amiu - "fish wish" and a map

[pauraque_bk]

For _hannelore:

meer meej

X-SAMPA /mE:_(falling)r\ mE:j/


meer

(Saltwater) fish. Pictogram.

meej

Wish. The phonetic is meer, and the determinative is "nose".


This is a strange case, as the phonetic+determinative works in English as well as in Amiu. I didn't realize this until after the fact; I'd been using the gloss "desire" for meej, but "wish" is equally good.

seifergrrl is next in the icon queue. Still room at the end of the line.

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The Luen people live on a planet not unlike our own, most of which is uncharted at the time contemporary with the language I've been describing. Their stories say that they came across the eastern plains to make their home between jee Néong (the Range of Dawn) and ruiw (the Gulf). They call this country jingnong (our land).



This is a preliminary map; I haven't worked out all the place-names yet.

A point of interest is Gold Lake -- called so by the Bay people whose dialect I am describing, and who primarily associate the Lake people with the minerals they sift from their waters. The Lake people themselves are more concerned with the lake's status as a gateway to and from the unliving world, and call it jing láer "the land's womb". (The small peninsula on the east side of the lake is nicknamed rónné "the big clit".)

Comments

[wicked-dragon-x.livejournal.com]

How did you create such a cool writing system? I always get stuck after the first few symbols...
And while I'm not sure if I want an icon with your language, I am curious how you'd translate "conlanger (language maker)". Or "fan" (like a fan of a show, or book).

[pauraque]

I think the thing with writing systems is to try to make them reflect a consistent visual "vocabulary". Chinese characters use only a few different kinds of strokes. The same could be said of English letters. Likewise, if you look at Amiu text, you see the same kinds of hooks, curves, and loops over and over again in different characters. My advice is, don't try to reinvent the wheel with every symbol: re-use the elements you've already established. (This can also tie into developing an artistic style for a con-culture.)

To get a sense for consistency within a writing system, I looked at a lot of books and sites, including AncientScripts.

Once you've got a good system going, a cheap trick for improving the look of any script that's written with lines (rather than, say, shapes) is to write it with a calligraphy marker. You can get a disposable one at any art store.


"Conlanger" is an easy derivation:

ammíiu "language" (that which is spoken)
> ammíioe "language maker"

The Luen don't really have the concept of "fan", but maybe:

máí "obsession"
> máée "obsessed person"

Then you could add the group plural to make Náéem "fandom". *g*