High Eolic word of the day: allánd

allánd (noun): hero.

allánd-eválúyel lapá yarnúsettár
hero-cloud.ATTR.PL go.PERF mountaintop.ILL
“the heroes of the Cloud made their way towards the mountaintops”

allánd usually refers to heroic personages from Eolic legends and history (such as Allándacálassut, the mythical ‘Blue-Eyed Hero’, most famously praised by the poet Mbámarcut Mbámarcut Ussándut (1019/20-1070)), but it may also be used metaphorically for contemporary Eolic soldiers, or indeed the Eolic people in general, especially in contexts where superiority towards Eoleon’s lesser neighbors needs to be asserted.

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High Eolic word of the day: ngíyel

ngíyel (noun), accusative form ngíya: sand.

ngíyel-ut cuttús ca-ravácamec
sand-DEF exist.IMPERF.NON1 my-shoe.INESS
“there is a grain of sand in one of my shoes”

There are two interesting aspects to the word for ‘sand’ in High Eolic. First, it is an inherently mass noun, meaning that using it with the definite suffix produces the meaning ‘a unit of’ (as in the example above) – in the case of sand, the appropriate unit is a grain of sand. Second, it belongs to a class of nouns (most of which end in -l) that have an irregular accusative form. Thus, rather than *ngíyelal, the accusative form of ngíyel is ngíya:

már upávam ngíya
he/she move.IMPERF.TRANS sand.ACC
“he/she is moving sand [around]”

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High Eolic word of the day: ungat

ungat (particle): sometimes, occasionally, several times.

ungat már lersángacam Arandála-ttár yirmandatan carlavecut
sometimes he/she come.ITER.TRANS Arandála-ILL distant.ANTESS mother.BEN.DEF
“he/she sometimes comes all the way to Arandála [to see] his/her mother”

Originally derived from ung ‘day’, ungat conveys the meaning that the event in the phrase occurs several times, typically over a longer period. It is one of several adverbial particles in High Eolic that require a specific aspect/mode to be used in the verb of the phrase in which it occurs – in this case, the iterative, which itself carries the meaning of a repeated action.

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High Eolic word of the day: sindárte

sind- (ditransitive verb), imperfective sindárte: to enquire, ask a question.

ca sind-am mangárándalut varándettárut
I ask-PERF.DITRANS illness.king.ACC.DEF father.ILL.DEF
“I asked my father about the king’s illness”

sindárte is a typical ditransitive verb in that it takes two core arguments: an accusative argument, which refers to the question or topic being asked about (mangárándalut in the example above), and a secondary argument in the illative case, referring to the person who is being asked the question (varándettárut in the above example). The illative often occurs with verbs that imply some form of movement towards the object – in the case of sindárte, the ‘movement’ is that of the question being conveyed.

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High Eolic word of the day: marn

marn (noun): wolf. Also occurs as a personal name, Marnut (with variant form Marandut).

yat marn-á luhú mballírnasemec se-hullangemecut
then wolf-PL howl.PERF forest.INESS your-death.INESS.DEF
“wolves shall howl in the forests on [the day of] your death”

Similar to eagles, wolves are symbolically extremely important animals in Eolic culture. Wolves are associated with the values of cunning and courage, as well as cooperation with others due to their life in packs. Thus, they are often used metaphorically to refer to soldiers: mbámarn (‘wolf-sons’) is the name for a basic military unit composed of 360 men. A righteous thirst for blood, as well as courage in general, are implied when comparing somebody to a wolf:

rícam mál marn-es
kill.PERF.TRANS he/she.ACC wolf-ESS
“I killed him as [if I were] a wolf”

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High Eolic word of the day: cáracavam

cárac- (monotransitive verb), imperfective cáracavam: to mount, rise up on.

len sáta cárac-am cártalut ettísemec
we FUT rise.PERF-TRANS mountain.ACC sunrise.INESS
“we shall ascend the mountain at sunrise”

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High Eolic word of the day: handarc

handarc (noun): honey.

handarc cuttús ma-nevangarcatan
honey exist.IMPERF.NON1 his/her-hair.ANTESS
“there is honey in his/her hair”

Honey forms the basis of many Eolic sweets, and is a popular condiment among the upper classes. The province of Arcúma is especially famous for its association with the art of bee-keeping and the fine honey produced there. Due to honey’s wicked sweetness, “honey-mouthed” (tersa-handarcas) is a popular collocation for denoting a guilty person. In connection with this, the phrase “there is honey in his/her hair” has the effect of admonishing a person for feeling guilty despite having no reason for doing so – since, after all, there is honey in their hair, rather than around their mouth.

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High Eolic word of the day: callit

callit (noun), definite form callingut: snow.

ta civa callit-es ta-táhendangut
NEG COP snow-ESS last-winter.EL
“there was no snow last winter”

callit belongs to a class of nouns that have an irregular definite form, namely callingut (rather than *callitut). Many nouns ending in -t behave in this way – such as arut ‘star’, definite arundut, or ndárt ‘ram’, definite ndárevut.

Notably, callit is one of the two words with the general meaning ‘snow’ in High Eolic. The other is arnús. More accurately, arnús means ‘mountaintop’, but it can also refer to snow visible on mountains in the distance. In some dialects, however, it is the word for ‘snow’ more generally – or, more specifically, snow lying on the ground (as opposed to snowflakes falling down from clouds).

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High Eolic word of the day: hassan

hassan (noun): ice; icy, slippery.

yambara-hassan ngúya hundes lártec
street-icy COP bad-ESS leg-BEN
“icy streets are treacherous for [your] legs”

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High Eolic word of the day: cirn

cirn (noun): man, human; male.

cirn-a ngúya yambúndes
man-INDEF COP bloodthirsty.ESS
“all men are bloodthirsty”

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