#Lexember: Kinship, Gender, Society

This is the final leg of #Lexember! If you’ve been following my account @eamarubhe, you may be interested in following me @kayeboesme, which is active more often. I think @eamarubhe may transform into an account related to the fiction monologue podcast I am hard at work on. My development of Eamaru is related to the podcast.

December 22.

Leam /lɛ͡ɒ̈m/, parent. Leamn /lɛ͡ɒ̈m.ˈn̩/, something related to parenting.

Leamnzi /lɛ͡ɒ̈m.ˈn̩.ˌzi/, birth parent.
Leamnef /lɛ͡ɒ̈m.ˈnɛf/, legal guardian.
Leama /lɛ͡ɒ̈m.ˈɑ/, lineage.
Leam jun /lɛ͡ɒ̈m ʒyn/, non-birth parent.

I’ve used the term birth parent here because the social gender system offers some ambiguity about the gender of the person who gives birth. There’s a temple-based renunciation of gender called zaḥeim, and these individuals will often start families during a hiatus from temple service. Eamau gender is based on a combination of biology and the social role of an individual (AKA the push and pull of who someone is and society at large). Birth parents are always kuaẖe, kuall, zaḥeim, jiut veyrin, or nijmi veyrin.

Kuaẖe somewhat corresponds to our idea of women, and it’s a gender that is typecast into roles related to family and household, neighborhood, and city affairs. Kuall is a gender that is expected to be more warlike, outgoing/roaming, and less inclined to family affairs. Jinri means something similar to trans women, often used as an adjective, as in kuaẖe jinrin or kuall jinrin.

Jiut somewhat corresponds to men. This gender is expected to do physical labor, fighting, and physically dangerous entertainment and jobs. The gender nijmi is less so. They often work in finance and business, and their socially accepted role is similar to kuall-me, but they’re seen as softer and less confrontational than kuall-me or jiut-me. Veyri means something similar to trans man, often seen as an adjective in jiut veyrin or nijmi veyrin.

December 23.

Birth parent relatives:
Iẖar /i.ˈħɑɾ/, cousin.
Mokta /mo.ˈktɑ/, older relative.
Leal /lɛ͡ɒ̈l/, grandparent.
Leala /lɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈlɑ/, great(+)grandparent.

Non-birth parent relatives:
Jellan /ʒə.ˈɬɑ/, cousin.
Ral /ðɑl/, older relative.
Leal jun /lɛ͡ɒ̈l ʒyn/, grandparent.
Leala jun /lɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈlɑ ʒyn/, great(+)grandparent.

Generics:
Ðalle /ðɒ̈.ˈɬɛ/, older sibling.
Fhat /ɸɑt̪/, younger sibling.
Bea /bɛ͡ɒ̈/, relative. Beaa /bɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɑ/, older relatives. Beaasum /bɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɑ.ˌsym/, ancestors. Eḥ beaasum sak /ɛʔ bɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɑ.ˌsym sɑk/, an ancestor.

December 24.

Eliu /ə.ˈli͡y/, the part of a family that lives together.

Meaz /mɛ͡ɒ̈z/, familyMeazn /mɛ͡ɒ̈z.ˈn̩/, familial. Meaznzi /mɛ͡ɒ̈z.ˈn̩.ˌzi/, head of household. Meaza /mɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈzɑ/, powerful family. Meazaszi /mɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈzɑ.ˌzːi/ someone disowned.

Meazaszi eze ei ðeḥe zei!
/mɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈzɑ.ˌzːi ə.ˈzɛ ɛ͡i ðə.ˈʔɛ zɛ͡i/
Those two must be disowned!

In the above sentence, ðeḥe is a particle that indicates the imperative future tense. It’s difficult to translate this into English because our word must could also mean that some speaker is incredulously referring to people who have done something scandalous. That meaning is not present in the Eamaru.

December 25.

Sautor /sɒ̈͡y.ˈt̪oɾ/, to conquer.

Siub sauto ba riu ẖam set ðalleta-me viuno ba.
/si͡yb sɒ̈͡y.ˈt̪o bɑ ɾi͡y ħɑm sɛt̪ ðɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌt̪ɒ̈ mɛ vi͡y.ˈno bɑ/
We conquered them and killed their sages.

Today’s #Lexember refers to the political strife in Eamau society that has led to the teas (slums) existing in the first place within conquered cities — typically in the buildings ravaged by war while the new city springs up in walled areas.

It’s also a coy memorial reference to the destruction of temples and outlawing of non-Christian religions in Late Antiquity, plus the murder of philosophers like Hypatia. So.

December 26.

Yat /jɑt̪/, school.

Yat no eal-me
/jɑt̪ no ɛ͡ɒ̈l mɛ/
Grammar school

Yat vusn
/jɑt̪ vys.ˈn̩/
University

Yat no ðalleta-me
/jɑt̪ no ðɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌt̪ɒ̈ mɛ/
Philosophical school

Yat no ifhea lloktn
/jɑt̪ no i.ˈɸɛ͡ɒ̈ ɬokt.ˈn̩/
Religious officiant school

December 27.

Uzmait /yz.ˈmɒ̈͡it̪/, regulation. Uzmaitn /yz.ˈmɒ̈͡it̪.ˌn̩/, regulated.

The two examples below use negation words that are applied to nouns or used on their own, naið and alli. The word naið is used to indicate negative-sentiment negation, and I’ve translated it as lack of in the example below, but it could also mean noticed absence.

Alli is just no — it indicates that the noun it accompanies is not present. Alem naið and alem alli, the word mistake attached to the negation particle, mean without a problem and no mistake respectively.

Zaut-me viuno uzmait naið.
/zɒ̈͡yt̪ mɛ vi͡y.ˈno yz.ˈmɒ̈͡it̪ nɒ̈͡ið/
Lack of regulation kills people.

Zaut-me viuno uzmait alli.
/zɒ̈͡yt̪ mɛ vi͡y.ˈno yz.ˈmɒ̈͡it̪ ɒ̈.ˈɬi/
No regulation kills people.

December 28.

Jal /ʒɑl/, snowJaln /ʒɒ̈l.ˈn̩/, snowyLlet jaln /ɬɛt̪ ʒɒ̈l.ˈn̩/, snow-covered ground. Lit. pane/surface snowy.

Llet jaln mubo ive iuka no leamnzi.
/ɬɛt̪ ʒɒ̈l.ˈn̩ my.ˈbo i.ˈvɛ i͡y.ˈkɑ no lɛ͡ɒ̈m.ˈn̩.ˌzi/
My birth parent’s property is covered in snow.

I was looking for inspiration for a conlang word at my mom’s house. In Upstate NY, even when it isn’t snowy, there’s often a layer of snow on the ground even when sidewalks and roads are passable. Llet jaln is a way to say that in my conlang.

December 29.

Fhai /ɸɒ̈͡i/, candidate. Fhai al leam jun /ɸɒ̈͡i ɑl lɛ͡ɒ̈m ʒyn/, spousal candidate.

Fhai ful al ktaðu no illete.
/ɸɒ̈͡i fyl ɑl ktɒ̈.ˈðy no i.ˈɬə.ˌt̪ɛ/
Light fiction sold for travelers to entertain themselves.
Literally, this means candidates for the role of a book belonging to the roadside.

December 30.

Zealle /zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ/, law. Zeallen /zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌn̩/, legal. Zeallea /zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌɑ/, law, emphatic. Zealleas /zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌɑs/, laws someone doesn’t like. Zeallesum /zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌsym/, laws (pl.), referring to the sets of laws that are written down.

Fhai zeallen /ɸɒ̈͡i zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌn̩/, bill, law-in-progress.
Zeallesum teitn /zɛ͡ɒ̈.ˈɬɛ.ˌsym t̪ɛ͡it̪.ˈn̩/, food safety laws.

December 31.

For this day, I had to make a lot of words because I also did not have a word for joy. In the sentence below, utkenez is joy, composed of ut + kenez, novelty + contentment. I also wrote a temporal-only version of in, usak.

Vauð /vɒ̈͡yð/, yearVauðn /vɒ̈͡yð.ˈn̩/, annualVauða /vɒ̈͡yð.ˈɑ/, cycle, with implied circularity. 

Utkenez vauð kutn usak bhei ðeḥe siub!
/yt̪.ˈkɛ.ˌnəz vɒ̈͡yð kyt̪.ˈn̩ ys.ˈɑk βɛ͡i ðə.ˈʔɛ si͡yb/
Have joy in the new year!

Thank you all for following me however you did this Lexember! I wish you a bright and happy new year filled with schwas, glottal stops, and so much linguistic fun!