Archive | December 10, 2015

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.