amiu - "a murder of crows" and the parable of the snail

[pauraque_bk]

For seifergrrl:

Nórng "a murder (flock) of crows"

X-SAMPA / n`o_(low)r\N /

Amiu doesn't have as many special names for animal groups as English does. For this translation, I simply used the group plural of ngór "crow".

In the written form, the phonetic is ngéR "slime", a pictorial back-formation from ngáRe "snail". (Snail, literally "slime-bringer", was originally written with the simple pictogram, but later reforms added a redundant 'animate-bringer' marker. Usage of the pictogram then shifted over to the root word, "slime", making "snail" work like the other 'animate-bringer' words.)

The determinative is jung "dragon (or albatross)", indicating that this is a word for a large flying creature. Crows in Jingnong are bigger than our crows, but not as big as dragons -- they're simply classed "large" as opposed to small birds, bats, and large insects, which use "finch" as their determinative.

The double bar line indicates the group plural.

I'm taking requests for icons. nicolthewhore is next in the queue.

*

Since we've been discussing snails, this seems appropriate. I posted this (very) short Amiu story to the ZBB some time back, and now I've got it written out in native orthography as well. It may not seem like much, but I'm pretty damn proud of myself. Logographic writing systems are hard, dude.


ngáRe jyn

lúene wórmerjo. wáá wúan lénongmóm aalnóinííó ngáReLao. wéngow jaý éjje ijinglún míow. wéi maúng éjje wée Lúyn. wánoi Lao.

lúe ruimuj ngíém?


The story of the snail

I'm told there was once a person walking in the rain. He saw that his foot was about to tread on a snail. He twisted to the side, lost his balance, and fell into a mud puddle. He got to his feet and picked the snail up. It turned out to be a rock.

Was the person angry?


In native orthography:



Some of you will recognize elements from your icons in this text. I really have to thank everybody who's asked for one -- it's been tremendously helpful in figuring out the kinds of questions to ask about a language like this.


Textual notes:

The Luen, like many cultures, tell fables to illustrate moral principles. They generally end with a question, inviting the listener to supply the right answer. This story is meant to illustrate the opposite of our saying, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". The Luen instead say, "The person in the puddle isn't angry". That is, he did the right thing based on the information he had, and shouldn't be upset, even though he landed in the mud. The idea is something like a combination of "Don't second-guess yourself" and "Don't cry over spilt milk".

This story also supplies the idioms "snail-seeming rock" and, by extension, "rock-seeming snail", meaning, respectively, "something that looks like a problem but isn't" and "a problem that doesn't look like one".

The Luen revile needless killing not out of concern for suffering, but due to their belief that causing death without consuming the carcass drains the killer's spirit. Despatching one inedible snail may not have much effect, but cumulative similar crimes would eventually leave a person angaúL ("dry") -- that is, soulless -- a very serious state of affairs.


An interlinear translation is here for those who want it. (I think I've changed a word or two since then, but nothing significant.)


Comments very welcome.

Comments

[ex_amurderofcrows752]

They must be like Japanese jungle crows; larger then the common crow. About two inches, average, smaller then the Raven. Mean and smart as hell. :D

Thanks, though. That's cool! XD

[pauraque]

You're welcome. :)

[caesia390.livejournal.com]

ooOOOoooooh.

one question - why don't the amiu have a simple, pictographic word for crow? it seems like animals would have been named early on in their civilisation, before writing, before the language was terribly complex.

unless crows are imports and the amiu are adapting a foreign name for a foreign creature...

anyway, i love the caligraphy, as always, and i love the fable. i would get out of it - 'learn not to be so clumsy as so fall over when side-stepping something as small as a snail' but then i have been watching a lot of kung fu lately... >:}

mmMMmm linguistic love~!!! <3 can't wait to see what you make of 'hooking off.' >:D

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

oh the linguistic contortions that will ensue with *that* one.

naturally, that's why i requested it. emotional sadism? moi? *bats eyes innocently*

anyway, pauraque, very exciting stuff. XD luv you lots!

[pauraque]

The crow is more of a southern animal that has expanded its range in historically recent times. Writing originated in the west, so southern dialect words like "crow" are usually built from preexisting elements.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

"Dry" for soul-less offers us so much information about the people who use this language in such a beautifully compact way. And ending the parables with a question is gorgeous -- kind of like a koan, then?

Are you going to write fiction(s) set in this world? I'd love to see that.

This is so cool! You are so terrific! Thanks for letting us peer over your shoulder.

[pauraque]

They're not traditionally intended to be like koans, but scholars do sometimes use them as questions to ponder, rather than as moral lessons.

I do want to write stories set in this world. As I work things out, characters start turning up and telling me things about themselves. Black Morning Glory, the arrogant dramatist... That lean woman in tattered clothes who sailed out to where the dragons nest... Yes, there should be stories about them.

I'm so pleased that you're enjoying my ramblings. :)

[asphodeline.livejournal.com]

Now we're seeing more of htis, it's easier to pick up patterns/words. Snail and rain are beautiful

[pauraque]

Thanks. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

It's quite interesting to not only see the language through the orthography, but also more about the culture and the people. Wild! One of my favorite books is a book of foreign words used in the English language, whether in law or such. There's translations for things such as "don't cry over spilt milk" and it's neat to see how some languages define such idioms.

i.e. On ne peut avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre.

"You can't have your cake and eat it" is literally, "One cannot have butter and the money from butter."

Lieber den Spatz in der Hand als die Taube auf dem Dach

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," is literally Dearer the sparrow in the hand than the pigeon on the roof.

[pauraque]

Folk stories and mythologies are a great way to add richness to an invented language, through idioms and metaphors. I'm glad you're enjoying my stuff.

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Eee, very pretty little story. I think you could go far with these Luen people; you seem to have developed them very carefully. :)

[pauraque]

Thanks. I do try to think carefully about it and make it as plausible as I can. I have to do things the way *they* think, not the way I think.