's
Priestess" or "Priestess of the Firebird-God".

HOWEVER, if you want to invent your own word by fusion, you have to see
if the KANJI exist to make it a valid match. Further, kanji have both
Japanese and Chinese readings and you cannot MIX them! Think of kanji as
common word elements that can't be broken. Examples would like hydro-
astro- arbor-.

So, looking at mori: (sorry, this url will probably be broken in email
so cut & paste into your browser if necessary) 

http://enterprise.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e/tty/-G50I/S=48/fg=c/inline/dokanji?index=t&ivalue=3f39

The readings are SHIN, mori, moto.

SHIN is one type of reading, I forget if it's the Chinese or Japanese
one (but I think it's Chinese, because I think Mori is a Japanese word
that stands alone) while the other two are from the other set.

Now for rei:
http://enterprise.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e/tty/-G50I/S=48/fg=c/inline/dokanji?index=t&ivalue=4e6e

it has readings of REI, RYOU, tama.

So no, you can't say Reimori. I'm not sure the exact shade you get
depending on the order of the kanji, but simplistically you can say
Shinrei, Shinryou, Tamamori, Moritama, Tamamoto, something along those
lines.

I have *no* idea what a real Japanese would do upon encountering a word
like that, especially without it actually being written in kanji...
There are probably additional rules that govern coining a word, though I
do know that manga authors who have invented some words have come up
with some doozies. My suggestion is you play over the syllables and pick
the one that sounds best, this is after all a fanfic for a western
audience. I would perhaps footnote the word though [Shinrei -- from the
japanese forest+spirit]. 

For fanfic purposes or if it's a particular spirit you need to refer to,
you might be able to go with "Rei no Mori" "The Spirit of THE Woods."

Hope this helps a BIT.

Nightman