Might as well start where I did. Nielda itself is a word derived from the people's own conventions. Niel was the name of a major deity; in reality he was a powerful Dryad. Niel was attributed having taught the Nielda how to build walls and canals; the staples of early Nieldic archeitecture. By the time of the Junlaerd Niel himself was long dead, but he was revered as the high god of the generally accepted pantheon. The Nielda considred him their spiritual father, the one who first initiated civilization. Thus the sufix, 'da'.
The Nielda divide people up primarily by parental status. Until you have children you are Da, child. Mulda is son; Felda daughter. Once you have children you become Dair, parent; Muldair being father and in turn Feldair is mother. That particular set of names tends to confuse humans who find themselves in the vicinity of Nielda. Many a traveller has mistakenly confused the two. Dadair is grandparent, translating roughly as, one whose child is a parent; feldafeldair being you maternal grandmother; muldamuldair being a paternal grandfather, and so on. Beyond that the Nielda simply refer to relatives as 'eldair' which means more or less exactly like the word it resembles. Siblings are 'dan', muldan or feldan. uncles and aunts are 'feldairmuldan or feldairfeldan' or conversly if on the father's side. There is little mistaking how a relative is related to you.
It should be pointed out now that all Nieldic linguistic notes refer to so called 'high Nieldic'; the language in which magic is spoken and which Nielda use to confuse other races. Day to day affairs have been conducted in Common, an internationaized variety of English, since first contact with humans was made in the 4300s(Nieldic standard of course). Even most Nielda find it to cmbersome for daily use.
Felda, and Mulda are still used frequently for names though; primarily by the nobility, and upper classes of Nieldic society. Gansfeld(muld) would be the daughter(son) of a lord, lord being the rank of nobility at which political power exsists. Since there are no less than a hundred such lords the 'Gan' is usually substituted for the world of origin.
Gan translates as chief or leader; lord is just the modern translation.
You may have noticed a name, Spielgan, used. The name means 'war chief' or 'battle leader'; but is used more often as 'captain'. Their are two seperate, at times intertwining, Spielgan families. The Anatolian Spielgans are low nobility, and are loyal followers of the local Stone family. The Imperial Spielgans are the semi-hereditary captains of the guard; A position they have managed to hold through constant vigilance and consistently good politics.
Another useful word is 'Hoval'. It translates as house, but is used as clan. The most freqeuent use is in the formal introduction of a noble. Ah du Petra, felda du hoval laerd, is the example I'll use. The common translation is 'I am Petra, daughter of the Imperial House'. Though it translates in meaning as 'I'm Petra Laerdsfeld, submit to me or I'll destroy you and everything you hold dear' since that is the main thing a member of the Imperial family expects when introducing themselves to a non-noble. Laerd is king, but the Nielda use it interchangably with emperor.
The last two words you should know are 'Shaditha' and 'Zink' as well as the latter's derivatives. The first translates as demon, although it is the root of the common word shade. It refers to both the demons themselves and to the brand of magic they use. It is never spoken, always either muttered cautiously or cryed angrily; depending on the circumstances.
The second word, 'Zink' refers to the Nieldic embodiement of death. She is maternal and compassionate. She is also the only member of the Nieldic pantheon with no historical origin. The verbed form is 'Zikat', it is a word with magical bonds to prevent its use as a death command; though a powerful magic user can override those bonds. This particular set of words is used very cautiously, For reasons that shall be seen.
Showing posts with label linguistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label linguistics. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Historical Note
The last pair of short stories concerns a figure who is important primarily for who he is connected to. Were it not for those connections he might have been rather more important.
Yuri Sveldana's name itself is one of those connections. His first name was given to him by his father; it was his uncle's name. That name is human; his surname is Nieldic and as such follows Nieldic custom. Svel is the name his mother used, mostly when she didn't want to be known. Da, is the Nieldic suffix indicating 'child of' in names it's usually accompanied by either the feminine 'fel' or the masculine 'mul'; the discussion of these terms could take several paragraphs, so I'll spare you. Na is the most critical element though; it's a rare suffix in names and quite unfortunate for anyone who bears it. The use of 'na' in a surname indicates that his mother does not care for him; unwanted or the mother was lost at childbirth, to the Nielda it makes little difference as both indicate the mother's weakness.
His mother would be a delicate subject for his entire life; they never did reconcile. She regretted it her entire life, particularly in her later years. He died without meeting her directly.
His father was the top vampire. The count himself; though much reformed by the time of his son's conception. He spent the later half of his life attempting to convince the vampires, a disorder he himself had begun, to adopt a more peaceful lifestyle. It was a relatively fruitless measure but several covens did accept the so called 'Draculaic conventions'. These conventions revolved around self-control, and interdependence on the local mortal population. Where the population was hostile; animal blood could be substituted for that of Humans, Jaguans, Harakai, Pythans or Ga-Vok. Nieldic and Gravagan blood are unsuitable for vampiric needs for different reasons; Nieldic blood treats Vampires as undead and destroys them with haste while preventing infection, and Gravagan blood is of a completely different elemental build. Count Dracula was by all accounts, a good father and excellent role-model.
Yuri was related to the future rulers of Gasca and Tara. Queen Masne of Tara; despite ruling over the most Lycanthropic world in all history; always considered her cousin(on her father's side) welcome at court and his Nieldic blood(unique among vampires) protected him against the local werewolves. His Aunt Niste, and her heir his Half-cousin Bisnon, were less friendly but more obliged to help. His mother had, as has been said, been responsible for placing her on the Gascan throne in multiple ways.
Yuri and Vestine married after school. It was a happy and fruitful marriage. She chose the mortal life, he was quite distraught at her death and threw himself into his father's work. Most of their children followed him in his work. By his death in 7893(Nieldic standard) his descendants were numerous enough to form a coven of their own. They would take a human variation of their father's name as the name of their coven; Yellsdana.
His most illustrious descendant is Courtney Yellsdana. She was one of the coven's rare daywalkers during the frostbourne war. Following the death of it's ruler/creator, and her defeat of the demon responsible for the war, she became Countess Courtney Demonsbane, the ruler of Stormguarde; a city built onto a series of asteroids and planetoids within the Witch's Nebula. A position she holds to this day.
Yuri Sveldana's name itself is one of those connections. His first name was given to him by his father; it was his uncle's name. That name is human; his surname is Nieldic and as such follows Nieldic custom. Svel is the name his mother used, mostly when she didn't want to be known. Da, is the Nieldic suffix indicating 'child of' in names it's usually accompanied by either the feminine 'fel' or the masculine 'mul'; the discussion of these terms could take several paragraphs, so I'll spare you. Na is the most critical element though; it's a rare suffix in names and quite unfortunate for anyone who bears it. The use of 'na' in a surname indicates that his mother does not care for him; unwanted or the mother was lost at childbirth, to the Nielda it makes little difference as both indicate the mother's weakness.
His mother would be a delicate subject for his entire life; they never did reconcile. She regretted it her entire life, particularly in her later years. He died without meeting her directly.
His father was the top vampire. The count himself; though much reformed by the time of his son's conception. He spent the later half of his life attempting to convince the vampires, a disorder he himself had begun, to adopt a more peaceful lifestyle. It was a relatively fruitless measure but several covens did accept the so called 'Draculaic conventions'. These conventions revolved around self-control, and interdependence on the local mortal population. Where the population was hostile; animal blood could be substituted for that of Humans, Jaguans, Harakai, Pythans or Ga-Vok. Nieldic and Gravagan blood are unsuitable for vampiric needs for different reasons; Nieldic blood treats Vampires as undead and destroys them with haste while preventing infection, and Gravagan blood is of a completely different elemental build. Count Dracula was by all accounts, a good father and excellent role-model.
Yuri was related to the future rulers of Gasca and Tara. Queen Masne of Tara; despite ruling over the most Lycanthropic world in all history; always considered her cousin(on her father's side) welcome at court and his Nieldic blood(unique among vampires) protected him against the local werewolves. His Aunt Niste, and her heir his Half-cousin Bisnon, were less friendly but more obliged to help. His mother had, as has been said, been responsible for placing her on the Gascan throne in multiple ways.
Yuri and Vestine married after school. It was a happy and fruitful marriage. She chose the mortal life, he was quite distraught at her death and threw himself into his father's work. Most of their children followed him in his work. By his death in 7893(Nieldic standard) his descendants were numerous enough to form a coven of their own. They would take a human variation of their father's name as the name of their coven; Yellsdana.
His most illustrious descendant is Courtney Yellsdana. She was one of the coven's rare daywalkers during the frostbourne war. Following the death of it's ruler/creator, and her defeat of the demon responsible for the war, she became Countess Courtney Demonsbane, the ruler of Stormguarde; a city built onto a series of asteroids and planetoids within the Witch's Nebula. A position she holds to this day.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Linguistic note; kora-kara
I used the Nieldic word kora in chapter twenty.
The word means, in best translation, 'certain future'. It's counterpart is kara, uncertain future.
The practical translations are inevitable and possible, but neither fits it quite properly. Kora is like saying it will happen, and it can't be avoided. Kara, is saying that something will happen, but something else may happen instead. The two words are used frequently in relation to prophecy. Kora prophecies tend to be vague statements like, 'it will rain' or 'the world will be named X'. In prophetic terms, kora is more or less the equivalent of fortune telling, statements are made, and the tell-ee later encounters a situation and assumes that this is what the prophecy foretold. The truest kora prophecies tend to be kara prophecies in which the deciding factor is the prophecy itself, by hearing the prophecy and acting on it, the conclusion of the kara prophecy becomes set.
In turn, kara prophecies are very specific. Sometimes done in rhyme and verse, other times just yelled loudly at the recipients over the shoulders of the guards removing the hapless soothsayer. Kara prophecies have been known to be as specific as, 'you may die at 3:47 PM on august the 24th of 3056 AD; it will be of blunt force trauma caused by a human named _______ who will be using a 3/4" wrench made of stainless steel.' The important part of these prophecies is the things not said, for example, what if that hinged entirely upon whether or not you gave the wrench as a gift to his neighbor ______ and then on whether or not you made the mistake of sleeping with his wife. Either of which could alter the end results. Because you listened to the prophecy you could avoid either hardware stores or _____ like the plague; leading you to instead die in a fire three weeks earlier when the fire extinguisher you would have bought when you went to get the wrench was not present. Nielda are always advised to pester soothsayers for the other possibilities.
However, clearly when Daniel was speaking to Enge; prophecy was not involved. This leads me to the most common use of kora in Nieldic culture; Entertainment. The word kora is often used as a part of romance scenes. The idea of course being to convey that a love was meant to be. This use has watered down the value of the word considerably.
The remaining use of the words is as names. Especially for twins, kara and koro are used as names for Nieldic girls. Kara actually has peculiar signifigance in that one of the most famous prophets of Nieldic history was named Kara. She was an anatolian Stone, and the prophecy (an eight thousand page monstrosity) was the longest and most accurate prophecy to date; covering nearly a thousand years of the Daniellandish empire with a focus on Anatolia. She herself was actually quite an interesting character. But that's a story for another day.
The word means, in best translation, 'certain future'. It's counterpart is kara, uncertain future.
The practical translations are inevitable and possible, but neither fits it quite properly. Kora is like saying it will happen, and it can't be avoided. Kara, is saying that something will happen, but something else may happen instead. The two words are used frequently in relation to prophecy. Kora prophecies tend to be vague statements like, 'it will rain' or 'the world will be named X'. In prophetic terms, kora is more or less the equivalent of fortune telling, statements are made, and the tell-ee later encounters a situation and assumes that this is what the prophecy foretold. The truest kora prophecies tend to be kara prophecies in which the deciding factor is the prophecy itself, by hearing the prophecy and acting on it, the conclusion of the kara prophecy becomes set.
In turn, kara prophecies are very specific. Sometimes done in rhyme and verse, other times just yelled loudly at the recipients over the shoulders of the guards removing the hapless soothsayer. Kara prophecies have been known to be as specific as, 'you may die at 3:47 PM on august the 24th of 3056 AD; it will be of blunt force trauma caused by a human named _______ who will be using a 3/4" wrench made of stainless steel.' The important part of these prophecies is the things not said, for example, what if that hinged entirely upon whether or not you gave the wrench as a gift to his neighbor ______ and then on whether or not you made the mistake of sleeping with his wife. Either of which could alter the end results. Because you listened to the prophecy you could avoid either hardware stores or _____ like the plague; leading you to instead die in a fire three weeks earlier when the fire extinguisher you would have bought when you went to get the wrench was not present. Nielda are always advised to pester soothsayers for the other possibilities.
However, clearly when Daniel was speaking to Enge; prophecy was not involved. This leads me to the most common use of kora in Nieldic culture; Entertainment. The word kora is often used as a part of romance scenes. The idea of course being to convey that a love was meant to be. This use has watered down the value of the word considerably.
The remaining use of the words is as names. Especially for twins, kara and koro are used as names for Nieldic girls. Kara actually has peculiar signifigance in that one of the most famous prophets of Nieldic history was named Kara. She was an anatolian Stone, and the prophecy (an eight thousand page monstrosity) was the longest and most accurate prophecy to date; covering nearly a thousand years of the Daniellandish empire with a focus on Anatolia. She herself was actually quite an interesting character. But that's a story for another day.
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