eldraeic language
Eldraeic Word of the Day: Alathkháln
(Trying out a new irregular feature…) alathkháln (n.): The pain that comes from new understanding; the quale of collapsing certainty.
eldraeic language
worldbuilding
A Question Grab-Bag
Clearing the decks on a scale that is large… So after many back-and-forth sessions involving questions and answers, I’ve gotten the impression that in eldraeic morals and ethics, there’s essentially a continuum with “coercion” at one end, “ideal enlightened self-interest” at the other, and in between a fairly
eldraeic language
Author's Note: Bad, Bad Word
As a side note, that cautionary dictionary entry, if anything, understates just how spectacularly insulting uljĂra is, adjective-wise. But then, it was written by a non-native speaker of Eldraeic, even if a native speaker of the Trade dialect. Its literal meaning is “choiceless1” – and not so due to external forces.
eldraeic language
"Polite", As In Somewhat Less Dismissive
vetel i-seldá (n.): 1. Employee (lit. “seller of time”). 2. Hireling (pej.) 3. Flunky, lackey, stooge. (v. pej.) vetel i-seldá remains the currently accepted term in Trade Eldraeic for an employee, under the quasicontractual doctrine practiced in many polities, despite being a reuse of the original term in formal Eldraeic
eldraeic language
"Everyone" is a Dangerous Word
Be informed that the firm of Kanzian, Servessil, and Vagaster is currently seeking applicants for inclusion in the proposed coadunate action elen daryteir v. Tobry Horanuk. Horanuk, a citizen of the Shirethi Guilds currently domiciled in Mer Dinévál, Seranth, in an interview broadcast on the Living Seranth channel’s Hammer
worldbuilding
All My Base Are Belong To You
Numeric base, that is. So far, for the most part, I have been handling this via Translation Convention, since exactitude has not been of crucial importance, and expecting people who care about such things to pick up that for a people who use duodecimal (base-12) notation, a century is naturally
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Capital Letters Are Magic
Capital Letters Are Magic: They are indeed: prominent local examples include the Flame and its opposite, the Darkness, in their theological senses. This, though, is Translation Convention for the Eldraeic augmentative affix, in a language that somehow doesn’t have an augmentative affix. It means “qualitatively, not quantitatively, more so”
blogging from a to z
Normality
(Alternate words: None. No words, that is, not literally “none”.) normal (n.): 1. conforming to an average (mean), or to a common type (mode); 2. (pej.) mediocre; 3. … Visitors to the Empire and culturally-related regions should take particular note of the second, pejorative meaning of the word “normal”. In a
blogging from a to z
Lore
(No alternate words.) From Academician MĂşĂrĂ Larathyr-ith-Lyrian, Fellow of the Sodality of Commutative Logotecture, Associate Proctor of the Conclave of Linguistics and Ontology, Loremaster of Linguistics, Semiotics, and Memetics, to the Ecumenical Commission of Translation and Conversion, greetings. With respect to the views of the Commission and those expressed by
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Alternative Number System
Alternative Number System: The eldrae, and thus the Empire, use base 12 – mostly because the common numeric base was agreed on by the same collective of the philosophically inclined that standardized the language, and they saw no particularly good reason why you should pick a number base just because that’
eldraeic language
The Things Are Also People
First in this initial set, a terribly useful phrase in first contact situations or when wandering around an unfamiliar starport, Floating Market, or lost sophont office, lest you commit a dreadful solecism and confuse a robot, a piece of luggage, a pet, vehicle, furniture, or potted plant for a fellow
trope-a-day
Trope-a-Day: Unusual Euphemism
Unusual Euphemism: Eldraeic, by and large, is not a language given to a great deal of euphemism. Circumlocution, yes, but not so much euphemism, as its principal speakers prefer their straight talk to be straight. For example, polite society has no problem with people just saying straight out: valdar sessqár