I've been working on standardizing Carmanian language for a few days and have some intermediate results, which I have enclosed. In order to read this fluently you will need to adjust your mail reader to show monospaced fonts, if it doesn't already. You can also see these tables in a prettier form at their current web home.
http://rider.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/Carmania/naming-lang.html
If you have suggestions for improvement of my word choice, or suggestions for further words, then please send them my way and I will attempt to include your suggestions in the language. Note that my next project vis a vis this is to make up a proto-language (the core of Brithini) and then retrofit Carmanian to it, which will require some word changes. Once the language project is complete I also intend to go into my other Carmanian materials and update them to fit the changed language.
I guess what I meant by the last paragraph was this: these linguistic choices and this lexicon are neither final nor official. I fully intend to make further changes, and have no bloody idea which parts I might change. Please check back as this project develops.
Cheers,
Loren
Kaurmeinya (Carmanian) Language
First Draft, Incomplete
Copyright c 1997 by Loren Miller
I am unsure whether these tables are sufficiently self-descriptive that ordinary folks can just pick them up and use them. If you are already acquainted with the notation people use to describe invented languages then you won't need my guidance. Or you can see Jeffrey Henning's page on naming languages.
In any case, whether you have an easy or a hard time interpreting the tables, please keep coming back to this page as I continue to work on it until it reaches a finished state.
The first table lists
Table 1: Phonemes the sounds recognized
in Modern Carmanian,
or as the Carmanians
Vowels would pronounce it and
transliterate it,
Phoneme Sound Kaurmeinya. Kaurmeinya
a flat, hand, wank, skank (flat a) has 10 vowel sounds
ai eye, fry, pie (long i) and 26 consonant
au ah, fond, gosh, hauberk (short a) sounds. For
e eh, bed, west (short e) convenience's sake we
ei ay, may, face, rake (long a) transcribe Kaurmeinya
i ih, in, fish, wick (short i) phonetically in the
o long o, joe, stole, croak (long o) Latin alphabet.
oo moon, spook (long u) Kaurmeinya is derived
u uh, fun, lust, much, surge (short u) from the ancient
y ee, free, gently (long e) language of Brithos
(Prydjos) and has been
Consonants influenced not only by
thousands of years of
Phoneme Sound history in the
ch chew isolated land, but
d do also, when Kaurmeiny
dh that (hard th) ruled an Empire, by
dj edge all the languages of
dz adze Peloria. Some of the
f, ff fi Brithini influences
g girl can still be heard,
h hi but they have changed
j joe considerably with
k koo time. For instance,
kh khopesh the Brithini word
l lee "Mal," meaning noble,
m mee has become the
n nee Kaurmeinya "Imal,"
ng anger with the same meaning.
nt ant In the same vein,
p pee "Malkion" (noble
r roo father) is still
s see recognizable as
sh shee "Imalgwon."
t too
th thin (soft th) Refer to Table 1 if
ts tsar, czar you have any questions
v vee about how to pronounce
w woo words and word
z zoo elements in the
materials that follow.
Table 2: Word Elements Common in Proper Names
Adjectives Nouns
balanced las arrow at
bear-like laudza battle ipend
beloved dav bearer deny
big reid bow kamet
bitter cash brightness ozaum
blessed arkau bull pysus
brave roojer counselor jish
chief faz crown djaulk
compassionate sauzarip daughter pen
constant tama defender tawaur
desired naran dweller pendja
divine ange earth mauty
eagle-like tsootina farmer djomar
earnest stramak father gwon
eastern sarat fighter vitsy
falcon-like peroona forest taulsty
famous daz gate ratry
flowering halai gift mein
fortunate shaurpan giver meinir
fox-like svara God eng
free vit guardian astik
hallowed dhuwinor hammer pauv
happy yagj harvester mat
industrious siri healer ninthy
laughing anikh helper tiwauz
lion-like kisanga home khovy
loyal zotel horse persh
manly isi keeper prash
mighty hater laurel drasy
noble imal leader koopats
northern daurmast lily chama
patriotic auslinder lover vily
peaceful per maid leesh
powerful skanir man lais
praiseworthy amir moon ursh
prayerful karel mother oria
protecting sherpez pearl milauz
pure daumaun people vatsy
ready staul protector azpaug
sharp perpa rock peg
shining shau rose flety
small rudjy ruler dralzy
southern maurast runner pitir
strong ijen smith faulsh
strong-willed zemat son nauv
swift plaut spear chis
true agash staff wan
valiant hamash steward tola
victorious tsater stranger aran
war's nal stronghold gidzy
wealthy vejane sun ekhilim
western salkat sword khoopt
wise vaizyr traveler apersky
wolf-like kadza twin zadai
worthy azauvik warrior hazar
young koost wolf kadzy
woman khaur, kaur(am)
Table 3: Elements Common in Place Names
abbey siryjes bridge faungel castle kausyr church kalpersh cottage svy dwelling kov enclosure shur(p) estate pult farm py field khurp fiord syv ford raus fort lonus fort, old dash fort, ring pash height rein highland kaun hill graun hilltop khein holy place viten home farm kopvy homestead koviten island paulis lake surel meadow rel(st) monastery vizky moor soma mountain peak fosh new soom, som(p) pass vots people of vat, vatsy place shy pond jaun port pirn(auf) resort shadash river mouth nik(hu) riverside dauk rock peg, perk secondary settlement shy stone peg, perk stream shant town reisv(au) tree auram upper emel valley ulkei valley (narrow) posrets valley, wooded took village yn wood shail wooded angle of land laufar woodland rai
Table 4: Colors & Numbers
Colors Numbers
black pauhei 1 yl
white lei 2 ung
red isedz 3 pik
blue toor 4 ma
gold sedj 5 yshy
6 nusp
7 veid
8 zaits
9 dokh
10 zirch
11 ylzech
12 ungzech
13 pikzech
14 mazech
15 yshyzech
16 nupzech
17 veidzech
18 zaitzech
19 dokhzech
20 unges
30 pikes
40 maus
50 ysys
60 nupes
70 veides
80 zaitses
90 dokhes
100 jisath
1000 naumfath
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End of Glorantha Digest V4 #274
WWW at http://rider.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/Rolegame/glorantha.faq.html
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