In formal Eldraeic, the modifier boz indicates that a word is being used in a vernacular (possibly referring to a local dialect or borrowing, although most commonly indicating a way the word has come to be used in Trade) fashion, rather than in accordance with its proper definition. The modifier boz is derived from the word bosh (“a mush or porridge; a soft, wet, pulpy mass”). This is in no way, gentle reader, a commentary on the Conclave of Linguistics and Ontology’s perceptions of the sort of mentality that resorts to vernacular to express itself, and if you believe any part of that sentence, please contact me for an exciting investment opportunity in the Three-Ended Wormhole Corporation.
– “Wordplayer’s Corner”, the Imperial Infoclast
eldraeic language
Speak Eldraeic Like a Semi-Literate Barbarian (3): Descriptive Metaphors
In today’s episode of Speak Eldraeic Like A Semi-Literate Barbarian, we cover descriptive metaphors. These are the least accurate and thus, inevitably, the most common type of modified word, a phrase that can take the place of an análar in any part of a sentence where one may be used, including both the anesprel and the rélar.
The descriptive metaphor (or the atratanálar, “typed-concept-word”, to give it its native name), is the least accurate type of modified word because it avoids the complexity of precisely defining the nature of the relationship with sub-clauses and cases by relying on metaphorical interpretation by the listener. For example, the name for a certain common weapon, tragalrás athánar, “Meat Machine”, or by its extended gloss, meat TYPE-OF machine, actually says very little about the relationship between meat and mechanism.
Is it a machine made out of meat? A meat-covered machine? A machine implant for meat? A machine for growing meat? A machine that serves the function of meat? Or a machine, as it in fact is, for reducing folks to meat?
There’s no way to tell. It depends on interpretation of the metaphor¹, so it is a form best avoided in scientific or technical discussions, unexplored areas of intercultural or interracial exchange, and other precisionist-grade speech. To use them is to assume the risk of being misunderstood in exchange for briefer expression.
That said, atratanálar are the closest equivalent to the adjective-noun² or adverb-verb combinations found in Anglic³, which also blend two concepts in a type-of relationship. It should be noted, however, that while it and other languages have rules concerning which words are allowed to modify and be modified, in Eldraeic, any análar may modify any other; you have complete freedom of metaphor generation, limited only by the comprehension of your listener.
Simple Atratanálar
So, some examples (using a few words that aren’t in articles we’ve reached yet, but not in the vital parts):
pí tramúlet lórravár
This-here is-a apple-type-of-tree.
This is an apple tree.
ádar Méris tradúëlin nissívár
The-person-named Méris is a young type-of female.
Méris is a young woman. or Méris is a girl.
val tralaras hainár
I words-type-of fight.
I argue. (Probably. Heh.)
This is the basic form of the atratanálar. The descriptive análar is placed before the described, and prefixed with tra- to indicate its descriptive function. Within the atratanálar, the first component is referred to as the carylan, the modifier-concept, and the latter as the cadarylan, the modified-concept. The cadarylan carries the primary meaning and the carylan modifies it with secondary overtones to be applied in a manner appropriate to the cadarylan. (For example, in the second example, tradúëlin should be interpreted as “young in the manner in which nissí, i.e., females, are young⁴”.
Complex Atratanálar
Sometimes we need more complex descriptions, either attaching more than one descriptive metaphor to the same cadarylan, or using a descriptive metaphor to describe the carylan of a second descriptive metaphor. To combine this with an example of ambiguity resolution, consider the following Anglic phrase⁵:
That’s a little girl’s school.
If treated as an example of the former, it would be interpreted as
That’s a little school for girls.
And if treated as an example of the latter.
That’s a school for little girls.
Many languages use intonation, stress, or rhythm to show the grouping. Eldraeic does not, by design. Rather, it structures such sayings in the form of a stack of stacks, thus:
pá tracalma tradúënissí alathyravár
That-there is-a small TYPE-OF [and] girls TYPE-OF school.
That’s a little school for girls.
pá tratracalma tradúënissí alathyravár
That-there is-a (small TYPE-OF girls) TYPE-OF school.
That’s a school for little girls.
In constructing these complex atratanálar, the prefix tra- binds the carylan to the next cadarylan to its right on the same level of the stack. In the first example, therefore, both calma and dúënissí modify alathyra. In the second example, the doubled prefix tratra- does so at the next level of the stack; i.e., it binds the carylan “calma” to the cadarylan “dúënissí”, and does so before, interpretatively speaking, the single tra- present there binds the now-complete carylan “tracalma dúënissí” to the cadarylan “alathyra“.
Which is to say, it is simply two nested atratanálar. Various combinations of nested atratanálar form the basis of all the more complex descriptions we will cover below.
It should be clear that this system can recurse through arbitrary depths of modifiers, with increasingly repetitive prefixes of tra-, tratra-, and tratratra- – although as is a common feature of Eldraeic grammar, the language permits syllabic numerals (discussed in a later article) to be used rather than repetition⁶ – and that any construct thus assembled is necessarily unambiguous.
Digression
It’s worth saying, of course, that the equivalents of “pretty little girl’s school” in Eldraeic don’t have quite as many variations as those in Anglic. For example, aelva strictly means “beautiful” and does not have the auxiliary “very” sense that “pretty” does. Likewise, calma means only “small in size” and cannot mean “young” (which would be dúëlin). And, of course, alathyra technically doesn’t mean school, inasmuch as the Empire doesn’t use such institutions – it means institute/academy/university.
So we’re still going to use this convenient phrase in our example, but do bear in mind that we’re discussing a Beautiful Academy of Short Young Women.
Complex Examples
There are five ways in which the análar of “pretty little girl’s school” can be grouped using tra- without reordering them:
traäelva tracalma tradúënissí alathyra
pretty TYPE-OF [and] small TYPE-OF [and] girls TYPE-OF school
a school which is beautiful, small, and for girls
traäelva tratracalma tradúënissí alathyra
pretty TYPE-OF [and] (small TYPE-OF girls) TYPE-OF school
a beautiful school for small girls
tratraäelva tracalma tradúënissí alathyra
(pretty TYPE-OF small) TYPE-OF [and] girls TYPE-OF school
a beautifully small school for girls
tratraäelva tratracalma tradúënissí alathyra
(pretty TYPE-OF [and] small TYPE-OF girls) TYPE-OF school
a school for girls who are beautiful and small
tratratraäelva tratracalma tradúënissí alathyra
((pretty TYPE-OF small) TYPE-OF girls) TYPE-OF school
a school for girls who are beautifully small
And that’s all she described!
See also later: inverted descriptive metaphors; logical connection in descriptive metaphors.
- While no general theory of interpretation exists, it is considered appropriate to maintain regularities of usage. Inasmuch as, for example, calma (“small”) and zahúën (“large”) are parallels, so too should be tracalma azik (“small stone”) and trazahúën azik (“large stone”), and in approximately the same way.
- Eldraeic only has análar, which serve all these functions.
- The closest convenient transliteration of “English” into Eldraeic phonology.
- Quite dissimilar, obviously, to the way in which yoghurt, buildings, or stars, are young.
- Yes, we’re going to use “pretty little girl’s school” as our example phrase, just like everyone else who gets here.
- Common examples being totra-, the little-used equivalent of tratra-, tetra– for tratratra-, and fotra- for tratratratra-. Not incorrect but never heard is netra-, identical to simply tra-, and using nitra- to mean something that does not describe the cadarylan at all is considered entirely too precious.
And yes, there’s a contemporaneous update of the vocabulary page, too.
Speak Eldraeic Like a Semi-Literate Barbarian (2): Predication
(In the course of reading through this, the attentive reader and language hobbyist may note that Eldraeic bears more than a few similarities to Loglan and/or lojban. This similarity is, of course, purely intentional.)
To examine the grammar of a language, one must start by breaking it down into its most basic elements. In Eldraeic, being a language of logical form, the basic compound element is the predication, or esprel, an assertion of something about the world:
sá fidúrár
It is blue.
A predication (esprel) is made up of several components. At its center, you find the anesprel, or predicate, the assertion being made. An anesprel is one of the análar, or concept-words (derived from anála, concept, and laras, word) which make up the majority of the Eldraeic vocabulary, which has been adorned with -ár, the predication suffix, which marks it as the anesprel. (The predication suffix may be lengthened to -vár when the análar ends with a vowel.)
análar, thus, effectively serve as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and many adverbs, all of which are types of assertion.
The esprel also requires arguments (rélar) to fully define the assertion being made by filling in the complete form (see below) of the anesprel. These can appear anywhere around the anesprel, although conventional, non-poetic form places the subject/actor before the anesprel and the remainder of the arguments after it. The precise function of a given argument relative to the predicate is given by a case tag which is prefixed to the argument, although that for the subject/actor is normally omitted when placed alone before the anesprel. Others are mandatory.
While a full list of case tags will be given at a later date, that for subject/actor is a-; that for object/acted-upon is an-. These two are the most commonly used. More details on forming arguments will also be given at a later date. For now we are using mirílar (lit. structure-word, derived from miríë, order, and laras), words with special grammatical functions, specifically some of those which can occupy the role of a pronoun. Strictly called free variables, the special words sá, sé, sí, só, and sú can be bound to any argument, regardless of any other properties it may have, and used later to refer back to that argument.
Thus, we can see that in the phrase
sá fidúrár an-sé
the first rélar, the subject, is sá (A), the anesprel is fidúr (…is bluer than…), and the second rélar, the object, is sé (B). Or, to write it in plain English simply, A is bluer than B.
Comparative? No, Complete Forms
It should be noted that fidúr, when used as an anesprel, means not simply “blue” but “SUBJECT is bluer than OBJECT” (or to give its full complete form “SUBJECT is bluer than OBJECT by STANDARD”). This is the case for most análar which refer to properties; likewise, relational análar, such as aldren (sister), can have a similar complete form, “SUBJECT is the sister of OBJECT [by bond/tie STANDARD | from parents CREATOR <set> ]”.
Every análar has (and is listed thus in an Eldraeic dictionary) a complete form expressing its full meaning when used as an anesprel, defining the entire meaning of the resulting esprel by showing the places in which its expected arguments sit (and the case tags to be attached to them). This complete form is not binding with regard to which arguments you must supply – you may omit arguments and add additional ones via case tags which are not found in the complete form – but it is assumed that the arguments from the complete form are present, even if unspoken. Thus, all blue objects are bluer than something, all sisters have sororal bonds and/or parents, and when you make something:
mahav (make) has the complete form “SUBJECT makes / assembles / builds / manufactures / creates OBJECT out of materials / parts / components COMPONENT using tool INSTRUMENT”
It is implied that you make it out of something and use a tool to do so.
The Omitted Argument
What then does sá fidúrár, which we earlier translated as “it is blue” mean? Well, technically this is an allowed elision of a slightly longer form:
sá fidúrár an-uis
uis is an indefinite argument (of which more later), which serves as a verbal ellipsis, a placeholder for when an argument is omitted; such incomplete esprel always imply uis. Naturally, it can be elided – in normal speech, you never actually need to say uis – but it can be useful if you wish to draw attention to the argument you are omitting.
As an omitted argument, uis means “something which exists but which I am not bothering to define, except as implied by the esprel I am within”. In the case of sá fidúrár an-uis (or simply sá fidúrár), you are simply saying that the subject is bluer than “something”, which is to say, that the subject is blue.
Observatives
Two special types of esprel are the observative and the imperative. Of the imperative we shall speak later.
An observative, meanwhile, is simply an esprel in which the subject/actor is omitted. These are referred to as observatives because their common usage is to observe that something is happening without details and to communicate that quickly; for example, should one find oneself in a crowded theater, one may cry:
andravár!
Fire!
without wishing to take time to establish precisely what is burning.
Speak Eldraeic Like a Semi-Literate Barbarian (1): Letters and Phonemes
We talk this week about the Eldraeic alphabet, and how it is pronounced.
Orthography
There are 48 symbols in the Eldraeic alphabet. Leaving aside the twelve numerals (whose pronunciation as words will be addressed later when we get to syllabic numbers), the remaining thirty-six characters are letterals; twelve vowels, and twenty-four consonants.
Note that Eldraeic doesn’t use capitalization; there is only one case. When it is desired to emphasize a word (or a name), traditional means include – depending upon mode – a change of color of ink, a cartouche, or a suitable calligraphic fillip.
The traditional representation of these, as taught to students across the Empire, is in a grid with a few missing cells at the bottom right, like this:
| Short Vowels | Long Vowels | Plosives | Fricatives | Sibilants | Nasals & Rhotics | Exotics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a [æ] | á [a] | b [b] | v [v] | z [z] | m [m] | l [l] |
| e [e] | é [e] | p [p] | f [f] | s [s] | n [n] | h [h] |
| i [I] | í [i] | d [d] | ch [t͡ʃ] | zh [ʒ] | r [ɾ] | ! [ǀ] |
| o [ɒ] | ó [o] | t [t] | th [ð] | c [ʃ] | rr [r] | q [kw] |
| u [ʊ] | ú [u] | g [g] | j [ðʒ] | x [ks’] | ||
| y [ə] | ý [«] | k [k] |
Not here that the two-letter combinations reflect single Eldraeic letterals.
Additional symbols are used in some modes to indicate stresses and tones, but while these provide useful side-channels for communication, they aren’t part of the strict language grammar and won’t be touched on additionally here.
Phonology
Having now disposed of the orthography, let us move on to the phonology. While the IPA representations of the various letterals have been included above, in the more detailed notes below, I include some examples of equivalent English phonemes for the non-IPA speaker. The trouble, of course, is that these reflect how I pronounce English, so caveat reader. You may also find this page useful.
First, we go through the vowels, of which there are two mirrored sets, short and long. To begin with the short, we have:
- a [æ], a near-open near-front vowel; pronounced like the a in cat.
- e [e], a close-mid front vowel; pronounced like the e in pet.
- i [I], a near-close near-front vowel; pronounced like the i in bit.
- o [ɒ], an open back vowel; pronounced like the o in dog.
- u [ʊ], a near-close near-back vowel; pronounced like the u in put.
- y [ə], a mid central vowel (schwa); pronounced like the a in about.
And then the long vowels:
- á [a], an open central vowel; pronounced like the a in father, but a little further forward.
- é [e], a close-mid front vowel; pronounced like Spanish e, French é, or the trailing part of English say without the closing glide.
- í [i], a close front vowel; pronounced like the i in machine.
- ó [o], a close-mid back vowel; pronounced similarly to the o in dough or joke, but without the closing glide.
- ú [u], a close back vowel; pronounced like the oo in boot.
- ý [«], an elongated schwa; pronounced like being very confused “uhh”.
Now on we go to the consonants, and we open with the plosives. All very simple:
- b [b], a voiced bilabial stop; pronounced as in boy, sober, or job.
- p [p], an unvoiced bilabial stop; pronounced as in pay, super, or up.
- d [d], a voiced dental/alveolar stop; pronounced as in dog, soda, or mad.
- t [t], an unvoiced dental/alveolar stop; pronounced as in tea, later, or not. Note to American English speakers – even between vowels, the Eldraeic t never elides to a d.
- g [g], a voiced velar stop; pronounced as in go, eagle, or dog.
- k [k], an unvoiced velar stop; pronounced as in kill, token, or flak.
And then the fricatives:
- v [v], a voiced labial fricative; pronounced as in voice, savor, or live.
- f [f], an unvoiced labial fricative; pronounced as in fee, loafer, or chef.
- ch [t͡ʃ], a compound; pronounced as in church, chutney, or chew.
- th [ð], a dental fricative; pronounced as in thus, therefore, or they.
The sibilants:
- z [z], a voiced alveolar sibilant; pronounced as in zoo, hazard, or fuzz.
- s [s], an unvoiced alveolar sibilant; pronounced as in so, basin, or yes.
- zh [ʒ], a voiced coronal sibilant; pronounced as the s in pleasure or in vision.
- c [ʃ], an unvoiced coronal sibilant; pronounced as in the sh of ship, ashen, or dish. Never pronounced as either s or k. (Well, hardly ever: sometimes I fudge some C-as-K when transliterating to English for the convenience of English readers who would expect one there.)
- j [ðʒ], a voiced post-alveolar affricate; pronounced as the j in juice.
The nasals and rhotics:
- m [m], a voiced bilabial nasal; pronounced as in me, humor, or ham.
- n [n], a voiced dental or velar nasal; pronounced as in no, honor, or son.
- r [ɾ], a rhotic sound; pronounced as the short r found in car, baron, or right.
- rr [r], a rhotic sound with trill; the tongue-tip trill found in Spanish and Scots.
And finally the exotics, most of which are not particularly exotic but which don’t fit neatly into any of the other categories:
- l [l], a voiced lateral approximant; pronounced as in low, nylon, or excel.
- h [h], an unvoiced glottal spirant; pronounced as in aha or hello.
- ! [ǀ], a dental click; not found in English – since species vary widely in their ability to click, you can substitute any other click here and it would be understood, but for a human speech apparatus, it’s supposed to be a dental click.
- q [kw], a compound; similar to the q in quart, or quake, but while the w-part is there, it’s also swallowed somewhat. Just not enough to make it identical to k.
- x [ksˈ], a compound; pronounced as in xanthine or Alexander.
There are also the diphthongs, but while I may get back to them later, I’m going to let you figure them out yourselves from the vowel descriptions for now, mostly because if I have to listen to any more pronunciation examples to figure out the correct IPA, I may just stab myself in the larynx.
But that does bring up one important point. Apart from the acute accent used to indicate long vowels, core Eldraeic does make use of one other accent, represented in the transliteration by the diaeresis. This indicates that the letter it is placed above is pronounced separately from the previous one. So, for example, it indicates that the last part of ashíël is not a diphthong, and would correctly be pronounced ee-el.
While mostly used for diphthongs, the accent can also be used on consonants. For example, the word
kass:endal
which has a diaeresis here represented by a trailing colon over the second s, is properly pronounced kas-sendal.
Other things we will get to later include that letters have both pronunciations (i.e., patterns to turn letterals into words) and names which are used as a phonetic alphabet. But that’s not now, and nor is it next time.
Next week, we’re gonna do some predication.
Speak Eldraeic Like a Semi-Literate Barbarian (0): Introduction
As people have been requesting more linguistics and vocabulary, welcome to the first article in our new approximately-weekly series, Speak Eldraeic Like a Semi-Literate Barbarian. (From the remarkably unpopular Like a Semi-[whatever] Barbarian series of self-help books.) It will consist of a series of chapters discussing different features of the language from the bottom up, and will (once there is some) also add a vocabulary list page to the site that we’ll expand on as we go.
In this first chapter, the introduction, we talk a little bit about the language and its various forms – most importantly, what the rest of this series won’t contain.
First of all, one should bear in mind that Eldraeic is a constructed language within as well as without the Associated Worlds universe. It was specifically developed to be the official common language of the constituent nations of the Empire of the Star. As part of the Imperial Charter, the various constituent nations and their successors agreed to universal fluency in Eldraeic.
The language was developed, to some extent, before the Imperial period; reifying the original version took nearly a century of scholarly debate (with the odd duel and brawl to break the monotony), combining aspects of the sundered languages of the original nations redesigned for precision and clarity – its exquisitely regular grammar has a strong mathematical basis that makes it ideally suited to express logical and technical concepts. It was eventually released for general use in 8.
However, while Eldraeic became, as intended, the shared language of governance, education, global media, and commerce, it was accepted and encouraged that the constituent nations would keep their original languages for daily use. As a consequence of this, Eldraeic has adopted many loan words and borrowed features as the Empire has expanded – indeed, it has become quite fashionable to lard one’s conversation with words and phrases borrowed from one’s cultural tongue – and many of these have found themselves incorporated into subsequent releases by the Conclave of Linguistics and Ontology.
Dialects
There are two –
(Okay, three, but the third is one people would prefer not to admit to.)
– well-known Eldraeic dialects.
Low Eldraeic is the one we’ll be talking about in this series. It’s the standard version of the language spoken by the entire Empire for day-to-day purposes.
Then there’s High Eldraeic, which we won’t be covering. Unlike such languages as High German, High Eldraeic is an extremely sophisticated prestige dialect, used on the most formal of formal occasions, the highest of official documents, by savants and scholars, poets and artists. As well as the normal alphabets, it can also be written in several dedicated glyphic systems conveying multiple dimensions of meaning.
(We won’t be covering this because it’s every bit as complex and flowery as the most elaborate forms of Heian-period court Japanese on top of that of the language itself.)
Then there is Trade. Trade is, from one perspective, the interstellar language of communication, trade, and diplomacy that predated ubiquitous machine language translation. From another perspective, it’s an Eldraeic pidgin hacked for simplicity, which incorporates a significant number of words and grammatical features from other languages of the Worlds, split into many mutually-mostly-comprehensible dialects. From yet another, it’s a painfully grating mutilation of a beautiful language that it would be nice never to have to hear again now that machine translators can render just about anything into minimally competent Eldraeic.
(We won’t be covering that one, either.)
Polyspecific Variations
Another aspect of the language is its variations adapted to the different vocal apparatuses (and to an extent, psychology) of the different sophont races of the Empire. While difficult, it has thus far been possible to keep the variations isomorphic.
The version we will deal with here is Eldraeic I, the original varietal of the language released in 8, and thus obviously suited to the eldrae throat and range of hearing. (And thus, additionally, suitable for human speech and hearing.)
Other versions include:
- II, released in 443, which is a sign language based in gesture and digit positioning (having its origin in military and engineering gesture-sign languages);
- III, based on pause and interval like Morse code, and therefore suitable for even primitive communication channels;
- IV, a variation of I adapted for the canid throat, and while still relatively close to the original has a growling, howling character;
- V, designed to be best spoken underwater;
- VI, a compressed binary representation used primarily between digisapiences, which in its slowed-down audio representation resembles the twittering of modem cant,
- VII, encoded in color and pattern, for species with chromatophores,
- VIII, designed to resemble the natural communication of silicon-based species such as the galari, and many hydrogen-breathing gas giant species, for use over natural radio communication,
- IX, made up of ideographic chimes and tones of various harmonic frequencies forming thousands of sub-symbols, similar to mynenio and thus favored by the myneni and similar tympanic speakers,
- X, a varietal of whistles and trills used by avians and other whistle-speakers,
- XI, a scent-based variant for those who speak via chemosynthesis,
- and more…
Written Forms
There are three primary written forms for Eldraeic – if we discount the ideographic writing, which is now largely relegated to commonly used store signs, calendars, watch faces, emoji, and other such usages – each of which uses the same 48-character alphabet written in different forms.
The runic alphabet, commonly known as hexrunic, is derived from forms of writing pioneered by the azikeldrae for carving into stone or inscription upon metal. Thus, it largely eschews curves, and avoids ascenders and decenders which interrupt symmetry; hexrunic is compact, making use of modified hexagonal and part-hexagonal shapes which use space efficiently. Combining accents are placed within the letters.
This alphabet was also commonly used on early computer displays, both teletypes and pre-WYSIWYG digraphic displays (being naturally monospaced), and many of the most commonly used technical fonts are designed for it.
There are also two cursive alphabets, one designed for pens and descended from Selenarian originals, a language of graceful, tall curves, with an italic slant and ascenders and descenders offering free scope for calligraphic flourishes and ornamentation. Each character flows freely into the next. Accents are added above the text.
A second cursive variation, designed for brushes, is taken from the writing styles of Ochale and Kanatai, which has also become popular for writing on slates and other pressure-sensitive surfaces. This variation also gave rise to claw-letters, a modification devised by dar-bandal savants for easy inscription by clawed species.
Next time, we’re going to discuss the actual 36 letterals (and 12 numerals) of the Eldraeic alphabet, and the language’s phonology.
Eldraeic Word of the Day: anála
anála: (from anás, a monad, and alath, knowledge); a concept.
Specifically, anála refers to an entity of the conceptual plane; for example, a philosophical form, a geometric shape, or mathematical concept, such as the computed value of π. This specifically excludes any knowledge-monads which are contingent upon the material plane, such as physical concepts or laws – including things such as the speed of light, or the measured value of π – which are determined empirically and which may vary between localities or universes.
Eldraeic Word of the Day: méshválar
méshválar: (from mésh, a tile or plaque, and válaras, name, itself from val, personal pronoun, and laras, word); a name-tile.
The origin of the name-tile is in the simple courtesy of not bringing moisture or road-dust into the home. Imperial houses are normally constructed with a caráhan, an entry room, which serves the purpose of containing outside dirt and providing space for visitors to prepare themselves to enter the house proper, as well as for requesting permission to enter the house proper from its hearthmistress or her proxy. Such a room therefore often contains amenities such as a small fountain for personal refreshment and cupboards or chests for visitors’ shoes, travel clothing, etc., that they do not wish to bring with them into the home, as well as the traditional welcoming display.
The méshválar, a thin porcelain tile bearing its owners name and sigil, serves two purposes connected with this room:
For visitors, the méshválar is placed upon the cupboard or chest in which they have placed their effects, signifying their ownership of the contents. In some caráhan, associated with commercial buildings rather than homes, these containers lock, and once the key has been withdrawn, the méshválar is placed specifically over the lock, but this would not be seen in a private home. The strength of the custom is more than sufficient to guarantee privacy; indeed, should a guest depart without being able to collect their effects, it is usual to ship the entire chest, unopened, to their home.
Meanwhile, when at home, it is customary to place one’s méshválar on a rack located within the caráhan, thus allowing arriving visitors to know who is currently at home before requesting entrance.
Aperture Linguistics
(Originally titled Eldraeic Word of the Day: asírdaëlíthal, but come on…)
asíran: power; note: not coercive power, the power of compulsion, which is korás. Rather, the ability and means to act upon the elements of the world towards a defined end. (See also the kinds of power, here.)
daëlin: probability, chance.
asírdaël: (from asíran + daëlin) opportunity; that is to say, a possibility (probability) which exists because of one’s possession of the power (agency) to take advantage of that possibility; that which can be realized through action.
íthal: object, thing.
asírdaëlíthal: (from asírdael + íthal) an opportunity-object; an item created for no reason other than that one possessed the power to create it. The end product of such philosophies as “because it’s there“, “we do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard”, and “we do what we can, because we must”. Existence/possibility as imperative.
And Yet More
The two kinds of night…
ashíëmúr: “starlit night”; the night-half of the cycle in that half of the year in which Súnáris is in opposition to Lumenna, and the sky remains in twilight throughout the night, never becoming truly dark. From ashíël “star” + múrna “night”.
falsamúr: “black night”; the night-half of the cycle in that half of the year in which Súnáris is in conjunction with Lumenna, and the sky grows dark in truth. From falsan “black” + múrna “night”.
…the two natures of power…
arídaäsír: power; specifically, that power which arises from might, the power of lightning and the storm, the sword stroke, the crashing wave, the mighty engine, and the blazing sun. From arídan “sun” + asíran “power”.
chalíäsír: power; specifically, that power which arises from cunning, the power of the unforeseen gambit, the ingenious design, the perfect balance, the craftsman’s hand, and the gleaming moon. From chalíël “moon” + asíran “power”.
…the three kinds of loyalty…
traëlefí azkith: loyalty to one’s contract, oath, or obligations; from elefí “oath-contract” + azkith “loyalty”, itself from azik “stone” + ankithel “emotion, passion”.
traärgyr azkith: loyalty to merit, or rather, that loyalty to a person or group given fully and freely from respect for its worth. From argyr “merit” + azkith “loyalty”. Also sometimes seen as trabandal azkith.
traëstxijír azkith: loyalty to an abstract ideal, purpose, or necessity. Fromestxijír “wyrd, dharma” + azkith “loyalty”.
…and since we already covered loyalty, might as well give you these…
talisétäef: honesty; “converse with truth”, from talis “truth” + sétavir “converse (among a group)” + the state affix -ef .
carábrinef: generosity, liberality; “open-handedness”, from carás “open, accessible” + brind “palm (of the hand)” + the state affix -ef.
sefykith: laughter (as emotion, not sound), passing joy; from sef “spume, sea-foam” + ankithel “emotion, passion”.
merékith: kindness; from merel “gentle” + ankithel “emotion, passion”
dalínef: friendship. From dalín “friend”, plus the state affix -ef.
Twelve More Words
aelvthal: aesthant, from aelva “beauty” + thal “functional niche”.
arídamaen: dusk; from arídan “sun” + maen “fall”
arídaqerach: laser; from arídan “sun” + qerach “lightning”.
éändrycmesi: enlightenment, from andra “fire” + cmésí “kiss”.
ictoch: (expl.) “glitch”; colloquially, any annoying thing that you need to work on.
klaith: shadow; shade cast by a radiation-source.
laranlír: language; from laras “word(s)” + anlíril “song”.
mathalmin: crossroads, or intersection; from mathal “road” + minal “meet”.
traändra vandthel: “fire-anger”, wrath, specifically the noble rage of the righteous.
traëhain vandthel: “duel-anger”, the anger which requires satisfaction in battle, if not necessarily death (compare trasered vandthel).
traólmahara aelva: “the beauty of the remade”; that particular quality of beauty inherent in that which was broken and has been made anew. Also: an aesthetic philosophy similar to the Japanese kintsugi.
trasered vandthel: “blood-anger”, that fury which can only be quenched with the death of one party.
Eldraeic Topical Words of the Day: Celestial Bodies
So, we had already established one word for a celestial body. As you’ll recall, that would be:
ashíël: star
From there, ancient astronomers gave us:
affíëníel: (from traäffiën ashíël, “dancing star”), planet; and
chalíël: (from trachálporis ashíël, “circling star”), moon.
And slightly less ancient ones provided:
alélazik: (from traälél azik, “sky-rock”), asteroid
But just to ensure that some recent distinctions are captured:
traäffíënel chalíël: true-moon, moon of a planet; and
trachalíël chalíël: moonmoon, moon of a moon; and even the unlikely
traälélazik chalíël: moon of an asteroid.