vilani language

[robject]

Khema Shiramerak by Liam Devlin;
paraphrased for general audiences.

(Vilani) (chorus)
Laa Kiingaa shen Rishar zur Kamnam,
Laa Kiingaa shen la dara zur Laa;
Laa dara zur Para la’ ala Laa.
Rar Laa Lamazar puriram Kamnam.
1
Laa lak Simug aamar Amara
Ap-in nur shamraa zur Laa Shiramar;
Laa Dara lak puriram Unaru
Mirri nur Ma’aki zur Laa Tu’un
2
Laa lak lim Laa Kiingaa nur irii
Laa ka-ankaa siinug um binerii.
Laa Kiinga kuna Laa puriram
Sagamu argu-shii zur mirri
3
Laa Kiingaa Shurinik shishim nur,
Khu Kireme, khu Iguku zur um!
Laa Shiramar gakku um miirnuur,
Um khar Laa puriram Unaru khiir.


(Anglic)
My Love builds a house by the sea,
My Love builds a love for me;
Love like a flowing river carries me
To put my beautiful one’s heart by the sea;

I wish/desire the metal of the smith
To protect the leaves of my flower;
My Love wishes/desires my heart's gold
Which beats beneath my ribs.

I wish/desire to see my Love each night,
I tremble to meet her.
My Love calls unto my heart’s
Evening/Dark secrets so hidden.

My lover carries a candle to burn,
No copper, No silver for her!
My heart will fall to her digging
Her quest my heart's gold complete.

 

[robject]

Ancient Stories From Vland
perhaps chronologically arranged.

Sikarakirgashek - an arthurian myth. from Kaalan. Maybe 1000 words.

Something from ancient, pre-Vilani Vland. The future king (saarpuhii) must surmount insurmountable odds to take back his family's ruling seat (durbadek).

This story includes sub-motifs about disrespect (kurasek) and comparing the stability of noble lines with the durability of Vilani construction (ekharad), as well as providing an ironic twist between the good oath-keepers (Sikarakirgashek) versus the currently ruling usurpers (a form of Girinbaga).


Iiberukaa - about death. imported from Chekaal. Tense. Maybe 500 words.

Khema Shiramerak - love poem. 200 words. from Archaic Vilani. In Khal and Anglic.

Mimaarunna - about tradition and patience. from Old High Vilani. Maybe 1000 words.

Amgadaashlaru - about anticipation of battle. from Old High Vilani. Gripping poem, with some space carnage, too. Maybe 250-500 words.

Ninek Kelameniin - about the inscrutable nobility. from Old High Vilani. Maybe 1000 words.

An unfortunate fool inserts himself into the affairs of two noble houses. As a result of crossing taboo lines, his life and family are forever ruined -- as are the noble houses which well-meaningly but foolishly allow him to get involved. A double-edged tale underlining the significance of a Vilani caste system.

Namkhe - 'jinx'. Short poem, in Standard Vilani, Khal, and Anglic. Less than 100 words. Paraphrase:

Jinx

2: Destroyer of houses,
4: Ruiner of kingdoms,
5: Upsetter of balances.
7: Why do you try?
10: In vain the bit is placed in your mouth.


In Khal:
Style: Raakhalimmu Shudima Kar

Namkhe

Dur shen
Madlap-khulu
Lindikir kamek
Anaash likag binerii?
Dushana iirii mamiish* binerii.


* In Vilani, the term is more at 'tying a cord' (as in tying a line around a yoke) than 'putting a bit in the mouth'.

Amara - duty. from Dlani dialect. Late Rule of Man.

An extract from a speech given by an Ilelish noble, with lots of scathing rhetoric about the state of interstellar barbarism (with plays on words about rust on the iron pillars of society, etc).

Significant in that this metaphor was employed by Dulinor over 2000 years later.

 

[robject]

Here's a major Vilani Cycle from Marc.

Dushis Khurisi

OK. There is a recurring theme of homelessness and wandering in Vilani Literature. Similar to Odysseus, but includes the family (and extended family/clan). Originally a mythic theme on Vland, and expanded in Vilani literature to justify Conquest and Empire.

This is a never ending cycle because even when you find a homeland, it can be challenged by natural and supernatural events. Thus, the actual theme is struggle rather than goal, and process rather than destination.

Sample stories [within the mythological cycle], each less than 1000 words.

Giants maraude the settlers. Conquer them to have peace in this land of plenty.

Weather/climate changes make us leave the land of plenty in search of a new one.

Cruel tyrants make us search for a new land.

Clever family members trick the king to grant half his kingdom.

Clever scoundrels trick us out of our lands.

Take any mythic story and give it a twist so it is vaguely recognizable and yet new from a Vilani perspective.

 

[parmasson]

I would not forget a constant idea that throughout all of these tribulations and trials that an almost fanatical loyalty to traditions and to your superiors is what allows you to survive those trials. Rather than the rugged individual, the victory comes from community effort.

Hmmm I wonder if Jack and the beanstalk could be retold as a cautionary tale about the dangers of “new” technology and how to harness them for collective good. That involves your giants, the king and the scoundrel with the “beans”.

Let me work on that.

 

[robject]

Heh. You should read "Rainbow Mars" by Larry Niven. He uses Jack and the Beanstalk in a sci-fi setting.

 

[robject]

Kurega suggested that Vilani literature be identified in broad categories, forming a kind of "open canon" for contributions.

I wonder if such categories can be made even more structured: if each category had rules for how a piece is written -- more as a guide and "helping straightjacket" to us as writers.

The challenge in every category is how to make a particular story interesting.

Here are the suggested categories.

Education for Barbarians
Lexicon, grammar, basic conventions, and an very short summary of Vilani culture and history.

Moral Stories for Edification
Uplifting or cautionary tales for the instruction of the mind.

Epic Poetry
Verse on heroes and legends some crossover here with history.

Free verse in a grandiose style?

Dialogs with the Master
Conversations between great masters of all subjects and their novices. Socratic type instruction.

Back-and-forth discussions between two or three?

The Great Histories
History in the old style (Classical narratives along with more “modern” analysis).

The Books of the Courts
Love poetry, customs, food, manners. For the landed gentry.

Tavern Tales
Bawdy and miscellaneous stuff that does not fit anywhere else.

From Kurega:

The idea is to break knowledge down into the broadest possible categories realizing that the project is organic in nature and we would hope it will continue to grow without us.

 

[parmasson]

Hmmm....no takers?

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Books on regimented procedures for everything. I'd imagine a Vilani cookbook on par with an organic chemistry textbook. I am sure the bureaus would document everything in hyper-detail. Maybe a lot of "Work Poetry" and such, based on the structure of a vilani day. Spending 16 hours a day working would wedge into a society pretty well.

 

[parmasson]

Medinere work song

Oh the joy of the vat
The honor of the sacred space
We the humble Junior Shugilii

Bake and ferment
Yeasts and enzymes
Changing and filtering

Bread and soup
Beer and grains
Cake and meat

Remade, redone
All for the people
Happiness in a bowl

 

[robject]

Almost a haiku, there.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

I'm working on two concepts for MTU, and I'd like to run them through this thread to see if the language application holds up.

1. Shugibilakka
Literally, "renewal." Shugibilakka is a popular movement among those of Vilani descent concerned with preserving and reinvigorating Vilani culture. Originating with the arts, specifically a style of architecture that incorporated classical Vilani aesthetics, it has since expanded to include not only the arts and crafts but literature, business management styles and social relations as well. Clothing designers working with traditional Vilani materials to reintroduce classic styles and corporations modeling their structure on the Vilani bureaux both fall under the rubric of shugibilakka.

The movement, increasingly popular in the trailing reaches of the Third Imperium, is seen as providing stability and order in what many perceive as an increasingly disordered and unstable time.

2. Kimushenama
Literally, "small mother bird." Kimushenama is a charitable organization that provides humanitarian aid to the less fortunate both within the Third Imperium and beyond its borders. The organization is popular among the nobility, and counts several members of the Imperial family among its patrons. Kimushenama includes local planetary chapters - the local chapters concern themselves with affairs on their homeworld, while a portion of donations collected are returned to the parent organization for use on projects that go beyond the scale of a single world or system. For example, a local chapter might work to provide services to the homeless or maintain an orphanage while the parent organization dispatches medical personnel and supplies to the Spinward Marches immediately following the Fifth Frontier War.

So robject, is my construction and usage anywhere close to consistent with the grammar?

 

[robject]

I love the sound of these words. They roll off the tongue. They're both fine Vilani specimens.

Shu.gi.bi.lak.ka. "Retro". Mmmm, nice.

The noun-form would be Shu.gi.bi.lak.ek, 'renewal'; but since you're describing a concept, making it adjective-like looks okay to me. "Hey dude, that's a cool shugibilakka painting you got there! I like the retro look!"

"We adhere to shugibilakka business conduct here. Please wear a coat and tie."


Ki.mu.shen.a.ma. From ki-, 'little', mushen, 'bird', and ama, mother. If you felt adventurous, you could conflate it together into something like "Kimushema". But Kimushenama sounds nice.


I like it. You used the rules, and the results look good.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by robject:
I love the sound of these words. They roll off the tongue. They're both fine Vilani specimens....I like it. You used the rules, and the results look good.

The lexicon and grammar provide good guidance.

You hit the nail on the head with regard to shugibilakka - it's meant to be descriptive of a style or an approach, rather than a "thing," hence the adjectival form. For example, a shugibilakka academy emphasizes teaching Vilani language and culture, and inculcates the students with the traditional regard for consensus approaches to problem solving and task resolution.

Thanks again for "checking my work." I'm glad you like the results.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

I'm not sure if I have the construction correct on this one:

3. Pi Sisirka
Literally, "stars' edge." This is the Vilani name for the Horizon Main, the larget main in Ley sector (Judges Guild version).

IMTU Vilani traders reached the main c. -7000 and worked their way trailing to the edge of the Lesser Rift. The void beyond inspired one trader to refer to the main as the "pi sisirka," the boundary of the universe, and the name stuck.

I'm not sure if I used the correct plural form of "stars" in this instance - I want to convey not just the sense of lots of stars, but rather of all stars, and thus the edge of the universe.

Did I do this correctly?

 

[robject]

Well, sisirka looks right, as in "the whole mess of stars".

And Pi is certainly a boundary.

But I suspect the boundary is a feature of sisirka, right? So maybe we'd use one of the "possessive" constructions:

Sisirkagi pi. Stars' edge.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by robject:
...I suspect the boundary is a feature of sisirka, right? So maybe we'd use one of the "possessive" constructions:

Good call.

Originally posted by robject:
Sisirkagi pi. Stars' edge.

Excellent - thanks very much for cleaning up my muddled translation, robject.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

robject, thanks again - applying the possessive construction helped out with other names I've been working on.

For example, IMTU the planet Upsikeria (0116 Ley/Spearhead) was known as Upsuukur before stellar cartographers Galanglicized the system names on Sylean Federation star charts. Vilani culture and language remains strong on Upsikeria, and many institutions still go by their original names.

Thus the "Upsikeria Navy" becomes the Upsuukurgi Kiishmu, or "the space navy belonging to the planet Upsuukur."

I'm having way too much fun with this!

 

[robject]

That's a cool reading; it means the navy is an organic part of the world administration. A very loyal statement.

If you went with a more administrative title, you'd use the a- -ak version, I think: Apsuukurgi Kiishmukak or Aupsuukurgi Kiishmuak something like that.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by robject:
That's a cool reading; it means the navy is an organic part of the world administration. A very loyal statement.

Upsikeria (DA999A9-A) is a stratocracy of a sort. When the Second Imperium gave up the ghost, a squadron of cruisers, lacking orders and crewed primarily by Upsuukuri Vilani, attached itself to the planet, forming the nucleus of the planetary navy. The tiny fleet proved to be the system's lifeline to neighboring agricultural worlds, battling back pirates and Vargr corsairs through the Long Night.

The commodore of the cruiser squadron became admiral of the planetary navy, and also assumed the role of chief executive under emergency powers granted by the executive council. Eventually power shifted back to the council as conditions stabilised over the next millenium, but the navy continued to be a source of pride in the hearts of the Upsuukuri.

During the Civil War and the intense fighting in Ley sector as the Imperial fleet supported various pretenders to the Iridium Throne, the navy once again assumed control of the government as an "emergency measure," ceding power again at the end of 600s.

When the planet was wracked by a series of natural disasters in the early 900s, the beginning of a Deccan Traps-like basaltic flood event accompanied by intense earthquakes and tsunamis, the navy once again stepped into a leadership role, one that continues to the present as the Upsuukuri adapt to the evolving face of their world.

So yes, the Upsuukuri have a very special relationship to their fleet.

 

[FreeTrav]

This is just one example of what I miss out on by not having enough TIME to sit and poke at a webboard when/where I have a net.connection, and having the time when I DON'T have the net.connection (like on the train). I'd KILL to have a NNTP - or even email-list - interface to CotI, so that I can download stuff overnight and be able to read it on my laptop while I'm disconnected. Hunter desperately needs to convert CotI to use MPNews, like I did with the Freelance Traveller forums.

This is great stuff; robject, please contact me off-forums (editor@freelancetraveller.com); I'd like to discuss the possibility of incorporating part/all of the Vilani linguistic and cultural material into Freelance Traveller.