Listen to your Teachers

Dec10

Year 23 of the Addergoole School; 6 years after the beginning of the apocalypse

“Kallan, please stop by my office. I want to discuss matters with you.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Maybe later.” Kallan kept walking, a very firm hand on her companion’s bicep.

Jeriel, in turn, walked along with her but aimed an uncertain look Kallan’s way. “I thought you said we were supposed to listen to the professors. And, uh. The Director.” Jeriel stole a peek back at the disproving woman. Kallan picked up her speed.

“I said you ought to. I did not, you’ll note, say anything at all about me.”

“But you’re a student here. Wait, you said Eighteenth Cohort, didn’t you?” Jeriel skip-jogged a few steps in an attempt to keep up with Kallan’s ever-increasing stride.

“You weren’t supposed to be paying attention to that part.”

“What, I was just supposed to listen to the part where you gave me like, an entire manual on how to survive in this school and then totally ignore the parts on how you knew all of it and like, why everyone, even the upperclassmen, are both a little scared of you and, uh.” Jeriel’s mouth snapped shut.

Kallan chuckled dryly. “…and they think I’m a little bit dumb, because nobody fails Literature and certainly not twice. Even if you’re not sleeping with Mike.”

“Mhrm Mmmm-nnn MMM mmh.” Jeriel’s answer came through tight-closed lips.

“It’s fine.” Kallan slowed pace to make it down the stairs without breaking Jeriel’s neck – or her own. “It’s not like I haven’t heard it all. And you’ve taken a couple weeks of Mike’s class. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep failing out of it?”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1022750.html. You can comment here or there.

What’s your Name or Screen Name in Calenyen? (Lexember sidetrack)

Dec10

I’ve been playing around with language, as you’ve noticed, and playing with putting people’s names into Calenyen phonemes.

In some cases this requires bending the rules. For instance, my name, Lyn, falls entirely within Calenyen phonemes, but L- is not an initial sound.

In others, it requires bending the name:

It’s a CV(C)**** language: Underlyingly CVC, but because of degemination very commonly CV(C) in less formal registers, and typically so written (except in formal documents). (hat tip [personal profile] thnidu)

Adjacent consonants are okay unless they occur within the same syllable

No cl, gr, sk, bl, and so on.

No -io, -ia, like Mario, Maria, either. HOWEVER, to quote [personal profile] inventrix, “some of the vowel combination sounds can be ‘mimicked’ by using a palatalized preceding consonant.”

And some are nigh on impossible!

How’s yours work out?

Calenyen has the following letters:
Consonants
14 that can begin a word:
7 nonpalatalized, or “plain”: K, L, P, T, D, B, G,
7 corresponding palatalized: ky, ly, py, ty, dy, by, gy *
10 that cannot begin a word (non-initial)***:
5 plain: r, z, zh, m, n
5 palatalized: ry, zy, zhy, my, ny
4 non-initial consonants that arose in later days
2 plain: v, s
2 palatalized: vy, sy Vowels

9 vowels**
ai, i, aa, a, e, ie, u, o, oo (see here)

* beginning a noun, even a proper noun, with a palatalized consonant suggests something is without use, worthless. Yes, some people name kids that way.

** you can begin a name with a vowel! It means you’re royal, or, at least, you have an Emperor/Empress in your ancestry.

***The Calenyen break this rule, so it’s okay if you do! They like stealing names from other languages…

****with some variations, see Imperial names, etc.

If you want, I’ll draw your name in Calenyen letters. I could use the practice!

If your screen name involves an word (dragonfly, inspector, thorn, alder), I could be convince (if you ask) to make up that word in Calenyen, too.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1022144.html. You can comment here or there.

Read Rix_Scaedu’s “Legacy” and “Legacy 2”, set in Reiassan in Edally Era

Dec9

Rix_scaedu has written Legacy and Legacy 2, set in my Reiassan setting during Edally Academy (Steampunk) era.

This came out of a backchannel conversation after this conlang post on underwear in Reiassan, and it gives a lovely picture of life in other parts of Calenta.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1021089.html. You can comment here or there.

Daily Badges, because because

Dec9

I was complaining that I would have to wait a /whole week/ for another badge (or nearly so). rix_Scaedu suggested daily mini badges.

And, of course, I ran with it.

Snowflake Badge

Here is my first daily badge for tracking, exercising, and measuring yesterday!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1020675.html. You can comment here or there.

Sayings to translate into Calenyena, mostly a note to myself

Dec8

From a previous draft of Rin & Girey:

A border is written in blood on the heart and on the mind. -Old Cālenyen saying

If you allow the rain to slow your passage, you will never leave your tent. -Old Cālenyen saying

After a war-season, we look for friends in the faces of strangers, and for enemies in the faces of our friends.

When uncertain or angry, close your mouth. Keep it closed until you are certain, and calm. – From the book of Reiassannon
When uncertain or angry, stab forth. Ride the fire of anger until you are certain, and calm. – From the book of Veignevar
When angry, study the anger, then find where it leads. When uncertain, find the core of the uncertainty, and study it until it vanishes. – From the book of Tienebrah

Do not question why the goat you are given as a gift only has three legs. – Old Cālenyen saying

Sleep is a gift, but, like all gifts, it has its flaws and its price – ancient Calenyen saying

From Edally:

If the fingers are working, the mind is free to breathe

If You Call It a Fish, People Will Expect It to Swim

Some Fish Swim Best in the Air

When making war, first make tea

Hit First, Reassess, Hit Again

A Bond Reforged is Thrice as Strong

Sometimes the weasel just gets away

You can offer the goat the river, but a stupid beast will still chose the puddle

When the World is Shaking, Do Not Stop to Rebalance Your Saddle-Bags

The Brightest Fire Does Not Always Burn Hottest

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1020501.html. You can comment here or there.

#Lexember day 8: Ancestors

Dec8

ankewehner asked for family relations. So far, I have ancestors!

The Calenyena enjoy their sometimes-complicated family relationships, and most Calenyena can list the most important deeds of at least three generations of ancestors.

Starting with parents:

ketbaa, mother
dobaa, father

See here for images of words.

And grandparents:

ketbaake, maternal grandmother
ketbaado, paternal grandmother
dobaake, maternal grandfather
dobaado, maternal grandfather

This can go on!

ketbaakeke, ketbaakedo, mother’s mother’s mother; mother’s father’s mother.

-baa, parent; -baake, of the mother’s line, -baado, of the father’s line

kezzatbaake, zezzatbaado, a female ancestor of the mother’s or father’s line; dozhabaake, dozhabaado, male ancestors of mother’s and father’s lines.

Informally, baake, baake and baado, baado, “some ancestor way back in the line.” If you don’t know which side of the family the ancestor is on (which is unlikely), you end up saying baa, baa And sounding about as silly as that looks.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1020334.html. You can comment here or there.

Walk the Fields, talk some more

Dec7

First: The Reveal
Second: Find an Exit, Talk it Over

“Who still farms, anyway? I mean, gas, right? The pipelines stopped. Tractors gotta run somehow, don’t they?”

They were walking – ambling, really – down an almost-invisible path between two fields of something Urania was pretty sure was wheat. The demon pretending to be a gym teacher hadn’t said anything since they started walking, so Urania grabbed at the first topic she could find.

“Magic,” he answered mildly. “And horses. Mostly horses.”

“Horses? What is this, the eighteen-hundreds?”

“Last time I checked, a couple years after the pipelines stopped running.” He looked, she thought, amused. He also looked human; with the wings gone, he didn’t look anything at all like a demon.

“…Touche, creepy demon man.” He still was a demon. It was important to remember that.

“You ran into some pretty bad fae out there, didn’t you?” He sounded sympathetic. She wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with that.

“I ran into ‘fae’,” she answered shortly, “if you want to call them that. They were bad. That’s because they were demons.”

“Mmm.”

“What?” She glanced at his face, wondering if she was seriously worrying about insulting a demon.

“Just thinking I’d heard that before.”

“Well, you’re a demon.” It was just logical that someone would have pointed out that demons were evil, right?

“Not because of the ‘demon’ thing.” He didn’t make air quotes, but he somehow twisted the word anyway. “No.” He stopped and looked at Urania straight on. “Something like ‘the Dakota attacked my people. You’re a Seneca, therefore I can’t trust you.”

“But… Seneca and Dakota are totally different tribes! That’s like saying all Italians are the same as all Irish!”

“Exactly.” He raised his eyebrows at her.

Urania wasn’t having any of that. “You saw what the demons did to the world! You have to have seen it!”

“I did.” His voice was quiet now, and his expression serious. “And I’m sure Alastair did as well. It was horrible. The aftermath is devastating. I’m not denying that.”

Urania snuck a look at Alastair. He was still following along, but seemed content to stay quiet, listening. That seemed to be his thing, so she didn’t push it.

“So you’re saying, what, some other tribe of demons did it?”

“Not all of it, no. Some of it was done by well-meaning idiots who never learned to watch out for their surroundings, even when they were taught better.” His voice took on a bit of heat. “Some of it was done by humans desperate for an answer, any answer.”

“And this other tribe? Who are they? Why aren’t you them?”

“Well,” he coughed, and a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “There’s a whole school down there, and that’s on the curriculum.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1020014.html. You can comment here or there.

It’s Holiday Card time!

Dec6

If you’d like a card from me, please fill out this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12C6dA6e8Z7bDli6JI8ZFMtH8zo7GfhoYnfquubSb558/viewform?usp=send_form

Thanks!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1019129.html. You can comment here or there.